§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations have been received regarding the disposal of untreated domestic sewage at sea off the west coast of Scotland; what steps his Department intends to take to prevent this from happening; and what provision is made by regional councils for the disposal of septic tank wastes.
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonFrom time to time specific representations are received about discharges of sewage at particular sites off the west coast of Scotland.
Responsibility for discharges from public sewerage systems and outfalls lies with the regional or islands council concerned. All discharges to the sea of sewage effluent require the consent of the local river purification authority who can set conditions which may include the volume and quality of the discharges. Failure to comply with consent conditions may result in prosecution.
Most regional and island councils collect and dispose of septic tank wastes as part of their overall sewage disposal operation. In many areas septic tank waste is dealt with at local sewage treatment works. In other cases disposal to land or to sea may provide the best practicable environmental option.
£000s 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 (a) Presentation of monuments in care (i) Scotland 286 624 771 1,150 968 2,027 (ii) Shetland — — — 35 16 7 (iii) Orkney — — — — 6 40 (b) Rescue Archaeology and Archaeology at monuments in care (i) Scotland 698 745 781 866 1,006 1,138 (ii) Shetland 12 1 — 3 5 7 (iii) Orkney 118 136 137 147 133 13 (c) Historic Building Repair Grant (i) Scotland 2,734 2,618 3,871 3,651 5,443 6,474 (ii) Shetland 1 — — 14 — 2 (iii) Orkney 34 16 28 77 38 76 Note: 1. The Scotland figure for 1988–89 under (a) includes £1.370 million at Edinburgh Castle.
2. Rescue archaeology predominates in (b), and expenditure is incurred in response to threats to sites from development or natural causes such as erosion.
3. Expenditure on historic building repair grant arises from application by owners.