A public meeting on Thursday 13 November at the Tilling Green Community Centre heard the latest on the devastating pollution incident at Camber Sands. Organised by Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore, residents questioned Southern Water, Rother District Council and the Environment Agency.
It followed the stunning admission from Southern Water that millions of plastic bio-beads were released three weeks ago from their Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works during Storm Benjamin.
The exact number is in doubt, however the meeting was told by Strandliners it could be almost 300 million. Pellets have also been confirmed at other beaches and at the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.
Helena Dollimore encouraged anyone who sees the pellets to call the hotline on 0800 807060 quoting reference 2440833.
Also on Thursday the Environment Minister Emma Reynolds told MPs she was “appalled” by the incident and queried why it was not “uncovered earlier.” Later in the day Water Minister Emma Hardy described the pollution as “devastating” as she visited Camber to see the pollution for herself. You can read her interview with Rye News here.
Bio-beads, which are black or grey, were first seen in huge quantities on Camber Sands along a 2-mile stretch of the beach in early November. They are dangerous to marine and local wildlife as the beads can be mistaken for food. Dog walkers are being encouraged to keep their pets on leads.
With the proximity to the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and the dune habitat of Camber being a Site of Special Scientific Interest, concerns are running high about the environmental damage.
A clean-up of the pellets began on Friday 7 November, organised by Rother District Council coastal officers and Strandliners working with local volunteers and the non-profit organisation Nurdle. They supplied a large specialist suction machine to remove the beads, along with smaller hand-held equipment.
Joshua Beech from Nurdle said it was one of the worst pollution incidents his company had helped clear up. “It’s horrendous and will be an ongoing project for quite a few years.”
Strandliners, the East Sussex citizen scientists who gather evidence on plastic pollution, have also been investigating the cause of the incident and have called on people to report any sightings of newly washed up beads in Camber and on other South East beaches. They say as Southern Water have not given an exact amount of the beads lost it is not known how many are still at sea and waiting to be washed ashore.
On the discovery of the beads, calls went out on social media from Camber Community Information and other local groups for volunteers to go to the beach with rakes, dustpan and brushes, and latterly, sieves. These volunteers far outnumbered those sent by Southern Water, whose response has been severely criticised as “inadequate” by those involved in the clean-up.
Many beads could be seen along the tide line, caught in seaweed and in the sand. Volunteers raked the seaweed to uncover hidden beads and because of their small size they used brushes or worked by hand to collect them. The beads cover a huge area and are also being buried in the sand.
On Monday 10 November Southern Water admitted responsibility “After completing the initial stages of a thorough investigation, which is continuing, we believe it is highly likely that the beads have come from our Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works. We’ve identified a failure of a screening filter which has apparently led to beads used in the treatment process being released into the sea during heavy rainfall. The screen should have prevented this occurring.
“We are very sorry this has happened and are doing everything possible to investigate and resolve the problem. We’ll provide further updates as soon as more information becomes available.
“Southern Water continues to work closely with Rother District Council, which is leading the clean-up efforts, and we remain committed to supporting this work in every way we can. Southern Water volunteers will continue to assist. Our staff are here to help, and we ask that they are treated with respect as they help with the beach clean.”
Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye visited the scene on both Friday 7 and Thursday 13 November to thank the volunteers and groups involved in the clean-up. In a strongly worded statement on Monday 10 November she called for “an independent investigation into how this spill went undetected for so long and why a company with such a long record of environmental negligence once again failed to act responsibly. Southern Water cannot be trusted to mark their own homework.”
As a response to continued pressure from Ms Dollimore, and to the national media coverage, Southern Water agreed to assist in the clean-up and on Tuesday 11 November sent 50 staff members to work alongside Rother District Council coastal officers. Southern Water have also agreed to independently test the beads and to report back on what is found. They will also commission an independent investigation as to how the beads were spilled and why the company did not know about it.
An Environment Agency spokesman said, “We acknowledge that Southern Water has admitted responsibility for the pollution incident at Camber Sands, in a statement released this morning. This is an active investigation and we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action where appropriate.
“The Environment Agency continues to work closely with Rother District Council, which is leading the clean-up of plastic pellets, and other responders. We remain ready to help if needed.
“We encourage anyone with information on this incident to report it to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 807060.”
Rother District Council are continuing to coordinate the clear-up which will be ongoing 7 days a week until further notice. All volunteers are asked to report at the Camber central car park at 10am for a briefing, and to bring dustpan and brushes and sieves.
Council leader Doug Oliver thanked his team for their very quick response to the incident. “I’m also grateful to all the local volunteers who continue to give up their valuable time to support the clean-up operation. However, in order for them and our officers to continue their huge task, they need further specialist equipment and support. We are now in talks with Southern Water to see if some of this equipment can be delivered to Camber as soon as possible.”
