After being closed for 10 months, the Walsall Canal has finally re-opened.
Nearly 4,000 litres of sodium cyanide and other hazardous chemicals leaked into the canal last August.
As a result, a 12-mile stretch of the canal was closed to the public.
The Canal & River Trust
The Canal & River Trust is the UK’s largest canal charity, looking after 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.
The trust has around 1,600 employees and thousands of volunteers working to make waterways the best they can be.
The team includes expert hydrologists, historians, ecologists and engineers work together so heritage and nature can coexist, and history is kept alive for all to enjoy.
Since the spill, the trust has been working with various agencies to limit chemical spread and protect the ecosystem.
Because of the hazardous nature of the chemicals, the tow paths were closed to ensure that nobody got anywhere near the water. The stretch of the canal had to be dredged to ensure that it was clean.
Metal coatings firm to blame for leak
The company responsible for the leak is Anochrome Ltd. who are metal finishing and surface coatings specialists.
The firm said it continued to offer its “sincere apologies” for the incident and it had “covered costs for remedial work on the canal throughout the entire process”.
Henriette Breukelaar, regional director of the Canal & River Trust, said the incident had a lasting impact.
“The clean-up has so far cost our charity hundreds of thousands in funds that would have been used to repair our canals. We will seek to reclaim this money from the polluting company and invest it in caring for the canals in the West Midlands.”
A crowd funder organised by the charity raised about £25,000 to help support wildlife after the spill.
Anyone wanting to donate to the charity can do so here: Donate to charity | Canal & River Trust
