North Sea Conference (Hansard, 22 November 1991)

§ Mr. Trippier

In July last year we published a guidance note on how we intended to implement the measures agreed at the Third North Sea Conference which was held in the Hague in March 1990. We were the first North sea state to do so and I am pleased to be able to report good progress in taking forward these matters.

Contaminants entering the North sea through rivers are the most significant pollutant. We are making good progress towards meeting agreed reductions of inputs of substances that are toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate. We have completed this year our part of a comparative international data collection exercise on river inputs organised by the Paris Commission. This shows reductions between 1985 and 1990 in inputs to the North sea, through United Kingdom rivers, for example of 51 per cent. and 61 per cent. for mercury and cadmium and of 30 per cent for Lindane.

The Hague declaration also seeks tighter controls on pesticides. The Government have substantially increased scientific resources available for evaluation of existing and new pesticides. Of the 18 pesticides listed in the declaration whose use must be strictly limited or banned, recent decisions on chlordane, mercury compounds and fluoroactive acid mean that 14 are no longer in use or are being phased out. Of the remaining four: atrazine is currently under review by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides; a European Community directive agreed last year bans the use of pentachlorophenol except by special authorisation for treatment of dry rot in timber, and in limited industrial applications where emissions are controlled; Quintozene and Chloropicrin are used in very small quantities but will be reviewed as part of the pesticide evaluation programme.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been a particular concern in the marine environment especially in relation to marine mammals. The conference agreed to phase out remaining uses and carry out their destruction in an environmentally acceptable form by 1999. The Department of the Environment has been working with industry to assess totals of PCB waste arisings in different industrial sectors and to develop new guidance on their safe disposal. This should be issued for consultation as a draft waste management paper next year.

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On sewage discharges, the water industry has expanded and accelerated its ten year investment programme to improve bathing waters. Some 40 schemes will now include additional treatment at an estimated cost of £600 million. We also welcome the adoption by the European Community of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive which encompasses our announcement at the time of the North Sea Conference that we aim to treat all significant discharges of sewage before discharge to coastal waters.

We have said that the disposal of sewage sludge at sea will end by 1998 at the latest. All bodies currently licensed to undertake this activity have now reported their plans to introduce alternative methods. The first disposal licences will be terminated by the end of 1993, five years ahead of the target. In the main these early terminations will result in the beneficial re-use of sludge either as a fertiliser or composting agent.

In line with North Sea Conference decisions, we have also been looking carefully at licences to dispose of liquid industrial waste at sea. We have sought to phase out this activity as soon as satisfactory land based alternatives become available. The number of licences granted for this disposal route has been cut from 24 in 1987 to just two today. We do not intend to renew these after 1992. This has required substantial investment on the part of industry. In particular, Sterling Organics and ICI have invested £5 million and £25 million respectively in innovative technology to treat and recycle wastes currently disposed of at sea. In addition National Power, who currently have a licence to dispose of flyash at sea, have also invested in new plant to produce concrete blocks. This will be coming on stream next year. We do not expect to extend their disposal licence beyond the end of 1992.

With regard to operational discharges from ships, the International Maritime Organisation agreed in September this year, subject to adoption by signatory states, to accept a proposal by North Sea states for lower limits for oil discharges to apply to all ships on a global basis. Similar action on chemical discharges is being considered. In addition, the Department of Transport is consulting the United Kingdom shipping and ports industries and related interests on the introduction of annex IV of the MARPOL Convention on sewage discharges from ships.

In the offshore oil and gas industry the disposal of discarded oil-based drilling cuttings was identified as the main source of pollution from exploration and appraisal wells. Our action plan to minimise this pollution by prohibiting the discharge of oil based mud cuttings by 1994 was this year submitted to, and accepted by, the Paris Commission group on oil pollution. Research and field testing on new mud systems and cleaning techniques have continued and early indications are that these should attract practical application by the industry.

We have also continued to give a high priority to support for the work of the North sea task force through the research programmes of a number of Departments. The results of this work, which includes studies on seals, dolphins and seabirds and better understanding of the links between inputs of contaminants, their distribution and effects, will be reflected in the 1993 quality status report on the North sea. Recently completed projects have included an atlas of North sea rainfall, by remote sensing, which will enable a more accurate assessment to be made of atmospheric pollutant inputs.

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Finally, as a result of a British initiative, the Hague declaration extended the scope of North sea conferences to include the protection of marine wildlife. We announced our intention last year to develop proposals for marine consultation areas in England and Wales which will include Government guidelines addressed to marine agencies. Early in 1992 we intend to issue a consultation document which will contain a first list of proposed sites. We will also review existing legislation in relation to marine conservation. In addition we have strongly supported efforts to develop an agreement to protect small cetaceans in the North and Baltic seas under the United Nations Bonn convention on migratory species. The text of such an agreement was successfully concluded in Geneva in September this year and adopted by 6 North sea states and the European Community. An offer by the Government to host the Agreement's Secretariat at the United Kingdom's sea mammal research unit of the Natural Environment Research Council was very favourably received.