Large circles of white plastic placed on the sand, in the middle of tree branches, washed up by the ocean on the beaches of Hendaye. This is the discovery made by many walkers since Saturday, December 11. A large quantity of pollution, most certainly linked to the bad weather which affected the Basque Country, which particularly affects the Bay of Txingudi and the banks of the Bidassoa upstream. On the beaches of Anglet, unusual quantities of plastics were also collected.
Pollution in Txingudi Bay
Alerted, the local representative of the Surfrider Foundation Europe confirms the unusual presence of“filter media”, pieces of recycled plastic used since the early 2000s by many wastewater treatment plants to filter wastewater and collect unwanted particles. François Verdet found some on Hendaye beach in the mouth of the Bidassoa.
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He also noted their presence in the bay of Txingudi, at the Hendaye station and the nautical base. He then went up the coastal river and discovered the same plastic rings on the banks up to 12 kilometers upstream, on the border between Gipuzkoa and Navarre.
Discharges from a wastewater treatment plant, call for witnesses
The organization believes that these are discharges from a wastewater treatment plant, linked to bad weather, which were carried in large quantities to the ocean by the high flows of the flooded river during the weekend and weekend floods in the Basque Country.
The Surfrider Foundation Europe called for witnesses to try to trace back to the source of the pollution. She calls on residents who notice the presence of these pieces of plastic to testify and send photos to the dedicated page.
Five tons of plastics on the beaches of Anglet
Other plastic rings have been observed on the Basque coast and southern Landes. But it is not not necessarily the same pollution. “The size and shape depend on the wastewater treatment plant that uses them. So there are several kinds.”, explains Lionel Cheylus, in charge of media relations at the Surfrider Foundation Europe. In the case of Hendaye and Bidassoa, these are “biomedia type K3”.
In Anglet, this Monday, December 13 in the morning, the city’s cleaning services picked up on the beaches, in addition to the wood and the carcasses of dead animals usually conveyed by the Adour during the great floods, five tons of plastics. A very unusual amount, even during these extraordinary climatic episodes.