Save the River Wye!

[megilleland]

Save the River Wye! Demand moratorium on all new poultry units in Powys

Kate Bull started this petition to Powys County Council

Every summer now, the River Wye is turning a putrid green and its delicate ecology is being destroyed by algae blooms that are caused by effluent from poultry farms flowing into it. If this goes on, we will lose everything that we treasure about the Wye. It will turn a horrible, ugly green every time it gets sunny. The fish will go, and they will be followed by our kingfishers, our dippers and our herons. It is very, very worrying.

There are now 116 intensive poultry units (IPUs) in Powys, each raising more than 40,000 birds. With an estimated 8.5 million chickens on permitted units in the county, that is 64 times more chickens than people.

Powys County Council and Natural Resources Wales have a legal responsibility to protect Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) such as the Wye. They have, however, been apparently unwilling to use the existing laws to protect the river from the damage caused by a proliferation of poultry units in the county. When granting planning permission, the Council has consistently refused to consider the impact of new poultry developments individually and cumulatively on the local environment, including the county's rivers and water courses.

Enough is enough. We call on Powys County Council to instate an immediate moratorium on planning permissions for new or extended poultry units in the county until the full environmental - and community - impacts of those we already have can be assessed and reduced.

Sign petition here.

[megilleland]

In 1988 when my wife and I converted a 14th century hall house in Eyton into a small country house hotel we had the problem of the building's waste running into a septic tank which then overflowed into the stream passing through the property. In order to cure the problem a mechanical treatment plant costing upwards of £25,000 would have to be installed according to the Environment Agency.

A chance meeting with Dr Rick Hudson of Cress Water resolved the problem for only £900 and was the first reed bed installation in Herefordshire. The reed bed sat unobstrusively in the grounds and the water coming out of the system was cleaner than the water in the stream to which we were discharging and no smells. 

These chicken farms could be dealt in the same manner.

[DataHoldsTheAnswers]

1 hour ago, megilleland said:

These chicken farms could be dealt in the same manner.

I think you'll find that the mountains of slurry and manure that the poultry produce (poultry manure is by some margin the most phosphate rich muck produced by domesticated animals) in principally Powys, would require a wetland system about three times the size of the Powys to ameliorate! There are over 10 million birds there now with planning permission granted. The manure management plans say a lot will be exported these days. Where to?? Herefordshire...? This is a regulatory failure by both NRW and Powys CC on a scale hitherto thought possible only somewhere in central Africa.  It's a crying shame, and the petition is a great start to get the problem sorted out. It will take several years to compensate all the farms that have been perfectly lawfully carrying on polluting with the blessing (ie planning permission) of PCC and the aid and assistance of the supermarket supply chain that pays them (think the likes of Avara, Noble Foods and Cargill etc). Taxpayers will once again have deep pockets to pay for the mess that large scale industrial farming creates. Don't forget the mantra #CheapFood - one of Mr Gove's favourite reasons for Brexit, IIRC.

This is a big scandal and is only going to get bigger in the coming months!

[megilleland]

Avara not only ruining the River Wye, but also Brazil's ecostructure.

Extract from The Guardian 27th November 2020

Quote

The ship’s hold had been loaded in Cotegipe port terminal in Salvador, Brazil, with beans that had come from the Cerrado’s Matopiba region, including some from Formosa do Rio Preto, the Cerrado’s most heavily deforested community. As well as Cargill, the suppliers included Bunge (Brazil’s biggest soya exporter) and ADM (another leading US food producer).

After crossing the Atlantic, the entire shipment was unloaded into Cargill’s Seaforth soya crush plant in Liverpool, according to maritime and shipping records. The investigation tracked the way that grain crushed there is then trucked to mills in Hereford and Banbury, where it is mixed with wheat and other ingredients to produce livestock feed. From there, it is taken to chicken farms contracted to Avara.

Avara is a joint venture between Cargill and Faccenda Foods. It fattens up birds, which are slaughtered, processed and packaged for distribution to Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Nando’s, McDonald’s and other retailers. Avara thrives in relative obscurity. “You might not have heard of us but there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed our products,” the company’s website says.

