Posted on 09/06/2016 10:43:58 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Environmentalists fear Brexit could see European rules on water cleanliness being undermined. But could leaving the EU result in filthy coastlines and smelly beaches?
Until recent decades, swimming in the sea off the coast of Britain could be a perilous and unhealthy activity.
"We were frequently surfing in poo," says Steve Crawford, who remembers the seas off Cornwall in the 1970s and 80s and is now a member of the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage.
"Back then sewage just went straight to sea. There was no treatment - it was just basically chopped and sent, not even that far out [to sea]," he adds.
"We were called the 'dirty man of Europe'."
That the situation is different now is largely due to legislation by the European Union (EU), he believes. Since 1976 the UK has been subject to the EU's Bathing Water Directive (BWD), which gave member states 10 years to meet certain water quality standards in bathing areas. Samuel Lowe, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, says it was primarily pressure from the EU that led to the clean up. He is now concerned about the future of the UK's beaches following Brexit. "The history of the Bathing Water Directive and how we've treated our beaches suggests that standards will not be upheld to the degree that they are now," he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Do people actually swim in the ocean in GB? The water is icy and rough and the beaches loaded with pebbles. Most go on holiday to the waterfront because of the boardwalks, rides, and Brighton Rock. I’ve done it myself.
Half the population loved the EU because they could go to Greece to swim for 50 bucks.
Could Brexit affect beach water quality?
Yes, it will also give you acne and be the cause of dogs and cats laying down together. How ridiculous. We need to start some of these stupid memes and use them against the left.
Beautiful sandy beaches all round my part of the UK.
But yes, the water’s cold except for Summer.
Where are you?
Brexit is causing almost as much havoc as global warming.
The point is any rules will be British rules decided by Britons. They could well be stricter, but at the least they’d be chosen by the people they actually affect. Or am I missing something?
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