Dear All,
I have had a recent enquiry from a local group regarding determining an area of beach within our district as contaminated land due to a build-up of seaweed. This is a transient, seasonal event and happens most summers when seaweed is washed onto the beaches and begins to decompose (associated with certain tides and weather events) and where possible our Commercial Services team send workers out to remove the seaweed.
I have responded to advise that this would not meet the legal definition of contaminated land (ie. transient and not permanent feature of the beach, etc...), but would be grateful for your thoughts on the matter.
Even if the view is that cont land legislation is not applicable, I would be interested in any feedback on potential risks from hydrogen sulphide produced by decomposing seaweed. I have read of a few suspected cases of hydrogen sulphide poisoning from seaweed being reported in the international press, but am not aware of any incidents in the UK or of this occurring under the prevailing conditions here in Thanet.
The workers who regularly clear the seaweed away have not experienced any adverse effects. Additionally, hydrogen sulphide is formed by aneorobic digestion in the absence of oxygen and my understanding is that this would not be the predominant decomposition pathway for seaweed on the beach, particularly if it is being moved around by the tide or other means and exposed to oxygen in the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulphide occurs naturally in the body and low levels of hydrogen sulphide are tolerated and metabolised, but it is toxic at higher concentrations (ie. principally acute, not chronic effects).
There is case law regarding nuisance (prejudicial to health limb) accumulations of seaweed, but this dates from 1869 and relies on the evidence of a surgeon at the time to inform the risks to health rather than quantitative data on the presence of hydrogen sulphide.
Many thanks in anticipation of your responses.
Yours,
Morgan Sproates
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