THE GHOST FLEET
autumnlady | 29.06.2003 11:30 | Ecology
SECRET plans by America to tow a condemned fleet of contaminated ships around the coast of Scotland have triggered fears of an environmental catastrophe.
Dubbed the Ghost Fleet, the 94 derelict and leaking US ships are packed with toxic chemicals, asbestos and oil.
Dubbed the Ghost Fleet, the 94 derelict and leaking US ships are packed with toxic chemicals, asbestos and oil.
It's proposed the first convoy of 13 ships will leave their Virginia base this summer to cross the Atlantic to be dismantled in a wrecking yard on Teesside.
To get there, the leaking hulks will be towed through the narrow Pentland Firth between the mainland and Orkney and down Scotland's east coast.
Environmental campaigners yesterday condemned the plan.
Greenpeace's international toxic and demolition expert Frank Petersen said: "America is using Britain as a dumping ground. We have a huge concern it could be the start of a nightmare.
"If they were to sink off Iceland, Scotland or the Faroes, there would be a terrible environmental impact."
Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace, whose Orkney constituency is only miles from the proposed route, has called for an investigation into the threat.
Until last month, the ships were banned from leaving US waters.
Five years ago, former US president Bill Clinton ruled they could not be scrapped in Third World countries because their toxic loads risked the lives of the workers.
But his successor George Bush persuaded the US Environmental Protection Agency to lift the ban. Now the Ghost Fleet is coming to Britain.
The Sunday Mail can reveal officials from US Maritime Administration visited shipbreakers Able UK in February. Yesterday, Robyn Boerstling, spokeswoman for the Administration, said: "We are working with a proposer who has an agreement with the facility in Teesside."
She said if a deal could be sealed, the first 13 ships would be towed out of the James River before the hurricane season in late summer.
Some of the 94 former naval ships date from World War II.
The warships, tankers, bulk carriers and tank transporters were part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet - but lay for years unused and rusting on the river.
The hulks have already been blamed for causing oil spills in the river and 70 are so decrepit they have been officially condemned.
The ships are packed with toxic chemicals known as PCBs, which were banned in the 1970s.
Yesterday, a Greenpeace spokesman said: "This is the Bush environmental doctrine, the toxic Texan sticking two fingers up at the world, this time the Scots."
And Deputy First Minister Wallace said: "Any threat to the environment from this plan would give rise to serious concerns for Scotland and in particular Orkney.
"As a constituency MSP, I am asking our own environment department and also the UK government about what environmental safeguards would be in place."
Source Sunday Mail
http://www.pentaclemagazine.org/php/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=704&newlang=eng
To get there, the leaking hulks will be towed through the narrow Pentland Firth between the mainland and Orkney and down Scotland's east coast.
Environmental campaigners yesterday condemned the plan.
Greenpeace's international toxic and demolition expert Frank Petersen said: "America is using Britain as a dumping ground. We have a huge concern it could be the start of a nightmare.
"If they were to sink off Iceland, Scotland or the Faroes, there would be a terrible environmental impact."
Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace, whose Orkney constituency is only miles from the proposed route, has called for an investigation into the threat.
Until last month, the ships were banned from leaving US waters.
Five years ago, former US president Bill Clinton ruled they could not be scrapped in Third World countries because their toxic loads risked the lives of the workers.
But his successor George Bush persuaded the US Environmental Protection Agency to lift the ban. Now the Ghost Fleet is coming to Britain.
The Sunday Mail can reveal officials from US Maritime Administration visited shipbreakers Able UK in February. Yesterday, Robyn Boerstling, spokeswoman for the Administration, said: "We are working with a proposer who has an agreement with the facility in Teesside."
She said if a deal could be sealed, the first 13 ships would be towed out of the James River before the hurricane season in late summer.
Some of the 94 former naval ships date from World War II.
The warships, tankers, bulk carriers and tank transporters were part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet - but lay for years unused and rusting on the river.
The hulks have already been blamed for causing oil spills in the river and 70 are so decrepit they have been officially condemned.
The ships are packed with toxic chemicals known as PCBs, which were banned in the 1970s.
Yesterday, a Greenpeace spokesman said: "This is the Bush environmental doctrine, the toxic Texan sticking two fingers up at the world, this time the Scots."
And Deputy First Minister Wallace said: "Any threat to the environment from this plan would give rise to serious concerns for Scotland and in particular Orkney.
"As a constituency MSP, I am asking our own environment department and also the UK government about what environmental safeguards would be in place."
Source Sunday Mail
http://www.pentaclemagazine.org/php/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=704&newlang=eng
autumnlady
Comments
Display the following 2 comments