Amnesty to weed out banned garden chemicals after stream gets polluted

Saturday 10 October 2015

Thousands of litres of water have gone down the drain because someone’s polluted a stream in St Brelade.

Two day’s worth of water has been lost because of an old weed killer with traces of a chemical that’s been banned here since the early 90’s.

Simazine was used in common domestic weed killers and pesticides and has been the cause of two other pollution incidents since it was banned in 1993.

Jersey Water have stopped the stream reaching Val de La Mare reservoir until they’ve tested to make sure it’s clear of pollution and the Environment department have now called an amnesty to try and weed out old chemicals hidden away in garden sheds.

Land and Horticultural Development Manager Iain Norris said “Simazine is not dangerous to health in small quantities and thanks to Jersey Water’s regular monitoring, there’s no risk to our water supplies.

“Thankfully problems with outdated chemicals, and simazine in particular, are rare – the last one was at Greve de Lecq in 2010 and before that at Grands Vaux in 2003, but we want to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“Please check your garden sheds and garages for any old bottles and packets of chemicals. ln all cases, if you’re unsure, please contact the Department and we’ll help you dispose of it in the right way – without polluting our water.”

It’s illegal to store or use anything with simazine in it but the department are keen to stress that no-one will be prosecuted for handing in their old containers.

Jersey Water’s Chief Executive Officer Helier Smith said: “The action of just one individual can have an impact on the water resources we rely on so heavily as a small island community.

“We’re not only losing the equivalent of two days water as a consequence of the contamination of the stream and its loss to the general water supply, but it costs time and money for Jersey Water and the public purse to deal with incidents like this. Please consider the wider impact your actions can have and take steps to safely dispose of banned chemicals and to make our supplies cleaner and safer.”  

If you find out of date or unidentifiable garden chemicals, don’t get rid of them yourself - email environmentenquiries@gov.je or call the Environment department on 441600 and someone will get back to you to give you advice. ​