Water tests carried out in rock pools near Portinfer have revealed levels of lead hundreds of times greater than the national safe limit for drinking water.
Environmental pollution officials have been aware of the problem for some time, and a spokesman said that they would make fresh inquiries into the issue, after Deputy Marc Laine informed them that he was about to go public with his concerns and call for health warning signs to be erected.
He told the Guernsey Press he had been asking the authorities to act since 2022 and was determined to use his recent election as a deputy to press for the States to take his campaign more seriously.
‘Despite my repeated warnings, no signs have been erected, no public alerts have been issued and no meaningful action has been taken,’ said Deputy Laine.
‘There is no safe level of lead exposure and it is especially dangerous when ingested, whether by drinking water, swallowing sediment or eating contaminated shellfish. Lead is one of the most dangerous environmental toxins known. Even small amounts can cause lasting harm, especially to children.’
The Guernsey Clay Target Shooting Club regularly uses specialist equipment to clean the coastline near Le Noir Houmet in the Baie des Pecqueries, behind the range at which it has shot for more than 50 years, but some rock pools still contain thousands of lead pellets.
Deputy Laine said he was concerned about the effects of the lead on children who play on the rocks, families who may eat shellfish from the rock pools, and pets and wildlife which feed or drink from them.
Water quality tests for which he had paid privately indicated that one rock pool contained nearly 1,000 times more lead than the maximum allowed in drinking water in the UK, although he accepted that the samples were not collected by a trained professional, and the club said that its fortnightly clean-ups on spring tides had since removed a large quantity of ammunition from the coastline.
The club was also unconvinced that its pellets were responsible for all of the lead showing up in water tests. It suggested that some of the pollution may come from commercial waste dumped in the quarry on which its range was constructed in the late 1960s.
The Clean Earth Trust, a local charity that campaigns to limit human impact on the natural environment, said that the lead on the coastline was ‘a hazard to humans and wildlife’ and that there was noticeably less wildlife activity than would be expected in that area.
Deputy Laine said he was not opposed to shooting or to the club’s location and was calling only for ‘basic public protection at minimal cost’ after becoming frustrated and impatient at what he perceived as the authorities’ lack of willingness to accept the problem and respond appropriately.
‘Guernsey prides itself on being a safe, clean and responsible island, but the situation at this bit of coastline is unacceptable,’ he said.
‘We need signs to protect the public now, a proper assessment of contaminated areas and a public commitment to transparency.
‘This is not about blame. It’s about responsibility. It’s about doing what’s right before it’s too late.’
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