§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement concerning the monitoring of the sea bed immediately adjacent to the wreckage of Piper Alpha and the surrounding area.
§ Mr. LangAs I indicated in my previous reply to the hon. Member on 25 July last year (volume 157, columns645–46) the results of initial monitoring work by DAFS scientists were published and copies of the reports placed in the Library.
In addition, as part of the abandonment programme approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy under the Petroleum Act 1987, Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. and its co-venturers have been required to carry out surveys to determine the disposition of the debris, to examine the remains of the installation for petroleum leakage and to sample water sediment and fish for the presence of PCBs and radioactivity. The results of these surveys have been received and views on them will shortly be invited from representatives of the fishing industry and the Nature Conservancy Council. It will then be for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy to decide what further action may be necessary under the abandonment programme in the light of the
838WAgency, their periods of office, their annual remuneration and the organisations and associations from which they were recruited, selected and appointed.
§ Mr. LangThe information is set out in the table.
results of the survey, the views of interested parties and expert advice, including that of Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland marine laboratory, Aberdeen and Her Majesty's industrial pollution inspectorate.
DAFS will continue to monitor the area around Piper Alpha as part of its general monitoring of the environmental quality of sea waters around Scotland.