§ Ms RuddockTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what analysis or assessment(a) his Department or (b) any other Government Department or agency has made of the contents of the Brent Spar storage unit; what was the result of that analysis or assessment; and if he will publish the results of those analyses or assessment; [30247]
(2) what inspections, analysis or assessment of the contents of the Brent Spar storage unit were made in the last 10 years by (a) his Department or (b) any other Government Department or agency; what were the results of these inspections, assessments or analyses; and if he will publish them in full. [30246]
§ Mr. EggarThe Government accepted Shell's proposal that deep-sea disposal of the Brent Spar was the best 373W practicable environmental option. That judgment was reached after a comparative assessment of the options which took into account many factors including information on the contents of the installation. The abandonment programme contains a detailed inventory of the equipment and materials on board. Scottish Office officials who visited the Spar on 3 and 4 June verified that cleaning operations had been performed to the standard required.