Chemical Weapons Dumps (Hansard, 13 December 2001)

§ Dr. Moonie

I have been asked to reply.

There are no specific measures in place to manage chemical weapons and munition dumps on the seabed in the coastal waters of the United Kingdom, as the consensus of international scientific opinion is that munitions on the seabed present no significant risk to safety, human health or the marine environment, provided they remain undisturbed.

I am aware, however, that there are two range danger areas, D306 (formerly RAF Cowden) D307 (RAF Donna Nook), which are near my hon. Friend's constituency. D306 was closed as a range a few years ago, but D307 continues to be used by the RAF for practice bombing runs. Coastal erosion of the range danger area D306 has caused much of the explosive ordnance previously used for practice bombing to re-emerge. A quantity of unexploded iron bombs are lodged in the cliffs at this range, and, periodically, these fall on to the beach area as a result of the three metres of erosion which occurs each year. To ensure that any danger to the public is kept to a minimum, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel from the Ministry of Defence are carrying out clearance and disposal of this ordnance. It is expected that this will take up to 15 years to complete.

954W

On the D307 range, explosive ordnance from World War Two was buried offshore under the sand, which is covered daily by the tides. An EOD team from RAF Coningsby carry out an inspection, either daily or weekly depending on tides and the programme of activities at the range, to determine if any ordnance has emerged through the sand. If any munitions or other hazardous items are discovered during the regular inspections, action is taken to remove or destroy the offending article. This is an important activity, which is intended to minimise any risks to the public from exposed ordnance on the range. A risk assessment was conducted three years ago, which endorsed the acceptability of the procedure for handling exposed munitions.