A public alert system will be implemented when pollution from Hamilton’s Seabright sewage outfall is detected in bathing waters around nearby south shore beaches, Environment Minister Trevor Moniz announced today.

Reiterating that Bermuda’s beaches are safe for swimming, the Minister also announced that the Department of Health is investigating “a mechanism” that will give the public access to water-quality samples “as close to real time as possible.”

Mr Moniz said: “We are currently developing an alert system should a situation ever occur where Department of Health staff test a site, find unacceptable levels of contaminants, go back the next day and find unacceptable levels of contaminates for a second day.”

Meanwhile, Mr Moniz also announced that the new sewage treatment plant for the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will begin limited operations in a matter of days.

He added that the fully operational plant “will effectively dilute the 500,000 imperial gallons per day from Hamilton with 100,000 IGPD of highly treated waste water.”

Mr Moniz said the new pollution alert system “may take the form of a flashing notice on the Department of Health [or] Government website, along with media notifications from the Government’s Department of Communication and Information to all local media outlets.

“It may, alternatively, take the form of a physical flag or sign on that beach or bathing area.”

Also in train is a push to inform the public on how to properly dispose of kitchen grease, “as it is the grease that causes the pipeline outfall to stick together and wash inshore,” said the minister.

No water sampling information has given Government cause to close the bathing beaches, according to Mr Moniz, “something which we would do if results showed that contamination levels were over acceptable limits for more than one day.”

That includes the initial test results taken by Laval University, through BIOS, in the spring of 2013, he said.

He added: “That particular type of pollution event is short in duration, self resolving, limited in scope and driven by very specific weather circumstances (strong SSE winds and waves) and has not recurred since then in the wake of extensive sampling.”

The minister moved again to reassure members of the public and visitors to the Island that Government “takes the issue of seawater quality very seriously.”

And he said: “Environmental Health will continue to closely monitor Bermuda’s beaches and take water samples for bathing water quality twice each week at major bathing beaches. Any issues that may be raised by that sampling will be reported to the public.”