Lucy Harding - 12-Feb-2007 - The Environment Agency has started annual maintenance work at Seaford beach. The work to recycle shingle helps reduce the risk of coastal flooding to low lying parts of the town.

In October and February each year, the Environment Agency moves around 60,000 cubic metres of shingle from the eastern and western ends of the beach back to the centre of the beach. The shingle is loaded by excavator into lorries which then transport it to where it is needed. Bulldozers then use the material to build up the beach.

Shingle recycling at Seaford ensures that the sea defences continue to work in the way they were designed. If it was not done, erosion and movement of shingle would leave the sea wall exposed and over 300 residential and 50 commercial properties would eventually be left be at an unacceptable risk of flooding.

The 4 kilometre long shingle beach takes the energy and force out of the waves so that they do not damage or break over the sea wall. But waves eventually move the shingle away from the central section of the frontage (The Buckle) and to the north west (West Beach) and south east (Splash Point).

Andrew Gilham, Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager for Sussex, said: “This winter’s stormy weather has been a reminder of how important our coastal defences are. In December and January, Seaford's shingle beach performed well when faced with high waves and gale force winds. Although there was minor flooding of the road causing some inconvenience, no properties were flooded. Had the shingle beach not been in place it is likely that we would have seen significant property flooding.

“We will never be able to stop flooding from happening altogether but, where possible, we try to reduce the damage it can cause. By doing this recycling work we can maintain the defences at Seaford which reduces flood risk whilst still allowing the natural coastal processes to continue.”

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Illegal fisherman nets himself a fine

Lucy Harding - 22-Feb-2007 - The Environment Agency has prosecuted a Hampshire man for fishing with an illegal net in Keyhaven Harbour, Hampshire.

Mr Kerry Vickery of New Road, Keyhaven pleaded guilty to using fixed nets within an exclusion zone. New Forest Magistrates, sitting at Lyndhurst Magistrates Court, fined him £170 on Wednesday 21 February 2007 and ordered him to pay costs of £263 to the Environment Agency. His nets were also forfeited.

Keyhaven Harbour is the estuary of both the Avon water and the Dane’s stream. Large numbers of sea trout collect in the area from spring to autumn before migrating up either river to spawn. The use of fixed nets, other than fyke nets, is banned from 1 April to 30 September within an exclusion zone in Keyhaven Harbour to prevent exploitation or damage to these fish.

The court heard that on 19 July 2006 Environment Agency Water Bailiffs received a report of nets fixed in place by anchors in Keyhaven Harbour. They attended the harbour and saw dark round net floats within the exclusion zone. The buoy and floats were not moving with the tide so water bailiffs concluded that they had been set. Mr Vickery was then seen attending to this net by boat and resetting it at another location also in the exclusion zone. The water bailiffs later witnessed Mr Vickery attending to another net and removing several fish.

Richard Redsull, Fisheries Officer at the Environment Agency, said: “Fisheries laws are in place to protect the environment so must be adhered to. Breaking these laws can cause serious ecological and environmental problems so we take all reports of illegal fishing extremely seriously.

“The exclusion zone is clearly marked on a poster on the wall of the Harbourmasters Office at Keyhaven so there was no excuse for not knowing the rules.”

Environment Agency calls for united effort to beat the waste cheats

Head Office Press Office - 20-Feb-2007 - We all have a role to play in deterring and catching the waste cheats who undermine the lawful businesses, Barbara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said today (Tuesday).

Speaking at the Environmental Services Association's Parliamentary Conference Barbara Young said: "Environmental crime is a major issue affecting the whole country with one fly-tipping incident taking place every 35 seconds and the estimated annual cost of fly-tipping is about £100 million a year.

"As a modern and risk-based regulator we have already worked to streamline and more clearly communicate our approach for business. We reward good performers and aim to get tough on those who don't comply with the law. However we can only succeed if we work together with the government, other enforcement partners including local councils, as well as involving businesses and communities."

Progress to tackle the growing problem of environmental crime is already being made:

So far this financial year we have shut down around 400 illegally operating waste sites.
Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are now being used to prevent environmental crimes.
Through our Business Resource and Efficiency Waste (BREW) initiative we using intelligence-led target enforcement campaigns to complement our core work in this area.
The Waste Management Sector Plan, which was a joint plan with the ESA, launched last year is working with the responsible companies in the sector and helps drive out the cheats who make money at the expense of our environment.
We are looking at how to deal with problem waste streams involved in environmental crime such as construction and demolition wastes, green wastes such as paper and plastics, and tyres.
Barbara Young also highlighted that although Defra's revised Waste Strategy drive forward the change to achieve more sustainable waste management, it will also bring some new challenges with it.

"Increasing waste disposal costs will drive many to look at how they can cut corners to save money. This could draw in more rogue operators as they see opportunities to grow their criminal businesses. We must not allow these waste cheats to undermine the waste strategy and the work of responsible businesses," she added.

"We need to work together to ensure waste producers and waste managers achieve compliance with the law and good practice. This needs to be backed up with robust but measured enforcement including higher fines - it provides the safety net to protect the investments made by Government and industry and to protect our environment."