§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to require industrial wastes presently being dumped in the North sea to be stored on land until land-based disposal facilities have been developed.
§ Mr. CurryNo. As my right hon. Friend announced on 22 February,Official Report, column 899, it is our intention that, with two possible short-term exceptions, industrial wastes will not continue to be dumped at sea after 1992. In certain circumstances short-term storage may have a useful part to play in waste management, but in general it is neither practicable nor environmentally desirable for the industrial wastes which are currently dumped at sea.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many licences to dump chemical industrial wastes in the North sea will be terminated by 31 December 1992; and how many will continue to be in force:
(2) what percentage of chemical industrial wastes dumped in the North sea will be terminated by 31 December 1992; and what percentage will continue.
§ Mr. CurryIt is my intention that all licences to dispose of industrial wastes in the North sea covered by the 1987 North sea declaration will be terminated by 31 December 1992. For two of the wastes, however, involving 77 per cent. of the current total annual licensed tonnage, it might not be technically feasible to meet this deadline. I will extend the licences for these last two wastes into 1993 only if absolutely necessary on technical grounds and for the shortest possible part of that year.