States say no to sewage treatment

Guernsey will not treat its sewage before releasing it into the sea.

A proposal to investigate building a full treatment works which could cost £50 million has been rejected by 33 votes to 10.

Instead, the States have decided to pump untreated sewage further out to sea by extending the length of the outfall pipe.

The victory for the Public Services Department came in the face of a sustained campaign by Surfers Against Sewage.

The Department came to the debate armed with a report in which exports say it is acceptable to pump sewage into the sea.

The minister responsible for sewage, Deputy Bernard Flouquet, said: "There's no environmental benefit from us trying to put in full sewage treatment".

The raw sewaged will be sieved to remove non-biodegradable materials.(from CTV)

Moves to investigate full and partial sewage treatment for Guernsey have been rejected by the States.

Deputies have instead approved £6-8m of work to replace and
upgrade the current long sea outfall, through which sewage is discharged
into the Little Russell.

The Public Services Department had suggested the improvement
and reviews every four years after an independent report into the impact
of sewage.

It found full treatment would provide no benefit above the proposed changes.


Minister Bernard Flouquet said: "If one accepts that there is
little or no tangible benefit to be derived from having a fully
land-based solution then the issue is largely one of perception and to
some extent reputation.

"Contrary to what the critics might say Guernsey is not the
only place in the developed world where this form of treatment is deemed
appropriate - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada has a similar fast
flowing tidal stream providing an equally sustainable wastewater
disposal route.

"Using the natural resources of the island we can provide a
sustainable, reliable and efficient means of liquid waste disposal at
the lowest possible carbon footprint and indeed cost."

He said the end of investigations into introducing sewage
treatment would mean the current wastewater investigation charge of £50
per household could be stopped, once the costs already incurred had been
paid off.

During debate Deputy David De Lisle, who called for full
sewage treatment, had called on politicians to reaffirm the island's
commitment to full sewage treatment made by the States in 1997 and 2009.

He said: "The continuing pumping of millions of gallons of
raw sewage into the sea constitutes a pollution risk to our beaches and a
health hazard to bathers and those partaking in water sports."

Deputy De Lisle said the untreated sewage contained a wide
array of pathogens, chemical and nutrients - many of which pose a
serious threat to human health.

For those comments he was branded "irresponsible" and accused of "scaremongering".

Environment Minister Peter Sirett said beachwatch figures showed island beaches were the cleanest in the British Isles.

He said: "All this talk of sewage spread across our beaches
is I'm afraid a gross exaggeration and is doing nothing for our tourist
industry whatsoever."
(From BBC)


With the strength of the scientific evidence, it was the only sensible result.