Lindane in Channel: Pollution Threat (Hansard, 9 May 1989)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Lord Brabazon of Tara)
My Lords, the French authorities, responsible for co-ordinating counter-pollution operations in the area of the Channel where the container was lost, have carried out an exhaustive but unsuccessful search for it using both surface vessels and a submersible. UK assistance was offered, but not required. The special search has now been called off on the basis of a joint Anglo-French scientific assessment of the pollution threat which concluded that the likelihood of contamination is much less than first feared. The French Navy will continue to look for the missing container in the process of normal training and exercises.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, I have two questions. The first is: is it the case that Her Majesty's Government are responsible for the waters within the three-mile limit around the Channel Islands where this container may well have sunk? Secondly, when the Minister speaks about the Anglo-French team being satisfied, is it satisfied that the leak of this dangerous pesticide cannot get into the food chain via absorption into the water and then its intake into fish? Is the team satisfied for all time when this incident is only one month old?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, the area concerned is on the French side of the dividing line under the arrangements that we have with the French whereby we look after one side of the Channel and they look after the other. It is in the French area at the moment, or is thought to be.
So far as concerns the threat to the environment, the team of biologists to which I have referred met in Cherbourg and concluded that the physical nature of the lindane—which is in a solid waxy form which makes it highly insoluble in seawater—the packaging, the depth of water in which the container was lost and the water currents are such that the likelihood of contamination is low. However, the French continue to carry out an intensive programme of sampling and analysis of seawater and fish, and results to date have shown no abnormal levels of lindane.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, can my noble friend confirm reports that other containers of lindane were on board the transporting vessel which later sank on the North side of the Channel? If that is correct, will there be an inquiry into the suitability of this transport and the action which was taken?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
No, my Lords, there was no further lindane lost from the ship. There were 32 drums of Cypermethrin and permethrin. We organised a serach and we managed to recover 28 of those drums. The remaining four cannot be found; but the danger from them is very minimal.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, is is not a fact that the container of lindane was first lost in international waters in the Channel? When the container was found it was then in the French area of responsibility. Is it not of some concern that this should be left solely with the French to determine? Surely this is of international consequence and I believe the House would like to know on what scientific basis it is judged that there is no further danger arising from the lindane container? Is it not a fact that the International Maritime Organisation is to investigate the future carrying and transhipment of hazardous cargoes? Does that not indicate the seriousness of that matter?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Indeed, my Lords, the container was originally found by the French and taken in tow by the French. Unfortunately the tow parted some 35 kilometres from Cherbourg. New measures recently have been agreed with the IMO which will require all toxic substances to be carried below deck. There are also amendments coming into force requiring packages to be designed and tested to the United Nations standards, to withstand normal hazards of handling and transport. Additionally there are proposals at the IMO to develop tests to ensure the survivability of such packages when they have been immersed in water over a period of time. In addition, we are presently considering, with other North Sea states, what further inspections might be undertaken by surveyors to ensure that the regulations are being complied with.

§ Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone
My Lords, can my noble friend help me by refreshing my memory as to the exact nature of our arrangements with the French? What is their juridicial basis? Is it based on treaty, and if so what? Or is it based on customary international law?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, in this area of the Channel there is a long-standing bilateral agreement called the Manche plan with the French and they are responsible for co-ordinating counter-pollution measures on their side and we are responsible for our side.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, will the noble Lord be good enough to answer that part of my noble friend's question which referred to the scientific basis? Can he explain to the House what precisely he meant when he said that there was no abnormal level of lindane in the water? Is he saying that there 543 is a normal level of lindane to be found in seawater around our coasts?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I apologise to the noble Lord for not having answered that question at the time. The scientific basis was established at a meeting between marine chemists and biologists representing both French and British Ministries, on our side the Ministry of Agriculture, which met in Cherbourg and reached the conclusion that they did.
As regards my reference to the abnormal level of lindane, there is a small level of lindane in sea water in those waters which results from pesticides being used in France and coming through the river system into the sea.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, the noble Lord admitted that neither he nor anybody else knows where the container is. If that is the case, why has the search been called off? Is there any truth in the fact that this area of the sea bed has been polluted by waste ever since the war, particularly in that part just off Guernsey known as Hurd Deep? Is it the case that the search has been called off for fear of disturbing what may be—and I should like the noble Lord to tell us whether he has any knowledge of this—nuclear active waste which has been dumped there for many years and which is now on the sea bed?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I have absolutely no knowledge of any nuclear waste in that area. Of course, that would be a question which the noble Lord should refer to the French rather than to ourselves. The search has been called off on the basis of the scientific evidence. The container simply cannot be found and there is a limit to the amount of time one can continue searching.