News that all political parties will NOT allow bunkering on the East Side of the Rock is met with delight by all the groups who campaigned duriing 2011 for this decision. Brief reaction below:

“The Coalition against Bunkering on the East Side, made up of the undersigned which includes Associations, NGO’s and businesses are delighted with the announcement made today by all political parties that they will not allow Bunkering activity on the East Side of Gibraltar to go ahead.
This is great news.
A fuller statement will be issued over the next few days.”

The groups involved in the Campaign are: GONHS, ESG, Gibraltar Federation of Sea Anglers, Gibraltar Sub Aqua Club, Caleta Hotel, Both Worlds Retirement Committee and Both Worlds Resident Committee”.

The ESG held its AGM last night at the John Mackintosh Hall. After the usual business of accounts/committee and membership issues a presentation was given by the Chairperson Janet Howitt.

The focus of the talk was on the ESG Wish List for the current elections going through each issue in some detail, after which the floor was opened for a Q and A session. The main questions were on renewable energy and pollution and why Gibraltar was still so far behind in implementing technology which is moving at such fast pace in the rest of the world.

These and other issues were discussed and the highlight of the evening was unquestionably the premiering of the ESG commissioned film on its community campaign for Clean up the World called “Our Place, Our Planet, Our Responsibility”.

The film has already generated great feedback, as it was also screened on GBC on the night of the AGM. It showcases Gibraltar as a community that has major issues with waste and littering but also displays great spirit in addressing these problems with the widespread hands on nature of the campaign.

It is hoped that the film will also be shown in our local cinema and will be posted online but undoubtedly has international appeal focusing, as it does, on environmental issues affecting most of the industrialised world today.

Copies of the film will be made available to schools, CUTW team leaders and supporters of the Campaign.
Special thanks to all those involved in the creation of such a special environmental film. The ESG is also grateful to our sponsors for enabling us to fund such necessary educational tools.

See also at: http://www.gbc.gi/television/tv-player.php?programme=517&episode=4049

VOLUNTEERS CLEAN UP WITHAMS CEMETERY
Withams’ Cemetery set to get much needed care

This weekend the ESG, Gibraltar Heritage Trust, concerned citizens and a group of young people on a Young Enterprise Scheme called “Green Change,” started a clean up in what will be part of an ongoing programme of refurbishment and restoration at Withams Cemetery.

Ahead of the clean up and widespread weeding, Andrew Abrines, a flora expert from the Botanic Gardens, was consulted for advice on the presence of important plant species. Although the wet weather eventually put a stop to the energetic efforts of the volunteers much vegetation and litter was removed. This work will continue over the next few months.

One section was tackled with a particular focus on cleaning around the damaged tombstones and Claire Montado, Heritage Trust Chief Executive, was on hand to provide advice and guidance to volunteers.

“The Gibraltar Heritage Trust has coordinated a number of clean up campaigns with a number of voluntary groups within Witham’s Cemetery over the years and has always had the problem of long term management of the cemetery on its agenda. The main issue of a heritage site such as this one is the fact that it is tucked away within a residential area, and with no frequent visitors has become over grown, full of rubbish and many of the graves have fallen into disrepair. The cemetery provides a valuable green space and when managed can provide a peaceful spot in this area, just as the Trafalgar Cemetery does. This latest cleanup with the ESG has highlighted the potential of this site and the continued desire of the community to see it remain as a green area. More importantly, the Trust has recently received the welcome news that the landscaping of the cemetery has been included by Government within the scope of the adjacent Plata Villa project. The detail of what and how is done is still at the early stages, but it is clear that this will breathe life back into the site and ensure its survival for future generations to enjoy”.

The ESG is happy to support voluntary efforts under the CUTW banner for community based projects such as Withams Cemetery believing the area also offers a valuable green space to residents and the rich biodiversity present.

Mojib Benhakim, Managing Director of GreenChange adds, “GreenChange involvement at the Witham’s Cemetery cleanup has provided an ideal opportunity for our Young Enterprise group to extend our concerns and make a change to our local environment and community. We got a chance to get hands-on in an issue we feel strongly about. We shall be launching our exciting new environmental business under the Scheme in early December. We would like to extend our gratitude to the ESG and the Gibraltar Heritage Trust for their support and actions in making Gibraltar a cleaner more environmentally greener community to live in.”

The organisers wish to thank all volunteers who helped on Saturday and to Anglo Hispano for their help and co-operation on the day. Volunteers will be needed to continue the clean up over the next few months – please contact the Heritage Trust on 200-42844 or the ESG on 200-48996 to sign up if interested.

