Tonnes of plastic pellets wash up in East Sussex after filter fails at Eastbourne works

(by Karma Loveday)

Tonnes of plastic beads are washing up on the East Sussex coastline after escaping from Southern Water’s Eastbourne wastewater treatment works.

The company investigation has found that a storm surge on 29 October cased a screening filter to fail, allowing the beads in a tank to be pumped into the sea via the long sea outfall. Because of the distance from shore, it took days for them to wash up on a heavy spring tide and be detected by the community, initially at Camber Sands. Beads have since been detected elsewhere on the East Sussex coast.

Southern Water has apologised and said it is doing everything possible to investigate and resolve the problem, including covering all costs of the clean-up, which is being led by Rother District Council and extensively supported by community volunteers.

Initial commentaries, including from Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore, called the beads “toxic” but Southern said: “Experts have confirmed that the beads are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and chemically stable – they pose no risk to water quality. The beads cause no harm from contact but should not be ingested.”

On Friday, it added that on draining a large tank, “we’ve found far more beads remaining in the system than expected. This means fewer beads — less than 10 tonnes — entered the sea”. It estimated that around 80% of the beads have already been removed, and that a comprehensive clean-up plan is in place for the rest.

The incident has caused national attention, including a visit to the beach by water minister Emma Hardy and discussion in Parliament. Dollimore has called for an independent investigation. In a later to Southern Water, she said: “It beggars belief that Southern Water failed to detect the loss of millions of bio beads for an entire fortnight, leaving them free to wash up on our East Sussex coastline and cause an environmental catastrophe.”

Baroness Hayman of Ullock, Parliamentary under secretary of state for Defra, told the Lords that the Environment Agency is investigating and looking at what regulatory action should be taken.