Volunteers have slammed the Port of Tyne's 'inadequate response' to the River Tyne nurdle spill and called for an urgent expansion of recovery efforts. An open letter, signed by more than 2,000 people, was handed to Port of Tyne CEO Matt Beeton on Monday morning, urging a coordinated, high-capacity waterfront recovery force to be allowed onto the river.
Volunteers demand action
Colin Porter, who swims and surfs at Sandhaven Beach almost every day, presented the letter to Mr Beeton. The letter is also signed by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, and Surfers Against Sewage UK.
Porter said: "The most important thing we need to know is what's going to be done to stop the source where it's coming out of the river. Moving forward, they need a plan of action if this is ever going to happen again. It was three days before it was reported and four days before there was any action taken, it should not have been allowed to get this far."
Clean-up efforts
Volunteers have logged 3,000 hours cleaning up nurdles, with around 285kg collected so far in organised clean-ups on beaches every day. However, this is only a fraction of the 25 tonnes of plastic pellets thought to have escaped into the River Tyne.
The open letter states: "The contractors you have brought in are not enough. You must allow qualified, trained waterfolk onto the River Tyne and allow a coordinated, high-capacity waterfront recovery force into the River Tyne immediately before these microplastics disperse further up and down the coast and into the marine environment."
Port of Tyne response
Port of Tyne says the focus had to initially be on the salvage operation. The collapsed crane has been removed, as have damaged containers which still contained several tonnes of nurdles, preventing them from entering the river. However, communities say the work done is not enough and the clean-up needs to be stepped up.
Matt Beeton of Port of Tyne said: "It has been a complex and difficult two weeks, and I am proud of our staff for the way they have responded to what was a traumatic event. It was great to speak to local people to share what happened and help them understand how we responded and why. Now that the salvage operation has passed a critical stage, we are putting plans in place to invite the community to help in a safe and managed way. The solution will be in conversation with volunteers who will play a major role in deciding what we do and how we do it, as well as taking part in the continued clean up."
Wildlife concerns
Rachel Kurtz and Janice Porter dressed as puffins to raise awareness of how wildlife has been affected by the spill. Janice said: "When they're in open sea, they travel everywhere. It's heartbreaking to see wildlife eating what they think is food, it must cause terrible suffering and we are so annoyed."
Rachel called for a change in the law on how nurdles are transported: "If they had been transported in bags (like the mesh netting bags which are being used in the clean-up), they would be so much easier to clean up, and they should be lower down in the ship."
