E n v ir o n m e n t Ag e n c y

NATIONAL LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICE

NORTH WEST REGION

Richard Fairclough House Knutsford Road W arrington WA4 1HG

Roch/lrk/Medlock Local Environment Agency Plan Annual Review Summary of economic measures, negotiated agreements and direct regulation to ensure that significant cuts are made in ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions from industry and other sectors.

We will also be at the forefront of measures to inform the public about the issues and to help them take steps to reduce risks and prevent damage and loss of life from inevitable changes to the climate - such as increased flooding.

Improving Air Quality

On a local scale responsibility for air quality is split between the Agency and Local Authorities. The Agency is responsible for the regulation of major industries, whilst Local Authorities regulate minor industries, control domestic smoke, evaluate local air quality and produce local air quality management plans.

Discussions have taken place between the Agency, Bury MBC, MBC, CC and MBC. The Agency has provided information regarding Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) Part A processes and Local Authorities have produced Air Quality Reviews and proposed air quality management areas.

The Agency will work towards shared strategies with our partners at a local level to improve air quality from all sources. Provision of information in an Addressing climate change understandable, accessible format on air quality issues, including emissions and improving air quality inventories, will be a priority for the Agency. Human activities such as energy on human society. Temperature increases An Environment Agency objective is to generation, transport and agriculture and changes in weather patterns have led reduce the amounts of organic-based are believed to contribute to climate to predictions that the pattern of the solvents that are released into the change. Air quality is affected by world’s weather may change. There atmosphere. These can contribute to the econom ic development. Transport, are likely to be more intense heatwaves, generation of ground-level ozone. energy generation and industry are the flcxxls, droughts and storms, with major sources of air pollution. • Following installation of new plant, significant impacts on water resources, an annual reduction of approximately Addressing Climate Change agriculture and human health. SO tonnes of Methyl-chloride emissions Clim ate change is expected to have a The Agency will explore, in partnership at Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd, major impact on the natural world and with others, the most effective mixture Littleborough, has been achieved. have, in the past, had a significant impact on the water quality of their receiving watercourses. Discharges Regulating from Rochdale WwTW continue to have a significant impact. major industries As part of its Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimisation programme, the -Agency works with industry through education and guidance, to achieve a balance towards industrial activity that does not harm the environment.

• A £37million improvement programme was undertaken at Roy ton, Oldham and Failsworth WwTWs. Completed in March 2000, the Agency is closely monitoring the effect of reducing organic loading in the WwTW effluents and the associated improvements in the water quality of the , Wince Brook and the respectively.

• The improvements at Rochdale WwTW by United Utilities are scheduled for completion before the end of March 2005. This will ensure that the downstream achieves its River Ecosystem RQO (River Quality Objective).

• A Pollution Prevention Campaign was carried out at Birch Industrial Estate in Rochdale, with promising results. Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimisation are important principles in the educating and influencing role of the Agency.

• An additional sampling location has been added to try to determine the impact of the incoming stream on Cowm Reservoir, compared to the impact of the historical sediment already contained within the reservoir.

Industry is essential for the economy and There are a number of United Utilities • The Agency is now a partner in the well-being of society. We work to achieve (formerly North West Water Ltd) Green Business Parks scheme undertaken a balance so that industrial activity does Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTWs) by the Groundwork organisation, who have started work on Stakehill Industrial not harm the environment. Our aim is to that discharge treated sewage and industrial ensure that the existing management and Estate. Other estates will be prioritised effluent into the LEAP area’s watercourses. future regulation o f industry is carried according to their actual or potential out in a sustainable manner. Discharges from Oldham, Roy ton and impact on local watercourses. Managing waste

