Campaigners Vow to Stop Ships
Environmental campaigners have vowed to block a fleet of US naval ships from being dismantled in England.
by BBC News
3 October 2003 – A judge in Washington gave the go-ahead on Thursday for the vessels to be towed to the North East coast, from America. The 13 ships, between 40 and 50-years-old, are contaminated with chemicals, including PCBs, asbestos and heavy diesel and are due to be dismantled in Hartlepool.
Campaigners fear one or more of the ships could break up during the 4,000 mile crossing.
Peter Stephenson, managing director of Able UK which is bringing the fleet over, said the £16m contract would create about 200 jobs.
He has maintained there will be no environmental problems with the fleet.
The US judge ruled that four ships could be allowed to leave and another court hearing will be held on 20 October to decide the fate of the other nine ships.
Phil Michaels, of Friends of the Earth, said: "We are exploring all of our legal options.
"We are particularly concerned at the moment with the decision by the Environment Agency to modify Able's waste licence in the way it has done and to specifically include ships.
"There is not yet in place all the permission that Able needs to build a dry dock.
"Unless they can build that we can't see how they can possibly take these ships apart in a way that even pretends to be environmentally friendly."
'Stringent' scrutiny
Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker said that the court's decision to only allow four of the 13 ships to leave showed the level of concern.
He said: "That demonstrates that those of us who were concerned that the ships were unsafe have been justified in our approach.
"The ships should be disposed of in the US... the Americans created it and they should deal with it."
Able UK managing director Peter Stephenson said: "It is work that we have been undertaking for many years and it is disappointing that the activist groups that have campaigned to try and stop the contract do not realise that we do offer the best available option."
The Environment Agency has altered Able UK's waste management licence, allowing the firm to handle 75,000 tonnes per year, up from 24,500 tonnes.
The Agency's Dales area manager, Craig McGarvey, said: "The recovery facility at Teesside has been subject to stringent scrutiny and has been judged to have the capacity of carrying out the work while fulfilling all of our requirements to protect the environment.
"In global terms this is a better solution for the environment than disposing of vessels in under-developed countries where such checks are not in place."
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