Canal & River Trust Environmental Incident Response
The Canal & River Trust, a national charity responsible for maintaining and protecting England and Wales’s inland waterways, faced a significant environmental emergency in August 2024. A Cat1 Major Incident, according to the Environmental Agency, occurred when a metal plating company experienced a catastrophic release on their site.
Challenge
The incident resulted in the discharge of 4,500 litres of hazardous chemicals, which included zinc compounds, cyanide, sodium cyanide and caustic soda.
These toxic substances were released directly into a surface water drain that feeds into the canal system, creating an immediate threat to the waterway ecosystem and potentially affecting the broader network of canals under Canal & River Trust’s stewardship.
There were immediate concerns for the environmental contamination of waterway systems, and the potential long-term ecological impact, alongside an immediate need for rapid assessment and response. This led to Canal & River Trust having to reach out to multiple stakeholders for comprehensive testing and monitoring to be carried out along the 12-mile stretch of canal that was initially closed to the public and boaters.
Project Description and Background
As part of an ongoing commitment to waterway protection, Canal & River Trust maintains comprehensive monitoring and testing protocols across its network of canals and rivers.
Canal & River Trust has established a long-standing partnership with SOCOTEC UK & Ireland as its national laboratory contractor, providing reliable testing services across all mediums including sediment, soil, and water sampling. This established relationship, spanning several years, proved crucial during the emergency response.
Solution
As this emergency situation developed, and as Canal & River Trust’s established national laboratory partner, SOCOTEC provided comprehensive analytical support throughout the emergency response and monitoring phases.
The solution involved the utilisation of established protocols for emergency sample analysis, which was carried out by SOCOTEC’s testing laboratories, via reliable expedited testing services for contaminated water and sediment.
Then, comprehensive analysis of water samples took place to track heavy metals and cyanide compounds, alongside sediment testing to assess contamination levels. This was undertaken in order to verify the environmental consultant’s (working on behalf of the polluter’s loss adjusters) own sampling data to provide greater assurance to the Trust.
The response was characterised by seamless collaboration between SOCOTEC and Canal & River Trust teams, benefitting from the established working relationship to ensure efficient coordination during the crisis.
The additional testing (on top of the consultant’s works) provided by SOCOTEC ensured that more data was collected to provide greater assurance to the Trust and that a detailed understanding of contamination impacts were obtained.
Although this incident was a tragedy which had very serious consequences, we can be proud of the fact that it was responded to in such a collaborative fashion across multiple agencies and partners. We are thankful to SOCOTEC, who supported us with our specific testing requirements and for using advanced chemistry techniques to further our understanding of the potential impacts of the incident. As our national laboratory testing contractor, we continue to forge an ever-stronger relationship with SOCOTEC.
Canal & River Trust Environmental Incident Response
Conclusion
Eventually, the Walsall Canal was able to fully reopen to the public and boaters in June 2025, after 10 months of closure and a phased reopening. The incident response demonstrated the critical value of established partnerships in environmental emergency situations. SOCOTEC's role as Canal & River Trust’s trusted national laboratory contractor enabled rapid, reliable analytical support when it was most needed, giving the Trust the data they needed at the required pace.
The collaborative effort between organisations ensured that comprehensive testing and monitoring could be implemented swiftly to address the environmental contamination and verification of third-party sampling/testing.
The successful partnership between Canal & River Trust and SOCOTEC continues to provide essential analytical services for waterway protection across the national canal and river network, ensuring ongoing environmental stewardship and rapid response capabilities for future incidents.
Eventually, the Walsall Canal was able to fully reopen to the public and boaters in June 2025, after 10 months of closure and a phased reopening. The incident response demonstrated the critical value of established partnerships in environmental emergency situations. SOCOTEC's role as Canal & River Trust’s trusted national laboratory contractor enabled rapid, reliable analytical support when it was most needed, giving the Trust the data they needed at the required pace.
The collaborative effort between organisations ensured that comprehensive testing and monitoring could be implemented swiftly to address the environmental contamination and verification of third-party sampling/testing.
The successful partnership between Canal & River Trust and SOCOTEC continues to provide essential analytical services for waterway protection across the national canal and river network, ensuring ongoing environmental stewardship and rapid response capabilities for future incidents.
