HC Deb 30 March 1994 vol 240 cc752-3W
Mr. Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the annual volume of oil entering(a) the North sea, (b) the straits of Dover and (c) the English channel from shipping for each of the last four years; and, for each year, what proportion of that was intentionally discharged.

Mr. Norris

The information is as set out. There are no records of volumes of oil spilt in the Dover straits. The Bonn agreement estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 tonnes of oil per annum are intentionally discharged in to the North sea—all sectors—each year but no such estimates exist for the Dover straits or the English channel.

Tonnes
1990
North sea (United Kingdom sector) 336
English channel 15
1991
North sea (United Kingdom sector) 45
English channel 41
Tonnes
1992
North sea (United Kingdom sector) 134
English channel 33
1993
North sea (United Kingdom sector) 2170
English channel 3311
1 Excluding the Rosebay spill of 1,100 tonnes.
2 Excluding the Braer spill of 86,000 tonnes.
3 Excluding the Apache spill of 256 tonnes.

Forward to