All wastes must be carefully managed, Waste minimisation does not just focus - The Bury Business Environment so we need to know what is produced on solid waste issues, but also covers Association continues to be successful and where it goes. We also need to water usage, discharges to sewer, in waste minimisation and waste/ ensure that it is handled and recovered emissions to air and energy usage. materials recycling. or disposed of without harm to the The South Area took the lead in _ S ta k e h ill Industrial Estate surveys environment or human health. co-ordinating and providing information and audjts w<:re undertaken wlIh the The South Area produced its first waste for a Regional Waste Minimisation and assistance of Environment Agency minimisation strategy in 1999. Its aim is Recycling Guide, which was published to increase staff awareness of waste in March 2000. • The Environment Agency has passed minimisation and to co-ordinate waste • Metals Recycling Sites (MRS) - £50,000 to the Groundwork Trust to minimisation activity within the area. a two-year programme of targeted support the development of eight Green enforcement of unauthorised metals In an industrial context, waste Business Parks in the Agency’s South recycling sites has taken place. minimisation is a process based approach, Area. In this LEAP area the Stakehill that looks at the overall performance • A number of new environmental/ Industrial Estate has been identified of a company and assesses opportunities waste minimisation schemes with as a target site for a to receive a for improvement. Improved process Agency involvement were launched proportion of this funding. efficiency usually results in increased in 1999/2000: output and a reduction in waste. • The Green Business Parks programme — Manchester Waste Resource Scheme led This approach stresses the true cost will link businesses and public sector by Groundwork Manchester. of waste is not simply waste disposal agencies in identifying and tackling costs, but also the cost of raw materials, — Business Environment Associations particular issues, especially integrated energy, labour and other associated costs. (administered by Groundwork) have waste management and waste Reducing waste reduces environmental impact been launched, including East minimisation, as well as pollution and also improves a company’s profitability. Manchester, Cheetham and Broughton. prevention and ecological improvement. Townhouse Brook - the impact of an historic unsustainable abstraction. CAMS will provide the strategy to ensure the wiser and sustainable management of our water resources.

Increasing pressures on water resources, the objectives outlined in Taking Water Groundwater levels are routinely including uncertainties such as climate Responsibly1. These objectives include monitored throughout the LEAP area. change, require us to take a sustainable a consistent and structured approach to • Preliminary consultation on the approach to water management and use, water resources management, and an balancing the needs of abstractors and opportunity for greater public sustainable management of Water the environment. involvement. Resources was carried out within the South Area. Results of the There is a need to control the use of To ensure that water resources are consultation will feed into the water within the LEAP area, to ensure the managed effectively, comprehensive National Consultation process. maintenance of a balanced and sustainable information about the resource resource. The Agency achieves this by availability is required. Daily rainfall is • A consultation document for Catchment licensing abstractions from the river measured using a network of voluntary Abstraction Management Strategies and groundwater systems. Commencing observers; supporting this network are a (CAMS) was launched in April 2000. April, 2001 ‘Catchment Abstraction number of automatic telemetred Development of CAMS will start in Management Strategies’ (CAMS) will be raingauges. River levels and flows are 2001. CAMS process for Roch/Irk/ produced for all catchments in measured at various points throughout Medlock to commence 2004. and Wales. Once implemented, CAMS the LEAP area to provide real-time data. will become the focus for water resources In addition, specific projects are 'Taking Water Responsibly - government decisions following consultation on changes to the water management within LEAP areas and will supported by the installation of temporary abstraction licensing system in England and Wales. enable the Agency to meet many of stations and spot measurements. DETR March 1999. a regional priority list of contaminated surface waters (CSWs) which identified where cross connections were having the greatest impact on receiving watercourses in the North West region. Any subsequent CSWs that are found will be scored and submitted for inclusion in the Regional list.

A source of contamination is the release of ochreous discharges from old mines and spoil heaps. Ochre is a reddish brown suspension caused by the oxidation of iron minerals and it can be discharged to ground or surface waters when abandoned mines become flooded. These suspensions have both aesthetic and water quality impacts due to their intense coloration and metal content.

Often redevelopment of land and property provides an opportunity to remediate contaminated sites and the Agency has an important role in influencing developers and consultants in order to ensure that this process proceeds satisfactorily.

