§ Mr. Malcohn BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what figures he has for the volume of waste deposits dumped in internal waters behind the Oslo convention baselines in each of the last five years in the North sea.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonI have been asked to reply.
The amount of material dumped in internal waters behind the Oslo convention baselines in the North sea by the United Kingdom in the last five years for which figures are available, are as follows: 465W
466W
000 's tonnes Dredged spoil Colliery minestone 1983 7,391 3,830 1984 10,371 564 1985 16,791 2,262 1986 12,429 2,264 1987 13,029 2,037 Comparable figures are not available for other North sea states as the Oslo convention does not yet include dumping in internal waters and there is therefore no common control and reporting procedure for such dumpings.
The United Kingdom has been actively supporting proposals to extend the coverage of the Oslo convention to include internal waters and we hope that agreement on this will be reached soon.