Southern Water is investigating after millions of contaminated plastic beads washed up on Camber Sands beach, risking an “environmental catastrophe”.
The biobeads could have a dire impact on marine life, the local MP has said, with fears rare sea life, including seabirds, porpoises and seals, could ingest them and die.
Helena Dollimore, the MP for Hastings and Rye, suspects the beads may have been spilled by a local water treatment centre and has written to the Southern Water chief executive, Lawrence Gosden, demanding an explanation.
Camber Sands in East Sussex is one of England’s most beloved beaches, with rare dune habitat and vast stretches of golden sand.
Volunteers have been racing against time to clear the beads, filling dozens of bags with the plastic waste, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast and it is unlikely they will be able to remove all of them.
Andy Dinsdale, from the plastic pollution campaign group Strandliners, said on Saturday: “This is the worst pollution event I have ever seen. It is contaminated plastic. Marine animals will ingest small plastic items once they are in the sea, they will attract algae, they will smell like food, effectively.
“Once they’ve eaten it, that’s it: they can’t get it out. They will float on the surface. It will create a slick which attracts plunging seabirds.”
He said the clean-up efforts have been exhausting. “Yesterday I was out there cleaning it up. We are trying to really piece together the timeline and the story for this horrendous event. It’s terrible.
Camber residents joined the giant hoovering machine, Rother district council, Rother coastal officers and Strandliners for the cleanup effort. Photograph: Strandliners
“They are so small that, from a very long way off, the beach looks normal. But as soon as you get close up you see there are millions of black pellets, nestled under seaweed. It’s an impossible task – volunteers have been raking for days, and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to get rid of them all. It is the worst I have ever seen of a polluted beach.”
Dollimore, the Labour and Cooperative MP who joined the clean-up efforts, said: “The huge 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 tirelessly to remove as many beads as possible, but it’s a race against time. Southern Water must urgently establish if their local wastewater plants could be the source of these biobeads, and I’ve asked them to dedicate all available resources to supporting the clean-up operation in the meantime.”
The beads are also dangerous to dogs as they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are 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 plastic beads which have washed up on Camber Beach. This investigation work is ongoing.
“Rother district council is leading the clean-up of the beach, using specialists with a vehicle with suction equipment to remove the beads. We are also supporting with the clean-up.
“We’ve conducted water-quality sampling on the beach, which has shown no impact to 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 nurdles have washed up along a stretch of coastline in East Sussex which includes Camber Sands.
“We are providing advice and guidance to Rother district council, which has employed contractors to carry out a clean-up operation. This work is currently under way.
“We are working with other responders to identify the source of the pollution.”
