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The law relating to pollution
Nelson-Smith, A (1968) Biological consequences of oil poilutlon and shore cleansing In The blologwal effects of od pollutton on httoral communmes, pp 73-80 Ed by J D
Carthy and D R Arthur Field Studies 2 (suppl) London Field Studies Council Nelson-Smith, A (1970) The problem of oil pollution of the sea In Advances m marine blology, 8, pp 215-306 Ed by F S Russell and M Yonge London Academic Press Sylvester, R O and Clogston, F L (1958) A study of the preoperatlonal marine environment of the Texas Company refinery Puget Sound Works, Anacortes, Washington Unlverstty of Washington Report, Department of Civil Engineering, for the Texas Company, 1-157
Death of the Sea Moorcraft, C (1972) Must the Seas Dle~ London Temple Smith 219 pp £1 25 (paperback) The abihty to write accurately, illuminatxngly and entertainingly for a lay audience about science, rare among journalists and even rarer among scientists, is especially vital in the field of pollution, where both the problems and their solutions are complex and subtle Colin Moorcraft's book is a model of responsible, well informed science writing, treading a careful path between those who regard the seas as an lnexhaustable rubbish dump and those who read the apocalypse in every oiled seabird Moorcraft would have us regard the seven seas as one integrated whole the world ocean, a single gargantuan, hving organism He rightly regards the concept of a large mass of inert water containing a small mass of separate organisms as a hangover from the primitive Linnaean days when biology was a matter of separating animals from their environment and from each other in order to classify them He has a good eye for felicitous comparison he dubs the chemical mixing caused by surface currents and the more ponderous movements of the ocean deeps 'a global slow-motion cocktail-shaker' Moorcraft also displays a shrewd grasp of ecopohtlcal dialectic, describing the stages from the blown-up research paper ('Plastic Flowers Linked to Skin Cancer says Leading Medic'), wa the ridicule of 'respectable' scientists, to half-hearted controls imposed too late to prevent widespread damage Must the Seas Dte~ uses facts tellingly, pointing out that Peru's anchovies could provide enough concentrate to offset the protein deficiencies of most Latin Americans Instead, ten million tons of fish is reduced to two mllhon tons of meal and exported to feed hens in the United States Only occasionally does one suspect Moorcraft is wrong, as for instance when he claims that most of the half million man-made chemicals find their way into the ocean, I doubt if more than a fraction of 1 per cent of the total is persistent enough to reach the seas Moorcraft's conclusions are the more convincing for the sober way in which he has developed his arguments While the seas are unlikely to die overnight, he believes that the scale and frequency of marine pollution is likely to rise dramatically in the future We may soon witness
Sylvester, R O, Carlson, D A, Chnstman, R F and Oglesby, R T (1966) A study of wastewater disposal for the Intalco Aluminum Corporation University of Washington Report, Department of Civil Engineering, for lntalco Aluminum Corporation, 1-82 Watson, J A, Smith, J D, Ehrsam, L C, Parker, R H, Blanton, W G, Solomon, D E and Blanton C J (1971) Biological assessment of diesel spill Anacortes, Washington Final report prepared for Environmental Protection Agency by Texas Instruments Inc and Coastal Ecosystems Management lnc Woodm, S A (1972) Ph D thesis m preparation, Department of Zoology, UmversEty of Washington
the death throes of the marginal seas 'the biggest and most terrible events so far in the wrecking of our planet' JON TINKER
Law on Pollution McLoughhn, J (1972) The L a w Relatmg to Pollution Manchester University Press XlV+133 pp £1 44 (paperback) This work is intended as a general introduction to the British law relating to the subject of pollution Pretty well the whole field of pollution of the environment by the introduction of waste matter is covered and, In addition, the author deals with the question of noise The work IS aimed both at the lawyer and the layman but it is to be feared that in certain respects it will satisfy neither class of reader The layman may find it a somewhat tedious catalogue of statutory provisions and rules of the common law with relatively little attempt to relate these rules to real life or to the problems which confront us There is no synoptic view of the problem of pollution Insofar as the author does make policy recommendations they seem to be based on the superficial assumption that all poilutlon ought to be eliminated, no account IS taken of the economic and social cost of eliminating pollutlon--a cost which, in some cases, society may find unacceptably high Lawyers will find the work useful but in certain respects irritating The law is, of course, changing very rapidly in this sector and Mr McLoughhn is not to be blamed if some of his work has been overtaken by events (Although there seems to be no reason why, in a book published in 1972, reference should be made (on p 79) to the Air Navigation Order 1966, when a new Order was made as long ago as 1970) However, the author can be criticized for the unfortunately numerous passages which lack the kind of precision that one is entitled to expect from a lawyer Moreover his exposition of the law is often somewhat scanty, this is particularly true of the law of nuisance Finally, there is an almost total absence of bibliographical Information Mr McLoughhn is to be congratulated on having been one of the first to enter into this particular field of study It is to be hoped, however, that he and others will be encouraged to produce more substantial legal studies of the subject in the near future MAURICE MENDELSON 143