So where, exactly, is this soya originating from? Avara’s supplier, Cargill, buys soya from many suppliers in the Cerrado, at least nine of which have been involved in recent land clearance. Analysis by the consultancy Aidenvironment of the land owned or used by these companies since 2015 found 801 sq km of deforestation – an area equivalent to 16 Manhattans. It also detected 12,397 recorded fires.

As recently as last month, drone footage taken in Formosa do Rio Preto showed huge fires burning on Fazenda Parceiro, a farm run by SLC Agrícola, which is a supplier to Cargill. Satellite data shows the fires burned 65 sq km of the farm. More than 210 sq km has been cleared on SLC Agrícola land over the past five years, according to the Aidenvironment analysis. Cargill said it broke no rules, nor their own policies, by sourcing from the farm in question and made clear it does not source from illegally deforested land. SLC Agrícola were approached for comment but declined.

Despite this destruction, produce from these areas can be labelled as legal and sustainable in Brazil. This highlights the shortcomings of an international trade system that relies on local standards, which are often influenced by farmers focused on short-term economic profit, rather than long-term global good, which would incorporate the value of water systems, carbon sinks and wildlife habitats.

[twowheelsgood]

There are currently over 1900 planning applications being held undetermined at Herefordshire Council because of the phosphate issue affecting water courses to the whole of the north of the County, much of it flowing in from Powys. Some of the applications are a year or more old. Meetings are being held by all the controlling bodies (and there are a lot of em) ... but little headway is being made to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, the construction industry, much of it locally based, is being crippled by something that is not only not their fault, but completely outside their control.

[megilleland]

Welsh council admits it should not have approved vast poultry farm

(extracts from Guardian article))

Permission for 110,000-chicken farm in ‘poultry capital of Wales’ withdrawn after legal challenge brought by local pressure group

Powys has become a focal point for opposition to the boom in intensive poultry units (IPUs) after freedom of information requests revealed the authority has approved more than 150 in the past five years.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) led calls for a moratorium on intensive poultry farms after discovering Powys had received five times as many IPU applications than the rest of Wales since 2017.

It is estimated there are around 8.5 million head of poultry in Powys – equivalent to 64 birds for every person – the majority on 100 large-scale farms raising more than 40,000 chickens each.

Environmental campaigners say the explosion in IPUs in the county is linked to the deterioration of rivers in Wales.

Last summer saw algal blooms turn the River Wye – which flows from mid Wales through Powys to the Severn estuary – into “pea soup”, a phenomenon damaging to biodiversity which campaigners blame on phosphates from livestock manure running into waterways.

Welsh environment watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW) admitted in December that 60% of the Wye failed to meet phosphate targets – but said the high percentage was due to tighter restrictions.
__________________________________________________

Also:

In The Guardian:

‘It's like pea soup’: poultry farms turn Wye into wildlife death trap

As if there are not enough problems with the flooding.

[megilleland]

Let's hope it doesn't get as bad as this. 

Garbage and the sea devour the largest ‘slum’ in Monrovia
West Point, Liberia's largest shantytown, has lost dozens of meters to erosion in the last decade. The victims, forgotten by the government, number in the thousands.

In the absence of containers, the water ends up being, in most cases, the landfill of the settlement.

From El Pais

[megilleland]

Jesse Norman MP raises question about the state of the River Wye at Prime Minister's Question Time. It is vital for all the key parties, and in particular the Environment Agency, Natural England and Natural Resources Wales, to come together now and create a single, integrated, long-term strategy straddling both sides of the border, if we are going to clean up the priceless national asset that is the Wye.

 

[megilleland]

Worcester angler calls for pollution action to 'save' River Severn

An angler says urgent action is needed to clean up the River Severn after finding "shocking" levels of pollution.

Glyn Marshall, who also campaigns to protect rivers, said Severn Trent Water was not removing phosphate at its treatment plant at Diglis, Worcester.

He fears pollution will lead to algae growth and wildlife dying.

Severn Trent said its permit did not require it to remove phosphate at the site, but the plant was being upgraded to allow it to do this by May 2026.

