Cyanide in canal 'could be removed in a week'

A toxic chemical which spilled into a canal in Walsall could be removed or neutralised within a week, an expert claimed.

Sodium cyanide was one of three substances released into the canal after what the Environment Agency (EA) called a waste disposal incident at Anochrome Ltd.

Twelve miles of canals across the Black Country and Birmingham were cordoned off on Tuesday but the EA said on Wednesday the contamination zone was "smaller than expected".

Dr Jonathan Paul, a senior lecturer in geosciences, said the situation would hopefully be resolved within a week.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM, the lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London explained the strategies which the EA could use to dilute or remove the toxic substance from the water.

"One of the cheaper solutions would be just to dilute the water, pump in a load of fresh water from somewhere else so the concentrations go down," he said.

"There are other more active things they could do, they could run it through a filter to try and remove it.

"Or they could add certain chemicals to the water which would have the effect of taking the cyanide out of the water and making it a kind of scum on the surface which could be skimmed off and then disposed of safely."

Sodium cyanide can cause seizures, vomiting and loss of consciousness.

Dr Paul said the EA would probably be rolling out these measures over a matter of days.

"Hopefully, touch wood, this situation will be resolved within a week," he said.

"If there is a silver lining, it's that cyanide breaks down naturally quite quickly over a course of days."