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Chemical breakdown of PCBs
Marine PolluUon Bulletin
although government sources beheve the threat to marine life to be more locahzed As a precautionary measure, and to assast the recovery operation, fishing has been banned within a 20 km radius of where the missing cargo as thought to be The search has been hampered because the container as believed to be on the seabed an the vminity of a former explosives dumping ground httered w~th other metal objects In a separate operation a vessel has been sent to locate the wreck and assess the feasaNlIty of recovering other dangerous or hazardous substances carned by the vessel including 1 5 t of Permethnn and Cypermethnn stored an metal drums Tests of seawater have shown no evadence of any leakages from the packages
TREVOR R DIXON
Chemical Breakdown of PCBs Brmsh chemists at Queen Mary College London and the Umverslty of East Angha have developed a simple method for destroying PCB compounds at low temperatures The researchers claim that the process could be used to clean up commercml PCB contmnlng wastes and prevent them from leaching from dump sates An oradlzmg compound called ruthenium tetroxlde, which as known to break down other torac organic substances, has been shown to be a comparatwely cheap and effective method for completely breaking down PCBs If the process proves commercmlly attractive, it may solve the problems inherent an the current disposal options of landfill or mclneratmn Incomplete Incineration, at temperatures lower than 1200°C, can produce compounds such as dioxms and polychlonnated dibenzofurans wtuch are potentmlly more torac than the PCBs themselves
Disappearance of Wild Salmon in Norwegian Rivers There as currently a controversy over what is to blame for the disappearance of wild Atlantic salmon from 33 Norwegian ravers Some scientists beheve that the disappearance has been caused by the skin parasite, Gyrodactylus salarts, Introduced into the wild by fish brought in from contaminated hatcheries elsewhere an Scandinavia Other scientists beheve that the parasite is common to Norwegmn nvers and that pollution has made the fish less resistant to bacterial and fungal refections that anse from the parasitic attack Measures were introduced by the Mimstry of the Environment in 1981 in an attempt to combat the problem by treating infested ravers with rotenone However, some vetermary scientists are pressing for more acUon to be taken to prevent cross contamination between hatcheries and fish-farms and it as expected that an Act of Parhament wall be passed an 1989 to restnct fish trading between regmns Fash farmers, however, at present do not recewe compensation for losses If they are forced to close down and clean up their premises and there is also 202
currently a shortage of vetennary inspectors to pohce farms and enforce health reqmrements
HAMISH MAIR
Estuary Licenses Relinquished Shell UK Ltd has recently announced a decaslon to rehnquish ats petroleum production hcenses awarded in 1984 for three major estuanne areas an Bntain The Shell licenses covered the greater parts of the Humber estuary, the Solent, and the Dee and Mersey estuaries (commonly referred to as Lwerpool Bay) and were the first to be awarded by the Department of Energy for estuanne exploraUon Samdar licenses were awarded at about the same time for parts of the Clyde and Solway estuaries and, at a later date, for the Forth Approaches Because of the importance of the major Bntlsh estuaries both ecologacally and commercmlly, environmental considerauons are paramount in the exploration and development of oil and gas resources in these sensmve areas Extensive seismic surveys were carned out by Shell an each of the three areas In both the Humber and Solent, full analysis of the results showed that there was no prospect of sufflcaent interest (areas indacatmg the possable presence of subsurface structures capable of y~eldlng oll or gas) to justify the drilling of an exploration well In Lwerpool Bay analysxs indacated a geological structure whach might contain hydrocarbons An explorauon well was dnlled there dunng May and June 1988 and although the detailed results remmn confidentml they were apparently not sufficiently encouraging to support further exploration an the area Comprehenswe environmental reports for each area were commissioned by the company from the Umversitles of Lwerpool, Hull, and Southampton These reports which bnng together pubhshed and unpubhshed data from many sources have been pubhshed providing a useful and permanent reference for parties anterested m the environment of the estuanes
More Mining Interest Recent reports indicated that a renewal of anterest in deep-sea nnmng as occurnng despate the expert oplmon that present-day technology makes plospects economically non-viable Reasons for the recent surge in Interest include the sustained high market pnce for mckel, a resolution of overlapping claims an the Pacific and progress at the Umted Nations in estabhshmg a Law of the Sea Once the Law of the Sea Convenuon receives the reqms~te number of raufications to enter Into force at will place mineral resources more than 200 nautical miles from land under the junsdaction of an International Seabed Authority The authority will be in charge of issuing licenses and claim-areas to the sagnatones In anuclpation of thas development some countnes have already regastered clmms For example, India has a claim in the Indian Ocean while France, the
