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Parliament in Britain
PARLIAMENTIN BRITAIN
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Powers to Deal with Panthers In the same week that the Panther had been refloated from the Goodwin Sands, the Oil in Navigable Waters Bill completed its final stages in the Commons and a new a m e n d m e n t was introduced that will give the government power to undertake operations for the sinking or destruction of ships of any flag outside territorial waters of the United Kingdom. Moving the a m e n d m e n t , Mr Gr-nt, the Under Secretary for Trade and Industry, said that me'bill as it left the House of Lords ('Marine Pollution Bulletin' 2, 21; 1971) would not have helped in the case of the Panther because it was stranded outside British territorial waters. The a m e n d m e n t was designed to extend the clause the.t b a d . b e e n ;~ctde4t by the Lords giving the Secretary ot ~tare-~or~'~..:,'a'de a ~ c ! I n d u ~ powers to give directions to prevent or reauce oil pollution with penalties of up to £50,000 for obstruction of direction, and an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. Mr Grant said that he should not want any shadow of d o u b t to remain that the government lacks power to deal with future cases similar to the Panther. The new a m e n d m e n t would enable the government, by order-incouncil, to apply all or any of the provisions of the new clause to ships o n the high seas not registered in the United Kingdom. It would apply to tankers of a certain size or in certain areas like the channel. He added that the clause might not be suitable for application on the high seas and the penalties might n o t be appropriate, but his a m e n d m e n t enabled the government to make exceptions and adaptations. It was necessarily flexible. In cases of disaster, the government intended, in the first instance, to consult with both the owners of ship and cargo and with the salvers involved, It might not always be possible 'to rely on cooperation and the new clause and a m e n d m e n t would provide valuable reserve powers. The a m e n d m e n t was welcomed by Mr Roy Mason of the Opposition Front Bench as a major addition to the bill at the eleventh hour. Both the new clause and the a m e n d m e n t were agreed to.
PUBLICATIONS The Oil and Gas Industries Part one of the first volume of the National Petroleum Council's report entitled 'Environmental Conservation - the Oil and Gas Industries' has been published. It deals with the environmental problems related to the petroleum industries and contains the key comments and conclusions reached by the study committee. Volume I, part 2 and Volume II, to be published soon, will deal with the various aspects in greater detail and will include sections on law, major oil spills, transportation, storeage and exploration. Volume I, part 1 is available from the National Petroleum Council, Publications Department, 1625 K Street, N.W., Washington, D,C. 20006.
Removal of Oil fromWater Surfaces The literature on the removal of oil from water surfaces has been surveyed recently by H J . Marcinowski of Stichting Concawe, the Hague. The report describes the characteristics of oil and its behaviour on water surfaces and considers some of the many methods that have been used either to remove the oil completely from the water, to sink it, or to disperse it. An attempt is made to cover subsequent action for accidents at sea and in coastal waters.
The 'Marine Pollution Bulletin' appears monthly and includes news items, comment, short articles, reviews and conference reports on matters relating to the pollution of estuaries, the sea and other large bodies of water, interpreted in the broadest sense. It is only partly concerned with the deleterious effects of effluent disposal and the release of noxious materials, and embraces also the management of the marine environment, its capaci W to absorb waste materials, natural population fluctuations in marine organisms, and marine productivity generally. It publishes accounts of new or proposed research programmes as well as the results of those that have been in progress for some time. Contributions may be in the form of short notes not exceeding 650 words or articles of 1500-2000 words and should be submitted to the editor in double-spaced typescript. They should be given a short, one-line title and the text should be broken by short sub-headings. Ail measurements must be given in metric (S.I.) units. Black on white line drawings and photographs should he of good quality and the ~'idth of a single column (8.5 cm) or double column (17.5 cm) and not more than 14 cm deep. Maps are normally re-drawn to a standard format and should therefore be clear and relatively simple, avoiding u n d u e fine detail. The 5, should be 8.5 cm or 17.5 cm wide and not more than 14 cm deep. Reprints of articles can be supplied after publication and an order form for them is sent to contributors with the issue in which their article appears. Bulk orders of copies of the entire issue in which an article appears can be supplied at a reduced rate to" the. author, providing they are ordered in advance of publication. Contributors wishing to take advantage of the latter scheme must inform the editor when submitting their manuscript. Published by:
Macmillan j o u r n a l s Limited, Little Essex Street, London, W.C.2, England. Editor: Professor R. B, Clark, Department of Zoology, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 7RU, England. Subscriptions to: Macmillan Journals Limited, Subscriptions Department, Brunel Road, Basingstoke, Hams., England. Advertisement T. G. Scott & Son, Ltd., I Clement's enquiries to: Inn, London, W.C.2, England.
Annual subscription £3.50, Airfreight: U.S.A. $ I 0 . 5 0 Canada $11.50
FORTHCOMINGCONFERENCE Pumped Storage and Pollution An international conference on pumped storage and its environmental effects will be held in Mihvaukee, Wisconsin, from October 4--8, 1971. The design, construction, economics and environmental aspects of p u m p e d storage development will be discussed. Enquiries regarding attendance and participation should be directed to Dr Gabor M. Karadi, College of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA.
