§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the condition of the site of the Piper Alpha and of the removal of hazardous or toxic materials which could affect those engaged in maritime activities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarConditions attached to the Piper Alpha abandonment programme approved by the then Secretary of State for Energy include requirements for samples of sediment, sea water, fish and shellfish to be obtained and examined for the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls —PCBs—and radioactivity. Surveys were carried out in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The levels of PCBs and radioactivity in water, fish and shellfish, and of radioactivity in sediments, were all within the background levels found elsewhere in the North sea. Some sediment samples taken within 500 m of the platform showed elevated levels of PCBs, but these were not increasing. The measurements of PCBs in water, fish and shellfish, and in sediments further out appear to indicate that the PCBs in the sediments close to the remains of the installation are not giving rise to elevated levels in the biota.
The conditions provide for repetition of the surveys and sampling for PCBs biennially until my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is satisfied that there is no significant risk to the marine environment from PCBs associated with transformers formerly located on the installation. In addition, samples taken after 1994 will be examined for radioactivity.
The conditions also required that within a radius of 500 m the seabed should be surveyed to determine the position of any remains of the installation. This was done in 1990 and will be repeated in 1993 and biennially thereafter until my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is satisfied that any movement of debris will not cause unjustifiable interference with fishing. Outside the 500 m zone, to a radius of 1,500 m, the conditions required that the seabed be surveyed and trawled to recover debris identified, and that any debris too large or heavy to be lifted in a trawl should be recovered by other means. This operation will be completed next year.