The Gibraltar Government has today published reports on the massive Tank Fire Accident on the 31st May 2011.

http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/press-office/2-press-releases/1712-3422011-fire-a-explosion-on-1st-may-2011-at-the-nature-port-reception-facilities-site-at-the-western-arm

http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=23218

Saturday, 12th November 2011

La Linea storm drain problem continues

GOVT ALERTS TO BATHING WATER QUALITY AT WESTERN BEACH

Gibraltar Government has declared that the quality of the bathing waters at Western Beach is subject to deterioration at any time and without warning. In a statement yesterday, they said this was due to the discharges from the storm drain constructed by the Spanish authorities in La Linea. Discharges and the contamination they cause can be heavily influenced by the quantity and duration of any rainfall.

A spokesman for the Ministry for Environment said: “Though the official bathing season has ended, and there is no EU requirement to do so, the quality of the bathing waters at Western Beach will continue to be monitored weekly and the results displayed on the Environmental Agency website:-

http://www.environmental-agency.gi/beachresult.php?beachind=6

“The public are asked to note that the water quality cannot be guaranteed, that these results are published for guidance purposes only, and that weekly monitoring means that the results shown on the website could be up to six days old. If the latest monitoring results show elevated levels, users of Western Beach are advised not to swim or paddle and to restrict their activities to areas of dry sand away from the seashore.

“The public needs to be particularly vigilant following any period of rainfall, as this can cause the quality of the bathing waters at Western Beach to deteriorate rapidly.

Beach users should not swim or paddle until such time as they have checked the website and verified that the results of the bathing water quality monitoring taken after the rainfall in question show that the bathing water quality is or has returned to acceptable levels.

“The foregoing information is being published on a public notice at Western Beach.

Further advice on these monitoring results can be obtained from the EnvironmentalAgency during normal working hours on Tel 20070620.”

11th November 2011

The ESG has been in contact with the Ministry for the Environment on numerous occasions recently calling for a public statement to be made on the return of high levels of sewage at Western Beach. Yet nothing is heard from our authorities on the matter. Members of our community who use our waters year round are already too familiar with the offensive smells and presence of sewage especially near Western Beach when out canoeing etc. We have seen round the Rock charity swims too and clearly this type of activity will continue throughout the winter months. Residents near Western Beach are also seriously affected by the over-powering stench of sewage discharged via the La Linea storm drains whenever it rains.

This is not a case of people eventually forgetting about this or accepting this new pollution problem as “normal”. It is a public health issue and requires that the Environmental Agency makes every effort to inform the community in order that people can make an informed choice. The ESG would also like to know what pressure the GoG is placing on its Spanish counterpart to find a resolution to this cross border, public health problem.

Looking at the Environmental Agency website one can see sporadic data, not usually taken after the rains when contamination levels would be at their worst, and yet already exhibiting a familiar spiking pattern of illegal levels of sewage, and this, frankly, cannot go by in silence.

Perhaps protests and petitions are once again required and the ESG and Beach Users, who have jointly campaigned on this issue to date, will be holding discussions soon to plan further action.

Go to : http://www.environmental-agency.gi/beachresult.php?beachid=6
for sewage data posted on the Environmental Agency website.

The ESG was notified of the sighting of a dead dolphin washing up ashore at Eastern Beach yesterday. This is a tragic occurence which happens rarely, but neverttheless begs many questions as to the cause of death.

We have started carrying out coastal “checks” around Gibraltar’s shoreline as part of a survey to establish what gets washed up – primarily as a fact finding exercise but ultimately to work towards wider efforts to clean up our oceans. Comprehensive data will be collected during the winter and will be offered to Mediterranean and Global studies involved in assessing the health of the seas.

It is striking that on the first day of our coastal watch a dead dolphin arrives on our shores. Lets hope this is the only one we shall see during the winter months.

We invite you to please send in photos and or information on anything unusual you find on our shores, and especially excessive debris after heavy rains. Thank you.

Contact esg@gibtelecom.net Call: 200-48996

The ESG Committee has set a date for 2011 AGM to be held on Tuesday 22nd November at 7.30pm. Meeting will be held at the John Mackintosh Hall, Charles Hunt Room.

Hope to see our members there.

The ESG has been busy on various fronts recently.

-Since the major Clean Up in September, when we learned about the volume of accumulated plastic waste washed up on the shores of Seven Sisters Cove, we arranged further clean ups and have so far removed six skips worth of harmful debris which could return to the sea. We would like to advise the public that there is a skip currently on the beach. It is full of rubbish collected by our volunteers and has been covered and secured with a tarpaulin to prevent any been blown out in stormy weather. We hope this skip will be removed soon.

Thanks again to the various services that have helped our volunteers tackle this inaccessible area- namely: GibDock, the MoD, GDP and the Gibraltar General Support Services ltd.

-Our concerns about the waste at Seven Sisters is because much of it is polystyrene used in packaging which breaks down quite rapidly into something called nurdles which mimic plankton in colour, shape and form and is easily mistaken for food by birds and marine life which are all part of the food chain. The material also attracts oil present in water adding to the toxicity of the broken down material ingested by marine life.

