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Soviet nuclear submarine lost
Volume 17/Number 11/November 1986
and means that decks can be washed down with ordinary detergents. Typically, oil is non-detectable in the effluent as the unit filters down to 2 ppm, producing oil-free water and recovering oil from both mechanically and chemicallyinduced emulsions. The fully automatic system requires no special operator skills and operates unattended without adjustment, chemical additives or disposable filters. It is totally fallsafe and cannot discharge oil, even in the event of complete electrical failure or operator error. By employing the PACE system, users can wash down with detergents and retrieve clean water without wasting either the oil or the wash solution.
Dutch Warning on Grit Blasting The Netherlands Ministry of Health and Environment has issued a warning concerning the potentially adverse effects resulting from the use of abrasive grits in cleaning operations. The Dutch Ministry suggests that the use of metal based abrasives should be avoided and that the quantity of expended residues arising from grit blasting operations (which are rarely properly disposed of) should be reduced. The Dutch Government is examining ways in which the m o u n t of grit used can be reduced or recycled but have called on Dutch suppliers of abrasive grits to stop supplying their customers with grits derived from metal based slags. The favoured alternatives are products derived from power plant slags. Tank tests in the UK, commissioned by DirkBlastgrit, are reported to have shown lethal effects on fresh and salt water fish of metal-based blasting compounds whereas parallel tests with non-metallic grits showed no adverse effects. Dirk-Blastgrit supplies only non-metallic silicate-based abrasive grits.
EIB Loans for Sewage Clean-up in Scotland and France The European Investment Bank (EIB) have just made 7.8 million ecu's (£5 million) available to Scotland's Lothian Region for improvements to sewerage and sewage treatment works along the coast east of Edinburgh. The scheme forms part of a wider programme to reduce the discharge of insufficiently treated sewage into the Firth of Forth and upgrade the local beaches for economic and tourist development. The EIB have also loaned 16 million ecu's (FF 110 million) for constructing a plant to treat waste water generated by the city of Marseilles and seven surrounding Communes as part of international efforts to clean up and protect the marine environment of the Mediterranean. The works will include 5 km of sewers, an advanced waste water treatment plant and a sludge treatment plant. The intention is to use the treated sludge to build up topsoil of fire-damaged hills around Marseilles to enable reforestation. The funds have been made available to Caisse dl~kide a L'Equipement des Collectives Locales (CAECAL) for 30 years for on-
lending to the Ville de Marseilles. The work will be commissioned in stages between 1987 and 1989.
Soviet Nuclear Submarine Lost The Soviet press agency Tass has confirmed the loss of one of its 21 Yankee-class nuclear submarines which sank in the Atlantic on 6 October. The submarine sustained substantial damage after an explosion and fire on 3 October which killed three crewmen. Although the stricken submarine was taken in tow by the Soviet merchant ship Krasnovardeysk, it took in water and finally sank in heavy seas about 500 miles off Bermuda. Both the US Pentagon and Tass has issued statements suggesting that there will be little danger of radioactive contamination either from the pressurized water reactor propulsion system or from the warheads of the 16 SSN6 ballistic missiles lost with the submarine which sank in 18 000 ft of water. The fuel core is thought to comprise 100 kg of uranium contaminated with fission products, and the warheads about 100 kg of pure plutonium. US State Department officials have indicated that any release of such materials into the ocean would be gradual and quickly diluted. At least two US and three Soviet nuclear submarines have previously been lost at sea.
Lead Ban on Anglers' Weights UK Environment Minister, Mr William Waldegrave, has just announced the banning of most type of lead weights used by anglers. The ban is to take effect from the beginning of next year and has resulted from the reluctance of fishermen to switch voluntarily from lead to non-poisonous alternatives (see Mar. PoUut. Bull. 16, 220). Lead fishing weights are estimated to kill more than 3,000 swans each year, a carnage that is unnecessary since non-toxic fishing weights are freely available and have been so for some time (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 17, 238). The new laws will make it an offence to import or supply all lead weights for angling of less than 1 ounce (28.4 grams), except the smallest 'dust shot' of up to 0.06 grams, for which there are no acceptable non-toxic alternatives. Fishing tackle such as lead core lines, weighted fishing flies, swim feeders and self-cocking floats which contain lead but do not cause swan deaths have been exempted. The Government does not have the power to stop anglers using lead weights, but in certain circumstances water authorities may make by-laws banning their use.
