One resident claimed that, with heavy rain, a sewage pipe drain cover on the Promenade was displaced by the pressure of the sewage flow and “leaked hundreds of litres of sewage” onto the beach.
They said: “It happened on Monday, December 1, and Sunday, December 7. I notified SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and Scottish Water both times.
“There is still no sign on the beach to warn the public not to walk there. It stinks and you can see debris.
“Seeing that nothing happened, I notified East Lothian Council and raised my concern about people walking their dogs on contaminated ground. I was told that SEPA should be dealing with this.
“On Thursday, December 11, the council sent two men with rakes who were scratching their heads not knowing what to do.”
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We were alerted to reports of a surcharging manhole at Musselburgh Promenade following heavy rainfall earlier this month.
“Our teams attended and arranged specialist contractors to carry out an external clean-up of the area, with work completed on December 5 and 11, once conditions allowed.
“We thank the public for reporting issues like this, which helps us respond quickly, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“Less than one per cent of waste water comes from toilets – the vast majority (99 per cent) is made up of surface water and grey water from washing machines, sinks etc.
“During periods of heavy rain, the waste water is even more diluted.”
A SEPA spokesperson said: ‘‘SEPA received reports of unauthorised discharges of sewage on Musselburgh Promenade on December 1 and 7 following periods of heavy rainfall.
“SEPA reported these incidents to Scottish Water to allow an appropriate investigation and clean-up to be carried out in accordance with the conditions of their sewer network licence.
“We have contacted Scottish Water, who confirmed clean-ups were carried out on December 5 and 11.
“We will continue to work with Scottish Water and East Lothian Council, who have responsibility for litter and public health at beaches and bathing waters, to ensure these situations continue to be addressed appropriately.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the member of the public who raised their concerns and would encourage anyone concerned about a potential pollution incident to contact us as early as possible, using our online reporting form at sepa.org.uk/report or by calling our pollution hotline on 0800 80 70 60 so we can take appropriate action.’’
A council spokesperson said: “SEPA were made aware of sewage discharges on December 1 and 7 affecting Fisherrow Sands.
“We have been advised that Scottish Water contractors carried out a clean-up of the area, including removal of debris and disinfection, on December 5 and 11 respectively.
“Further works by Scottish Water to replace manhole covers were scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday.”