This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

Marine Conservation Society tests at Cobo last year put the water below European standards but the body has admitted that stormy weather might have been a factor. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0583489)

COBO has failed basic water-quality standards. One of Guernsey’s most popular beaches has fallen below the European Union legal minimum standard.

The Marine Conservation Society has released its Good Beach Guide for 2008 and only two of Guernsey’s 13 main beaches have been recommended – last year, four were. Cobo dropped from a basic pass to a fail while Pembroke, which failed to reach the standard last year, improved to a basic pass.

The MCS blamed last summer’s poor weather for this year’s results, saying storm pollution took its toll on water tests conducted between May and September. Run-off from the land may have been the cause.

But the society also said Guernsey’s continued reliance on pumping raw sewage into the sea had had an impact.

‘Guernsey’s total number of MCS-recommended beaches dropped from four to two, but 90% of the island’s sewage, 16,000 tonnes per day, is still pumped untreated into Belle Greve Bay,’ said Thomas Bell, coastal pollution officer for the society.

He said Guernsey’s coast was partially ringed by a sewage trail that rotates around the island from Belle Greve.

‘MCS believes that hydrographic modelling undertaken by independent consultants in 2005 shows that beaches with a history of high faecal bacteria contamination are being affected by this plume,’ he said.

Mr Bell said water quality was noticeably better on beaches where the plume’s impact is less, such as L’Eree and Port Soif, the island’s two recommended beaches.

‘An independent consultancy told the States of Guernsey administration in 2005 that the best solution for the island’s sewage problem was a new high-tech treatment facility,’ he said.

‘MCS still believes this to be the best solution and the society is now concerned that if the administration does not address the urgent need for better treatment technology in the next five years, then the island risks falling a generation behind advances in the UK and Europe.’

Along with the fail and two recommended beaches, seven received basic passes and three reached guideline levels. Vazon Bay and Grandes Rocques, which were both recommended last year, dropped in quality dramatically to receive only a basic pass.

Mr Bell added that he thought the most likely explanation for Cobo’s problems would be the storms.

‘I can’t say with absolute certainty, because the plume around Guernsey could have done it – although I would think the beaches that would have been most affected by it are in the north and east – but I would think Cobo’s failure would be down to storm pollution,’ he said.

Surfers Against Sewage campaign officer Andy Cummins said, ‘Cobo’s failure could be a result of Guernsey’s continued policy of pumping raw sewage into Belle Greve because many of the bacteria and viruses present in raw sewage can survive for long periods in the sea.

‘It can take as little as three days for the sewage and associated bacteria and viruses to circumnavigate the whole island with the aid of tidal currents.’

*Guernsey’s poor showing in the Good Beach Guide was highlighted on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

Article posted on 23rd May, 2008 - 2.29pm