🔗 Share this article

The water company is currently investigating after millions of polluted polymer pellets appeared on Camber Sands beach, raising fears of a potential "ecological disaster".

These biobeads could cause severe harm on marine life, according to a regional representative, with concerns that rare sea life, such as coastal birds, small cetaceans, and seals, might ingest them and die.

A local official believes the beads may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has sent a letter to the water company's chief executive, requesting an explanation.

This coastal area, located in East Sussex, is one of England’s most beloved beaches, known for rare dune habitat and vast stretches of golden sand.

Volunteers have been racing against time to clear the pellets, filling multiple sacks with the synthetic debris, but the extent of the pollution spill is immense, and it is unlikely they will be able to clear every piece.

A representative from a plastic pollution campaign group commented recently, "This represents the most severe contamination incident I have ever seen. It is contaminated plastic. Sea creatures will ingest small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will attract algae, they will smell like food, in essence."

"Once they’ve eaten it, there's no turning back: they can’t get it out. They will float on the surface. It will create a slick which attracts plunging seabirds."

The expert continued that the clean-up efforts have been exhausting. "Recently, I was on site cleaning it up. We are trying to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events and the story for this devastating incident. It’s awful."

"They are so small that from a a distance, the shoreline looks normal. But as soon as you get close up, you see there are millions dark beads, hidden among marine plants. It’s an impossible task – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will keep at it, but we cannot remove every pellet. It is the most severe I have ever seen of a contaminated shoreline."

The elected official, who joined the removal work, remarked, "The immense quantity of polymer pellets that have washed up here threatens an environmental catastrophe. These plastic items are deadly to marine life and wildlife, and we are already seeing more dead seals, fish and porpoises on the beach."

"Community members are working tirelessly to remove as many pellets as possible, but it’s a race against time. The water company must urgently establish if their local wastewater plants could be the source of these biobeads, and I’ve requested to dedicate all available resources to aiding the removal efforts in the interim."

These pellets are additionally hazardous to dogs as they contain a high number of PAHs, which are recognized for carcinogenic properties, and they frequently include harmful substances such as heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

An official representative for Southern Water said, "We are working closely with the regulatory body and local council to investigate the cause of polymer pellets which have washed up on the shoreline. This investigation work is ongoing."

"The district council is leading the clean-up of the beach, using specialists with a specialized machinery to remove the beads. We are also supporting with the clean-up."

"We have performed water-quality sampling on the beach, which has revealed no effect to environmental water quality. These results has been provided with the district council and the Environment Agency."

Regulatory officials has been contacted for a statement.