- Email: [email protected]
Ocean inputs from the air
Marine Pollution Bulletin
the countries, but recent talks between West Germany and Czechoslovakia on cleaning the River Weser have proved inconclusive.
Further information can be obtained from symposium coordinator, Roxanne McDonald, 10th Floor, 10909 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3M8 Canada; Tel. 403-427-0741; Telex 037-42815.
Atlantic 'Grave' for Nuclear Waste
South African Sludge Discharges
The annual nuclear waste dumping programme in the Atlantic by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) once again resulted in renewed protests by environmentalists and bland reassurances from the British Government who sanctioned the operation. The recently completed dumping exercise 500 miles off Land's End involved sinking several hundred concrete-lined drums of waste from UK nuclear industry, to a depth of more than 2 miles. It is claimed that Britain now accounts for 90°7o of all radioactive waste dumped in the world's oceans. Only three other countries continue to use the sea for radioactive waste disposal, Belgium, Switzerland and Holland. While a BNFL spokesman claimed that they could safely dump up to 10 000 times more waste, critics, including Jacques Cousteau, argue that there is a very real danger that the drums must eventually break open and disperse their contents into the ocean.
North Sea' A Dustbin' A report prepared for the Greenpeace organization by biologist Dr Alan Pickaver claims that the North Sea is being increasingly used as a 'dustbin' for metal wastes, sewage and other harmful pollutants. The report states that the direct dumping of industrial waste into the North Sea totalled 8.8m tonnes in 1979- more than a one million tonne increase on the previous year. Particularly alarming was the dumping of an estimated 2.4 million tonnes of titanium dioxide wastes by West German and Belgian industrialists, the results of which are already being clearly shown in damage to fish in the German Bight. Dr Pickaver also quotes estimates that the amount of toxic metal wastes reaching the North Sea mainly via rivers now totals more than 60 000 tonnes annually.
Although some South African towns are well situated to use the sea for sewage sludge disposal, none does so. Since 1968, when settled sewage discharges to the sea began through two submarine outfalls, the effects of these discharges have been intensively monitored. The latest Annual Report (for 1980) of the South African Water Research Commission describes a two-year monitoring project to study the effects of discharging through the same outfalls of sludge removed by the settlement process. The project involves analysing surface and bottom water, sediments near the outfall for microorganisms, metals, organic matter and toxic substances, besides examining beaches for selected bacteria, and accumulator organisms such as mussels and oysters for metals and bacteria.
Ocean Inputs from the Air Increasingly, the composition of air particulates over the oceans is important in identifying inputs which become important in the deep ocean. The recent newsletter (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1981) of SEAREX, the Sea-Air Exchange Program, for the Graduate School of Oceanography of The University of Rhode Island at Kingston, RI, gives some new evidence of aerial transport over great distances. It has been observed that levels of some chlorinated hydrocarbons are 2-10 times lower in southern hemisphere atmospheres (Samoa) than in samples taken in the northern hemisphere (Enewetak). Pentachlorobenzene has been detected, together with PCB, DDT, HCH and HCB. DDT residues are the same at Samoa and Enewetak, possibly reflecting an increased use in the southern hemisphere. There is a substantial transfer of soil debris derived from dust storms in Asia to the North Pacific as detected by stations based on the islands of Midway and Oahu, and observations from ships confirm the presence of haze at sea.
Dangerous Cargoes Developments in the international transportation of dangerous goods and the impact of the new IMCO regulations will be discussed at a symposium to be held in Vancouver from 26 September to 1 October this year (1982). The International Symposium on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Sea and Inland Waterways will include sessions on dangerous goods in ports, their transport in bulk, in specialized marine systems and remote areas. The symposium and accompanying exhibition, which is expected to be attended by some 400 people, will also include sessions on emergency response and associated training as well as one on pollution control, featuring papers on reception facilities, shipboard pollution controls, surveillance methods and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. 4
From measurements made on Enewetak atoll, hydrocarbons, fatty alcohols and fatty acids are present in air particulates, which indicate an origin "of plant wax materials from continental sources some 5000 km away.
Round-the-World News Alaska Applications are being accepted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for geophysical exploration and environmental studies on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge lands in anticipation of oil and gas leasings in the area. The studies, which may include assessments of the environmental characteristics and wildlife resources which might be affected by the leasings, will be used by USFWS to structure comprehensive conservation plans and compatibility assessments for oil and gas study activities on the refuge lands. Applications, which are invited from both
the countries, but recent talks between West Germany and Czechoslovakia on cleaning the River Weser have proved inconclusive.
