from Sunday Herald, 07 July 2002
The filth is back at Scotland's beaches. After just a month of summer, four bathing waters have already broken the safety limits for sewage pollution for the whole season.
At Helensburgh beach the water contained levels of untreated faeces eight times higher than the mandatory limit and 160 times higher than the guideline standard for which all beaches are meant to aim. This is despite a new £8.5 million sewage treatment plant.
The other beaches that breached the mandatory limit are at Largs and Seamill in Ayrshire and Largo in Fife. Of the 10 dirtiest beaches so far this year, six are along the Ayrshire coast, including two at Largs.
Polluted waters contain high concentrations of sewage contaminants known as faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci. They can also contain viruses, salmonella and the potentially deadly e-coli. Swimming, surfing or just larking in the shallows can give you stomach upsets, ear infections and rashes. In extreme cases you could contract an infection serious enough to kill you.
The first failures of the bathing season, which began on June 1, come from an analysis of official monitoring carried out by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), the government's green watchdog. The analysis was done by the environmental group Friends of the Earth Scotland, which is working with the Sunday Herald on the Save Our Beaches campaign.
The failed beaches have not been officially designated as bathing waters by the Scottish Executive, despite being widely used by the public. They are among the 55 undesignated beaches in Scotland that are being monitored by Sepa.
These are branded "Scotland's neglected beaches" by environmentalists, who say they are deprived of investment simply because they are not on the official list. The Executive is put off designating these beaches, say environmentalists, because their contamination levels would provoke court action by the European Commission.
"These early results show that being left off the official list means less investment in water treatment and poor water quality as a result," said Dr Richard Dixon, head of research for Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland. "We will continue to fight to get recognition - and investment - at Scotland's neglected beaches."
The group has been pressing ministers to designate more beaches, and plans to raise the issue again after a revised European directive on bathing waters is published later this month. If the Executive refuses to budge, FoE Scotland will submit a petition to the Scottish parliament asking the transport and environment committee to investigate. If that does not work, the group could complain to the European Commission.
On Friday the Executive was sticking to its refusal to consider designating more beaches in the light of the forthcoming European directive. An Executive spokesman said: "This will have implications for the tourist industry, agriculture, Sepa, Scottish Water and Scottish local authorities. It would be irresponsible on the part of the Executive towards these stakeholders to identify more bathing waters and sign them up to action which cannot at present be quantified."
The Executive also suggested that one reason for the four failures so far was the fact that it rained on 29 of the 30 days in June. Excessive rain can wash animal faeces off the land and cause sewers to overflow.
Scottish Water, the new public water authority, pointed out that more than £1 billion had been invested in improving sewage treatment in the last six years, with another £1bn due to be spent over the next four years.
At Helensburgh, the authority said the pollution could not have come directly from the new sewage treatment plant.
"It may be linked to storm overflows," said a Scottish Water spokesman. "These are effectively safety valves for sewers. If you don't have them, streets will flood with rainwater and sewage during heavy rain. We are planning to upgrade these." At Seamill and Largo, new sewage works should be in operation later this year. But the new £12.5m system for Largs is not due to be completed until 2005.
The first results for Scotland's 60 designated bathing waters reveal a better picture. Only one sample has failed to reach the mandatory limit, and that was taken at Gailes beach, Irvine.
Other beaches where water quality was poor in June included Rockcliffe in Dumfries and Galloway, Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, Saltcoats/Ardrossan on the Ayrshire coast and Ettrick Bay on Bute. The water on east coast beaches was generally much cleaner.
"Despite the wet summer, Scotland's 60 designated bathing beaches are doing well and we should be on for a record year of good results. Unfortunately the picture is much less promising for the undesignated beaches," said Dixon.
Sepa promised the Sunday Herald earlier this year that all the designated bathing waters will be cleaned up within two years. But last week the agency was unable to make any comment on the prospects for the undesignated beaches.
