Southern Water apologised for the catastrophic plastic pellet spill and committed to cleaning up every bead, at a public meeting organised by Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore at Tilling Green Community Centre, Rye on Thursday 13 November.
The panel at Thursday’s meeting included Sam Stone the coastal officer for Rother District Council, who have been coordinating the clear-up, Richard Oakes of the Environment Agency and John Penicud of Southern Water. Each gave an update on the actions that are being taken to investigate and clean-up the spill.
Click here for the latest on the pollution incident.
Members of organisations and businesses concerned about the impact of the plastic pollution were in the audience including Rother District Council’s CEO Lorna Clerk and Rye’s two Rother District Council councillors, Cheryl Creaser and Simon McGurk; Mayor Andy Stuart and other Rye town councillors; Rye Chamber of Commerce’s Jane Brook and Sarah Broadbent (also as chair of Visit 1066 Country); Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and Sussex Wildlife Trust; Strandliners and Clean Water Action Hastings; and businesses including Rye Bay Beach School and Camber Kitesurfing. Many local residents also packed the hall.
The spill, considered to be possibly one of the UK’s largest, has seen millions of the tiny beads washed up on beaches across the region including in Hastings, Fairlight and Dungeness with the largest amount being deposited on Camber Sands. To gasps of shock, Helena Dollimore told the audience that they had now been found in the saltmarsh of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve threatening the lives of birds on the reserve. The beads can be mistaken for food by fish and birds and, if ingested, can block stomachs causing them to die of starvation.
As reported by Rye News last week, Southern Water admitted on 10 November that the beads had escaped from Eastbourne’s Wastewater Treatment Works on 27/28 October when a metal grille in a tank, designed to keep the beads in place, failed. After their investigations, they estimate that 10 tonnes of beads have been released into the sea which, according to Strandliners, could be over 300 million beads.
The meeting was told that the Environment Agency was investigating the incident calling on experts and scientists, modelling tidal flows, collecting evidence and researching the effects on wildlife.
John Penicud, managing director of wastewater for Southern Water apologised saying that it was “totally unacceptable” and that the company would “stay as long as it takes to do the clean-up” and “were determined to learn lessons so this never happens again”. He said that there are now Southern Water workers at the beach every day and that they have bought in a Nurdle suction machine which could also be used on shingle beaches. There would be an independent investigation with the results made public and the company was committed to pay for the clean-up, he told the audience.
There were questions about the toxicity and lifetime of the pellets, and how long they could cause a danger to wildlife which were not fully answered as these, the audience was told, were part of the ongoing investigations. Concerns were also raised as to why it took nearly two weeks from the original spill for Southern Water to realise the seriousness of the situation and why it took pressure from local communities, organisations and the area MP, for them to respond.
Caroline, a local resident, was concerned that the cost of the clear-up and any fines would inevitably fall on water customers and result in higher bills and was informed that this would come from a variety of funds including from investors and shareholders. This was a particularly pertinent question as customers have just received emails informing them that their annual bills will be increasing on average by 50% with some increasing as much as 70%.
Another common concern expressed was about Southern Water’s lack of investment in infrastructure and the increasing pressures on the system due to population growth. According to John Penicud, Southern Water are investing £1.5 billion over 10 years to get to the root cause of storm overflows to protect rivers and the sea from sewage spills.
Helena Dollimore called on Southern Water to transition to modern methods of cleaning waste water that do not involve the use of beads and to have better control of the plants. At present there are five Southern Water plants that continue to use the beads while some other water companies have stopped using them altogether.
Helena Dollimore and other members of the panel thanked those involved in the clean-up including all the local volunteers who had spent many hours on their hands and knees with brushes, dustpans, sieves and rakes, which was met with general applause.
Please report any sightings of bio-beads to the Environment Agency Incident Hotline on 0800 807060 quoting reference number 2440833 or contact Helena Dollimore at helena.dollimore.mp@parliament.uk
Image Credits: Natasha Robinson .