"Southern Water will face the toughest water sanction regime ever," Emma Hardy, Minister for Water and Flooding told Rye News as she visited the beach at Camber.
She praised the local volunteers and council teams who responded so quickly to last week's pollution incident, but criticised Southern Water for not joining the clean-up much sooner.
The minister was in Camber on Thursday 13 November to see the damage caused by the millions of plastic pellets washed up last week. "This is an incredibly beautiful beach,” she said. “What’s happened here is just devastating. You can see the beads trapped in the seaweed on the tide line, but they are also blowing onto the gorgeous sand dunes.”
Crouching down she picked through the sand to collect some beads herself.
She heard stories from the locals who had helped start the clear up. “The volunteers have been amazing. Just incredible. I’ve been hearing how people have spent many hours brushing up the beads, literally using dust pans and sieves. It’s testament to this community they’ve been helping with what will be a Herculean effort to clear up the beach.”
The minister watched as a team from Southern Water sifted sand next to the Camber Central car park. “I’m pleased to see they are here today, but they should have been here from the very beginning.”
Rother District Council and the charity Strandliners led volunteers collecting the beads from last Thursday. It was only on Tuesday a large team from Southern Water arrived.
Emma Hardy said Southern Water’s Chief Executive had guaranteed his teams would clear up the beach. “I expressed my extreme disappointment the pollution had been allowed to happen in the first place and questioned why they weren’t here in large numbers at the start."
She said an investigation into the pollution would now take place. "Southern Water will face the toughest water sanction regime there has ever been when the investigation has been concluded. Under the Water Special Measures Act the bosses bonuses have already been banned and there are more powerful powers to introduce tougher sanctions."
Inspecting the beach with Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore, the minister praised her work highlighting the pollution at Camber. "She will be holding my feet to the fire and making sure the Department for the Environment is fully behind the clear up here."
She explained her focus now was on trying to deal with the current situation on the beach but said there were many questions that also needed answering. “What can we put in place to stop it happening again? What will be the impact on birds, aquatic life, the beach and the environment if water companies continue to use bio-beads?”
