HC Deb 20 November 2003 vol 413 cc1227-31W
Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Environment Agency has an independent working computer model of the hydrographic regime of the inshore waters of the North Wales coastal region for planning and management purposes. [140403]

Mr. Morley

Matters concerning the Environment Agency Wales are dealt with by the National Assembly for Wales.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on the level of algal blooms in Liverpool Bay; [140265]

(2) what the locations are of algae blooms in United Kingdom waters, broken down by order of severity; [140365]

(3) if her Department will take steps to treat non-toxic algal blooms accumulated on the North Wales coast. [140402]

Mr. Morley

Algal blooms are a naturally occurring phenomenon. Given their intensity will vary at different times of the year eg spring compared to summer, between years, and their growth is dependent on a range factors, it is not possible to produce an accurate map identifying the location and severity of algae blooms in UK waters.

Through implementation of the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment and Nitrates Directives we are taking action eg provision of more stringent treatment at relevant sewage treatment works, to protect the environment and water quality from undesirable disturbances caused, or likely to be caused, by the accelerated growth of algae in nutrient enriched waters. This complicated phenomenon is known as eutrophication.

In England and Wales the Environment Agency undertake reviews of water bodies eg rivers, estuaries, coastal, every four years to assess whether the water body meets the criteria in the Directives for identification as a eutrophic water. The next review is to completed in 2005. At present we do not consider Liverpool Bay (which includes the waters along the North Wales coast) meets the criteria for identification as a eutrophic water.

Considerable effort is currently being directed towards evaluating the ecological status of the north east Irish sea including Liverpool Bay and the north Wales Coast. Results from this work is expected to enable better assessments of the levels of algae in Liverpool Bay.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on co-operation between the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government on monitoring pollution in the Irish Sea. [140363]

Mr. Morley

I will write to my hon. Friend with this information shortly.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the programme of continuous plankton recording around the British Isles. [140364]

Mr. Morley

A Continuous Plankton Recorder is a device which is towed by a ship of opportunity and can take a larger number of samples of particulate matter such as larger planktonic species from the water through which it passes.

The international marine environmental charity 'Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science' (SAHFOS), which is based in Plymouth, currently operates the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. This survey has been in operation since 1931 and provides one of the longest and largest marine biological data sets in the world.

More than 70 years of information on the density of over 450 plankton types is contained in the database. Plankton samples have been collected from all over the North Atlantic but predominantly (some 200,000 samples) from waters around the British Isles.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to reduce the nitrate levels in(a) streams and (b) lakes. [140391]

Mr. Morley

The Government has taken, and is taking, a range of action to address nitrate pollution in streams and lakes.

The EC's Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive contains provisions designed to reduce the adverse impact of sewage discharges on the water environment. The Directive, and Government policy building on the Directive's requirements, establishes that all discharges from sewage treatment plants serving populations greater than 2,000 have secondary treatment by the end of 2005.

Secondary treatment reduces the total nitrogen present in sewage. The amount of this reduction is dependant upon the type of secondary treatment process applied, but reduction of total nitrogen achieved through secondary treatment is of the order of 20 per cent. on average.

The Directive also contains provisions that require further treatment of nitrates from sewage discharges to reduce the impact on freshwaters intended for abstraction for use as drinking water. These provisions require that where nitrate concentration levels in these waters exceed or could exceed 50 mg/I, if no protective action is taken, then nitrate reduction is to be achieved through further treatment processes.

Between February 1997 and June 2002 eight water bodies in need of protection from excessive nitrates levels were identified as Sensitive Areas (Nitrate) in England. Relevant sewage works have been, or are being, built to provide the treatment needed to reduce nitrate levels in their discharges.

Additionally the EU Nitrates Directive, an environmental measure designed to reduce current and prevent future water pollution by nitrate from agricultural sources, requires all known areas of land draining into nitrate-polluted waters to be designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones. The Nitrates Directive requires the identification of polluted waters using the following criteria: (a) surface and groundwaters which contain or could contain, if preventative action is not taken, nitrate concentrations greater than 50 mg/1; (b) surface waters which are eutrophic or could become eutrophic if preventative action is not taken. Around 55 per cent. of England has been designated as NVZs on the basis that it drains into these waters, and action programme measures to reduce nitrate loss from agricultural land have been applied in these zones.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of illegal dumping of dredged material have been recorded off the North Wales coast in each of the last 30 years. [140397]

Mr. Morley

This Department has no record of any conviction under either the Dumping at Sea Act 1974 or subsequently the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 for illegal deposit of dredged material off the North Wales coast prior to such matters being devolved to the National Assembly for Wales during 1999.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBS) on the marine environment in the Irish Sea over the past 30 years. [140398]

Mr. Morley

I am not aware of any specific assessments of PCBs in the Irish Sea but there are two more general reports which cover the Irish Sea and provide the best available assessments of the effects of PCBs in that part of the marine environment. These reports, copies of which should be found in the Library of the House of Commons, are:

  1. 1. Quality Status Report 2000: Region III—Celtic Seas OSPAR Commission, London 2000 ISBN 0946956499
  2. 2. National Monitoring Programme: Survey of the Quality of UK Coastal Waters Marine Pollution Monitoring Management Group, Aberdeen 1998 ISBN 0953283836

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the quantities of(a) synthetic chemicals, (b) mercury, (c) cadmium, (d) lead, (e) zinc, (f) nickel and (g) arsenic released into the Irish Sea from establishments in the United Kingdom in each of the past 30 years; and if she will make a statement on the proposed reduction targets in each case; [140399]

(2) what research her Department has evaluated regarding the effects of major inshore algal blooms on the distribution of pollutants in coastal areas, with particular reference to the (a) metal absorbing capabilities and (b) bubble scavenging properties of algae. [140401]

Mr. Morley

The information requested will take some time to collate and I will write to my hon. Friend in due course.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost of monitoring pollution levels in the Irish Sea was in each of the past 30 years. [140406]

Mr. Morley

The information required will take some time to collate. Therefore I will reply to my hon. Friend in due course.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has evaluated on the potential health risks of foam and sludge deposits left by Phacosystic algae blooms on the shore line. [140407]

Mr. Morley

I am not aware of any evaluation of research on this topic by this Department.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total tonnage of sewage sludge dumped in Liverpool Bay was in each of the past 30 years.[140408]

Mr. Morley

Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, the disposal of sewage sludge to surface waters, including coastal waters, has been banned since 31 December 1998. I understand that an estimated total of 40–50 million tonnes was deposited by water companies and predecessor water authorities in the north east Irish Sea/Liverpool Bay in the 30 years up to that date.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether information on marine pollution collected by(a) the Environment Agency, (b) her Department and (c) local authorities is entered on to a central database. [140411]

Mr. Morley

Relevant monitoring information generated by the UK on marine pollution is entered onto a central database. It is known as the National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP) database and is managed by the Environmental Data Unit of the Environment Agency, which is located at Twerton.

Chris Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the(a) statutory and (b) non-statutory bodies which have monitored pollution levels in the Irish Sea in each of the past 15 years. [140412]

Mr. Morley

I will write to the hon. Member with the information in due course.