although government sources beheve the threat to marine life to be more locahzed As a precautionary measure, and to assast the recovery operation, fishing has been banned within a 20 km radius of where the missing cargo as thought to be The search has been hampered because the container as believed to be on the seabed an the vminity of a former explosives dumping ground httered w~th other metal objects In a separate operation a vessel has been sent to locate the wreck and assess the feasaNlIty of recovering other dangerous or hazardous substances carned by the vessel including 1 5 t of Permethnn and Cypermethnn stored an metal drums Tests of seawater have shown no evadence of any leakages from the packages
TREVOR R DIXON
Chemical Breakdown of PCBs Brmsh chemists at Queen Mary College London and the Umverslty of East Angha have developed a simple method for destroying PCB compounds at low temperatures The researchers claim that the process could be used to clean up commercml PCB contmnlng wastes and prevent them from leaching from dump sates An oradlzmg compound called ruthenium tetroxlde, which as known to break down other torac organic substances, has been shown to be a comparatwely cheap and effective method for completely breaking down PCBs If the process proves commercmlly attractive, it may solve the problems inherent an the current disposal options of landfill or mclneratmn Incomplete Incineration, at temperatures lower than 1200°C, can produce compounds such as dioxms and polychlonnated dibenzofurans wtuch are potentmlly more torac than the PCBs themselves
Disappearance of Wild Salmon in Norwegian Rivers There as currently a controversy over what is to blame for the disappearance of wild Atlantic salmon from 33 Norwegian ravers Some scientists beheve that the disappearance has been caused by the skin parasite, Gyrodactylus salarts, Introduced into the wild by fish brought in from contaminated hatcheries elsewhere an Scandinavia Other scientists beheve that the parasite is common to Norwegmn nvers and that pollution has made the fish less resistant to bacterial and fungal refections that anse from the parasitic attack Measures were introduced by the Mimstry of the Environment in 1981 in an attempt to combat the problem by treating infested ravers with rotenone However, some vetermary scientists are pressing for more acUon to be taken to prevent cross contamination between hatcheries and fish-farms and it as expected that an Act of Parhament wall be passed an 1989 to restnct fish trading between regmns Fash farmers, however, at present do not recewe compensation for losses If they are forced to close down and clean up their premises and there is also 202
currently a shortage of vetennary inspectors to pohce farms and enforce health reqmrements
HAMISH MAIR
Estuary Licenses Relinquished Shell UK Ltd has recently announced a decaslon to rehnquish ats petroleum production hcenses awarded in 1984 for three major estuanne areas an Bntain The Shell licenses covered the greater parts of the Humber estuary, the Solent, and the Dee and Mersey estuaries (commonly referred to as Lwerpool Bay) and were the first to be awarded by the Department of Energy for estuanne exploraUon Samdar licenses were awarded at about the same time for parts of the Clyde and Solway estuaries and, at a later date, for the Forth Approaches Because of the importance of the major Bntlsh estuaries both ecologacally and commercmlly, environmental considerauons are paramount in the exploration and development of oil and gas resources in these sensmve areas Extensive seismic surveys were carned out by Shell an each of the three areas In both the Humber and Solent, full analysis of the results showed that there was no prospect of sufflcaent interest (areas indacatmg the possable presence of subsurface structures capable of y~eldlng oll or gas) to justify the drilling of an exploration well In Lwerpool Bay analysxs indacated a geological structure whach might contain hydrocarbons An explorauon well was dnlled there dunng May and June 1988 and although the detailed results remmn confidentml they were apparently not sufficiently encouraging to support further exploration an the area Comprehenswe environmental reports for each area were commissioned by the company from the Umversitles of Lwerpool, Hull, and Southampton These reports which bnng together pubhshed and unpubhshed data from many sources have been pubhshed providing a useful and permanent reference for parties anterested m the environment of the estuanes
More Mining Interest Recent reports indicated that a renewal of anterest in deep-sea nnmng as occurnng despate the expert oplmon that present-day technology makes plospects economically non-viable Reasons for the recent surge in Interest include the sustained high market pnce for mckel, a resolution of overlapping claims an the Pacific and progress at the Umted Nations in estabhshmg a Law of the Sea Once the Law of the Sea Convenuon receives the reqms~te number of raufications to enter Into force at will place mineral resources more than 200 nautical miles from land under the junsdaction of an International Seabed Authority The authority will be in charge of issuing licenses and claim-areas to the sagnatones In anuclpation of thas development some countnes have already regastered clmms For example, India has a claim in the Indian Ocean while France, the