(~ 1970 Macmillan Journals Limited Printed in Great Britain by Robert MacLehose ~ Co Ltd, The University Press, Glasgow
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MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Powers to Deal with Panthers In the same week that the Panther had been refloated from the Goodwin Sands, the Oil in Navigable Waters Bill completed its final stages in the Commons and a new a m e n d m e n t was introduced that will give the government power to undertake operations for the sinking or destruction of ships of any flag outside territorial waters of the United Kingdom. Moving the a m e n d m e n t , Mr Gr-nt, the Under Secretary for Trade and Industry, said that me'bill as it left the House of Lords ('Marine Pollution Bulletin' 2, 21; 1971) would not have helped in the case of the Panther because it was stranded outside British territorial waters. The a m e n d m e n t was designed to extend the clause the.t b a d . b e e n ;~ctde4t by the Lords giving the Secretary ot ~tare-~or~'~..:,'a'de a ~ c ! I n d u ~ powers to give directions to prevent or reauce oil pollution with penalties of up to £50,000 for obstruction of direction, and an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. Mr Grant said that he should not want any shadow of d o u b t to remain that the government lacks power to deal with future cases similar to the Panther. The new a m e n d m e n t would enable the government, by order-incouncil, to apply all or any of the provisions of the new clause to ships o n the high seas not registered in the United Kingdom. It would apply to tankers of a certain size or in certain areas like the channel. He added that the clause might not be suitable for application on the high seas and the penalties might n o t be appropriate, but his a m e n d m e n t enabled the government to make exceptions and adaptations. It was necessarily flexible. In cases of disaster, the government intended, in the first instance, to consult with both the owners of ship and cargo and with the salvers involved, It might not always be possible 'to rely on cooperation and the new clause and a m e n d m e n t would provide valuable reserve powers. The a m e n d m e n t was welcomed by Mr Roy Mason of the Opposition Front Bench as a major addition to the bill at the eleventh hour. Both the new clause and the a m e n d m e n t were agreed to.
PUBLICATIONS The Oil and Gas Industries Part one of the first volume of the National Petroleum Council's report entitled 'Environmental Conservation - the Oil and Gas Industries' has been published. It deals with the environmental problems related to the petroleum industries and contains the key comments and conclusions reached by the study committee. Volume I, part 2 and Volume II, to be published soon, will deal with the various aspects in greater detail and will include sections on law, major oil spills, transportation, storeage and exploration. Volume I, part 1 is available from the National Petroleum Council, Publications Department, 1625 K Street, N.W., Washington, D,C. 20006.
Removal of Oil fromWater Surfaces The literature on the removal of oil from water surfaces has been surveyed recently by H J . Marcinowski of Stichting Concawe, the Hague. The report describes the characteristics of oil and its behaviour on water surfaces and considers some of the many methods that have been used either to remove the oil completely from the water, to sink it, or to disperse it. An attempt is made to cover subsequent action for accidents at sea and in coastal waters.
The 'Marine Pollution Bulletin' appears monthly and includes news items, comment, short articles, reviews and conference reports on matters relating to the pollution of estuaries, the sea and other large bodies of water, interpreted in the broadest sense. It is only partly concerned with the deleterious effects of effluent disposal and the release of noxious materials, and embraces also the management of the marine environment, its capaci W to absorb waste materials, natural population fluctuations in marine organisms, and marine productivity generally. It publishes accounts of new or proposed research programmes as well as the results of those that have been in progress for some time. Contributions may be in the form of short notes not exceeding 650 words or articles of 1500-2000 words and should be submitted to the editor in double-spaced typescript. They should be given a short, one-line title and the text should be broken by short sub-headings. Ail measurements must be given in metric (S.I.) units. Black on white line drawings and photographs should he of good quality and the ~'idth of a single column (8.5 cm) or double column (17.5 cm) and not more than 14 cm deep. Maps are normally re-drawn to a standard format and should therefore be clear and relatively simple, avoiding u n d u e fine detail. The 5, should be 8.5 cm or 17.5 cm wide and not more than 14 cm deep. Reprints of articles can be supplied after publication and an order form for them is sent to contributors with the issue in which their article appears. Bulk orders of copies of the entire issue in which an article appears can be supplied at a reduced rate to" the. author, providing they are ordered in advance of publication. Contributors wishing to take advantage of the latter scheme must inform the editor when submitting their manuscript. Published by:
Macmillan j o u r n a l s Limited, Little Essex Street, London, W.C.2, England. Editor: Professor R. B, Clark, Department of Zoology, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 7RU, England. Subscriptions to: Macmillan Journals Limited, Subscriptions Department, Brunel Road, Basingstoke, Hams., England. Advertisement T. G. Scott & Son, Ltd., I Clement's enquiries to: Inn, London, W.C.2, England.
Annual subscription £3.50, Airfreight: U.S.A. $ I 0 . 5 0 Canada $11.50
FORTHCOMINGCONFERENCE Pumped Storage and Pollution An international conference on pumped storage and its environmental effects will be held in Mihvaukee, Wisconsin, from October 4--8, 1971. The design, construction, economics and environmental aspects of p u m p e d storage development will be discussed. Enquiries regarding attendance and participation should be directed to Dr Gabor M. Karadi, College of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA.
(~ 1970 Macmillan Journals Limited Printed in Great Britain by Robert MacLehose ~ Co Ltd, The University Press, Glasgow
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