‘Environmental catastrophe’ fears as millions of plastic beads wash up on Camber Sands | East Sussex
Southern Water is investigating after millions of contaminated plastic balls washed up on Camber Sands beach, risking an “environmental catastrophe”.
Biobeads could have a disastrous impact on marine life, the local MP said, amid fears that rare marine species including seabirds, porpoises and seals could ingest them and die.
Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye, suspects the beads may have been dumped by a local water treatment center and has written to Southern Water managing director Lawrence Gosden to demand an explanation.
Camber Sands in East Sussex is one of England’s best-loved beaches, with rare dune habitat and vast expanses of golden sand.
Volunteers raced against time to clear the beads, filling dozens of bags with plastic waste, but the scale of the pollution is vast and it is unlikely they will be able to remove them all.
Andy Dinsdale, of plastic pollution campaign group Strandliners, said on Saturday: “This is the worst pollution event I have ever seen. This is contaminated plastic. Marine animals will ingest small plastic items once in the sea, they will attract algae, they will smell like food, yes.”
“Once they’ve eaten it, that’s it: They can’t take it out. They’ll float to the surface. It’ll create a slick that attracts diving seabirds.”
He said the cleanup efforts were grueling. “Yesterday I was there cleaning up. We’re trying to really piece together the timeline and the history of this horrible event. It’s terrible.
“They are so small that, from a distance, the beach looks normal. But as soon as you get closer, you see millions of black granules, nestled under the algae. It’s an impossible task. The volunteers have been raking for days and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to remove them all. It’s the worst polluted beach I’ve ever seen.”
Dollimore, a Labor and Co-operative MP who joined the clean-up effort, said: “The large number of plastic beads that have washed up here risks an environmental catastrophe. These biobeads are deadly to marine life and wildlife, and we are already seeing more dead seals, fish and porpoises on the beach.
“Local residents are working around the clock to remove as many beads as possible, but it is a race against time. Southern Water urgently needs to determine whether their local wastewater treatment plants could be the source of these biobeads, and I have asked them to dedicate all available resources to support the cleanup operation in the meantime.”
The beads are also dangerous for dogs because they contain a large number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known to have carcinogenic properties, and they often contain toxins including lead, antimony and bromine.
A Southern Water spokesperson said: “We are working closely with the Environment Agency and Rother District Council to investigate the source of the plastic beads washing up on Camber Beach. This investigative work is ongoing.
“Rother District Council is leading the beach clean-up, using specialists with a vehicle fitted with suction equipment to remove the beads. We are also supporting the clean-up.
“We carried out water quality sampling at the beach, which showed no impact on environmental water quality. This data has been shared with Rother District Council and the Environment Agency.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We are aware that a large number of plastic noodles have washed up along part of the East Sussex coastline, which includes Camber Sands.
“We are providing advice and guidance to Rother District Council, who have engaged contractors to carry out a clean-up operation. This work is currently underway.
“We are working with other stakeholders to identify the source of the pollution.”
