HC Deb 02 March 1990 vol 168 c345W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the amounts of raw sewage that were returned to land during the recent coastal storms in north Wales; and what steps have subsequently been taken to decontaminate areas polluted by such sewage.

Mr. Grist

The area of Towyn, Rhyl, Kinmel bay and Abergele is sewered by short sea outfalls and it is estimated that some 50,000 litres of sewage is produced per day. Until tidal surges penetrated the sea wall at Towyn, the sewage flow continued to discharge to the sea. Soon after the wall was breached, power supplies were lost and any sewage pumping would have ceased. Gravity discharges would also have ceased because there was no longer any free discharge. After the majority of the population from the affected parts of Towyn was evacuated to dry areas, sewage generation would largely have stopped in that area. Sewage from surrounding areas would have continued to flow, however, and this sewage would have been mixed with the incoming sea water. It is not possible to say whether the sewage discharged through the outfalls or escaped into the mass of flood water through drains and manholes but it is probable that quantities of sewage are present in the flood water and the proportion of sewage will increase the longer the flood waters remain. The sewage will have been diluted both by the rainfall during the period and, to a much greater extent, by the invading sea water. A small number of properties are on cesspits and septic tanks and the contents of these tanks will by now have mixed with the flood water.

Responsibility for the possible public health consequences of the flood and therefore for the clean-up operation rests with the appropriate environmental health officer who has powers to take such action as he deems fit to reduce any risk to human health.

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