Call For 'Ghost Ships' To Go Back
by David Labanyi, Irish Times
1 November 2003 – A fleet of contaminated former US naval vessels being towed to Britain should return to America after a licence for scrapping the vessels was revoked, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, said last night.
Two are due to pass the south Irish coast next Monday or Tuesday. Mr Ahern said he had objected to his British counterpart when the plan to take obsolete US ships to Britain for disposal was first raised. The rusting vessels contain hundreds of tonnes of chemicals, including Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and heavy diesel. TDs have raised concerns about the threat posed to Irish bathing water and fishing grounds by the fleet.
The vessels are from a fleet of 142 obsolete ships the US Maritime
Administration (MARAD) urgently wants to scrap because they pose a serious environmental threat. MARAD recently signed a $14.8 million contract with Able UK to dispose of 13. However, this project was thrown into confusion yesterday when the British Environment Agency said a licence issued to Able UK was invalid.
"This issue is an opportunity for Ireland to make use of its European
presidency role coming up in the New Year. We will be expected to take a lead," said the Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sergent.
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
More News
|
