HC Deb 28 March 1995 vol 257 c605W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research his Department has undertaken on the economic and employment impacts of North sea pollution on(a) fisheries and (b) tourism. [15937]

Mr. Atkins

No studies of economic and employment impacts of North sea pollution have been undertaken by the Department. The priority for the Department's marine research programme is to provide a scientific basis for measures to control pollution. It is implicit within this that high standards of water quality can only be of benefit to economic and tourism prospects.

Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence his Department has evaluated that discharged substances are dispersed once they reach the coastal waters of the United Kingdom. [15939]

Mr. Atkins

A range of studies, the latest of which is quoted in the 1993 "North Sea Quality Status Report"—page 102—have shown that physical, chemical and biological mechanisms in North sea waters lead to widespread dispersal of substances, subject to the mixing characteristics of different regions. A copy of the quality status report is in the Library of the House.

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