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"Most environmentally friendly festival ever" bad for fishies, ducklings
t was billed as the most environmentally friendly festival ever, with a climate change campaign taking centre stage and an array of green facilities intended to help revellers cut down on their carbon footprints and their waste.Yesterday, however, Glastonbury's eco-credentials were undermined somewhat when it emerged that festival-goers urinating in a river that runs through the site after they had been drinking and taking drugs had left it dangerously toxic for the surrounding wildlife. An emergency team of self-declared "green police", who are patrolling festivities to ensure minimal damage to the environment, were ordered to cordon off Whitelake stream after the Environment Agency informed them it contained levels of ammonia so high they were life-threatening for fish. Bernadette Vallely, head of Glastonbury Green Police said: "The Environment Agency called to say they were very concerned about an area left unprotected by the Pyramid Stage. They said the toxicity levels were high, so we sent a team of Green Police to investigate and cordon off access to the river." Jason Morgan, a More than 4,000 fish died after the 2004 festival because the water became toxic, he explained. "It's a very real threat to the ecosystem," he said. "The urine that goes into the water flow is contaminated with alcohol and drugs, which also affects the frog and toad population." The Environment Agency said it was checking the toxicity of water levels hourly, using electronic sensors that automatically sent a mobile alert to environmental workers when the ammonia levels reached a dangerous level. The festival has been trying to clamp down on rogue revellers this year, with a policy that sees offenders escorted from the site if they are caught urinating in the river more than once. In an attempt to encourage people not to damage the countryside, organisers have provided more lavatories and urinals than ever. Female urinals called "Shepees", made from boat-shaped paper cups, are being handed out to help women who do not fancy braving the queues. But not everyone is convinced by the rules. "When it's dark, who doesn't pee outside?" said James Hackett, 19, from South Wales. "There's a great wall by the Jazz World Stage that makes a perfectly good urinal. I haven't met those fish and frogs, but if I do I'll pass on my apologies." Or to put it JoeSpeak: As BEAR>WOODS, you have MOONBAT>RIVER. An Environment Agency spokesperson confirmed the Green Police had been sent to cordon off the riverside in the backstage area behind the Pyramid Stage. But they denied being overly concerned about the toxicity levels. A spokesperson for Glastonbury Festival said that no major environmental issue had been bought to his attention, but added: "With a festival this size, where every single aspect is monitored on an hourly basis, it's absolutely normal to get blips but all problems have been dealt with remarkably quickly." Almost 200 "green police", have the power to ban serious environmental offenders for life. They are also targeting smokers who drop cigarette butts the policemen are handing out old film canisters as portable ashtrays. "Cigarette butts have killed cows here before", said Jason Morgan, "they also take 14 years to biodegrade, but people are still doing it". This year, the festival has installed Europe's largest solar-powered shower block, as well as providing many recycling bins and giving out Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds 2007-06-26 |
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