February 15, 2011.

Environment Canterbury is appealing to the community for information that leads to the identification of those responsible after a pollutant was illegally discharged into a creek in South Hagley Park causing the death of several hundreds of eels and fish.

Pollution Hotline staff were alerted to the incident on Saturday evening after a tip off from a member of the public. Upon inspection, approximately two kilometres of waterway was found to be discoloured along with hundreds of dead eels and fish.

Environment Canterbury staff collected water and samples which are being tested to identify the contaminant(s) used. Christchurch City Council staff assisted with the disposal of the dead eels and fish.

Brett Aldridge, environmental protection manager, said that the stream is located in a popular public area running past the netball courts and into the Avon River/Otakaro.

“The discharge was not associated with rainfall and so it is likely that someone has deliberately tipped waste down a stormwater drain or there has been an accidental spill, either way someone knows what happened and we are keen to find out. It’s fair to say that all fish life in the stream is now dead and we are just lucky that we don’t have the same result in the Avon.”

Environment Canterbury would like to hear of anyone who has any information that can help track down the source of the discharge.

“Along with investigating possible sources where contaminants may have entered the stream, we want to determine the timing of the spill and when the problem started to occur,” said Mr Aldridge.

“Unfortunately, this stretch of waterway has been illegally polluted before so we want to catch the offenders and prevent such incidents happening again in the future.”

Members of the public with information can contact the Pollution Hotline on 0800 76 55 88.

ENDS

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