Marsh monitoring after Grouville slurry spill

Tuesday 10 February 2015

The stream running through Grouville Marsh will be monitored in the Spring to see whether last month’s slurry spill has done any damage to the ecosystem.

Last month up to 900 cubic metres of slurry burst out of a ruptured tank at Gold Leaf Farm near Le Prés Manor, flowing through the marsh and into the Royal Bay of Grouville.

Although it’s hoped that the reed beds will filter out much of the damage and that Jersey Water’s work to flush out the slurry will help prevent too much impact, the States’ principal ecologist John Pinel says that monitoring work will take place.

He said: “The main potential impact is on the stream.

“The department has been monitoring the stream for quite some time. We will monitor again later this year at which point we will know if there any detectable impact on the invertebrates that live there.

“The marsh is most important for migratory birds and the likelihood is there is going to be no impact from the birds’ point of view, although there could be a small knock-on effect if the invertebrates have been affected, there may be less flies and less food for them.”