Call for action after cows die from arsenic poisoning

Six cows have died on a farm in Whitworth after water was found to be contaminated with arsenic poison.

Farmer Jane Lees is calling for action after the cattle deaths were linked to arsenic recorded at the site, even though the council insists the levels found are not strong enough to harm to the animals.

Mrs Lees says that Environmental Health officers at Rossendale Borough Council were made aware of the issue last September.

She said: “The cows died in August last year and the post mortem results confirmed that they had died from arsenic poisoning. This is especially upsetting as they were reared from being calves and have left behind orphan calves. It’s very sad.

“We feel angry and frustrated that more has not been done to find the source of the poison. We were told that if water sampling was inconclusive then soil samples would be taken but this hasn't happened.

“As farmers we have grazed the moorland at Shawforth for many years and never had an incident like this before. The vet involved expressed his concerns said if the source of the arsenic was not found then we are in danger of this happening again.”

A spokesperson for Rossendale Borough Council said: “Last year we took samples from the site which, when tested, came back significantly below the set standard to constitute a health risk (10 micrograms per litre), our readings ranged from only 0.2 - 0.4mgpl. We had one reading that was at 2.6mgpl, but again this was significantly below the standard.

“We went back to the site last week and all the samples came back between 0.2-0.4mgpl, even in the area where we had previously got the slightly higher reading. At present this does not present a public health issue but we are monitoring the site.

"We need to ascertain what has happened and this is what we are in the process of doing. We will be going back sampling the site but we need better conditions when there hasn’t been as much rain.”