The issue of promoting new means of surface water control affects both water quality and flood defence, particularly in the Beal catchment. By using the planning process, the Agency can Integrated River promote more sustainable methods of surface water disposal which may benefit Basin management both water quality and flooding issues. The Agency has initiated a research project that is looking at gaining baseline Integrated River Basin management is to operate only during heavy rainfall, data on Endocrine disruption in the about more than just water quality, ie, when adequate dilution should be Freshwater Mersey Basin catchment it concerns water flow, landscape, flood available in the receiving watercourse. (potentially spread across all South Area control works, recreation and wildlife. Most developments built in the last Agency LEAPs). Although the precise We consider all these factors to get the 30 years are drained by two separate sampling locations have yet to be most of the river environment with the systems. One conveys uncontaminated identified, it is thought that samples will least disruption to it. surface water run-off and discharges into be strategically taken rather than by a a local watercourse, whilst the other takes blanket survey. W ithin a large part of the LEAP area, foul foul water to a wastewater treatment and surface water drainage is conveyed Endocrine disruption is a term that works. Contamination o f the surface together to wastewater treatment works describes how natural hormones in water drainage system can have a in combined sewers. To prevent flooding wildlife are being interfered with. This significant impact upon the receiving during storm conditions, relief combined interference results in changes, such as water into which it discharges. sewer overflow s (CSOs) are provided on males becoming females and vice versa. the sewerage network. These are designed The Environment Agency has compiled Other problems include reproductive failure due to this interference. Endocrine (BVP) to pursue a wrong connections • Aggregate Industries UK Ltd and the disruption has also been linked to human strategy in the Linney Lane area of Agency jointly reviewed progress health problems. Shaw. A leaflet about the contamination on improvements to the site drainage problem in this area will be produced in June 2000. New proposals to deal Estuarine research across the country and distributed to householders. with water in the quarry were agreed. has indicated that the Mersey Estuary The BVP are also applying for funding has Endocrine disruption in fish • Survey carried out to assess the impact populations. The research project team and assistance in kind from other o f the ochreous discharge at Fenny will initially look at disruption in organisations. Fields Bridge on the River Mcdlock. freshwater invertebrates to assess Action by the Agency to secure This is one of a number of sites in the whether the freshwater catchment has improved treatment facilities at some of North West which have been forwarded similar problems to those found in the the large sewage treatment plants has to the national remediation Mersey Estuary. meant that there are no longer programme. The sites are then ranked Poor access to stretches of watercourse significant localised pollution problems in priority order and a list is given to can impede regular maintenance and in the Whittle Brook catchment. the Coal Authority for action. emergency works activities. The Agency works with developers, landowners and other involved parties to gain Safe ■ access to and along watercourses for maintenance or public access. rm \ , The construction of a suitable access to, and along, currently inaccessible \si\\ t watercourses is required to reduce m maintenance costs and to improve the Agency’s response to flooding.

The River Medlock Rehabilitation Scheme is a multi-functional scheme to rehabilitate a stretch of the River Medlock at Clayton Vale, Manchester. : It has been allocated £ 100,000 of c ■ • A ' Agency funding. Via Entrust and the the Agency has been awarded Landfill Tax Credit K:; sS&J

monies of £1 50,000 from Onyx. Footpaths and access will be provided at Knott Mill and City Road East. An open section, Works including improved footpaths, previously confined within the Dunlop Works off Cambridge Street, will become visible ponds, wetland, reed beds, fish passes for the first time since 1915. and some channel repairs are being considered, with additional backing being sought from a variety of sources. A feasibility study has been completed and work is expected to be scheduled for 2001 /2002.

The Beal Valley Partnership have been successful in obtaining £5,000 from Oldham MBC, and £600 from Shaw

and Crompton Parish Council towards E& ... I _ -'-"I waymarking. Work to install the waymarkers in Oldham will begin soon. ______The Agency has provided funds of £2,400 to the Beal Valley Partnership Conserving the land

