SL marine scientist says X-Press pollutants will hover around for over a century

Australia domiciled Lankan marine scientist Prof. Charitha Pattiarachchi says that the plastic and chemical pollutants released into the ocean from X-Press Pearl will last more than three generations.

Pro. Pattiarachchi said the plastic pellets now in the sea would spread around the coast up to Trincomalee and could reach even India and the Maldives.

Prof Pattiarachchi in a television interview on Saturday said that the pollutants would spread to lagoons and river estuaries too and mix with the sands on beaches; they would have an adverse impact on Sri Lanka’s marine environment for about hundreds of years to come.