United Utilities to face public at drop in events on Fylde Coast as doubts remain over sea safety

United Utilities is giving the Fylde Coast public an opportunity to find out what it is doing to stop sewage spills into the sea.

The company is keen to showcase the “24/7 operation” it put in place to repair a fractured pipe at Fleetwood wastewater treatment works. 

The water company was criticised last week for pulling out of a public meeting called by the campaign group United Against Raw Sewage in Our Seas.

Instead UU are running two drop in events scheduled to take place at Cleveleys Community Centre on Wednesday 5 July between 4pm – 7pm and Friday 7 July, 11am – 3pm.

However, the company will be under the spotlight on Thursday night when BBC’s Question Time will be recorded in Fleetwood, with local feelings running high about the closed seas, with the Safer Seas and Rivers App still showing dangerously high levels of pollution in the sea and recommending people stay out of the water.

The assessments are made by the Environment Agency and the warnings can be caused by high tides, rain causing agricultural or surface water run-off as well as discharges from waste water plants.

The Environment Agency have been contacted for comment.

TheBusinessDesk.com reported last week on the extensive civil engineering effort by the water company to fix a pipe at a plant at Fleetwood, which takes treated water from the Fleetwood works out to sea.

Repairs remain ongoing with the original pipe, and a two kilometre bypass has been fitted to allow “treated water” to continue flowing out to sea.  This has been supported with a fleet of 100 tankers to help remove sewage from the system and take it to other works for treatment.

Members of the public have been invited to ask questions about the company’s response to the incident and find out more about the company’s future investment plans for Lancashire. 

Mark Garth, Wastewater Director for United Utilities, said: “We understand the impact this incident has had on the Fylde Coast communities with the closing of bathing waters and tankers on the road and we are very sorry for the inconvenience it has caused. 

“We know that many residents have concerns and so we are putting on these events so people can come and find out about the work we’ve been carrying out and also the investment projects we have planned to help improve the rivers and coast around Lancashire over the next seven years.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson said:  “After evidence gathering as part of our ongoing investigation, our advice against bathing in some of the waters along the Fylde coast can now be removed. 

“We advise bathers to check Swimfo so they can continue to make informed decisions about entering the water, including when and where to swim.  

“We are clear that polluting our seas and rivers is unacceptable. We are pressing on with our robust investigation to establish what happened and will decide on next steps when it concludes.”