Shire Brook - Pollution

Pollution

The Shire Brook was heavily polluted for many years, as storm drain overflow took raw sewage into the brook and then into the River Rother which was known as one of the most polluted rivers in Europe in the early 1990s. In 2005/6 much work was done to control the overflow with several storm flow storage tanks built in the Shire Brook valley. Yorkshire Water were fined £5,000 plus costs when pumps failed at the Linley Bank Sewage Pumping Station, Hackenthorpe on March 30 and 31, 2006 allowing untreated sewage to affect an 800 metre stretch of the brook.