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Seaweed Sampling to Help Find Scarborough South Bay Pollution Source

A Seaweed study will be sued to try and figure out the cause of bathing water quality problems in Scarborough.

An environmental expert has been recruited to analyse seaweed along the North Yorkshire coast in a bid to pinpoint the source of pollution which is affecting bathing water quality in Scarborough's South Bay.

Professor Darren Gröcke from Durham University explains how it works.

Five thousand seaweed samples are going the studied to try and identify the source of pollution which is affecting bathing water quality in Scarborough's South Bay.

Durham University has been brought in to conduct the tests in a project funded by North Yorkshire Council and McCain Foods.

Council Leader - Carl Les - says it's a positive step.

It is anticipated that through nitrogen analysis of more than 5,000 seaweed samples taken from the coast near the village of Crowdon to Filey, Professor Gröcke will be able to determine where and what kind of pollution is impacting on the coastal environment.

Samples have also been taken from Yorkshire Water's Scarborough wastewater treatment works, the first-time a water company has provided samples for this type of analysis, they will also be used in the study.

The project will cost £30,000 and is being jointly funded by North Yorkshire Council and McCain Foods, which is in the final phases of a £23 million investment to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant at its factory in Scarborough to one of the most sophisticated in the UK, using the best available technology.

The vice-president of manufacturing at McCain Foods, Andy Bates, said:

"As a proud business in Scarborough for over 50 years, we are committed to playing our part in the local community.

"We are pleased to be supporting this study and look forward to hearing the outcome of Professor Gröcke's research."

The council brought partners and agencies together for a summit in Scarborough in October last year to help improve the water quality in the town's South Bay.

Organisations involved included the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Environment Agency, McCain Foods and Yorkshire Water.

Since the summit, Yorkshire Water says it has invested some £2.8 million to reduce the number of discharges into the sea.

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