§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will commission research to investigate any possible future risk to fishermen fishing the deep waters west of the Hebrides from chemical weapons dumped in the area after the second world war; and if he will discuss with other European Governments collective ways of addressing this issue.
§ Mr. SoamesThe potential hazards of chemical waste dump sites and whether there is a need for any remedial action have been reviewed by the Helsinki commission and the Oslo commission. The results of this work have been reported to the global London convention. The consensus of international scientific opinion is to leave CW dump sites undisturbed. Current scientific evidence indicates CW dump sites present no significant risk to human health or to the marine environment and the living resources it supports, now or in the future. Chemical warfare agents either rapidly hydrolise to non-toxic components or are rendered ineffective through dilution. Given this background and the depth of water in which888W the vessels were scuttled, no monitoring of the Atlantic dump sites has been undertaken or is planned.