§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much mustard gas is stored in the Beaufort trench; and what recent assessment has been carried out to determine the health risks associated with the site. [51570]
§ Dr. MoonieDetailed inventories of chemical weapons and other munitions disposed of in Beaufort's Dyke are no longer available; many records were destroyed after the disposals as a matter of routine custom and practice in view of the fact that sea dumping of munitions, including CW-filled items, was then an acceptable method of disposal. Where records of disposals do remain in existence, they have been released to the Public Record Office. From those existing records, it is known that some 14,500 tons of 5 inch artillery rockets filled with phosgene were dumped in Beaufort's Dyke in July 1945. There are no records which indicate that other chemical weapons, including mustard gas, have been disposed of to that dump 193W site. As to the potential risk posed by chemical weapons, the long-held consensus of international scientific opinion is that munitions on the sea bed present no significant risk to safety, human health or the marine environment, provided they remain undisturbed.
Phosgene is destroyed by hydrolysis on contact with seawater. The surveys of Beaufort's Dyke conducted by the then Scottish Office in 1995 and 1996 found no residual traces of chemical weapons in that dump site. A copy of the 1996 report by the Scottish Office, entitled `Fisheries Research Service Report 15/96'. which confirms the findings of the surveys, is available in the Library of the House.