WINCHESTER’S MP has waded into a debate about alleged pollution in the River Itchen.

Steve Brine visited Alresford Salads, based in Bighton Lane, to meet staff from Bakkavor and discuss their current application to the Environment Agency.

As reported in the Chronicle, residents are worried that the chalk stream is being damaged by chemicals entering the water through salad-washing, but this is disputed by Bakkavor.

The company has applied to vary a discharge permit, but the details are currently unavailable from the Environment Agency. At present, the application is only available from the Agency’s office in Worthing.

Mr Brine told the Chronicle: “We are fortunate to live on one of the best chalk streams in the world and it’s our responsibility to look after it. I’m interested in the facts and the evidence which is why I am speaking to everyone concerned, including the Environment Agency who are the independent regulator here and will rightly make a decision on this application in accordance with statute.

“Bakkavor have made many changes to improve their discharge in recent years and have told me they will go on doing that but I do think they should at least explore a solution which would seemingly satisfy everyone and that’s to treat all overnight wash discharge as foul sewer.”

That would mean that the company would no longer be able to discharge it into the river.

The Chronicle directly asked Bakkavor what chemicals are involved in the permit renewal application, and a spokesperson said: “Bakkavor takes its environmental responsibilities extremely seriously and we are proud of our record of ensuring the highest levels of environmental safety across our business.

“The petition started in relation to our permit renewal application to the Environment Agency contains misleading inaccuracies.

“Our Alresford Salads site is committed to washing all leaf product in non-chlorinated water and any water discharged from the site is filtered and treated to ensure it meets the exacting standards of the Environment Agency.

“We are happy to engage with the community on this issue to reassure them.”

A petition, which has garnered more than 6,000 signatures, states the aim is, “to stop the renewal licence allowing Bakkavor to dump their factory’s daily trade effluent containing a cocktail of potentially harmful chemicals into the head waters of the River Itchen”.

Fears were also raised in Parliament when Lord Vinson submitted a written question asking the government what steps they intend to take to safeguard the chalk stream from pollution and abstraction.

In a statement on his website, Mr Brine said: “I became aware a few weeks back of a petition created online which caused a lot of alarm to local people. The petition originally claimed, for example, that chlorine was used as part of the salad-washing treatment, and then transferred to the River Arle via discharge. The only difficulty with this was chlorine has not been used on the site for a number of years.

“I fear we’ve another case here of people confusing information and fact online as one and the same. They are clearly not and I note the petition has now been revised.

“My visit to the Bakkavor site was to meet face to face with senior members of the team and to establish the facts.

“Bakkavor were very clear with me that nothing in their application is either illegal or taking a retrograde step regarding the health of the river and that their processes continue to be signed off as safe and well within the regulations laid down by Parliament.

“I understand there are concerns around some of the chemicals used at night to wash down the factory but I was pleased to hear from Bakkavor that they are continually working to reduce the environmental impact of this process and they remain well within limits as new products are brought into use.

“They also made the point to me, which I hadn’t appreciated, that the chemicals we all use as householders to do tasks such as cleaning the bathroom, and ultimately get washed down the drain, have a far wider impact on local water quality.

“I have also been fully briefed by the Environment Agency on this process and they have been clear to me that nothing in this application breaks any rules or regulations set out by statute. I know they constantly monitor the river here and that is very good to know.“Seems to me the EA are the experts here and they will judge the Bakkavor application according to the evidence and in line with all current statute. That must be the right approach.“I was pleased to visit and speak directly with Bakkavor. We are, rightly, all concerned to protect the local environment we value so greatly but I do think it’s important we deal in the facts.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Protecting the environment is at the forefront of our decision-making, and we take local concerns very seriously.

“Firms and private individuals with permits must meet the conditions set out in them. Safeguarding the area in and around rivers not an optional extra for them.

“The agency regularly monitors the release of waste water into the Itchen by Bakkavor Foods, as well as checking the river in general. The condition of this stretch of the Itchen is good or high, to a European standard. Research in 2017 showed fish and invertebrates numbers just a kilometre from Bakkavor as very high.

“We will continue to work with the company and others to improve the quality of the Itchen further.

“We are currently reviewing an application made by Bakkavor to vary its discharge permit, and we will take a number of factors into account before a final decision is made.”

Residents say they believe the river wildlife is declining because salad leaves are sprayed with chemicals abroad before being imported, which gets washed into the river.

Nick Measham, campaigns manager at Salmon and Trout Conservation, said: “The solution would have been simple – the Environment Agency could have forced Alresford Salads to connect to the mains sewer as its competitor, Vitacress, does on the Bourne Rivulet. It would have cost money, of course, but it would have protected this once-famous river from potential chemical pollution from the salad washing plant, and that, surely, is the priority for an environmental regulator?.

“This decision is astounding. It shouldn’t matter that the Itchen is one of our high profile chalkstreams – chemical discharge should not be allowed into any watercourse.”