On Saturday, Surfers Against Sewage organised a protest at West Strand Beach in Portrush, County Antrim, demanding more accountability, transparency and action over the issue of sewage and wastewater being spilled into Northern Ireland’s waterways. This was part of a UK-wide day of action to address the problem.
One of the main aims of the campaign group is to see an end to sewage discharge into all bathing waters and high priority nature sites by 2030. Aine McAuley, a member of Surfers Against Sewage and one of the protesters, highlighted the lack of environmental protection in Northern Ireland. She said that it is the only part of the UK that does not have an independent environmental protection agency and that, out of all the waterways, none of them meet the European standard for good water quality.
NI Water estimates that approximately 20 million tonnes of untreated sewage and wastewater are spilled into Northern Ireland’s waterways each year. The agency has plans to install monitors that accurately measure the quantity of wastewater, but the current budget constraints may jeopardise this programme, according to BBC News NI’s environment correspondent Louise Cullen.
The Portrush event was just one of 30 protests held across the UK, all coordinated by Surfers Against Sewage. The group’s campaign seeks to put an end to sewage discharges in the country’s rivers and seas, which have had a detrimental impact on the environment and public health
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