A trust rapped for dumping waste on a St Andrews beach insists it has taken action to prevent the incident being repeated.
St Andrews Harbour Trust and its contractor were issued with warning letters by environment agency SEPA after tonnes of debris were tipped onto East Sands in August last year.
Beach users were horrified to find piles of silt dredged from the harbour, containing scrap metal, plastic and tyres, had turned the water black.
SEPA, which erected a sign warning people against swimming or paddling in the water for several days, said the deposits breached environmental legislation.
Depositing of the silt by the contractor was consented by Marine Scotland but it was supposed to be in an authorised area outside the harbour, not dropped by the truckload at the popular beach.
Trust chairman Dr Cameron Rae said: “We were as distressed about this as everyone else. We had no intention of the material being placed where it was.
“There is an audit taking place looking at the process for carrying out similar work in the future to ensure that it is robust and that this doesn’t happen again.”
A SEPA spokesperson said: “The harbour trust had been issued with a licence by Marine Scotland to carry out this work, however by placing the dredged waste on the beach, they had breached waste management legislation.
“While the dredged material did not pose a bacterial risk to the beach, it did contain small amounts of scrap metal, plastics, tyres and rubble and caused discolouration of the East Sands bathing water.
“Extensive discussion took place between SEPA and the harbour trust regards removal of the waste deposits and the trust and their contractor were both issued with final warning letters.
“The harbour trust now has procedures in place to ensure that such incidents does not occur again in the future and SEPA continues to work with Marine Scotland to ensure that any licences they issue for dredging activities have due regard to any designated bathing waters.”