An updated statement from Southern Water on 13 November gave further information on their investigations into how the bio-beads left their Eastbourne works. “Our teams have been working on site, including draining a large tank over the past 24 hours. We’ve found far more beads remaining in the system than expected. This means fewer beads – less than 10 tonnes – entered the sea.
“We’ve updated our tidal modelling to understand how these beads may have moved after leaving the site. This will guide our ongoing clean-up work with specialist contractors.”
People who wish to attend the meeting organised by Helena Dollimore on Thursday 13 November at 7pm, which will include representatives of Southern Water, are requested to register at www.helenadollimore.com/plasticbeads. Once registered an email will confirm your place and the location of the meeting.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff , Strandliners , Southern Water .
Southern water admitted at the meeting that beads entering the environment through flawed system design was a known risk. It wasn’t the first time that the risk had been realised in their industry. The regulator is aware of this but has not adequately insisted that this risk was addressed across the industry, otherwise it would not have happened.
Southern water will be managing a risk register. There will be higher risk than this on that register. This incident reduces public confidence in that register, and in the regulator’s ability to enforce the industry to significantly improve risk management.
The history of breaches and eye watering profits made, instead of improving the quality of the industry practices, is criminal. The regulator has failed to serve the public and environmental interests.
I have no confidence that southern water knows the conditions of the assets under their responsibility. I have no confidence in their ability to manage risk or even know what risks they don’t know. Their incompetence and disregard for accountability has been encouraged by serving the financial rewards of their shareholders.
Relying upon charities, local volunteers and a couple of borrowed hoovers is not a robust emergency strategy. Researching whether the plastic is toxic or not after the horse has bolted is not evidence of a diligent safety case risk review process. It is evidence of a lack of accountability from the Regulator and Politicians who allowed Southern water to continue to operate in this way.
As we focus on cleaning the results of southern waters mismanagement, we must remember that this doesn’t address the root cause. The Regulator needs to step up, and southern water need to overhaul. To Dollimore or whoever her successor is, take no prisoners from southern water but more importantly, take no prisoners from the Regulators.
Agree with your sentiments but re Regulator – no one regulates the regulator only sanction is by Parliament in changing the system.
Re taking the failing water companies back into public ownership as per some of the railway companies may be the way to go
A fair assessment of the issues except SW have not paid any dividends to their shareholders since 2017 and have no plans to do so until 2030 at the earliest.
Since this summer, Southern Water is one of six water companies which have been banned from paying bonuses to senior executives. They did, however, pay their chief executive a bonus of £183,000 in 2024.
If most of the pellets are found on the tide line why can’t they scoop up the top 2 inches say with a digger ?
The beads have now been found at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. This is terrible news and it will be even harder to remove them from shingle. Southern Water have failed us yet again. Thank goodness Strandliners and Rother District Council responded quickly at Camber and now Rye Harbour. Also pleased that Helena Dollimore our MP is active across her constituency.
Raking up beads from the sand at Camber is of course a chore but removing them from a shingle beach is impossible .
Its somewhat tongue in cheek but I suggest the CEO senior execs and board of Southern water be personally required to spend all weekend every weekend on the beaches picking then up by hand until its done – might be for the rest of there lives .
John McCurries post says it all. The country is beleaguered by over 400 Quangos’ (Ofwat is one of the better known) many of them being incompetent, self serving and parasitical. Sucking on the teat (nearly a third of the UK Ltd budget is controlled by these entities) of the taxpayer, most have the ability to create secondary legislation. In short ‘make it up as they go along’. ‘Ofwat’ being a part of the pack are toothless, incompetent and happy to hold their hands out for free money. This the fault of successive governments who have divested their responsibilities so they can blame whatever ‘Quango’ when things go wrong. There will be much tearing of hair, gnashing of teeth, weeping and a wailing, by those whose job it is to protect Joe Public. Sadly after it all dies down, ‘lessons will be learnt’ and measures will taken, and life will go on. Simply speaking the cracks will be papered over whilst we await the next disaster.
Being a former man of Rye ,, now living in Hastings for the past 35 years I walked along Hastings beach no plastic beads , I always pick up any disguarded rubbish as you do .. I was thinking of visiting Camber nice walk and pick up as many pellets as I can .. . Is it still £30 to park ??? and has Dury,s gap started charging yet ,, if so I,ll go to Winchelsea beach and intersept any beads moving along due to long shore drift ,, ..
No charges at Broomhill. Charges at Western were bring waived for volunteers.
Southern Water has long been at the top of the list of the worst water companies – this we know. They will of course be heavily fined. However, we will picking up the cost of this gross incompetence via a significant increase in our water rates, These public utilities should never have been privatised There is a clip of Michael Howard back in 1989 commenting on the privatisation of the water boards stating ‘ what could possibly go wrong’.