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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 17 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 1

Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers - Dumping of Nuclear Waste.

Michael Smith

Ceist:

19 Mr. M. Smith asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he has taken to ascertain from the British Government the amounts and the composition of all hazardous wastes dumped by British Authorities in the Irish Sea and the North East Atlantic and the dates on which such dumping occurred; the further steps, if any, he has taken to ensure that there is no further development of this kind; and the resources available to protect the Marine environment from this lethal danger. [15120/95]

Pat the Cope Gallagher

Ceist:

37 Mr. Gallagher (Donegal South West) asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he is taking to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the dumping of chemical weapons off the Irish coast; if his attention has been drawn to the recent and alarming revelations regarding the dumping of nuclear waste off the Irish coast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14953/95]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 37 together.

The House will be aware that my Department has been in touch with the corresponding UK authorities over a period regarding these various matters. We have been informed that the Ministry of Defence did indeed undertake sea dumping of chemical weapons stocks and conventional munitions as a means of disposing of redundant and surplus stocks and dealing with the legacy of weapons produced in the world wars. These disposals occurred in a number of locations and at random dates. We have been informed that all such dumping by the UK Government has ceased.

The House will be aware of my continuing and deep concerns in this whole matter. It is my firm objective to ensure that all information — in terms of locations, dates and nature of materials — on past disposals in the sea around our coasts is made public; the public is made fully aware of the current and planned monitoring of the state of our waters, both in the vicinity of dumped materials and in the wider marine area, and authoritative information is made available on the current and prospective state of dumped materials together with an assessment of any potential medium to long-term dangers from the dumping incidences.

To that end, I am today placing before the House all the information available to me in relation to dumping activities by the UK authorities. As already mentioned in the debate on the Adjournment on Tuesday, 10 October, I have made contact with the UK Government directly in relation to more recent claims of dumping, particularly disposals of nuclear material, and sought more detailed particulars of where and when dumping was conducted, whether any chemical or nuclear materials were involved and stressing the need for strict monitoring and management of any dumped material which might impact on the marine environment or human health. Since then I have also written to the UK Minister for the Environment stressing the need for urgent monitoring and better management of the various dump sites involved. I intend to follow up these various contacts urgently at a political level. I have also asked my Department and the Marine Institute to impress on the UK authorities and the scientific community the need to enhance our scientific knowledge of the processes involved in the breakdown of these substances and their impact; I intend to impress on the EU Commissioner responsible for environmental affairs our Government's concern in these areas and have written to her seeking an early meeting.

We are not alone in our concern about the use of the sea as a location for dumping chemical and nuclear material. On an international level, the dumping of chemical weapons is a matter of major concern to most contracting parties to the Oslo Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft, 1972. Ireland is a party to the Oslo Convention and the Government is actively pursuing the general issue of munitions dumping through that forum.

The Assessment and Monitoring Committee, a scientific working group of the Convention has considered studies undertaken by Denmark concerning war gas dumpings in the Baltic Sea and concluded, on the basis of the best available information and technical advice that, given the nature of the chemicals, seepage is not considered to pose serious hazards and efforts to retrieve or remove would be more dangerous than leaving the dumped material in place. Nevertheless, this remains a matter of serious concern and further investigation into this whole area is required.

I am, therefore, determined to ensure that a comprehensive investigation of the impact of the dumping of chemical weapons off the coast of Ireland should be initiated. In this regard it was decided, at the April meeting of ASMO this year that, as part of a wider quality status report on the maritime area covered by the Oslo Convention, the impact of the dumping of war gas ammunition would be specifically addressed. This wider quality status report is to be completed by the year 2000. Ireland and the UK are responsible for the preparation of that part of the report in respect of a region which covers the Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and areas to the west of Ireland and west of Scotland and the aim is to have the war gas and other aspects of dumped weapons addressed as speedily as possible.

Will the Minister invoke the OSPAR arbitration procedures against the United Kingdom authorities — when the Dumping at Sea and the Energy (Miscellaneous) Bills are passed here which, as the Minister knows, will enable our Government to ratify the new OSPAR Convention — for the dumping of nuclear wastes in the Irish Sea in addition to potential dumping in the north east Atlantic?

Will our Government be represented at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Protection of the Marine Environment to be held in Washington later this month and early November? What position will the Government take on one of the most significant proposals at that conference, the global and legally binding ban on POPs into the marine environment?

With regard to the concern expressed about these alarming developments over the past 30 years, will the Minister say whether we will hear of more secret dumps or has he been assured by the United Kingdom authorities that everything is now known with regard to their location so that any preventive action possible can be attempted, ensuring we will not be again surprised by new names and locations of other secret dumps?

The information made available to us, the details of which I am providing to the House, outlines 22 sites where conventional munitions were dumped at various stages since the mid1940s. It also outlines 24 sites where chemical munitions have been dumped. We have been given two assurances by the UK authorities that this is the complete information regarding the extent of dumping and that all such dumping has now been discontinued. Scientific information available from studies carried out elsewhere reveals that in the interest of the marine environment it is better to leave such dumped material undisturbed but to monitor and manage such sites. Our initiatives have been taken with a view to adopting a joint approach to managing and monitoring those sites. That can be achieved under the OSPAR Convention, in particular under the requirement regarding the preparation of a quality status report which covers a section of the North Atlantic that surrounds our coast and the Irish Sea. Responsibility for the preparation of that report rests jointly with the Irish Government and the UK Government. That is the approach we intend to take.

Regarding the Intergovernmental Conference to be held in Washington, it is intended that the Irish Government will be represented at it.

