Environmentalists win "ghost fleet" appeal
by Reuters
8 December 2003 (London) – Environmentalists have won another battle in their fight to prevent a fleet of U.S. ships, which they say are toxic, being dismantled in Britain. A judge has ruled on Monday that a government decision to allow four of the ships to be broken up "cannot stand".
Speaking at the High Court in London, the judge said he would give his reasons for the ruling later.
The ships have been docked in Hartlepool for the past month after sailing across the Atlantic from the United States.
They arrived amid cries of protest from environmentalists, who say they were built with asbestos and possibly contain traces of other chemicals.
The government says the ships are safe but has suspended permission for scrapping while the case is disputed in court.
The four ships are part of a fleet of 13, dubbed the "Ghost Fleet" in Britain. The other nine ships are still in the United States awaiting permission to sail.
Environmentalist group Friends of the Earth says the United States plans to send up to 150 old ships to Britain to be dismantled.
"The claimants are concerned that the UK should not become the dustbin for the US navy's old ships," the group's lawyer David Wolfe told the court.
Able UK, the demolition firm chosen to break up the ships, says the ships pose no threat to the environment. It says its contract, worth 10 million pounds, would create 200 jobs but that hiring is now on hold.
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