Worthing beach cleared after suspicious leak discovered - but it 'was not a sewage spill'
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Worthing Borough Council has issued a public statement, ‘demanding a detailed response’ from Southern Water, ‘over a recent leak from an outfall pipe into the sea’.
The council said it was ‘seeking assurances there will be no further problems’.
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Hide AdIt comes after a leak was discovered during a ‘routine beach patrol’ on Marine Parade around 5pm on Monday (August 8).
A Worthing Borough Council spokesperson said: “After immediately clearing the public from the area in case of any health risks, the council alerted Southern Water and the Environment Agency to investigate the incident.”
According to the council, Southern Water sent a surveyor within two hours of the incident being reported and reported the following day that tests showed there was no sewage or high ammonia levels, and that the leak was stagnant water from a faulty drain cover.
“However, the council is still awaiting a detailed report on the incident,” the spokesperson added.
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Hide AdSouthern Water said staff ‘quickly attended the outfall’ after reports of a leak.
A spokesperson said: “Samples were taken which demonstrated this was not a sewage spill.
"We believe the pipe had been partially blocked open by shingle and the water coming out was sea water which had pushed up the pipe by the tide and was now trickling back out.
"The debris was seaweed and silt.
"We kept the council’s beach team informed an no beach closure was made.
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Hide Ad"We’d like to thank the customers for making the report – we encourage customer’s to report potential problems to us on 0330 303 0368.”
Councillor Vicki Wells, Worthing’s cabinet member for the environment, said ‘any kind of discharge’ into the sea or rivers from outfall pipes are ‘understandably extremely worrying’.
She added: “It is imperative that we understand what caused this event during this prolonged and exceptional dry period to prevent future occurrences.
“Southern Water has verbally assured us the area is safe and there were no readings of human waste, sewage or ammonia, but we are asking for a written report of their findings as a matter of urgency to explain why it happened to mitigate for other occurrences.