§ Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Minister of State for Defence where the 195 canisters of ferric chloride washed up on Isle of Wight beaches last summer were originally dumped by the Royal Navy; and when the full-scale review of the Royal Navy's dumping practices initiated at that time will be complete.
§ Mr. KirkThese canisters were dumped off the Nab Tower at Portsmouth. The review has been completed. For safety reasons explosives will continue to be dumped in very deep water under very stringent conditions. No other 275W naval stores will be dumped at sea unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which case the prior approval of the Ministry of Defence will be required.