Britain's beaches "still
deteriorating"
The latest survey of Britain's beaches, Norwich Union Coastwatch UK, has found that the overall quality of the UK's coastline is not improving. The survey, of 1,842 km of coastline, found 35,987 items of sewage related waste (an average of 20 per kilometre), 1,122 items of medical waste (one per kilometre), 21,116 cans (17 per kilometre), 41,259 plastic bottles (22 per kilometre), and 2,000 discarded tyres (two per kilometre). The percentage of coastline considered excellent fell for the first time since the start of the annual survey, six years ago - to only 8 per cent.
Co-ordinator of the scheme, Dr Gareth Rees, said: "It's apparent that the government and industry believe enough is being done to keep pollution levels on our beaches at a "satisfactory' level. However, we've confirmed a high base level of pollution and the overall quality of our coastline is still deteriorating."
A survey by the Marine Conservation Society and Reader's Digest magazine has found that the beach at New Brighton, Merseyside, is the UK's dirtiest. The survey also found that the concentration of sewage pollution had doubled since 1993. A separate study by Dr Stephen Myint of Leicester University found high concentrations of viruses at some popular beaches.
SOURCES INCLUDE: Guardian 16 January; Independent 16 January; Norwich Union Coastwatch information 16 January; Financial Times 25 January
French machine cleans oil from
birds
The Centre for the Shelter and Study of Nature and the Environment (Chene) in France has started a novel programme to limit the damage to bird life caused by oil pollution. The centre has a machine to remove oily pollution from birds' feathers, which enables it to treat up to 200 birds at once. Designed by Sanofi, a division of the oil company Elf, the machine uses detergent and warm water to remove oil from birds' feathers. The machine's inventors say it could be installed on lorries to create "bird-ambulances".
SOURCES INCLUDE: Le Monde 19 January
According to a leaked report, 60 per cent of water sources in Brittany, France, may be lost by 2005, if nitrate levels may pass the legal limit of 50 milligrams per litre in 65 of the 110 water sources in the region. One journalist said that Brittany's water quality was the worst in Europe, along with that of Denmark and Holland. Another said that the FF3 million clean-up programme initiated by local authorities and the European Union was not enough. "A revolution is needed," he said.
SOURCES INCLUDE: Les Realites de l'Ecologie, January
A new draft directive proposing limits on lead in drinking water has been drawn up by the European Commission.
The measure was a response to the World Health Organisation recommendation that the maximum amount of lead in drinking water be reduced from 50 to 10 microgrammes per litre.
The measure was welcomed by the Water Services Association and the Water Companies Association, as the directive is expected to set a 15-year time limit for the removal of lead pipes. The cost to water companies of replacing lead pipes in mains supplies is estimated at œ3 billion, as opposed to the œ13 billion cost of replacing private domestic pipes. At a press conference, an EU spokesman said that the directive would require householders to remove any lead pipes to eliminate an important source of poisoning which can cause brain damage in young children. The spokesman later said that the statement was an error, and that no obligation would be imposed on private householders.
The directive also reduces the number of mandatory controls on drinking water from 67 to 48, in response to subsidiarity calls. It proposes individual limits on pesticides, though how this relates to the existing cumulative pesticide limit is not clear.
SOURCES INCLUDE: Guardian 5 January; Financial Times 5 January
Phosphates "not guilty" for algal
blooms
Phosphates are not the principal cause of algal blooms, which clog waterways and kill fish, according to a study carried out by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, which was part-funded by Europe's phosphates manufacturers.
Phosphates are used in soaps to soften water and prevent dirt from getting back into items being washed. It is thought that they act as fertilisers for algae, which flourish as a result, absorbing oxygen in the water and killing other marine life. Martin Scholten, who directed the study, said: "Phosphate does not have the effect that was expected on algae pollution. It is not the prime cause - it is secondary."
The study claims that it is largely common pollutants - such as heavy metals, insecticides and oils - that are largely responsible for algal pollution, as they kill plankton, a common predator of algae. European phosphate manufacturers applauded the study, but environmental groups were sceptical. "There is a huge amount of evidence that if you add phosphorus to water, you get an increase in algae," said David Santillo of Greenpeace, "The idea that phosphorus and other nutrients are not responsible for algae buildup is quite ridiculous."
SOURCES INCLUDE: International Herald Tribune 7 January
Whale corpses were "toxic waste"
Four whales found dead on the Belgian coast contained such high levels of PCBs that they "should have been burned as toxic waste," according to Professor Claud Joiris, a Belgian scientist who analysed samples from the whales. Twenty whales died in unexplained circumstances in the last two months of 1994, and Belgian and Dutch scientists fear that an accumulation of toxic wastes may be the cause.
A Dutch paper prepared in advance of the North Sea conference in June proposes that chemical releases from countries bordering the sea should be reduced to zero by the year 2000, but the UK Department of the Environment does not agree. A special meeting is to be held in order to resolve the dispute in advance of the conference.
Professor Joiris said the whales should have been burned to destroy the PCBs that they contained. "In fact, before we got our results the authorities had already rendered them down into oil and they had been turned into cattle feed."
SOURCES INCLUDE: Guardian January 14