Environment Agency say River Gipping incidents are ‘nutural’

On Monday, a brown pool of foam was spotted on the River Gipping, near West End Road, Ipswich, and was reported to the Environment Agency.

Previously, on Saturday, a thick orange sheen was also spotted in Stowmarket, on the River Rat near the Boulton Bridge.

The foam was spotted in Ipswich on Monday. (Image: Paul Aldous)

The Orange Patch was spotted in Stowmarket over the weekend. (Image: Heather Foster)

However, the environment watchdog says the foam is from “naturally-occurring algae”, while the orange patch is likely to be “ochre”, a substance caused by a reaction between iron and water.

The organisation did confirm that in both incidents, officers did not attend the incidents, but said the images and reports were assessed remotely.

An Environmental Agency said: “We don’t always need to attend the scene of suspected pollution, but all of the 100,000 reports we get are assessed.”

Paul Aldous says the river needs to be tested more often. (Image: Paul Aldous)

However, Paul Aldous, an environmental campaigner in Ipswich, has questioned this practice and says potential pollution incidents are being missed.

“My question would be, if they have not tested it, how do they know?”, said Mr Aldous.

“It is not the staff who are the problem. The problem is the system they are trying to implement.”

He noted how campaign groups, such as Save the River Gipping and the River Gipping Trust, have helped to protect the river with testing and litter picking sessions.

Large amounts of white foam were seen in Stowmarket and Ipswich in November. (Image: Contributed)

“Water testing should be routinely done by the Environment Agency and Anglian Water but they don’t have the staffing to undertake it”, he added.

“If it wasn’t for those two campaign groups, the state of the river would be a disgrace.”

The concern also comes after Anglian Water confirmed on Thursday that sewage had leaked into the River Gipping near Needham Road, Stowmarket, in a separate incident.

A septic tank has leaked into the River Gipping. (Image: Contributed)

Sarah Day, who lives opposite the River Gipping site, said it had put her off going in the river again. She described the smell as “horrendous” and “disgusting”.

Meanwhile, in November last year, the Environment Agency said it was investigating a large volume of white foam which was spotted in the river in Stowmarket and Ipswich. The paper has contacted the organisation for an update.

In the whole of 2024, there were around 28,260 hours or 1,177 days of sewage spills in Suffolk, according to the watchdog.