St Aubin pollution probe still "active" after nearly a year

Thursday 16 May 2024

An investigation into whether the Water Pollution Law was breached when a problem at the Bellozanne plant led under-treated sewage to flow into St Aubin’s Bay is still ongoing almost a year later, it has emerged.

Concerns about the quality of water in the Bay saw ‘no swimming’ advice issued on Wednesday 14 June 2023.

Testing of undiluted samples taken from around First Tower – the location of the Sewage Treatment Works outflow pipe – was revealed to be “poor” by EU Standards.

However, the advice was lifted on Saturday 17 June, with the Government stating that a bathing water sample taken from the area on Friday 16 June was "excellent".

At the time, Government officials said that the problem at the plant was caused by the warm weather and lack of rain, as well as insufficient "organic matter" flowing through the plant for the bacteria used in its chemical processes to function properly. This meant that the sewage was treated to a lower standard than usual.

Video: Outflow in St. Aubin's Bay in June.

Although the facility has been running as normal since the incident, a Regulation team has been formally investigating what happened under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000. Water pollution incidents can carry an unlimited fine.

Despite nearly a year having passed since the incident, the Regulation team yesterday told Express: “The investigation is active, and ongoing.”

It's understood the ongoing investigation involves assessing the condition of the Sewage Treatment Works from both before and during the incident last June, as well as the the definition of pollution in the Water Pollution Law.

At the time, the Government said that the plant had returned to normal functioning after adjustments were made to certain processes. Express has asked if any further remedial actions have been taken since then.

Meanwhile, islanders were yesterday advised against swimming at Grève de Lecq after levels of E.coli over six times higher than the minimum threshold for "poor" water quality were discovered during a routine test.

EU standards define 'Excellent' quality as less than or equal to 250 Escherichia coli (a type of illness-causing bacteria) per 100ml, 'Good' is less than or equal to 500 E.Coli, and 'Poor' is above 500.

Pictured: The various measures of water quality.

An undiluted sample taken from St Aubin during last year's incident tested as 630 E.Coli per 100ml (Poor).

Testing at Grève de Lecq this week showed 3,300 E. coli per 100ml. The Pollution Control team is continuing to investigate the cause.

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Pictured top: Signs were put up in St Aubin's Bay to caution against swimming when the sewage issue was discovered.