HC Deb 23 June 1952 vol 502 cc1834-5
29. Mr. Stokes

asked the Minister of Transport what steps he proposes to take to stop the pollution of the Cornish bathing beaches by oil and oil refuse.

Mr. Braithwaite

Although all the complaints which the Ministry have received of the pollution of the beaches of Cornwall have been investigated it has not been possible to obtain conclusive evidence of the source of the pollution. As I informed the House on 16th May, the Ministry is conducting a comprehensive review of the problem of oil pollution and we hope shortly to discuss the matter with representatives of the shipping industry with a view to seeing what further practical measures can be taken to deal with the matter.

Mr. Stokes

In addition to considering what I understand is already proposed, the provision of oil separators in ports, will the Minister also make regulations that oil-burning ships coming to this country shall carry tanks into which this refuse can be discharged instead of into the sea?

Mr. Braithwaite

I assure the right hon. Gentleman that we are well aware of this nuisance. Only recently I visited what I believe to be his own residence, Watergate Bay, in Cornwall, or near it, and other hon. Members from that part of the country have made representations about Fowey and similar places. There are wrecks in the vicinity which may be responsible for some of the trouble.

Mr. Stokes

I have no residence in Cornwall, but I am interested in that part of the country. Would the Minister answer the last part of my question, which was whether he will consider introducing regulations to ensure that oil-burning vessels shall carry tanks into which they can pour this refuse instead of discharging it into the sea? There may be a residual value which could be recovered.

Mr. Braithwaite

All these points will be examined.

Colonel Clarke

Does my hon. Friend know that it has been suggested that tankers, leaving port light, do not like to fill their tanks at once because of the danger of getting sediment into them, that it is suggested that they keep the water circulating in their tanks for some time and that this may cause a certain amount of oil to lie on coastal waters?

Mr. Braithwaite

I am obliged to my hon. and gallant Friend for that information.

Mr. Stokes

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that distance lends no enchantment in this matter, that the sand on some of the beaches in Cornwall comes from as far away as the Sea of Saragossa and that it is no solution to say that this oil is being discharged into the middle of the sea? It should not be discharged into the sea at all.

Mr. D. Marshall

Is my hon. Friend aware of the extreme urgency of this problem, not only in view of its effects upon invisible exports in tourist traffic but also upon the sea bird population and swans as well?