A huge number of tiny plastic pellets have polluted Camber Sands beach in East Sussex causing what experts are calling an "environmental catastrophe."
These pellets, called "bio-beads," are small dark grey or black plastic particles often used in water treatment plants to help clean sewage.
As per Sky News, Helena Dollimore, who represents Hastings and Rye in Parliament wrote a letter to the head of Southern Water explaining that they are "commonly used in wastewater plants locally."
She also mentioned that there have no reports of any ships in the English Channel spilling such beads, which suggested that pollution came from the local treatments plans rather than any outside source.
Dollimore warned that "the scale of pollution is severe and a continuous line of bio-beads stretches along the entire two-mile coastline, embedded in dense seaweed and sand."
Camber Sands is one of the rare places on England's south coast that has sand dunes.
A large part of these dunes are protected by the law as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) while the rest is also recognized as a Site of Nature Conservative Importance (SNCI).
A Southern Water spokesperson said in a statement, noting, "We are working closely with the Environment Agency and Rother District Council to investigate the source of plastic beads which have washed up on Camber Beach, this investigation work is ongoing."
Besides this, officials further stated that other beaches near Hastings and Camber Sands should also be inspected to see if they are also affected by same plastic beads pollution.
