'We think River Foss fish deaths WERE down to sewage' - council bosses

As reported in The Press, dead fish were seen floating on the surface of the river at various locations through the city last week.

Yorkshire Water said they had visited the Foss and found no sewage present in the water.

The Environment Agency, meanwhile, told The Press that similar fish deaths had been observed in rivers across the country - and that they were caused by a combination of high temperatures and thunderstorms creating a lack of oxygen in the water.

But Jenny Kent and Kate Ravilious, the city council's joint executive members for environment and climate emergency, say they DO now believe the fish deaths could have been caused by pollution.

They cite tests carried out by University of York scientists which showed very high nitrate levels in the River Foss at New Earswick at the time of the fish deaths - and a strong smell of sewage.

Kate Ravilious, left, and Jenny Kent, City of York Council's joint executive members for the environment (Image: Supplied)

They are now awaiting the results of further tests - and say if these do confirm raw sewage was in the water, they will be seeking urgent meetings with both Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency.

Cllr Kent said: “This is obviously a greatly concerning incident.

"We want to identify the cause and see what can be done to prevent a re-occurrence.

"We’re very fortunate to have scientists locally at the University of York who ... happened to be monitoring the river for nitrates and other chemicals in the water, shortly before the first reports of the fish deaths.

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“The York team sampled five locations along the river between Sheriff Hutton and the city centre.

"The site at New Earswick footbridge smelt strongly of raw sewage and the water contained nitrate levels 80 times higher than seen at the Sheriff Hutton site.

"Levels of nitrite and ammonia were also elevated. Nitrate levels then declined at the downstream sites."

A dead fish floating in the River Foss last week (Image: Howard Jones)

Cllr Ravilious added: “This indicates that the discharge of untreated sewage cannot be ruled out as a cause for the fish deaths, something the River Foss Society has confirmed as being responsible for previous significant fish deaths in the Foss.

"And of course this incident won’t just have impacted fish; it will have damaged the entire river ecosystem.

“The scientists are awaiting results on the levels of pharmaceuticals in the river; if levels are high it would add to the evidence for sewage discharge.

"We’re really grateful for Professor Alistair Boxall and his team for sharing their results."

Cllr Kent and Cllr Ravilious say if, once the full results of the University of York tests are back, they confirm the presence of untreated sewage in the Foss last week, they will be pressing Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said the organisation was continuing to investigate 'a number of fish deaths and fish in distress incidents across the country, including in Yorkshire'.

The nspokesperson added: "We believe that many of the problems we are seeing, including the recent event on the River Foss, are arising as a result of low dissolved oxygen due to a combination of the high temperatures we have experienced recently, and the low atmospheric pressure caused by thunderstorms.

Our officers are investigating at multiple locations to rule out any other causes such as pollution.

“It is important that members of the public who spot fish in distress, or see and/or have evidence of water pollution to report it to our 24/7 incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 so that our officers can investigate.”

The Press has approached Yorkshire Water for comment.