'Polluted' mine water pumped into Northumberland sea claim

"Heavily polluted" mine water is being discharged into the sea unfiltered, the Green Party has claimed.

Party co-ordinator Thomas Stewart said pumping water into Druridge Bay, Northumberland without treating or testing it was "insane".

The Coal Authority (CA) said it had Environment Agency (EA) permission.

Tests on water released in small quantities from the former Hauxley site would establish if any contamination was present, the EA said.

Water is being pumped from the disused mine after rising levels began to leak out.

Mr Stewart said the water contained chemicals "which affect marine life, which don't break down, they are cumulative".

"The mine does need pumping out but to be discharging that into the sea, with all these chemicals completely untreated, seems to us to be complete madness," he said.

"We need to know exactly what it is that they're putting out to sea."

The water contained "extremely high levels" of the dissolved metal manganese, Mr Stewart claimed.

The CA said a sample taken from mine water in August contained 0.81 mg of manganese per litre.

Natural concentrations in seawater range from 0.0004 to 0.01 mg (0.4-10 µg) per litre.

However, the CA said water coming up through the beach had higher levels of manganese than a borehole sample, undermining suggestions the metal was originating from the old workings.

Water was pumped from the mine for years after it closed but since this was discontinued it had risen to natural levels, the CA said.

The authority intends to discharge water for three months at "significantly lower" volumes than in the past, and investigate how to prevent leaks causing problems.

Water was starting to "naturally discharge" and the impact of pumping it out was being monitored, the EA said.