Following pressure from Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore and Chris Corrigan, CEO of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency (EA) has now increased their response to the bio-bead pollution on Camber Sands and Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to a Category 1 Environmental Pollution Incident, the most serious. In a statement on 9 January Ms Dollimore states that, “Southern Water will now face the highest level of scrutiny for this major incident.”
The plastic pellets were released from Eastbourne wastewater treatment works in October when a metal screen failed releasing an estimated 312 million of the beads into the sea, and the clean-up has continued since early November, co-ordinated by Rother District Council and involving Southern Water, the Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency.
A Category 1 incident is defined by the EA as one that has “a major adverse effect on a statutorily protected site or species”. The dunes at Camber and the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and as such is a factor in the EA escalating the level.
This follows research conducted by Professor Andreas Baas from Kings College London that has found that bio-beads from Camber contain heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium, which pose an added threat to birds and wildlife, as previously reported in Rye News. Another criteria for deeming an incident Category 1 is the effect on the “amenity value” of the sites as visitors have been advised to keep dogs on leads and closely supervised.
Previously, Ms Dollimore has called on Southern Water to fully co-operate with the EA’s investigation by attending interviews and answering questions put to them by the agency.
The clean-up of the beach and the nature reserve continues. With two high spring tides in the last two weeks, one coinciding with Christmas Day and the other on January 4-6, Nurdle, experts in clearing microplastic pollution, were back at Camber and the surrounding area with their vacuum machine, collecting newly washed-up beads or those uncovered by the tides.
During the December spring tide, Roy from Nurdle was at work on Christmas Day and Southern Water staff and contractors continue to use sieves on Camber as well as backpack vacuums at the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Nurdle have committed to returning at each spring tide, which occur twice a month, when it is easier to remove the beads at the high tide strandline.
In a statement Southern Water said that they are increasing their monitoring of wastewater treatment works and outlined the new equipment that will be in use in January onwards.
“We have paid for three new specialist microplastic hoovers to be made to support the ongoing effort. These machines will be ready to use from 5 January by Nurdle and our contractors Adler and Allan. We’ve also commissioned the build of a large towable beach screener that will act like a giant sieve to remove the top layer of sand to retrieve any beads that may be just under the surface – this will be late January.
“We’re really grateful for the fantastic help we’ve received so far from all volunteers. Like in December, Nurdle is kindly asking for volunteers to avoid helping at the beach until further notice to allow the machinery to complete the clean-up safely and effectively.“
Despite the Kings College London research into the toxicity of the beads, Southern Water says that the public can continue to enjoy the beach including walking dogs, which should be kept on leads, and swimming in the sea.
In December, Helena Dollimore and the Sussex Wildlife Trust launched the Bin the Beads campaign calling on water companies to stop using bio-beads in coastal treatment works and to switch to using more modern, environmentally friendly methods.
Image Credits: Nurdle , Carolyn Gould .