-Somewhere along the line we could all be eating polystyrene, what a thought! The fact is Gibraltar is surrounded by sea- we do not recycle plastic- instead, we continue to send this to a temporary dump where it then gets loaded onto trucks and off to the separation plant in Los Barrios. Yes, some of this will be recovered but a lot of this will go to landfill. While at our local dump, some of the plastic will fly onto the cliffs and surrounding seas adding to the soup of lethal waste currently entering the world’s oceans. According to several authoritative studies 75% of debris found at sea comes from land based sources.

Visit our website which is currently carrying a short video on the home page precisely on the impacts of plastic at sea. www.esg-gib.net.

Sewage Issues:

As if this wasn’t enough our seas are also expected to cope with the return of storm drain sewage from la Linea as various reports to the ESG highlight this pollution is now making itself felt at various parts of Gibraltar’s coastline. Clearly our neighbours do not have sufficient funds to deal with this issue and we shall continue to be affected until the municipality is resourced to deal with this cross border issue. We shall continue to do what we can to help resolve this issue and are currently discussing plans with beach users as well as MEP’s to see what is possible. Of course, Gibraltar needs to also get to grips with our own sewage treatment plant Govt promised to set up many years back.

CEPSA:

It’s also worth mentioning that CEPSA appears to have had an oil leak recently in the area of Puente Mayorga, a residential area highly vulnerable to any mishaps at the plant. The company denied culpability and local campaigners, Ecologistas en Accion, challenged this in the Spanish media. Thankfully, it wasn’t a large spill but nevertheless it also ended up at sea washing up in nearby beaches too.

CUTW the Movie:

We would like to end our broadcast with a few positive messages: our CUTW movie is almost ready hopefully by the end of this month and we hope it will prove to be an inspiring and informative tool to ensure the message of the CUTW weekend prevails throughout the year. Our team is busy putting in the final touches and it is looking really good!

Recycle.gi:

This morning saw the ESG paying a visit to a local green company called Recycle.gi. During a busy two hour period around 3 tonnes of paper and cardboard was loaded up on a truck for export to a designated centre in Algeciras. An impressive amount of valuable paper and cardboard waste that will be processed and re-used. It was a very positive experience for the onlooker but really hard work for the company that has coped with a lot of difficulty dealing as it does, with an international border known for its problems and delays. Border inspections also add to the workload seeing the company needing to offload if not all the haul, then part to allow full inspection by Spanish customs. Nevertheless Recycle.gi is committed to their business and the ESG was very impressed with the professionalism and efficiency in their operation. Visit Recycle.gi if you want to learn more about what this young, green company is all about.

Joint Press Release re Western Beach and Sewage at Sea 24th October 2011

The ESG and the Western Beach users have recently been in contact with Sir Graham Watson’s office and have been informed that their petition is likely to be heard by the European Petitions Committee before Christmas.

Campaigners, however, continue to be concerned about sewage pollution from La Linea as all indications are that the recent heavy rains will bring about heavily polluted seas around Gibraltar once again.

Readings

Checking the Environmental Agency website for data reveals that even while not as frequent as desired, the data from most beaches indicates a steady and at times, spiking, level of sewage contamination. Campaigners trust that the Gibraltar Government will maintain sampling frequency at all beaches as it is public knowledge that the Western Beach problem didn’t simply disappear; it was re-routed in the main, towards Eastern Beach coastline. Concerns remain that the time lapse between sample taking and publishing information is still too long (well over a week, for example) meaning that the public cannot rely on this data to check on the safety or otherwise of the coastal waters.

Informed Choice

Although the official bathing season is now over campaigners worry that people are still using the beach as is evident in the recent bursts of hot weather. “Even if people do not swim they may use the beach in good weather,” says Karen Everett. She adds that, “It is therefore vital to ensure that up to date information on the pollution levels at all beaches is readily available and accessible to the public. Storm Drain sewage contamination is clearly already occurring and it is therefore very difficult to know when this can spike creating a serious pollution episode which could affect public health.

Problems at other Beaches

Both Western Beach users and the ESG consider that all efforts must now be made to ensure the situation does not deteriorate further and that monies are provided to the La Linea Municipality by the National Government to resolve this cross border pollution situation.
Anyone can see for themselves that our bathing water quality has dipped considerably this year due to sewage contamination. This slide must stop to ensure the protection of our marine environment and safeguard our beaches for our families to use for future summers.

Campaigners will publish any further developments with their Petition and Complaint lodged at the European Commission and will continue to monitor water quality at Western Beach in case of serious sewage dumping which could see further actions from them. The public are invited to please send in any reports of marine pollution to: esg@gibtelecom.net and sewageatsea@gmail.com

The ESG adds it hopes Gibraltar will soon see progress in our own sewage treatment plant which is long overdue.