SEPA officers attend River Lochy after reports of 'blood and fish scales' in water

Officers from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) have attended a river in the Highlands to investigate a potential pollution incident.

Residents initially noticed red liquid flowing into River Lochy near Fort William on Sunday, September 29.

Robyn Martin was out walking her dog when she began to smell blood in the air.

She told STV News: “I’ve worked in restaurants most of my life, so I recognised the smell. My dog also reacted strangely in the area with the smell.

“I then spotted the colour of the river and walked further towards the water to investigate, where I then took the pictures of the water flowing out the pipe.”

Photos taken on Monday, appear to show a number of dead fish and scales appearing from a nearby pipe.

SEPA has confirmed that officers attended the scene, and an investigation is ongoing with Scottish Water’s help.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “SEPA’s investigation into a potential pollution incident at River Lochy, near Fort William, remains ongoing. Our officers have been on site, and we are working with Scottish Water.

“We would encourage anyone that is concerned about a potential pollution incident to contact our pollution reporting line as soon as possible. This can be done through our online form at www.sepa.org.uk/report.”

Mowi Scotland, the UK’s largest supplier of farm-raised salmon, operates a facility at the nearby Blar Mhor industrial estate.

Following an internal investigation, the company believes the pollution didn’t originate from their site.

A spokesperson from the business said: “Mowi has undertaken its own investigation into the incident at the River Lochy where local people reported a red discharge. Mowi is confident that the discharge did not come from its facility at the Blar Mhor Industrial Estate.

“Mowi has checked all its operating procedures as well as the effluent system and CCTV. The effluent is cleaned onsite by a water treatment process that removes contaminants from water.

“Following this process, the effluent is only discharged to the Scottish Water treatment works at Caol Point.

“Mowi is not the only business which processes this type of material on the Blar Mhor Industrial Estate but is the only one regulated by SEPA under IPPC regulations.

“Mowi will continue to work with SEPA and Scottish Water as they look to identify the source of the discharge incident.”

Scottish Water has confirmed they are taking part in a joint investigation with SEPA.