A ENVIRONMENTAL charity has called on the local community and councils to help them save wildlife living near a river which become rust-coloured last weekend.

Save the River Usk is an environmental volunteer group which works to protect the River Usk and surrounding tributaries from external problems such as pollution. 

After the Afon Lwyd, a tributary of the River Usk, turned the colour of rust last weekend, the charity's founder and chairperson Angela Jones has called on the locals to save the wildlife.

South Wales Argus: Save the River Usk founder Angela Jones believes we must save the wildlife in the rivers fromShe said: "We are still waiting to find out the full impact on the wildlife from the weekend's issue. This is the first time I've experienced this happening, but it is so important to ensure the health of our rivers.

"They are responsible for our health too, so it is absolutely crucial that we protect the wildlife and rivers that we have, or we'll lose them."

Natural Resources Wales issued a statement over the weekend's incident in response to Ms Jones and the charity reporting the problem, in which they put the blame for the river's rustiness down to mine water escaping from the old British iron works in Abersychan.

A spokesperson continued: "The river was discoloured for approximately 20 kilometres to the confluence with the river Usk. We are currently liaising with the coal authority to identify long term solutions to try and stop future pollution incidents.

"We're carrying out biological surveys to assess the impact on fish and invertebrates. We have not yet seen any dead fish but are concerned fish eggs may have died as a result of being smothered with iron oxide.

"The discharge has decreased significantly but the bed of the river remains discoloured orange because of iron oxide deposits. This should disappear over time as the river erodes it away."

Ms Jones now has a team of 82 volunteers regularly collecting around 2,000 samples of river water. They then work with a number of scientists who are able to collate data to reveal the true picture of the river's health at any one time. 

She added: "Our environment is one of the most important things we have here. We feel it is our responsibility as part of this community to help hold pollutants such as this to account and put a stop to it for the sake of future generations."