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Spoil dumping rules relaxed
Marine Pollution Bulletin
1986 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Attended by some 67 people from 8 countries, the Symposium was sponsored by the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Brazilian Ministry of A campaign by the International Association of Ports Planning (FINEP), SCOPE, UENSCO-COI and the and Harbours (IAPH) has been successful in perBrazilian Limnological Society. The Symposium was suading the London Dumping Convention to approve organized by the Universidade Federal Fluminense and new rules which will exclude most port dredged spoil the Fundacao Universidade do Rio Grande and chaired from being classified as toxic waste, and as a conseby Drs. Luiz Drude de Lacerda, Sambasiva Rao quence banned from sea dumping. Over the last 6 years the IAPH has been conducting Patchineelam and Ulrich Seeliger. During the meeting, 28 research papers and 5 scientific investigations into the fate of dredged material plenary lectures were presented. Sessions were held on after sea disposal and have at last convinced the survey studies, sediment geochemistry, metal transport London Dumping Convention that such material is and cycles, metals in biota and monitoring approaches. broken down more easily by sea water than industrial Dr W. Pfeiffer, Rio de Janeiro, gave the Symposium waste. IAPH argued that this meant that dumping of opening lecture, reviewing metal contamination studies dredged material at sea did comply with the convention. along the Brazilian coast. Dr Pfeiffer identified critically The result of this is that new guidelines on the classipolluted areas on the south-eastern coast justifying fication of material dredged from ports will be introregional programmes on metal monitoring and mass duced which will exempt most ports from having to balance studies regarding anthropogenic contribution apply for permits to dump at sea. However, the subject of heavily contaminated wastes from ports with rivers of metals to the south western Atlantic. Other lectures were given by Dr W. Salomons which are highly polluted still remains a problem. It is (Haren), on metalware in coastal areas; Dr K. Kremling not unusual for dredged materials from these sites to be (Kid), on ocean chemistry; Dr J. Nriagu (Canada), on classified as hazardous substances. the Latin American contribution to the global lead cycle; and by Dr H. Morris (London), who evaluated the European experience of metal monitoring with its possible application to Latin America. Groups of experts from Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia discussed shortcomings and progress of The London Dumping Convention has called on the metal research in this continent. An evaluation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to set up a present situation of metal research and recommendaregister of all radioactive wastes which are getting into tions for improvement, together with all papers prethe sea. Whilst plans are considered for a permit system sented during the Symposium, will be published by to allow limited dumping of low level wastes the probSpringer-Verlag, Heidelberg, as a book entitled Metals lems of radioactive waste disposal at sea have dogged in Coastal Environments of Latin America to be edited the convention countries for several years. At present by U. Seeliger, L. D. Lacerda, and S. R. Patchineelam. there is a complete ban on dumping while scientific W1M SALOMONS studies are carried out. The compilation of the register may not, however, be straight forward even though the IMO has access to a wide range of UN Agencies and other international organizations. Eight sources of radioactive contamination have been recommended for inclusion in the register. All low level waste that has been dumped at sea should be After careful consideration the UK Government has included and it is recommended that discharges from agreed that most of the spoil from the British half of the nuclear powered vessels should be monitored. IMO Channel Tunnel can be disposed of on the foreshore consider this task as virtually impossible since these between Dover and Folkestone, despite considerable vessels are almost exclusively military and not covered opposition from its own environmental watchdog, the by the convention. Another problem will be monitoring Nature Conservancy Council (NCC). Eurotunnel, the consortium of British and French releases from lost nuclear powered vessels, mainly companies that are to build the tunnel, estimates that United States and Soviet submarines. Coastal discharges and discharges to the sea from about 4.5 million m 3 of spoil will be produced from the rivers are also to be monitored. Sources of radioactive tunnel during operations on the British side. The spoil contamination from atmospheric pollution and run off will be grey chalk marl and will be produced at an overall rate of around 600 tormes per hour, 24 hours a from land are also expected to be scrutinized. day for about 2½ years. Other sites have been suggested for spoil disposal; two of the alternatives investigated being Lappel Bank, a mud flat near Sheerness, Kent, and a disused chalk quarry near Darfford, also in Kent. Apart from the environmental impact and high extra The first International Symposium on Metals in Coastal cost of transporting vast quantities of chalky spoil over Environments of Latin America was held 3-8 August distances of 40-80 miles, the disturbance to residents
Spoil Dumping Rules Relaxed
Radioactive Dumping Register Proposed
Channel Tunnel Rubble
