Swans Hit by Oil Leak

By Angela Gooch on November 22nd, 2008

Oil-contaminated swans were the first victims of an accidental leak from a Skegness factory.
Half a dozen birds were being rescued by the RSPCA yesterday morning, Thursday, following an oil leak from Rose Bearings plant on Church Road South.
An urgent clean-up operation is under way after 45,000 litres of cutting oil used by the factory leaked into surface water drains.It is not known how the accident happened.
The Environment Agency has installed a system of booms at Cowbank Drain to prevent oil from reaching the coastline around Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve and further endangering wildlife.
Due to heavy overnight rain on Wednesday some of the oil had been washed through the system, so more booms were put in place to contain it.
The time it will take to clean up the spill depends on the level of rainfall. To contain the oil slick the flood relief gates have been closed on the drain. If the level of rainfall is high then the internal drainage board will have to reopen the gates to allow surplus water to drain from the land.
It will be a race against time to mop up as much of the oil as possible before the gates need to be opened again.
“The damage shouldn’t be significant. The worst is over,” said Kevin Wilson, site manager at Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve.
He added: “Questions will need to be asked about how oil can leave an industrial site and avoid containment nearer to the source.”
Three swans were taken to Natureland Seal Sanctuary, Skegness, by two RSPCA officers after being covered in oil. The birds needed immediate attention to remove it from their feathers and it took some time to clean them.
They were transferred to the RSPCA wildlife hospital at East Wynch, Kings Lynn for specialist attention.
Cheryl Yeadon, of Natureland, said as the birds were caught relatively early after being contaminated the risk of their having ingested the oil while attempting to preen is slim
They will be released back into the wild after they have regained their waterproof coat which all the washing and oil removes.
The RSPCA expect a lot more of the wildfowl in the area of Cowbank Drain will be contaminated and require treatment. The difficulty facing them is actually catching the birds so they can be treated.
I a statement issued to the press on Wednesday, Nigel Swift, spokesperson for Rose Bearings, said “The company takes seriously its responsibility to the environment and is working to prevent a recurrence of the situation.”
He added on Thursday: “At this stage we are unable to give any further comment or news on the situation as at the moment our main priority is to commit all available and necessary resources to containing and cleaning up the leakage.”

Photo: Justin Stubbs, RSPCA animal collections officer, collects one of the swans contaminated with cutting oil from Rose Bearings, Skegness.