Is Tenby's Blue Flag beach status under threat? That's the question being asked after huge piles of 'contaminated' sand have been dumped on the resort's North Beach.
The sand has come from the harbour, where excavations have been underway in the past few weeks to dig out the old moorings and lay new ones.
Most days, a fleet of lorries has been seen ferrying the excavated material from the harbour to the end of the adjoining beach, but as pointed out in a letter from a concerned resident this week, "as the tide is washing over it, it is exposing years of accumulated rubbish."
"Not only old bones, chains, lumps of dried oily silt and old shoes, but, most worryingly, loads of broken glass, which is either just under or on the surface," said Mrs. Alyson Bush, of The Glebe. "We picked up a bucketful in a few minutes to take to the bin.
"This is building up a timebomb for the future, as how long is it going to be a hazard to catch people unawares walking barefoot or children digging in the sand next summer. We saw a dad today with no shoes on pushing a buggy through the worst of it. "With the current interest in enforcing Health and Safety laws, whoever took the decision to dump the material from the harbour excavations to the end of the North Beach obviously didn't think of the consequences.
"This has also coincided with us being allowed to bring our dogs on the beach after the summer ban, but we are worried that he may get cut paws as he can't see the glass," continued Mrs. Bush. "People complain about dog mess polluting the beach - at least it's natural and breaks down eventually.
"Why couldn't this material have been loaded onto a barge and dumped out at sea and not left on our coastline, depositing dirty oily silt and turning the sea black," she stated. "There are even swathes of small dead cockles, so it is even affecting nature." "Perhaps the tides are right to do the work at this time, but where was the logic in starting it just before two weeks of half-term holidays when lots of visitors come here for their last break of the year. It may have been an idea to put a sign up on the beach to let them know what is going on, because they may think that the beach always looks like that.
"Are there no regulations that go with being a Blue Flag to stop things like this happening? queried Mrs. Bush. "If we are not careful, we may have problems in the future being awarded Blue Flag status.
"With regard to the propossed continued dredging in the Bristol Channel, think very carefully about the decisions made, as like in this instance, it could have disastrous consequences," she concluded.
When contacted by the Observer about the matter, Len Mullins, Pembrokeshire County Council's press and public relations officer, said: "The lengths of chain that are seen are removed before the sand is transported across the beach but, inevitably, there are short lengths - or longer ones coiled up - that are not seen and so dumped on the beach along with anchor blocks.
"The council has a machine specifically used to clear any such debris, paying particular attention to any glass. This glass is already on the beach near the harbour and is only being relocated. We now have the opportunity to see and remove it.
"Sea disposal of dredged sand is very strictly controlled requiring an extensive - and expensive - procedure to obtain the necessary licences. This is not a viable option for the relatively small quantities of material we are dealing with.
"The black material is anaerobic silt which will soon clear. We have not seen any oil whatsoever. It should be remembered that we are only removing sand that has drifted into the harbour since the last dredging operation some nine years ago after the Sea Empress incident.
"The timing of the contract was determined by the need to complete all the works by next March. We are not only dredging the harbour, but replacing the outdated mooring system with a new one which will allow more boats to use the harbour. Clearly, installation of the new system could not take place before the dredging.
"A series of new ground chains held by mooring blocks which are being cast on site are to be laid. "The Blue Flag Scheme award will not be affected by the dredging works which have been undertaken many times in the past.
"Dredging sand in the Bristol Channel has been evaluated many times by independent advisors to the Welsh Assembly Government who regulate such schemes.
"No link exists between any proposed dredging and the beaches of South Pembrokeshire. Any fluctuations in sand levels on our beaches is entirely natural, driven by storm and tide events."