North American News Ocean Incineration Reported as Safe Interim Process The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in August released a report entitled "Ocean 483
and means that decks can be washed down with ordinary detergents. Typically, oil is non-detectable in the effluent as the unit filters down to 2 ppm, producing oil-free water and recovering oil from both mechanically and chemicallyinduced emulsions. The fully automatic system requires no special operator skills and operates unattended without adjustment, chemical additives or disposable filters. It is totally fallsafe and cannot discharge oil, even in the event of complete electrical failure or operator error. By employing the PACE system, users can wash down with detergents and retrieve clean water without wasting either the oil or the wash solution.
Dutch Warning on Grit Blasting The Netherlands Ministry of Health and Environment has issued a warning concerning the potentially adverse effects resulting from the use of abrasive grits in cleaning operations. The Dutch Ministry suggests that the use of metal based abrasives should be avoided and that the quantity of expended residues arising from grit blasting operations (which are rarely properly disposed of) should be reduced. The Dutch Government is examining ways in which the m o u n t of grit used can be reduced or recycled but have called on Dutch suppliers of abrasive grits to stop supplying their customers with grits derived from metal based slags. The favoured alternatives are products derived from power plant slags. Tank tests in the UK, commissioned by DirkBlastgrit, are reported to have shown lethal effects on fresh and salt water fish of metal-based blasting compounds whereas parallel tests with non-metallic grits showed no adverse effects. Dirk-Blastgrit supplies only non-metallic silicate-based abrasive grits.
EIB Loans for Sewage Clean-up in Scotland and France The European Investment Bank (EIB) have just made 7.8 million ecu's (£5 million) available to Scotland's Lothian Region for improvements to sewerage and sewage treatment works along the coast east of Edinburgh. The scheme forms part of a wider programme to reduce the discharge of insufficiently treated sewage into the Firth of Forth and upgrade the local beaches for economic and tourist development. The EIB have also loaned 16 million ecu's (FF 110 million) for constructing a plant to treat waste water generated by the city of Marseilles and seven surrounding Communes as part of international efforts to clean up and protect the marine environment of the Mediterranean. The works will include 5 km of sewers, an advanced waste water treatment plant and a sludge treatment plant. The intention is to use the treated sludge to build up topsoil of fire-damaged hills around Marseilles to enable reforestation. The funds have been made available to Caisse dl~kide a L'Equipement des Collectives Locales (CAECAL) for 30 years for on-
lending to the Ville de Marseilles. The work will be commissioned in stages between 1987 and 1989.
Soviet Nuclear Submarine Lost The Soviet press agency Tass has confirmed the loss of one of its 21 Yankee-class nuclear submarines which sank in the Atlantic on 6 October. The submarine sustained substantial damage after an explosion and fire on 3 October which killed three crewmen. Although the stricken submarine was taken in tow by the Soviet merchant ship Krasnovardeysk, it took in water and finally sank in heavy seas about 500 miles off Bermuda. Both the US Pentagon and Tass has issued statements suggesting that there will be little danger of radioactive contamination either from the pressurized water reactor propulsion system or from the warheads of the 16 SSN6 ballistic missiles lost with the submarine which sank in 18 000 ft of water. The fuel core is thought to comprise 100 kg of uranium contaminated with fission products, and the warheads about 100 kg of pure plutonium. US State Department officials have indicated that any release of such materials into the ocean would be gradual and quickly diluted. At least two US and three Soviet nuclear submarines have previously been lost at sea.
Lead Ban on Anglers' Weights UK Environment Minister, Mr William Waldegrave, has just announced the banning of most type of lead weights used by anglers. The ban is to take effect from the beginning of next year and has resulted from the reluctance of fishermen to switch voluntarily from lead to non-poisonous alternatives (see Mar. PoUut. Bull. 16, 220). Lead fishing weights are estimated to kill more than 3,000 swans each year, a carnage that is unnecessary since non-toxic fishing weights are freely available and have been so for some time (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 17, 238). The new laws will make it an offence to import or supply all lead weights for angling of less than 1 ounce (28.4 grams), except the smallest 'dust shot' of up to 0.06 grams, for which there are no acceptable non-toxic alternatives. Fishing tackle such as lead core lines, weighted fishing flies, swim feeders and self-cocking floats which contain lead but do not cause swan deaths have been exempted. The Government does not have the power to stop anglers using lead weights, but in certain circumstances water authorities may make by-laws banning their use.
North American News Ocean Incineration Reported as Safe Interim Process The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in August released a report entitled "Ocean 483