§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the(a) locations and (b) inventories of chemical and munition dumps in the coastal waters of the United Kingdom. [21855]
§ Dr. MoonieThe list of dumpsites of chemical and other munitions located in the coastal waters of the United Kingdom has been placed in the Library of the House. Primarily, the list contains information compiled by the Hydrographic Office from that published in Admiralty Charts for known dumpsites in UK waters.
In addition, the list contains the locations of the deepwater sites in the Atlantic used for the disposal of chemical weapons after World War Two and details of some, although not all, of the service range danger areas in the coastal water of the United Kingdom. The D307 range danger area, which is near to my hon. Friend's constituency, is not shown as a designed sea dumpsite on the list of dumpsites, as explosive ordnance was buried on the site rather than being dumped at sea.
Detailed information of the inventories of chemical weapons and other munitions disposed of to those dumpsites is no longer available, as may records were destroyed after the disposal as a matter of routine custom and practice. As a signatory to the Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Convention, the United Kingdom ceased all dumping of munitions at sea in 1992 and continues to honour that commitment.