A council has apologised for a leak of chlorine which killed hundreds of fish and said it deeply regretted the pollution it caused.

Thurrock Council blames systems failures at Corringham Leisure Centre for the chemical discharge and has spent thousands of pounds to try to ensure it doesn't happen again.

The council and the private company it set up to run leisure in the borough - Impulse Leisure - were fined a total of more than £5,500 after pleading guilty at Grays court to causing pollution.

The court heard that chlorine leaked into Stanford Brook from the leisure centre - killing large numbers of fish and invertebrates - because a swimming pool drain was connected to the surface water sewer. And the drain could be 30 years old.

A joint statement by Thurrock Council and Impulse Leisure says a number of systems failures led to the disinfection chemical spillage, but the drain connection has now been corrected.

The statement says the two organisations "deeply regret the pollution and resulting environmental damage".

It goes on: "Following the incident, a full investigation was undertaken.

"The investigation discovered that a number of system failures as well as a fault in a containment system resulted in an uncontrollable leak into the drainage system at the site. Staff at the site did their best to dilute the spillage as it entered the drains but to no avail."

Impulse Leisure has now totally changed its system at Corringham - "at considerable cost" - so the amount of stored chlorine is reduced.

The new system should also help to improve water quality for swimmers.

Published Monday, December 16, 2002

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