Slurry spillage kills thousands of fish in County Derry river

A slurry spillage on a County Derry river has killed thousands of fish, a local Rivers Trust has said.

The Ballinderry River, which runs from Kildress in County Tyrone, through the south Derry village of Ballinderry and into Lough Neagh, suffered the spillage on Sunday, with conditions gradually worsening over the following few days.

Ballinderry Rivers Trust, an environmental charity dedicated to the conservation and enjoyment of the river, have said the spillage will set back decades of conservation work on the river.

Described as a 'major slurry spill', the incident has resulted in the death of thousands of brown trout, Dollaghan trout and salmon along 18 miles of the river, all the way down to where it joins Lough Neagh.

A Trust spokesperson confirmed there was on an ongoing investigation by DAERA Water Quality Inspectors and Inland Fisheries Officers to determine the facts, while Chief Executive Mark Horton said dead fish were the 'tip of the iceberg'.

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“This is a catastrophic pollution incident on the river, at a time when water levels were low, meaning there has been little dilution of the slurry and it is slow moving through the river system," he said.

"Dead fish are being counted and recorded by the Department’s fisheries officers, but this will only be the tip of the iceberg as the young trout and salmon fry, just hatched and emerging from the bed of the river, will have certainly been impacted but will not be seen.

"As generations of fish have been wiped out it will take many years for the river to recover and will have left the river void of fish for any anglers who were hoping to enjoy fishing on the Ballinderry River this season.

"This is a huge setback for the decades of work that both Ballinderry Rivers Trust and local angling clubs have been doing to improve the Ballinderry’s rivers for wildlife and for the people that live work and play in the catchment.”

The Trust is also appealing to all farmers to check that there is sufficient capacity in their slurry stores and that all above ground slurry tank valves are properly maintained and secure, in order to avoid any further slurry spills.

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