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.”