Tunnel threat to salmon’s survival
Jun 27 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
Environment Editor Tony Henderson on the juggling act between a new Tyne tunnel and a safe salmon river.
MORE than 700 people have been asked for their views on what has been labelled as a “big decision” for the Tyne as a reborn salmon river.
The issue centres around proposed changes to dredging plans as part of the building of the new Tyne Tunnel.
The Tyne Rivers Trust says that under the new plans, dredging would take place during this year’s peak run of salmon and sea trout in what is the best salmon river in England and Wales.
The trust has gathered comments from a wide range of people and groups and is passing them to the Environment Agency and TT2, the company which is overseeing the tunnel project.
The agency will make a decision on the new dredging application within the next three weeks.
Trust chairman Andrew Davison said: “ This is a big decision for the river and we wanted it to have the closest possible scrutiny by the Environment Agency, TT2 and all of the stakeholders in the river, and for as many people as possible to have the opportunity to think of every risk possible so they can be addressed.
“The Tyne is England’s most important run of migratory fish and anything which puts that at risk is clearly of concern to the trust and to many people in the region, from fishermen to hoteliers and people who derive their living from fishing on the river.
“We do understand that there are other factors and priorities, but as a trust we believe that this is a risk that the river should not be asked to take for the sake of waiting six to eight weeks.”
TT2 originally planned to dredge the trench for the tunnel sections in a “window” between November and March last year when there is normally maximum water flow in the river to wash away disturbed silt, when water oxygen levels are also normally high and when fewer salmon and sea trout enter the Tyne.
The proposal was to dispose of dredged material at sea, with the contaminated silt being landfilled.
