§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the weight of(a) lead, (b) mercury, (c) cadmium and (d) organo-chlorines he estimates is or will be contained in marine or river dredgings dumped in United Kingdom waters in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993.
§ Mr. CurryI have been asked to reply.
Information about the annual quantity of contaminants, including lead, mercury and cadmium in wastes dumped in United Kingdom waters are published annually in the Ministry's aquatic environment monitoring reports and reported internationally in accordance with our obligations under the Oslo and London dumping conventions.
Data for the period 1986–89 are contained in report No. 26 "Monitoring and Surveillance of Non-radioactive Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment and Activities Regulating the Disposal of Wastes at Sea 1988–89"—; ISSN 0142 2499—; a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. Similar data for the year 1990 will be published very shortly.
Comparable information about the quantity of organochlorines is not available since samples are only analysed for such substances where there is reason to believe that such contamination might be present to any significant degree.