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Swildons Hole pollution

Les W

Les W

Active member
Latest on the recent pollution incident in Swildons here

Swildon's Hole Pollution

CSCC are now aware of the source of the recent pollution in Swildon's Hole. We can confirm that the source has been traced to a heating oil spillage and cavers can rest assured that steps are being taken to ensure there will be no further leaks from this source, however we have been made aware that recently, prior to determining the source, a further 1000 litres of heating oil escaped into the ground above the cave. This has not yet been detected in the cave but is expected to turn up once the good weather breaks and the ground water flow is reactivated when it next rains.

The white deposits on the walls of the passages have been identified as a type of fungus, no link has so far been made between the fungus and the heating oil. The fungus cannot be further identified without major lab work which will be very expensive as there are something like 30 different sub species, and the samples will have to be tested for them all.

The fungus is generally not considered harmful to most people, however a small percentage of people will be sensitive to it. If you know you are sensitive to fungus spores then you are advised to avoid the area until it clears up. The fungus is expected to disappear once it has consumed the energy source that it is currently growing on.

Les Williams
Conservation & Access Officer
Posted 24/5/2010
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J

JohnMCooper

Member
The smell of diesel was VERY strong, but localised, approaching Fault Chamber on Sunday 16 May which I believe was a few days after the latest leak.
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Perhaps we won't get it in the cave again then, but I won't be surprised if it does show up after some rain.

The spillage incident is confirmed though so we are 100% confident that it has now been dealt with and unlikely to occur again.  (y)
 
Gerbil007

Gerbil007

Member
I was in the cave again last week and noticed the smell in all the same areas as when I first detected it. LOTS of white fungus on the walls, but no ill effects experienced.
Just out of curiosity Les, how was the source detected?
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Gerbil007 said:
Just out of curiosity Les, how was the source detected?
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I'm not at liberty to say as I have been asked not to publicise the location. It was directly observed and was an accident. I am pretty sure it won't occur there again.
 
caving_fox

caving_fox

Active member
Thanks for looking into this Les, I'm sure there was quite a bit of work involved before the answer was found.

Did the culprit know that the oil was/would drain into the cave system beneath their feet? Just curious as to non-cavers attitudes to caves.
 
graham

graham

New member
caving_fox said:
Thanks for looking into this Les, I'm sure there was quite a bit of work involved before the answer was found.

Did the culprit know that the oil was/would drain into the cave system beneath their feet? Just curious as to non-cavers attitudes to caves.
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Did the owners of the oil know a cave was there? Yes. Culprit implies a much higher degree of blame than would probably be fair in this case. Hence the wholly appropriate desire to keep the matter away from the public gaze.
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
There was no "culprit" as such, just a genuine accident (twice :( ). I would not think that anybody involved ever considered there was a risk to the cave, I'm pretty sure they didn't even consider there was even the risk of a spill.

 
Burt

Burt

New member
Les W said:
Gerbil007 said:
Just out of curiosity Les, how was the source detected?
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I'm not at liberty to say as I have been asked not to publicise the location. It was directly observed and was an accident. I am pretty sure it won't occur there again.
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Had to be an accident with the price of diesel these days... :cry:
 
Hughie

Hughie

Active member
Burt said:
Had to be an accident with the price of diesel these days... :cry:
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Not diesel - heating oil.

Would expect heating oil price to be below 40ppl this week (fuel prices in general are now dropping). Nonetheless, to lose 1000+ litres represents a significant loss and would surely be accidental.

Tanks should be bunded (either concrete walled or double skinned).
 
Ali M

Ali M

Active member
There is nothing wrong with the tank but a pipe was accidentally knocked off. Measures are being taken by the party concerned that this cannot happen again. The estimate of the amount of oil lost has been decreased to about 500 litres. Further tests & lab work (free of charge) is being carried out on the white deposit/fungus.
 
P

Peter Burgess

New member
Hughie said:
Burt said:
Had to be an accident with the price of diesel these days... :cry:
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Not diesel - heating oil.

Would expect heating oil price to be below 40ppl this week (fuel prices in general are now dropping). Nonetheless, to lose 1000+ litres represents a significant loss and would surely be accidental.

Tanks should be bunded (either concrete walled or double skinned).
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If it were diesel, it might take many many years to disperse. I know two underground sites, one where a heating oil spill occurred and another where a diesel leak went undetected for a while. The former was smelly for a matter of months, with a short-lived white growth, the latter still smells after more that 20 years.
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Peter Burgess said:
If it were diesel, it might take many many years to disperse. I know two underground sites, one where a heating oil spill occurred and another where a diesel leak went undetected for a while. The former was smelly for a matter of months, with a short-lived white growth, the latter still smells after more that 20 years.
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I'm going to guess that you might have got them the wrong way round, as the way you have listed them suggests that the heating oil will be around for years but the diesel dispersed quickly, which is exactly the opposite of your first point.  :sneaky:
 
Bob Smith

Bob Smith

Member
Peter Burgess said:
If it were diesel, it might take many many years to disperse. I know two underground sites, one where a heating oil spill occurred and another where a diesel leak went undetected for a while. The former was smelly for a matter of months, with a short-lived white growth, the latter still smells after more that 20 years.
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does that clear things up (grammatically not literally)
 
P

Peter Burgess

New member
Thanks, Bob. I thought it was only in school books that colour coding was necessary to help in understanding simple grammar.  :tease:
 
P

Peter Burgess

New member
No, Les, that's not the correct response. This is UKCaving, where even when confronted by overwhelming evidence that one is wrong, you are supposed to stand your ground and start a slanging match.  ::)
 
exsumper

exsumper

New member
Whilst caving has been a major interest in my life and still is, surely there must come a point, where our concern for the environment overides our own self interest in maintaining access to caves. The discharge of 500 (at least) gallons of heating oil into the groundwater of the Wookey Hole Cave catchment is a major pollution incident. I trust the CSCC has fulfilled their moral obligation and reported the incident and those responsible to the Environment Agency (if they haven't I will), hopefully the culprits will be prosecuted. As Hughie said it is a legal requirement that all oil tanks have a bund that exceeds the capacity of the tank it protects.  To act otherwise is pure hypocrisy and makes a mockery of our commitment to cave conservation.
 
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