Government criticised over plastic spill response

Image caption, Millions of plastic nurdles have washed up on beaches following the ship collision

ByMartin Lindsay

North East & Cumbria Investigations

Updated 3 hours ago

Andy Burnham has pledged to be the prime minister for the North. But volunteers cleaning up a major plastic spill on the north-east of England coast say his government's treatment of the "disaster", which they say lacks urgency, does not support that claim.

"This should be declared a national emergency," says campaigner Olly Armstrong who believes, if the spill had happened further south, it would have been treated differently.

Armstrong, from North Shields in North Tyneside, is one of thousands of volunteers who have spent weeks clearing beaches of millions of plastic pellets that washed into the River Tyne and the North Sea following a collision between two ships at the Port of Tyne.

"We're in an emergency situation," he says, adding he is surviving on a few hours sleep a night while orchestrating the response.

"The North often feels it's ignored and I know now is the time to prove the North matters," he says. "Andy Burnham has declared he is the prime minister of the North as well as London. Now is the time to prove it."

The government has been approached for comment on whether Burnham might get involved but meanwhile has said the Environment Agency has been "on this from the start, supporting partners, and is now stepping up its work on the ground".

The environment secretary had also spoken to North East Mayor Kim McGuinness "to discuss the response and next steps", a spokesperson said.

Image caption, Olly Armstrong said Burnham should prove he means what he says

The collision between the Wind Orca, a 100-metre (328ft) tall wind turbine installation vessel, and the berthed container ship, BG Orange, on 19 July resulted in a gantry crane on the quayside collapsing onto the ship.

Some of the containers on the BG Orange were full of nurdles - pre-production plastic pellets, about the size of a lentil, which are used as the raw material to manufacture nearly all everyday plastic goods.

When the containers were damaged these tiny pieces of plastic spilled into the water and eventually washed up on beaches. Videos have emerged of birds appearing to eat them, while other footage shows dead birds floating amid pools of the plastic.

"We have acted," Armstrong says. "We want to see those with power in the government to act quickly to put legislation in place so this doesn't happen again."

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, A crane fell onto the berthed container ship following the collision

Labour councillor Josephine Mudzingwa, who represents the badly affected North Shields ward, says volunteers need "money, boats and people on the ground".

"We need central government to get involved, we need more people in the boats actually clearing the nurdles," she says. "Every day we get loads of nurdles everywhere. I come here at 0600 in the morning and leave at 1900 at night.

"Please, Andy Burnham, you promised you are going to be looking north. We need you for this emergency."

"If something like this happened on the River Thames they'd have been on it within hours," says fellow volunteer Dave Shaw, also from North Shields.

"Up here they're just not bothered at all.

"This should be declared a national disaster, because that's exactly what it is."

Image caption, Volunteer Dave Shaw believes the incident is a "national disaster"

Labour mayor Kim McGuinness says "the government haven't done enough" and accuses the Environment Agency of being "absent".

She says she spoke directly to Environment Secretary Angela Eagle to demand more clean-up support this week and was told she "would look at it".

"We've been in touch with government throughout this, with agencies throughout this, trying to convene people to pull them together," she said.

"There has been a direct lack of action from the centre."

The Environment Agency, responding on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says it has been "actively involved from the outset" and is "working closely" with local authorities, the Port of Tyne and other groups.

"We have increased monitoring along the affected coastline, including deploying our coastal patrol vessels and drones to identify where nurdles have accumulated so response teams can target their efforts where they are needed most," it says.

It says it will also support local authorities in recovering costs.

Image caption, North East Labour Mayor Kim McGuinness has been critical of the government's response

McGuinness suggests the response from local and national organisations has not been joined-up and this has delayed the clean-up.

"Everyone has been able to pass the buck," she says. "That should not be how it is. We should be able to convene everyone and direct them to do something about it."

She says she was "completely outraged" at the spillage and the speed of the subsequent clean-up.

"I don't have, as unbelievable as it is as mayor of this region, any power to fix this problem, but it doesn't mean I haven't shoved my nose in," she says.

Since the comments, Marine Minister Stephen Morgan said he chaired a meeting with local authorities and agencies earlier to "better understand the challenges they face and help to ensure cleanup happens as quickly and effectively as possible".

"People in the North East rightly expect a strong, coordinated response to this incident," he said.

The Port of Tyne denies it acted slowly.

Follow BBC North East on X, external, Facebook, external, Nextdoor and Instagram, external.

Get in touch

Do you have a story suggestion for BBC Tyne?