“Vast numbers” of plastic objects are coming ashore around Newburgh in Aberdeenshire after floods, prompting pollution fears.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is warning people not to pick up or go near the feather-light pieces, which spewed into the environment from the sewage treatment works at Ellon.
Scottish Water has a team out raking the ground, and a tractor is also being used to remove the shocking debris.
The organisation has apologised saying the system got badly “overwhelmed” when the river went into spate.
Public urged to steer clear of plastic items on Newburgh beach
Describing the scene as “pretty devastating”, local environmentalist Lauren Smith, who runs a project called Turning the Plastic Tide, said: “Not only is this plastic, but it’s plastic that’s been in a sewage treatment works, so we don’t know the potential bacterial risk.
“And they’re so very light the wind blows them easily around, which means they’re going to be found in the environment for quite some time.”
Lauren said she has found the filters all the way along Newburgh Beach and up the Ythan Estuary.
She added: “I started noticing them a day or so after the main floods. As I went up the estuary, I thought, good God, they’re everywhere.”
Her team has removed 2,416 from a 600 metre stretch in one day alone, but she’s urging people not to touch them for the sake of their own health.
Quick vid which gives a good idea of the sheer number of these biomedia plastics from the sewage plant! pic.twitter.com/rNzdELFmzZ
— Turning the Plastic Tide (@TTPTnortheast) November 23, 2022
Scottish Water said it is doing its best to clean-up the beach, and the Ellon wastewater treatment works are fixed.
A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for the concern caused and are doing all we can to minimise any lasting impact on the environment.”
It also said the cause of the incident was being investigated to try to make sure it does not happen again.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said it will liaise with Scottish Water until the clean-up is complete, as will help to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
A spokeswoman said: “The public should not handle the plastic pieces as they are used to provide a substrate for the growth of bacteria, as part of the treatment process.”
Conversation