§ Mr. Allan Robertsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has as to the amount of pollution in the North sea caused by sea dumping by Britain;
(2) what amount of waste and other materials Britain dumps in the North sea.
§ Mr. Gummer[holding answer 2 November 1987]: The amount of waste and other materials disposed of in the North sea in 1986 by virtue of licences issued under part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 was:
Tonnes Dredgings 17,776,000 Sewage sludge 5,540,000 Solid industrial waste 2,570,000 Liquid industrial waste 242,000 Sea disposal licences are not issued unless careful scientific examination shows the operation in question to be acceptable in terms of its impact on the marine environment, the living resources it supports, and human health, and unless it conforms to the relevant international conventions. The practical availability of alternative methods of dealing with the wastes is also taken into account. Monitoring of the marine environment indicates that the United Kingdom's sea disposal activities meet these criteria and the quality status report prepared for the ministerial North sea conference bears this out.