Further information can be obtained from symposium coordinator, Roxanne McDonald, 10th Floor, 10909 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3M8 Canada; Tel. 403-427-0741; Telex 037-42815.
Atlantic 'Grave' for Nuclear Waste
South African Sludge Discharges
The annual nuclear waste dumping programme in the Atlantic by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) once again resulted in renewed protests by environmentalists and bland reassurances from the British Government who sanctioned the operation. The recently completed dumping exercise 500 miles off Land's End involved sinking several hundred concrete-lined drums of waste from UK nuclear industry, to a depth of more than 2 miles. It is claimed that Britain now accounts for 90°7o of all radioactive waste dumped in the world's oceans. Only three other countries continue to use the sea for radioactive waste disposal, Belgium, Switzerland and Holland. While a BNFL spokesman claimed that they could safely dump up to 10 000 times more waste, critics, including Jacques Cousteau, argue that there is a very real danger that the drums must eventually break open and disperse their contents into the ocean.
North Sea' A Dustbin' A report prepared for the Greenpeace organization by biologist Dr Alan Pickaver claims that the North Sea is being increasingly used as a 'dustbin' for metal wastes, sewage and other harmful pollutants. The report states that the direct dumping of industrial waste into the North Sea totalled 8.8m tonnes in 1979- more than a one million tonne increase on the previous year. Particularly alarming was the dumping of an estimated 2.4 million tonnes of titanium dioxide wastes by West German and Belgian industrialists, the results of which are already being clearly shown in damage to fish in the German Bight. Dr Pickaver also quotes estimates that the amount of toxic metal wastes reaching the North Sea mainly via rivers now totals more than 60 000 tonnes annually.
Although some South African towns are well situated to use the sea for sewage sludge disposal, none does so. Since 1968, when settled sewage discharges to the sea began through two submarine outfalls, the effects of these discharges have been intensively monitored. The latest Annual Report (for 1980) of the South African Water Research Commission describes a two-year monitoring project to study the effects of discharging through the same outfalls of sludge removed by the settlement process. The project involves analysing surface and bottom water, sediments near the outfall for microorganisms, metals, organic matter and toxic substances, besides examining beaches for selected bacteria, and accumulator organisms such as mussels and oysters for metals and bacteria.
Ocean Inputs from the Air Increasingly, the composition of air particulates over the oceans is important in identifying inputs which become important in the deep ocean. The recent newsletter (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1981) of SEAREX, the Sea-Air Exchange Program, for the Graduate School of Oceanography of The University of Rhode Island at Kingston, RI, gives some new evidence of aerial transport over great distances. It has been observed that levels of some chlorinated hydrocarbons are 2-10 times lower in southern hemisphere atmospheres (Samoa) than in samples taken in the northern hemisphere (Enewetak). Pentachlorobenzene has been detected, together with PCB, DDT, HCH and HCB. DDT residues are the same at Samoa and Enewetak, possibly reflecting an increased use in the southern hemisphere. There is a substantial transfer of soil debris derived from dust storms in Asia to the North Pacific as detected by stations based on the islands of Midway and Oahu, and observations from ships confirm the presence of haze at sea.
Dangerous Cargoes Developments in the international transportation of dangerous goods and the impact of the new IMCO regulations will be discussed at a symposium to be held in Vancouver from 26 September to 1 October this year (1982). The International Symposium on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Sea and Inland Waterways will include sessions on dangerous goods in ports, their transport in bulk, in specialized marine systems and remote areas. The symposium and accompanying exhibition, which is expected to be attended by some 400 people, will also include sessions on emergency response and associated training as well as one on pollution control, featuring papers on reception facilities, shipboard pollution controls, surveillance methods and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. 4
From measurements made on Enewetak atoll, hydrocarbons, fatty alcohols and fatty acids are present in air particulates, which indicate an origin "of plant wax materials from continental sources some 5000 km away.
Round-the-World News Alaska Applications are being accepted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for geophysical exploration and environmental studies on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge lands in anticipation of oil and gas leasings in the area. The studies, which may include assessments of the environmental characteristics and wildlife resources which might be affected by the leasings, will be used by USFWS to structure comprehensive conservation plans and compatibility assessments for oil and gas study activities on the refuge lands. Applications, which are invited from both