East Lindsey undertaking beach clean up
East Lindsey District Council’s waste teams are in the process of cleaning up plastic pellets (nurdles) and any other debris that has been found following the incident in the North Sea last week.
Please remember that, whilst the risk to the public is low, dogs should be kept away from anything found to avoid it being ingested, and it should not be picked up or moved to restrict its spread.
Thank you to all those who have reported debris along our coastline, the clean-up operation will continue over the coming days.
If you see any of the pellets, or possible pollution along the coast or surrounding areas, call Humber Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre on 0344 382 0580 or email [email protected], providing a ‘What Three Words’ location or a grid reference where possible.
Plastic pellets sighted on parts of Lincolnshire coastline
Reports of plastics pellets, known as nurdles, have been reported to have washed up on some of Lincolnshire’s beaches.
This information was first reported to authorities around 6.30pm yesterday (Tuesday March 18), as a result of the collision between two vessels on the east coast last week and involved sightings of the pellets south of Skegness pier. Further reports in other areas such as Chapel St Leonards are also being investigated.
The Environment Agency has advised that these nurdles are not hazardous so the risk to the public is low, though there may be a smell from them, and pet owners, particularly dog walkers, are advised to keep animals away from them in case they are ingested.
If you see any of the pellets, or possible pollution along the coast or surrounding areas, please call Humber Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre on 0344 382 0580 or email [email protected] . If possible, please provide a ‘What Three Words’ location or a grid reference to assist HM Coastguard to identify the exact location. Please do not pick them up because while they are not believed to be hazardous, they need to be contained to restrict the spread of them.
The LRF has been working with the MCA since the incident, and other agencies, to respond to this and continues to do so now in response to reports of these pellets emerging in Lincolnshire. Plans for clean-up are already underway and will start as soon as possible.
More information can also be found on the MCA website: Updates: Vessels incident off coast of East Yorkshire | HM Coastguard UK
East coast agencies respond to North Sea incident
The Lincolnshire LRF is continuing to engage with partners across the region, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and Department for Transport, in response to the collision between two vessels, the Solong and Stena Immaculate, which took place on Monday 10th March off the coast of East Yorkshire.
You can find more details about this incident from HM Coastguard.
Both vessels are presently stable and salvors have been on board to carry out initial damage assessments to help determine the next steps with both ships.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is assisting in the response, and continues to advise that any public health risk on shore is deemed to be very low. The UKSHA will keep risk assessments under continual review as further information becomes available.
The response to this incident and the recovery of the ships is likely to continue for some time, and further updates will be provided as the situation changes.
Representatives from Lincolnshire’s LRF continue to engage with the Humber LRF, which is leading this response, and continue a watching brief of the situation.
UPDATE, March 12:
Lincolnshire’s LRF continues to work with other agencies in response to the collision between a cargo ship and an oil tanker in the North Sea on Monday.
Regular updates are being circulated amongst several regional organisations at multiagency command meetings, which are being led by the Humber LRF.
A number of agencies are responding to the incident and the situation continues to be monitored.
ORIGINAL RELEASE, March 11:
Humber, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are working together after a cargo ship and an oil tanker collided in the North Sea off the east coast of England on Monday.
A multi-agency response is now in place, which is currently being led by the Humber LRF with attendance at their command meetings from colleagues in Lincolnshire and Norfolk.
Based on the current information available, the UK Health Security Agency deems the public health risk to communities on the coast to be very low.
In some areas across the region, residents have reported a smell which may be due to some of the Jet A1 aviation fuel that was released and caught fire. This fuel smell is not harmful, due to the incident’s distance from the shore, the direction of the wind, and the type of fuel that was on the vessel.
For Lincolnshire and Norfolk, it is still too soon to know what the implications might be for the respective counties’ coastlines, and assessment of the situation continues. A strong working relationship between national agencies and the three LRFs in the counties continues so that we are ready to respond to any forecasting and data as it becomes available.
You can find more details about this incident from HM Coastguard
