Sewage Pollution Fears

COUNCILLORS in Southend are calling for the protection of the city’s shellfish industry amidst ongoing sewage discharges into its waters.

Following reports of raw sewage being discharged into the water by Anglian Water during heavy rain or maintenance operations, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has issued warnings to bathers, advising them to avoid certain beaches.

According to SAS’s interactive map in late June, nine locations across Essex have been given a pollution alert, including Chalkwell, Leigh Bell Wharf and Jubilee Beach.

During a recent place scrutiny committee meeting, Lydia Hyde, a Labour councillor representing St Laurence Ward, emphasised the importance of safeguarding the city’s shellfish industry alongside the welfare of beachgoers.

She asked: “What measures are we looking at, about the pollution that is going into the sea around here and are we concerned how that might impact the health of those eating the food from these waters?”

Peter Wexham, Leigh Lib Dem councillor, was keen to allay concerns over the shellfish industry.

He said: “The need to treat shellfish is not a new thing, it’s been going on for years.

“The cockles have always had to be treated through the ultraviolet light, but that’s nothing new.

“They come from the Maplin Sand further out, so they’re not coming from near the shore. The food supply problem is more when shellfish is collected illegally from the shores, that’s when it’s not been treated.

“The Thames is actually cleaner than it used to be.”

Coun Wexham added that the problem with sewage was the storm overflow. He said: “The sewage works need upgrading. They’ve got a secondary, but not a tertiary processing. As the population increases, there isn’t the infrastructure to deal with the additional sewage.

“Drains here are interlinked, so when there is a storm, sewage runs out into the sea and there are a number of outflows in Southend.

“The water companies were going to have a holding tank in the new Queensway project, but it’s not clear if that’s going ahead at the moment.”

John Lamb, councillor responsible for regulatory services, also said that monitoring of water quality was regularly undertaken, and that the shellfish industry is protected form sewage. He said: “The shellfish industry is governed by the Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries.

“They are always monitoring, not only water sampling, they also go out on the mud and do surveys on the cockles and scientific officers check that.

“Part of that is how the shellfish are processed and that is strictly laid done as well. At the processing plants the shellfish must be processed in certain ways to make sure anything is killed off.”

He added: “The Environment Agency is regularly carrying out water sampling on our beaches anyway and that’s shared with the fisheries, so we make sure our water quality is up to a level and we’re looking at all the different shellfish that come through.”

Coun Wexham was keen to stress the other pollution that enters the sea: “The other problem is also not just Sewage, but bleach and all the other chemicals we put down the drains every day.

“There is more in the build-up and this affects the biodiversity of life in the sea. Sewage works can get rid of solids, but they can’t deal with all the chemicals and the sea is the final point that it all ends up.”

Read more.

Visit: https://leigh-on-sea.news

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leighonsea.news

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighonsea.news

Contact us. Visit: https://leigh-on-sea.news/contact-us

Twitter: @leighonsea_news