Hundreds back new petition calls for stricter regulations following the South Shields nurdle spill
A new petition is calling for stricter regulations in the shipping industry after 17 tonnes of nurdles spilled into the River Tyne,
More than 400 people have backed a North East organisation’s petition that calls stricter regulations in the shipping industry following a nurdle spill.
An estimated 17 tonnes of plastic pellets, known as ‘nurdles’, spilled into the River Tyne on Sunday, July 19, following a collision between two ships.
As the clean up effort across the North East, Newcastle-based Wasted Managed has launched a new petition to call for stricter regulations in an effort to avoid another incident like this from occurring.
Steve Traviss, Procurement and Sustainability Officer at Waste Managed, said: “Thousands of residents across the North East have stepped forward to protect the region that they love, armed with sieves, dustpans and determination, sacrificing their time to clean up a mess they should never have been left to deal with.
“Although we cannot thank those volunteers enough, no community should ever have to face the burden of an environmental disaster like this.
“The River Tyne nurdle spill is an incident that should have never occurred.
“The scale of the pollution and the devastating impact on the environment and wildlife is deeply concerning.
“Now, we’ve launched a petition, calling for tighter regulations and accountability in the shipping industry.
“We owe it to the thousands of volunteers that have given their energy, time and care to make sure that the lessons of the River Tyne nurdle spill are never forgotten and that an environmental disaster of this kind is never allowed to happen again.
“The North East deserves better. Our wildlife deserves better. Our coastline deserves better.”
You can sign the petition at: https://www.change.org/p/appeal-for-stricter-regulations-in-the-shipping-industry-following-the-nurdle-disaster.