Carthy and D R Arthur Field Studies 2 (suppl) London Field Studies Council Nelson-Smith, A (1970) The problem of oil pollution of the sea In Advances m marine blology, 8, pp 215-306 Ed by F S Russell and M Yonge London Academic Press Sylvester, R O and Clogston, F L (1958) A study of the preoperatlonal marine environment of the Texas Company refinery Puget Sound Works, Anacortes, Washington Unlverstty of Washington Report, Department of Civil Engineering, for the Texas Company, 1-157
Death of the Sea Moorcraft, C (1972) Must the Seas Dle~ London Temple Smith 219 pp £1 25 (paperback) The abihty to write accurately, illuminatxngly and entertainingly for a lay audience about science, rare among journalists and even rarer among scientists, is especially vital in the field of pollution, where both the problems and their solutions are complex and subtle Colin Moorcraft's book is a model of responsible, well informed science writing, treading a careful path between those who regard the seas as an lnexhaustable rubbish dump and those who read the apocalypse in every oiled seabird Moorcraft would have us regard the seven seas as one integrated whole the world ocean, a single gargantuan, hving organism He rightly regards the concept of a large mass of inert water containing a small mass of separate organisms as a hangover from the primitive Linnaean days when biology was a matter of separating animals from their environment and from each other in order to classify them He has a good eye for felicitous comparison he dubs the chemical mixing caused by surface currents and the more ponderous movements of the ocean deeps 'a global slow-motion cocktail-shaker' Moorcraft also displays a shrewd grasp of ecopohtlcal dialectic, describing the stages from the blown-up research paper ('Plastic Flowers Linked to Skin Cancer says Leading Medic'), wa the ridicule of 'respectable' scientists, to half-hearted controls imposed too late to prevent widespread damage Must the Seas Dte~ uses facts tellingly, pointing out that Peru's anchovies could provide enough concentrate to offset the protein deficiencies of most Latin Americans Instead, ten million tons of fish is reduced to two mllhon tons of meal and exported to feed hens in the United States Only occasionally does one suspect Moorcraft is wrong, as for instance when he claims that most of the half million man-made chemicals find their way into the ocean, I doubt if more than a fraction of 1 per cent of the total is persistent enough to reach the seas Moorcraft's conclusions are the more convincing for the sober way in which he has developed his arguments While the seas are unlikely to die overnight, he believes that the scale and frequency of marine pollution is likely to rise dramatically in the future We may soon witness
Sylvester, R O, Carlson, D A, Chnstman, R F and Oglesby, R T (1966) A study of wastewater disposal for the Intalco Aluminum Corporation University of Washington Report, Department of Civil Engineering, for lntalco Aluminum Corporation, 1-82 Watson, J A, Smith, J D, Ehrsam, L C, Parker, R H, Blanton, W G, Solomon, D E and Blanton C J (1971) Biological assessment of diesel spill Anacortes, Washington Final report prepared for Environmental Protection Agency by Texas Instruments Inc and Coastal Ecosystems Management lnc Woodm, S A (1972) Ph D thesis m preparation, Department of Zoology, UmversEty of Washington
the death throes of the marginal seas 'the biggest and most terrible events so far in the wrecking of our planet' JON TINKER
Law on Pollution McLoughhn, J (1972) The L a w Relatmg to Pollution Manchester University Press XlV+133 pp £1 44 (paperback) This work is intended as a general introduction to the British law relating to the subject of pollution Pretty well the whole field of pollution of the environment by the introduction of waste matter is covered and, In addition, the author deals with the question of noise The work IS aimed both at the lawyer and the layman but it is to be feared that in certain respects it will satisfy neither class of reader The layman may find it a somewhat tedious catalogue of statutory provisions and rules of the common law with relatively little attempt to relate these rules to real life or to the problems which confront us There is no synoptic view of the problem of pollution Insofar as the author does make policy recommendations they seem to be based on the superficial assumption that all poilutlon ought to be eliminated, no account IS taken of the economic and social cost of eliminating pollutlon--a cost which, in some cases, society may find unacceptably high Lawyers will find the work useful but in certain respects irritating The law is, of course, changing very rapidly in this sector and Mr McLoughhn is not to be blamed if some of his work has been overtaken by events (Although there seems to be no reason why, in a book published in 1972, reference should be made (on p 79) to the Air Navigation Order 1966, when a new Order was made as long ago as 1970) However, the author can be criticized for the unfortunately numerous passages which lack the kind of precision that one is entitled to expect from a lawyer Moreover his exposition of the law is often somewhat scanty, this is particularly true of the law of nuisance Finally, there is an almost total absence of bibliographical Information Mr McLoughhn is to be congratulated on having been one of the first to enter into this particular field of study It is to be hoped, however, that he and others will be encouraged to produce more substantial legal studies of the subject in the near future MAURICE MENDELSON 143