Metals in Coastal Environments of Latin America
526
1986 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Attended by some 67 people from 8 countries, the Symposium was sponsored by the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Brazilian Ministry of A campaign by the International Association of Ports Planning (FINEP), SCOPE, UENSCO-COI and the and Harbours (IAPH) has been successful in perBrazilian Limnological Society. The Symposium was suading the London Dumping Convention to approve organized by the Universidade Federal Fluminense and new rules which will exclude most port dredged spoil the Fundacao Universidade do Rio Grande and chaired from being classified as toxic waste, and as a conseby Drs. Luiz Drude de Lacerda, Sambasiva Rao quence banned from sea dumping. Over the last 6 years the IAPH has been conducting Patchineelam and Ulrich Seeliger. During the meeting, 28 research papers and 5 scientific investigations into the fate of dredged material plenary lectures were presented. Sessions were held on after sea disposal and have at last convinced the survey studies, sediment geochemistry, metal transport London Dumping Convention that such material is and cycles, metals in biota and monitoring approaches. broken down more easily by sea water than industrial Dr W. Pfeiffer, Rio de Janeiro, gave the Symposium waste. IAPH argued that this meant that dumping of opening lecture, reviewing metal contamination studies dredged material at sea did comply with the convention. along the Brazilian coast. Dr Pfeiffer identified critically The result of this is that new guidelines on the classipolluted areas on the south-eastern coast justifying fication of material dredged from ports will be introregional programmes on metal monitoring and mass duced which will exempt most ports from having to balance studies regarding anthropogenic contribution apply for permits to dump at sea. However, the subject of heavily contaminated wastes from ports with rivers of metals to the south western Atlantic. Other lectures were given by Dr W. Salomons which are highly polluted still remains a problem. It is (Haren), on metalware in coastal areas; Dr K. Kremling not unusual for dredged materials from these sites to be (Kid), on ocean chemistry; Dr J. Nriagu (Canada), on classified as hazardous substances. the Latin American contribution to the global lead cycle; and by Dr H. Morris (London), who evaluated the European experience of metal monitoring with its possible application to Latin America. Groups of experts from Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia discussed shortcomings and progress of The London Dumping Convention has called on the metal research in this continent. An evaluation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to set up a present situation of metal research and recommendaregister of all radioactive wastes which are getting into tions for improvement, together with all papers prethe sea. Whilst plans are considered for a permit system sented during the Symposium, will be published by to allow limited dumping of low level wastes the probSpringer-Verlag, Heidelberg, as a book entitled Metals lems of radioactive waste disposal at sea have dogged in Coastal Environments of Latin America to be edited the convention countries for several years. At present by U. Seeliger, L. D. Lacerda, and S. R. Patchineelam. there is a complete ban on dumping while scientific W1M SALOMONS studies are carried out. The compilation of the register may not, however, be straight forward even though the IMO has access to a wide range of UN Agencies and other international organizations. Eight sources of radioactive contamination have been recommended for inclusion in the register. All low level waste that has been dumped at sea should be After careful consideration the UK Government has included and it is recommended that discharges from agreed that most of the spoil from the British half of the nuclear powered vessels should be monitored. IMO Channel Tunnel can be disposed of on the foreshore consider this task as virtually impossible since these between Dover and Folkestone, despite considerable vessels are almost exclusively military and not covered opposition from its own environmental watchdog, the by the convention. Another problem will be monitoring Nature Conservancy Council (NCC). Eurotunnel, the consortium of British and French releases from lost nuclear powered vessels, mainly companies that are to build the tunnel, estimates that United States and Soviet submarines. Coastal discharges and discharges to the sea from about 4.5 million m 3 of spoil will be produced from the rivers are also to be monitored. Sources of radioactive tunnel during operations on the British side. The spoil contamination from atmospheric pollution and run off will be grey chalk marl and will be produced at an overall rate of around 600 tormes per hour, 24 hours a from land are also expected to be scrutinized. day for about 2½ years. Other sites have been suggested for spoil disposal; two of the alternatives investigated being Lappel Bank, a mud flat near Sheerness, Kent, and a disused chalk quarry near Darfford, also in Kent. Apart from the environmental impact and high extra The first International Symposium on Metals in Coastal cost of transporting vast quantities of chalky spoil over Environments of Latin America was held 3-8 August distances of 40-80 miles, the disturbance to residents
Spoil Dumping Rules Relaxed
Radioactive Dumping Register Proposed
Channel Tunnel Rubble
Metals in Coastal Environments of Latin America
526