The proposal to ban persistent organic pollutants globally is one of the main ones that will be put forward at that conference. I accept the Minister's point that their removal may be hazardous but since there is such global concern to ban them, future contamination of the marine environment will not be acceptable. What is the Government's position on that proposal?

Deputy Smith can be assured that the Government will take a strong position insisting that the sea should not be used as a dumping ground for hazardous materials. We have clearly indicated our position which we will communicate at the Washington conference.

I thank the Minister for the information he has given today. It is welcome that at long last someone is seriously addressing this problem. For a number of years we have been aware of the extent of dumping off the north-west coast, particularly an area covering approximately 60 to 70 miles off the Donegal coast. We are concerned about the condition of the casings in which those substances have been dumped. Would it be possible to carry out a visual inspection to asertain the condition of those casings which lie at the bottom of the sea? There is widespread concern among responsible people and local authorities, that such gases could escape and cause untold damage to marine and other life. Surely when it is possible to get down to where the Titanic rests, it should be possible to get down to where those substances are resting to ascertain their condition. We have all been disturbed by a new twist revealed last week, the allegation of nuclear waste dumped along our coasts. I urge the Minister to take this up at European level, if necessary, to ascertain what has been dumped, where it has been dumped and what can be done to save the environment, life and habitation around our coastal areas from such potential danger.

I need hardly explain the difficulty of identifying the precise locations of such dumpings at this stage. We have the co-ordinates at which the dumpings occurred but after 40 or 50 years of sea movement it is understandable that identifying precise locations and having them examined is quite difficult. We have been in touch with the Scottish office and with the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Food regarding dumping in the Beaufort Dyke. The Scottish office has assured us it is undertaking underwater examination of that dump and is organising to have cameras sent down to photograph what is there to establish its condition. It will provide us with that information when it is available.

Regarding the more recent allegations of dumping of nuclear wastes in the Beaufort Dyke, the UK atomic energy agency denied those claims. I have written to the UK Secretary of State for Defence seeking his observations on the charges made and precise information regarding the location of any such dumping, the condition in which substances have been dumped, the nature of casings and the monitoring and management in the meantime. I assure Deputy McGinley that we will continue to pursue that with the UK Ministries of Defence and Environment.

John Browne

Ceist:

20 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he intends to take with the British Government to clarify the implications for Ireland, the Irish people and the fishing industry of the reported dumping off the Scottish coast, between Ireland and Britain, of over 2,000 tons of nuclear waste in 1981; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15063/95]

As my colleague, the Minister of State indicated, the Government is extremely concerned about reports of all disposals of hazardous materials in our adjacent seas and I can assure the House I intend to ensure that we continue to pursue these matters actively at political, official and scientific levels with the UK authorities and the relevant international bodies. To date Ireland has adopted a highly proactive stance in international bodies on these issues. This has been successful in keeping the need for information and action to the fore and in heightening the interest and attention given to marine environmental issues by most governments.

We will pursue in particular the claims — since denied by the UK atomic energy agency as mentioned by the Minister of State — of the dumping of radioactive waste in the Irish Sea between Belfast Lough and the Scottish coast. Given the particularly insidious impact of such wastes no stone will be left unturned in ascertaining the facts and the implications of any such dumpings.

In relation to the implications for the fishing industry, I must assure the House the industry and consumers that there is no cause for alarm in this regard. At the same time as we are pursuing the issue at international level, we will continue to carefully monitor the health of fish and other marine food products. To date these ongoing tests give no reason whatsoever for disquiet nor do I expect any change in the future.

(Wexford): Will the Minister agree that this represents another episode of trying to drag information from the nuclear industry which operates in a secretive fashion? Will he accept it is time to ask the EU to set up an independent investigative structure to examine in detail the source and types of nuclear wastes dumped along the Irish coast? The report in the British newspaper, The Observer, which has not been denied, is of major concern. While the Minister said there is a lack of information from the UK authorities, they have not denied that such dumpings have taken place. Will the Minister accept this is a matter of grave concern for our people?

As the Minister of State and I said on numerous occasions — and I am aware that the Deputy shares this view — the time has long since passed when people can dump whatever they like into the seas. We have taken a proactive role in highlighting that at various fora and we intend to continue to do so. We wish to stress, whether it involves the British authorities or anybody else, that if information of that nature is sought, it is important that it be given openly and that there be no sense of fear in the community because of the tendency for secrecy which, in turn, would suggest something sinister was happening behind the scenes and which, in turn, would have downstream effects in various areas.

On the Deputy's question about the fishing industry, we are particularly conscious of ongoing tests to make certain that fish life is not affected so that there will be no public scare. This industry is too important to us not to take care and pay sufficient attention to so as to ensure that a very valuable stock is not damaged or that people's health is affected. To date, despite ongoing tests, there is no reason for disquiet. I do not expect any change in the future. Many of the dumpings took place some years ago and, because of the ongoing research, if there had been any damage to fish life, it would have been noticed before now. There is nothing to suggest that fish life has suffered.

(Wexford): I welcome the statement by the Minister on the fishing industry. We would all be concerned if nuclear discharges affected the fishing industry. The Commission President, Jacques Santer, when referring to the French nuclear tests, said he accepted the Commission had a responsibility under the Euratom Treaty for the health, safety and environment of its citizens. We have heard much from the Minister of State about the Oslo Convention but is the Minister pursuing this matter, as suggested by President Santer, under the Euratom Treaty?

Yes. We will avail of every forum to raise our disquiet. As a small country we can give a lead in regard to protection of the marine environment. As an island nation we should be aware of our influence. We have used every possible opportunity and every angle to lead the charge and encourage others to make practices which were acceptable in the past unacceptable in the future.

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