Our aim is to protect the land from restore their effectiveness for flood sea where appropriate; many small rivers water (flooding) and protect the water defence and environmental purposes. and streams rise too fast for warnings to from land (contamination). Flooding be issued. To allow the Agency to meet its objective endangers property, crops and lives. of ‘reducing the risk of flooding’, the If flooding is likely, flood warnings are Contaminated land gives rise to water Agency has permissive powers to carry issued to the media and in some places pollu tion and risks to health. Less out maintenance works and build flood direct to people at home or work. obvious damage is caused by soil erosion. defences on designated main rivers. Arrangements for warning residents A number of existing urbanised regions within a formal Flood Warning Zone The Agency recognises that irrespective within the LEAP area have been highlighted of attempts to reduce the risk of flooding have been agreed in consultation with as being vulnerable to potential flooding through either our policies' or actions, local authorities and emergency services. from rivers and watercourses. At the flooding can still occur. In this LEAP area there is a formal zone same time, pressure for the development on the River Roch at Rochdale and an o f floodplains w ithin urban areas is The Agency monitors rainfall, river levels informal zone at Litdeborough. increasing. The Agency opposes and sea conditions, 24 hours a day development within floodplains and and uses this information to forecast 1 Policy document: Policy and Practice for the aims to secure and, where necessary, flooding from most major rivers and the protection of Floodplains (April 1997). Section 1 OS of the Water Resources the general public. The new system is environment is protected and improved Act 1991 designed to be easily understood. It is during the redevelopment process. based on four stages - Flood Watch, Remediation of contaminated land in Investigations to identify areas at flood Flood Warning, Severe Flood Warning and general costs substantial sums of money. risk within the LEAP as part of the All Clear — and will be wide reaching Although polluters or landowners may Section 105 projects have been completed. and more customer focused. These have included a series of computer be found liable and made to pay, overall progress is likely to be influenced by based hydraulic models which simulate As part of the implementation, the government policy and the availabiUtyi_ flood flows through key risk areas and of funding. increase the accuracy of the estimated risk areas have been identified and information regarding the new flood floodplain. The Section 105 models cover Information and guidance provided to warning code sent to householders. the through to Shaw Local Authorities under Part IIA o f the and the River Roch at Bury and provide • River level gauges at Rochdale have Environment Protection Act 1990. detailed hydraulic and hydrological been upgraded to cope with extreme Local Authorities and the Environment analysis. Further calculations have also events and provide more accurate Agency will have joint responsibilities been carried out at around 45 specific information. under the new regulations. The problem spots throughout the catchment. Environment Agency has a requirement • A prioritisation exercise has been to provide the local authority with both Implementing New Flood Warning Codes undertaken identifying potential future general and site specific information flood warning zones. and guidance in order to assist them in their duties. The Agency will Contaminated Land have the responsibility for ensuring Bringing contaminated land back into investigation and remediation of certain A beneficial use helps to conserve land types o f‘contaminated land’ known as C as a resource and reduces pressure on ‘special’ sites. Examples of special sites Greenfield sites, thus conserving include those causing serious water The new system was introduced on agricultural land and natural habitats. pollution, former acid tar lagoons, 12 September 2000 and has taken Redevelopment of polluted land MoD land, explosives manufacture sites 18 months to develop. The new warning provides an opportunity to remedy the and oil refineries. The Agency also has a codes, icons and definitions have been contamination, and the Agency works duty to publish (from time to time) developed in close consultation with closely with Local Authorities, a National Report on the State of Agency practitioners, local authorities, landowners, developers, and other Contaminated Land. The Part IIA the media, emergency services and organisations to ensure that the regulations came into effect April 2000. Managing freshwater fisheries

Good water quality and adequate flows Many river reaches in the area have suffered has improved to such an extent that we are a prerequisite for healthy fish from poor water quality in the past to the can now consider stocking rivers that populations. We are also committed to extent that fish have been excluded. have been devoid of fish in living memory a programme of habitat improvements, • As part of the routine fisheries survey often in collaboration with other Due to the work of the Agency along with programme, a fisheries survey was carried interested parties such as farmers and other organisations including United out on the River Irk in the summer of nature conservation groups. Utilities and angling groups, water quality 2000. The results of this survey, along with biological and chemical water quality results, indicated that although the water quality in the Irk catchment is improving, greater improvements are expected due to upgrades at the sewage treatment works in Oldham and .

