Major incident in West Midlands after sodium cyanide spill into Walsall canal

A major incident was declared on Wednesday after authorities said a spill of sodium cyanide into a West Midlands canal posed a serious health risk to the public.

Members of the public are being advised to avoid a 12-mile stretch of canals and towpaths centred in Walsall after the toxic spillage, understood to have happened on Monday.

The risk is to people and pets who have direct contact with the canal water. According to the UK Health Security Agency sodium cyanide can cause headache, nausea, dizziness, nervousness, confusion, changes in heart rate, drowsiness, fitting, vomiting, low blood pressure and loss of consciousness.

Sodium cyanide consists of “white crystal-like solids with a faint almond odour” and are, the agency said, “used in industry for metal cleaning, plating and extraction and photography”.

Walsall council said it was notified of a spillage in the canal at Pleck, which stretches for more than a mile from Spinks Bridge to Birchills Street Bridge, on 12 August.

Garry Perry, the leader of Walsall council, said the priority was the safety of residents.

“I share their concerns and hope to see this incident resolved as soon as possible,” he said. “We are working closely with our partners to manage this situation, which has been declared a major incident. For your own safety please avoid this area of the canal and its towpaths.”

Perry told the BBC that it was “a very live and ongoing investigation”.

He added: “Anything like this is serious – particularly where the potential risk to health and safety of animals and humans is always going to cause alarm.”

Perry said there would be an investigation into how the spill happened but at the moment it was too early to speculate.

The council posted a map showing the canals the public should stay away from. It included waterways from Walsall lock flight to lock flights at Rushall, Ryders Green and Perry Barr.

Anyone exposed to the canal water in the area who is feeling unwell has been advised to seek health advice through calling 111 or, in an emergency, 999.

The council said anyone who had caught fish from the canal should not eat them. Drinking water is not affected.

The spillage was being treated as a major incident and involved a number of agencies including police, fire, ambulance, councils, the Environment Agency, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Severn Trent Water and the Canal and Rivers Trust.

A sampling and testing programme has been established by the Environment Agency with the aim of reducing the affected area as soon as possible, the authorities said.

A further update on the situation was expected on Wednesday afternoon.