The Scottish Government has offered £95,000 to help clear up a Perthshire river blighted by landfill contamination.
Anglers at the River Ericht recently filled 60 bin bags during an effort to clear the Blairgowrie beauty spot of decades old landfill exposed at the river bank.
With the government pledging match funding for a more permanent clean up, Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) said it was in a position to plan the work.
But the council has yet to confirm when work will commence.
Meanwhile, waste from the now disused dump continues to spill out into the fishing waters because of erosion.
Anglers take matters into their own hands
Everything from what appears to be medical waste to vintage toothpaste tubes has come out of the exposed river bank.
River convener Robert Kellie said a disgusted group of anglers recently walked away after seeing the pollution.
Local anglers have taken matters into their own hands as they wait for PKC to start work to contain the waste.
Robert said he had “better things to do” at the weekend than litter pick.
But seeing unsightly debris blight the river is something he and other local anglers are not prepared to put up with.
“We got 60 bags of rubbish.
“Most of the work so far has been done by Blairgowrie angling club.
“We see it when we’re fishing the river.”
Update expected from the council
A PKC spokesperson welcomed the £95,000 pledged by the government.
“We are currently planning this work and will provide an update to the community as soon as we can on when this will take place.”
However, Robert doubts £190,000 will be enough to fix the landfill contamination.
He said the last repairs to a much smaller stretch of riverbank cost £80,000.
“It didn’t particularly work very well,” he added.
“This is going to be an ongoing thing unless they resolve it.”
Meanwhile, he expressed anger at Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) for “walking away” from the problem.
A Sepa spokesperson said because the landfill site closed before the agency was established in the 1990s, they did not regulate it.
Sepa has, however, been advising PKC on how to prevent landfill from seeping into the Ericht.
Ericht is Special Area of Conservation
Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said the Scottish Government “take environmental protection seriously”.
She said the government was involved in discussions with PKC and Sepa.
“Following these discussions, we have agreed to provide match funding of £95,000 to support remediation work on the River Ericht.
“This funding will allow the council to take the necessary steps to address concerns about waste.
“That work will also help to protect a Special Area of Conservation, benefitting local residents and supporting local biodiversity.”
