HC Deb 10 January 1989 vol 144 cc521-4W
Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what volume in cubic metres of British industrial waste, and of dredge spoils has been dumped in(a) the Irish sea, (b) the North sea and (c) other British coastal areas in each year from 1979 to 1988.

Mr. Donald Thompson

The information, which is recorded in tonnes, is as follows:

Producers of cattle and milk also benefit directly or indirectly from a range of other measures, mainly in the form of market support for the products concerned. Total public expenditure on these measures, excluding those identified in table 1, is shown in table 2, together with the volumes of production. The purpose of most of the measures related to these expenditures is to support the returns received by producers: their effect on producer revenues, and hence farm income, depends on a number of factors which vary from year to year.

'000 Tonnes
Liquid industrial waste Solid industrial waste1 Dredged Spoil2
1979
Irish sea 83.3 118.0
North sea 455.8 5,515.0 36,754
Other 72.7 0.3
1980
Irish sea 55.7 144.5
North sea 453.3 5,623.1 46,379
Other 15.8 0.2

Liquid industrial waste Solid industrial waste1 Dredged Spoil2
1981
Irish sea 47.2 144.5
North sea 380.9 5,488.5 36,581
Other 44.6 0.2
1982
Irish sea 46.9 155.5
North sea 222.2 5,351.5 34,742
Other 49.1 0.1
1983
Irish sea 30.5 164.7
North sea 218.3 6,003.7 30,922
Other 77.4 0.1
1984
Irish sea 28.9 62.5
North sea 228.9 942.1 43,013
Other 30.7 0.2
1985
Irish sea 31.5 19.2 4,382
North sea 262.9 3,865.5 22,747
Other 31.9 0.1 13,075
1986
Irish sea 27.1 73.1 6,166
North sea 230.6 4,130.2 17,783
Other 26.3 0.8 10,104
1987
Irish sea 17.0 293.7 5,246
North sea 223.4 3,974.4 17,864
Other 23.7 15,224

Information for 1988 is not yet available.

1 Colliery waste, flyash etc.

2 Information not broken down into sea areas until 1985.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what volume, in cubic metres, of British sewage sludge has been dumped into(a) the Irish sea, (b) the North sea and (c) other British coastal areas, in each year from 1979 to 1988.

Mr. Donald Thompson

The information, for which records are kept in tonnes, is as follows:

£'000 tonnes
Irish sea North sea Other British coastal areas
1979 1657.7 5793.1 1511.7
1980 2055.7 5770.4 2646.8
1981 1964.6 5795.7 2262.2
1982 1937.1 5435.8 2239.9
1983 1589.0 5070.2 2211.8
1984 1582.0 5181.4 2409.2
1985 1813.4 5218.8 2387.2
1986 1817.3 5493.8 2376.5
1987 1935.5 4734.3 2300.3

Information for 1988 is not yet available.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the mass in tonnes dumped into(a) the Irish sea and (b) other British coastal waters in each year from 1985 to 1988 inclusive of (i) arsenic, (ii) lead, (iii) nickel, (iv) chromium, (v) zinc, (vi) manganese, (vii) cadmium, (viii) copper, (ix) uranium, (x) fluoride, (xi) mercury, (xii) halogenated hydrocarbons, (xiii) polychlorinatedbiphenyls, (xiv) organochlorines, (xv) dioxins, and (xvi) organophosphates.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Records are available in respect of the following substances in material dumped under the provisions of the Dumping at Sea Act 1974 (1985) and part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (1986 and 1987). Figures for 1988 are not yet available.

TONNES
1985 1986 1987
(a) Irish sea
Arsenic 0 1 1
Lead 320 321 297
Nickel 80 105 87
Chromium 203 202 200
Zinc 822 1,324 916
Cadmium 3 6 4
Copper 207 277 265
Mercury 5 4 3
(b) Other British coastal waters
Arsenic 41 32 8
Lead 2,950 2,609 2,887
Nickel 1,109 874 935
Chromium 1,530 1,204 1,306
Zinc 6,396 5,581 6,462
Cadmium 30 33 36
Copper 1,574 1,386 1,479
Mercury 16 11 12

Equivalent statistics are not available in respect of the remaining substances. They have been covered by exemptions from the international requirement to report quantities to the Oslo commission on de minimis grounds. It is estimated that any amounts in material dumped under the above Acts have been very small.

Back to
Forward to