Mr Marshall, 65, said data from the river sewage map showed untreated waste went into the Severn at Diglis 81 times last year.

"The residents of Worcester need to realise that what's going into our local river is horrible and it's not getting any better," he said.

The river had become increasingly polluted and one example was reduced levels or streamer weed which animals such as cygnets fed on, he said.

"I have seen in the change in the last three of four years and it's not the same river I fished when I was a teenager," he said.

He fears the Severn could become like the River Wye which was "just about teetering".

Campaigners say high phosphate levels in the Wye are causing excessive algae growth which harms wildlife.

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Clean water is going to be a valuable commodity in the future and all we are doing is pouring it down the drain. After all you can't drink oil.

[megilleland]

Tesco suppliers must raise standards to avert death of River Wye, say campaigners
River Action warns of phosphates in excrement produced by intensive chicken farming suffocating life

River campaigners are calling for urgent action from Tesco to immediately raise standards within its poultry and egg suppliers in the Wye valley, as they say the river is at risk of ecological collapse.

Tesco is the biggest customer of Wye valley egg producer Noble Foods and chicken producer Avara Foods. The environmental campaigners say since the supermarket giant switched to Avara as its main supplier of poultry in 2019, the food supply company has expanded its poultry factory in Hereford to meet the demand. Avara last month applied for permission to expand its hatchery in Shobdon and is waiting for a decision in the next fortnight.

The Wye valley has become one of Europe’s largest concentrations of intensive livestock production. Poultry production has soared, with more than 20 million birds housed within permitted intensive poultry units alone, each of which holds more than 40,000 birds. Water quality throughout the catchment continues to fail current standards due to high phosphate concentrations. Evidence from Lancaster University research suggests there are 3,000 tonnes of excess phosphorus caused by agriculture in the Wye valley.

Full article in Guardian 7th July 2022 here

 

[megilleland]

;

11TH AUGUST TO 18TH SEPTEMBER 2022

Canwood Gallery, Checkley, Hereford HR1 4NF Open Thursday to Sunday 11am to 4pm

Canwood Gallery has asked the incredible creatives from Wales, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to celebrate and highlight the River Wye’s plight and give personal insights into what the river means to them, individuals who love it.  

Canwood Gallery are teaming up with River Action UK to help the raise the profile of the urgent action needed to immediately implement plans to save the River Wye.

Don’t miss this fantastic exhibition! 
 

[megilleland]

Hail Mary! Statue’s trip down the Wye raises chicken pollution issue

In The Guardian today:

Artist Philip Chatfield hopes river journey will alert people to damage being done by poultry excrement.

[ragwert]

Sick and tired of the same old shite(pardon the pun) about poultry units causing pollution of the Wye. There are very tight restrictions on the diposal of poultry waste most of which is sold  to make fertaliser or fuel.
People seem to forget the hundreds of sewage overflow pipes including the hundreds if not thousands of private sewage overflow pipes from residential and business septic tanks that spill directly into the Wye.  Not one demostration outside a sewage works,not even banner at a demostration .

[ragwert]

4 hours ago, megilleland said:

Hail Mary! Statue’s trip down the Wye raises chicken pollution issue

In The Guardian today:

Artist Philip Chatfield hopes river journey will alert people to damage being done by poultry excrement.

And she literally  sails right past the Sewage outfall works.   🙄

[ragwert]

On 30/01/2021 at 11:15, megilleland said:

Welsh council admits it should not have approved vast poultry farm

(extracts from Guardian article))

Permission for 110,000-chicken farm in ‘poultry capital of Wales’ withdrawn after legal challenge brought by local pressure group

Powys has become a focal point for opposition to the boom in intensive poultry units (IPUs) after freedom of information requests revealed the authority has approved more than 150 in the past five years.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) led calls for a moratorium on intensive poultry farms after discovering Powys had received five times as many IPU applications than the rest of Wales since 2017.

It is estimated there are around 8.5 million head of poultry in Powys – equivalent to 64 birds for every person – the majority on 100 large-scale farms raising more than 40,000 chickens each.

Environmental campaigners say the explosion in IPUs in the county is linked to the deterioration of rivers in Wales.