• A recent survey of the River Medlock showed that very good stocks of coarse fish were present in certain reaches following the successful introduction of Chub and Dace from the Environment Agency’s Leyland hatchery Enhancing biodiversity

Conserving and enhancing the variety The Environment Agency contributed disturbed water bearing small white o f animal and plant life and the habitats £700 to a survey aiming to identify flowers and floating oval leaves in which they live is vital in improving sites where water voles were found in (hence its common name), and in deep the state of the environment. the rivers Medlock and Tame catchments water as submerged rosettes of narrow in 2000, at sites selected on the main grass-like leaves. When the UK signed the Convention on rivers, ordinary watercourses and a Biodiversity in 1992 at the Earth Summit, random selection of still water bodies Plans to make the it committed itself, amongst other things, within lkm o f the rivers. navigable present a challenge. Working to protect ecosystems and natural habitats with British Waterways so as to enhance, and maintain viable populations of The report on all sites is still awaited, rather than damage the plant’s habitat, species. One of the means of doing this but a preliminary report (September will allow conservation of the Floating was to develop a national strategy that 2000) identified just one site on each Water Plantain (Luronium noiuns). Plants was endorsed by the Government in 1996. of the rivers Medlock and Tame, where favour clear-water locations subject water vole colonies could be confirmed. There is a need to continue to protect, to a little disturbance from dredging improve and monitor existing habitats. • Stretches of river suitable for or boat traffic that prevents it being This is already being done through the enhancement and rehabilitation have out-competed by more vigorous network of sites of nature conservation been identified and prioritised for the species, but not too much disturbance importance, such as Sites of Special continued conservation of Great Crested which would destroy it. Scientific Interest (SSSI), Sites of Biological Newts, Water Voles and Pipistrelle Bats. Interest (SBI), Special Protection Areas (SPA) Working in partnership with other • BAP and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA). organisations offers protection of key Key species involved include floating species and their habitats. By creating new habitats and removing water plantain, water voles, bats, threats to existing habitats, species will • Rochdale Canal Restoration - grass wrack pondweed (identified in be encouraged to achieve their target cSAC/Luronium (Habitats Directive). the Ashton Canal, East Manchester). distribution and status. Some 20km o f Rochdale Canal within • Remediation of ochreous discharges • A Water Vole Handbook ( I 998) was the Roch/Irk/Medlock area, from to rivers. produced by the partnership of Iittleworth to Failsworth were designated English Nature, the Environment Surveys of river invertebrate fauna in 2000 as an SSSI, on account o f its Agency and the Wildlife Conservation diverse aquatic flora. It is also a major were carried out on the River Medlock, Research Unit. Water Voles are habitat for the nationally sparse species Bardsley and on I.ydgate Brook, protected by law and were included in Floating Water Plantain (Luronium Gale (River Roth) to help assess bids Schedule 5, Section 9(4) (a) and (b) nutans), and the canal has therefore been to reduce the impact of ochreous of the Wildlife and Countryside proposed as a candidate Special Area of discharges. These discharges damage Act 1981 (as amended) in 1998. Conservation (SAC). Luronium nutans habitats by smothering river beds and • Medlock/Tame RVI, Water Vole survey. occurs in two forms; in shallow or less their associated plant life. Acknowledgme

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This summary has been compiled from information taken from the Roch/Irk/ Medlock Local Environment Agency Plan Annual Review. Thanks are due to the following Agency staff (based at Birchwood) who were responsible for the development of the Annual Review

Phil Younge Helen Smith Amanda Turner Project Executive Environment Protection Officer Water Resources Officer (CAMS)

Richard Webster Claire Taylor Dermot Smith Water Quality Planner Flood Defence Engineer Landscape, Heritage & Recreation Officer

Karen Bate Martin Walsh Stephen Taylor Partnerships/LEAPs Officer Water Quality Planner IPC/RAS Inspector Wendy Warden Mark Wiseman Graham Fitzgerald LEAPs Assistant E cologist Fisheries and Recreation Team Leader Special thanks to Akzo Nobel Chemicals David Marshall Dawn Grundy Ltd and United Utilities for the Environment Protection Team Leader Fisheries and Recreation Officer photographs supplied. ^ ^

This summary is intended to The Environment Agency be used widely and may be Further information on the Environment Agency can be found at: quoted, copied or reproduced www.environment-agency.gov.uk in any way, provided that the extracts are not utilised out of context and that due General enquiry line 0845 933 3111 acknowledgment is given Free 24 hour emergency hotline 0800 80 70 60 to the Environment Agency.

Floodline 0845 988 1188 NW-05/01-5K-Dii BGAL