§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will instigate an inquiry into the oil pollution along the north-east coast of England during the week beginning 16 February; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many birds he estimates were badly affected by the oil slick off the north-east coast of England during the week beginning 16 February.
§ Mr. RidleyI am not aware of any oil slick off the north-east coast.
The Nature Conservancy Council advises that up to 20 February, 570 birds, predominantly guillemots, had been affected; 415 of these were live birds and 155 were dead.
My Department's marine pollution control unit has an arrangement with the Nature Conservancy Council whereby an anti-pollution aircraft is flown on at sea reconnaissance whenever reports are received of five or more live oiled birds on 1 km of beach on two successive tides. One such flight, with an NCC observer on board, took place on 17 February but no oil could be found at sea. Samples have been taken both of the oil that has come ashore and of that on some of the birds affected and this will be analysed to try and determine its type and possible source of sources.
As oil has been affecting sea birds along the north-east coast of England for the last 10 years it is also proposed to deploy the MPCU's recently acquired remote sensing 462W number of public service vehicles, by operator group for the South Wales traffic area for each year since 1979, that failed the annual Department of Transport test on the original examination.
Mr. Peter BottomelyPublic service vehicle annual test statistics are available only from 1982–83 onwards. The number of failures at the first attempt is as follows:
aircraft to carry out reconnaissance flights over a period of days on the next occasion that there is a sustained spell of north-east or east winds in a determined effort to try to establish the source of this oil.