Rother District Council continue to lead on the beach clean-up of the bio-beads spill at Camber with Southern Water sub-contractors and local volunteers on the beach every day, using environmentally sensitive methods.
The Southern Water team work from 9am to 3pm, sifting the sand by hand along and above the strandline, using 4 square battery-operated sieves to filter out the bio-beads from buckets of sand. On Tuesday 25 November, the team worked in sections along the beach around the Kit Kat cafe and in areas where the beads were most concentrated.
It is a slow process made more difficult as the beads are being buried in the sand, are more dispersed and are harder to see than during the first weeks of the spill. The process is made even slower as there are now only 22 Southern Water people clearing when, during the first days, there were 50 and over. Large sections of the beach have no-one at all working on them.
Heavy machinery and mechanical methods cannot be used in this delicate ecosystem and would further bury the beads. On Wednesday 26 November, Southern Water announced that they have introduced 12 battery-operated sieves and are “covering the cost of three new nurdle machines (high-powered vacuum and sorting machines) for longer-term beach cleaning and for use in sensitive areas.”
Material collected is stored in the coastal officers store in Central car park before being sent to Southern Water for processing and separating the sand and other material. The cleaned sand will be returned to the beach.
Experts on clearing microplastics, Nurdle, will be returning to Camber at the next spring tide on 5 December, when more beads are expected to be washed up higher on the beach. These can be collected by their suction machine which was used during the first 5 days of the spill. This is an ongoing operation and Nurdle are planning to return at each spring tide.
Southern Water made a statement on efforts to protect the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, on 26 November. “The previous plan to deploy booms at Rye Harbour was assessed by Sussex Wildlife Trust, Natural England, and the SW contractor ecologist as ineffective and potentially harmful.
“The decision was made not to use booms. Instead, salt marsh protection will rely on existing sluice gates fitted with Adler and Allan-provided netting. A trial this week will refine the optimal frequency of operation and effectiveness.”
The CEO off the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Chris Corrigan met with Southern Water CEO, Lawrence Gosden to ask him about the reasons for the spill and how to prevent it from happening again. He called on the company, who have agreed to cover the cost of the clean-up, not to pass on these costs to bill payers. At a public meeting in Rye on 13 November, John Penicud of Southern Water informed the audience that the costs would come from a variety of sources including from investors and shareholders.
Volunteers are welcome seven days a week and are invited to meet at 10am at Central car park in Camber for a briefing and to collect equipment and PPE. If you are able, bring a bucket or bag, dustpans and brushes, and gloves.
Sightings of beads along the coastline can be reported to Southern Water using their Online Bead Reporting Tool and locations can be shared accurately using What3Words.
Reports can also be made to the Environment Agency Incident Hotline on 0800 807060 quoting reference number 2440833 or contact Helena Dollimore at helena.dollimore.mp@parliament.uk
Read this week’s article by Sofia Gurney, an Environmental Science student at the University of Plymouth on her experience as a volunteer involved in the clear-up here.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff .