Campaigners say Solent waters have ‘never smelled so bad’
Campaigners say the Solent has ‘never smelled so bad’ after the Environment Agency warned of an ‘abnormal situation’ off Southsea and Hayling Island.
According to the Portsmouth News, the Environment Agency is warning people not get into the water off Eastney and Hayling Island due to an ‘abnormal situation’.
Members of the Final Straw Foundation collected 135kg of rubbish and dirty wet wipes at Eastney on Saturday morning.
Zoe Bentley told the paper: “Myself and my colleagues at Final Straw Foundation and 60 members of the the public were appalled (on Saturday) at state of Eastney after sewage discharge.
“Never have I been appalled and felt worried for my health on a beach clean.
“I’ve never seen so many wet wipes that have obviously came from sewage discharge.
“I’ve been doing beach cleans for three years around the Solent and I’ve never seen or smelled it this bad.
“I spend a lot of time at the beach also so from a management and environmental point of view this has to stop.
“People are going to get sick soon and not to mention the impact on wildlife and seafood that is eaten from the area.
“There were a lot of people out today enjoying the sea – swimming, paddle boarding, sailing – and none of them would have been aware of dangers.”
The Environment Agency is warning against bathing at Southsea East, Eastney, Eastoke, Beachlands West and Beachlands Central.
‘This incident has been identified as an abnormal situation, water quality monitoring has been suspended,’ a statement says.
‘Monitoring will resume once the incident is over.
‘Bathing is not advised, due to pollution from other.’
The Portsmouth News reports that one woman posted on Hayling Sewage Watch last week saying: “The water quality at West Beach on Hayling was absolutely disgusting today.
“Last Sunday there was a whole layer of raw sewage floating on the surface of the water.
“Today it was a band of smelly sediment in the shallower water, you couldn’t even see your feet in a foot of water.”
Main image courtesy of Final Straw Foundation.
Agree, it’s bad that the sewage companies are discharging into the Solent BUT some of the blame also has to rest with those members of the public that are too lazy to dispose of item properly and think it’s acceptably to flush everything. Everybody, public and companies, have a part to play in resolving this problem.