Last summer saw algal blooms turn the River Wye – which flows from mid Wales through Powys to the Severn estuary – into “pea soup”, a phenomenon damaging to biodiversity which campaigners blame on phosphates from livestock manure running into waterways.

Welsh environment watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW) admitted in December that 60% of the Wye failed to meet phosphate targets – but said the high percentage was due to tighter restrictions.
__________________________________________________

Also:

In The Guardian:

‘It's like pea soup’: poultry farms turn Wye into wildlife death trap

As if there are not enough problems with the flooding.

They say the pollution from increasing numbers of free-range poultry farms near its banks is now seriously damaging the river.

Chicken excrement rich in phosphates and other chemicals gets spread on the ground around sheds and is being flushed into the river,

Biggest load of  bullshit & bollox i've ever heard.

[ragwert]

On 16/08/2022 at 21:58, ragwert said:

They say the pollution from increasing numbers of free-range poultry farms near its banks is now seriously damaging the river.

Chicken excrement rich in phosphates and other chemicals gets spread on the ground around sheds and is being flushed into the river,

Biggest load of  bullshit & bollox i've ever heard.

[megilleland]

In The Guardian 25th September 2022

Chicken farm giant linked to River Wye decline was sued over water blight in US

Cargill was taken to court 20 years ago in Oklahoma over the same pollution issue it is now linked to in UK

(extracts)

While the legal cases were being fought in the courtrooms of Oklahoma, more than 4,400 miles away the intensive poultry production lines were being rolled out along the Wye and nearby counties.

Cargill has operated in the UK since 1955 and purchased a major poultry processing plant in Hereford, more than 40 years ago. In 2013 it announced a £35m investment in the plant to increase production of fresh chicken, and five years later it combined its fresh chicken operation in the UK with poultry business Faccenda Foods to form Avara.

New intensive poultry units – each housing at least 40,000 chickens – sprung up to meet the demand, and between 2013 and 2017 the number of birds in Herefordshire increased from 13 million to 18 million.

Avara’s operation is estimated to account for around 85% of the total and the company processes and packs about two million chickens a week in Hereford, supplying major supermarkets and fast-food outlets, including Tesco, Asda and McDonald’s.

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What happens in America today is usually adopted by the UK a few years later to our cost. Exploiting smaller countries, throwing their bombs and missiles around the world, all in the aim of controlling and to surveil us, all revolving around your smart phone. Use it wisely or throw it away.

[megilleland]

Chicken farms may explain decline of the River Wye, tests suggest

Citizen scientists find high phosphorous levels in the soil could be polluting the river in Herefordshire.

Campaigners have revealed the results of farmland testing which provides new evidence of the potential link between intensive poultry units and the decline of the River Wye.

Full article here.

[megilleland]

Landmark decision on mega poultry farm could mean ‘life or death’ of River Wye
Welsh government considers whether to block plan after experts say manure from intensive units is turning Wye into ‘pea soup’

The Welsh government is under pressure to block a new mega chicken farm in the Wye catchment, in what campaigners call a “crucial moment in the life or death of the Wye”.

The River Wye has become synonymous with the intensive poultry industry, with more than 20 million chickens in its catchment area, producing more manure than the land can absorb and turning the river the colour of “pea soup”.

A scientific study led by Lancaster University recommends an 80% reduction in poultry manure in the Wye catchment to protect the river, calling for a cut in the overall number of birds and the exporting of manure out of the area.

However, Powys county council is still approving intensive poultry units in the catchment. Last year, Fish Legal challenged a decision by Powys to approve a unit at Wern Haelog near Builth Wells, housing 90,000 chickens, but lost the case.

Last week, the Welsh government sent a holding direction to Powys county council to prevent it approving a new industrial poultry unit, also near Builth Wells, which would house 100,000 chickens at any one time. Welsh ministers will now decide whether to ‘call in’ the application, and rule on the chicken farm at government level.

More here:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/landmark-decision-mega-poultry-farm-life-or-death-of-river-wye-wales
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Looks as if the river will be up the creek if the powers to be can't sort this out. Another case of follow the money.