‘Must help’ - North East Mayor demands ship owners pay for River Tyne plastic pellet spill
The North East Mayor is calling on the owners of two ships to foot the bill of cleaning up around one billion plastic pellets.
The North East’s Mayor is demanding that two ship owners foot the costs of cleaning up plastic pellets after a collision caused them to spill into the River Tyne.
The Wind Orca vessel collided with the berthed container ship BG Orange on Sunday afternoon (July 19), which caused a crane on the Port of Tyne’s quayside to collapse and an estimated 25 tonnes of plastic pellets to spill into the water.
It is believed that more than one billion individual pellets, known as ‘nurdles’, spilled into the River Tyne and have since been washing up on beaches across the North East.
Mayor calls for ship owners to foot the bill
Kim McGuinness, the North East Mayor, has called on the ship’s owners to start to contribute to the costs of the clean up operation rather than waiting for the outcome of an investigation.
Speaking on Friday, July 24, Mrs McGuinness said: “Our coastline is the North East’s most precious asset. Yesterday I met with the Port of Tyne after the devastating nurdle spillage we’ve all seen washing up on our shores.
“Sadly, it is already clear this looks like the worst incident of nurdle pollution in Europe, and our clean-up will be long and expensive.
“We must start from the principle that the polluter should pay, so North East taxpayers do not end up footing the bill.
“I have today written to the owners of both vessels involved in the collision on the Tyne this week to act now, put their hands in their pocket right now and support the clean up.
“Cadeler and BG Freight Line must help us limit the environmental damage today, not wait for the outcome of what will be a long investigation.”
‘The polluter pays’
The Environment Agency has vowed to carry out a “thorough investigation” to establish the circumstances surrounding the nurdle spill and has pledged that the “polluter pays” principle will see those responsible covering the cost of the clean up operation.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency commented: "The North East coastline is one of the region's greatest assets, and we are deeply concerned by the significant amounts of plastic nurdles continuing to wash up on our Tyneside beaches.
"Our role is to provide expert technical advice on the environmental impacts of the incident and the most appropriate methods for recovering the pellets while minimising harm to people, wildlife and the wider environment.
“North Tyneside and South Tyneside councils are responsible for determining how the beach clean-ups are carried out.
"Under the 'polluter pays' principle, those responsible for the pollution are responsible for the costs of the clean-up.
“We will carry out a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident to establish the facts and consider whether any regulatory action is appropriate.”
While the estimated clean up cost is currently unknown, a similar-sized nurdle spill off coast of Portugal in December 2023 was officially reported to cost around £2million to clean up.