Wednesday 11 November 2015
Media Enquiry from Guernsey Press:
I have an enquiry for you. A dog walker has just been into the office to complain about a large amount of cooked food dumped on the beach between Port Soif and Grandes Rocques. She was appalled and tried to clean some of it up. She also told a States Works member of staff who was emptying the bins near the beach.
She believes it might be from a restaurant because it appeared that some of the food was a restaurant style pate.
As Environment is responsible for beaches, can I ask the department the following questions:
What does Environment think about this kind of behaviour? Have you had any complaints? Has it seen cooked food of large quantities dumped on Guernsey's beaches before? Does it believe a restaurant could be to blame? When will it be cleared up? Does it have any concerns about the impact this might have caused to the Environment?
I appreciate that it is late notice but I am writing an article for tomorrow's paper. I should therefore be grateful if you could respond by 5pm today.
Environment Department Response:
Approximately 40kg of commercial food waste was spread over an area of the headland between Grandes Rocques and Port Soif. States Works were alerted to the dumping by a dog walker who reported it to cleansing staff clearing bins at Grandes Rocques this morning.
It appeared that a commercial kitchen bin had been tipped over and then dragged around to empty the waste over a wide area. States Works beach team immediately attended to clear the waste from the headland, using shovels to scrape and remove as much as possible. The waste included varying quantities of cooked rice, potatoes, pate, cooked and raw fish, a quantity of tinned tuna recently emptied out of the tin and a number of commercial-sized food tins.
As the waste was promptly removed there will be not be any appreciable impact on the environment. Had it not been found and promptly cleared the rotting food could have been picked up and eaten by pet dogs which may have caused illness.
The Environment Department would ask people to be alert to anyone dumping any kind of waste around the coast or public footpaths and report it to the Department, env@gov.gg or 717200 during office hours.
The dumping of any waste on public land - whether inert or putrescible waste such as food or garden 'green waste' - is an offence and the Department will seek prosecution wherever offenders are identified for dumping on this scale.
Contact Information:
Environmental Services Unit
Environment Department
Tel: 717200
