Black liquid seen coming from overflow pipe in Eastbourne

Miles Berkley shared the photo of Meads overflow pipe at 2.48pm yesterday (January 23). He said in his tweet: “Looks like oil being discharged. Bad enough our bathing water quality has been downgraded- now this.”

Eastbourne Borough Council replied to the photo at 4.10pm saying it was being investigated ‘as a matter of urgency’. An hour later they posted: “East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service recently put out a car fire on King Edward’s Parade and the water used to extinguish the flames and dampen the charred vehicle remains during that incident, has passed through the roadside drainage system.”

A council spokesperson said it’s being cleared up today (January 24).

A spokesperson for the fire service said: “Eastbourne Borough Council and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service are working together to establish whether there is a link to a fire at a substation which caused a power outage to over 1,000 homes at the weekend. On January 22 firefighters from Eastbourne and Seaford were called out at 7.15am to reports of an electricity box on fire in St Johns Road, Eastbourne. Two breathing apparatus wearers used firefighting foam to extinguish the fire.

“We have received subsequent reports of a black substance leaking from an overflow pipe onto the beach near Meads, Eastbourne on January 23. We have strict policies in place to limit any environmental impact caused by our firefighting activity, and it would be unusual to result in this. Whenever there is a serious fire, we will review our actions.”

Fire water run-off guide

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