Daily monitoring of the coast beyond Rye and Camber has been extended 40 miles from Eastbourne to St Mary’s Bay, says Southern Water. Modelling forecasts are being used to predict the location and spread of the millions of plastic beads that remain in the water.
The pellets, which were released from the company’s Eastbourne treatment works at the end of October, began to be washed up at Camber Sands in large numbers at the start of November.
Click here for the Rye News report on the public meeting on 14 November in Rye.
In a statement issued on Monday 17 November, Southern Water reiterated their commitment to the clear-up. “Southern Water teams, including specialist contractors, continue to support the clean-up effort at Camber Sands, working with Rother District Council. Some 80% of the beads initially deposited at Camber have been removed. Recovering the remainder by hand will inevitably take a considerable time. The monitoring and clean-up operation is likely to extend well into the future: there is a risk of further beads being washed up on strong tides. Sandy beaches like Camber Sands are more likely to retain the beads on the surface; this is less likely on shingle stretches of coast.”
The collection of the beads is a slow and painstaking process with most of it being done by hand. This video by Caroline Fraser shows just what a difficult task this is.
After the discovery of beads in the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve on Thursday 13 November, it was decided to close the sluice gates and culverts that drain water into the reserve from the River Rother. Richard Cobden of the reserve explained that clearing the beads from the marsh is much more difficult than the beach. “We have closed the sluice gates to prevent any more beads entering the saltmarsh, but we are aware that there is a limited amount of time that the saltmarsh can be exposed without risking impacting this wetland.”
He continued, “It is much more complicated to remove the beads from the saltmarsh than the beach, as the beads are tangled up in the vegetation and debris, so we are consulting experts to come up with the best solution. For example, we will be unlikely to be able to use machinery or large numbers of volunteers as this could damage the fragile habitat. The bio-beads are similar in size to seeds, so pose a risk to birds that may eat them. Beyond the short-term risk, we are concerned about the long-term impact of this pollution on the wildlife at the Nature Reserve.
“Chris Corrigan, Sussex Wildlife Trust CEO, will be meeting with the CEO of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, to discuss how this happened, plans for the clean-up operation and what measures will now be implemented to ensure it never happens again.”
Southern Water are tackling beads in the water as well as those on the beaches. “At Rye, we are working with the Environment Agency and Natural England to arrange for a boom to be erected to catch beads. Sluice gates on the marsh have been closed, preventing further entry of seawater carrying beads. It has been established that although the beads do not sink in the sea, they also do not stay on the surface. We are adapting removal methods in light of this: for example, the efforts we have made to retrieve beads by boat have so far not been successful because the beads are not sitting on the surface and are thought to be quite dispersed.”
The clean-up plan is being supported by the Environment Agency and specialist contractors Adler and Allan. Rother District Council continues to lead the massive clean-up. The non-profit organisation Nurdles worked constantly for five days from 6 to 10 November using their large suction machine to take up sizeable amounts deposited on the high spring tide. Their work will continue after each spring tide over the coming weeks and months. This will allow for as much as possible of the remaining pellets, and any new amount that may wash ashore, to be cleaned up. Volunteers meet daily in Central car park in Camber at 10am for a briefing and are advised to bring gloves, dustpans, brushes, bags or buckets, and sieves.
Strandliners have been heavily involved in advising and working on the clear-up supporting Rother District Council with their knowledge and expertise. They have been helped with modelling from MTS-CFD Ltd showing how a bio-bead/plastic pellet spill from the Eastbourne Water Treatment Works could drift due to tides and currents from a provisional 14-hour release starting at 2.00am on 28 October. This model produces beaching patterns consistent with observations, with Camber Sands acting as a natural hotspot because its coastal form, embayment geometry, winds and tidal residuals concentrate drifting material ashore.
Andy Dinsdale of Strandliners says that this modelling is subject to many uncertainties. “Assuming (subject to confirmation) a 10-tonne discharge of around 160 million beads, approximately 78% had beached by 8 November, with the remaining offshore fraction expected to strand during the next southerly storm/spring tide event; all results remain caveated by uncertainties in the true spill timing, duration and mass.”
Please report any sightings of newly washed-up beads to the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60 quoting reference 2440833 or contact Helena Dollimore MP at helena.dollimore.mp@parliament.uk.These will be logged and investigated by the contractors and beads removed.
Image Credits: © Arthur Sloman / Sussex Wildlife Trust , Stephen Masters .