THE government has defended its policy on sewage discharges into Jersey’s waters after claims that repeated spills have damaged parts of the Island’s protected coastline.
Save Our Shoreline Jersey co-ordinator Dave Cabeldu highlighted what he described as repeated releases of untreated sewage onto beaches along the south-east coast.
In a letter published in today’s JEP, he pointed to a 2019 incident at Havre des Pas, when “raw sewage” was deposited on the beach, and said “numerous further discharges have occurred” since.
Citing freedom-of-information data, Mr Cabeldu said that between May 2019 and June 2024 there were 16 discharges from the Le Dicq and Le Hocq outflows alone.
He argued that the Le Dicq outflow is “critical to the health of the Ramsar Area” because, during heavy rain, it can carry untreated sewage “straight onto the gradually sloping sands” with the “potential to cause severely deleterious effects to its fragile ecology”.
He also raised concerns about public health and the shellfish industry, warning of “significant threats from E.coli” and noting that oysters farmed in Grouville Bay already require purification before sale.
Mr Cabeldu further claimed that none of the incidents had been reported under the Ramsar Convention, arguing that Jersey had failed to meet its obligation to notify potential ecological harm.
He also criticised the Island’s regulatory system, stating that Jersey “does not have an independent environmental regulator”.
In response, Infrastructure and Environment officials said the Island’s sewerage system includes 101 pumping stations operating under a discharge permit in force since 2000.
The permit allows emergency discharges “during storm conditions or at times of an unavoidable mechanical or electrical breakdown” to prevent sewage from backing up into homes and businesses, it added.
The department acknowledged that “pollution incidents, such as sewage spills, “do happen within the southeast coast Ramsar site”, adding that these are “causes for concern”.
However, it said there is “no evidence” to suggest that these incidents have been of “a magnitude that will result in a change to the ecological character of the Ramsar site”.
Officials also pointed to investment in infrastructure and monitoring, including measures to separate foul and surface water and increase storage capacity.
They said this had led to improvements, with spill events at the Dicq pumping station falling from 18 in 2022 to two so far this year.
The department emphasised that coastal water quality is influenced by multiple factors, including rainfall, natural marine activity and agricultural runoff – not sewage alone.
