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The disposal to sea of toxic wastes within the territorial waters of England and Wales is
controlled by byelaws of the eleven Sea Fisheries Committees constituted under the Sea Fisheries
Act 1888. Beyond that there appears to be no statutory control. Suitable precautions are
taken in England and Wales through a voluntary consent system operated by the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The consents for deep sea disposal usually request that the
toxic material shall be enclosed in suitable, identifiable, non-plastic containers which will not
float and from which the wastes will not be released before they have arrived at the bottom of
the sea and then only very slowly. The disposal outside the continental shelf in depths greater
than 2,000 fathoms is carried out from ships on transatlantic runs or specifically chartered ships.
The U.K. Atomic Energy Authority has gained experience in sea disposal of waste and such advice
is available to industry. There are a number of well established dumping areas in the sea. Each
dump is entered in the ship's log and a certificate signed by the Master of the vessel quoting the
consent certificate number, details of the containers and the position of the ship at the time, is
sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Very recently concern has been expressed in scientific circles lest some large land locked
seas which are small compared with the oceans, receive too much waste directly or indirectly
from large industrial regions. The North Sea and the Baltic are two examples. An additional
complication is the way in which certain kinds of marine life actively concentrate substances,
such as metals and organochlorine pesticide residues, with the result that their bodies may contain
quantities a hundred or even a thousand times greater than in the sea itself. Accumulations
of mercury in fish have become wide-spread ranging from Japan, U.S.A. and Canada and in some
areas around Scandinavia. One reason for this is the discharge to sea of mercury as a result of
waste products resulting from the manufacture of materials used for P.V.C. plastic.
Regarding non-toxic wastes, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1970, state
that four million tons of colliery waste and 1.5 million tons of china clay waste are disposed of
each year off the north-east and south-west coasts respectively.
(c) Oil Pollution
The question of pollution of coastal waters and estuaries would be incomplete without a
reference to oil. The spillage of oil at sea and the resultant contamination of pleasure beaches
and the wholesale slaughter of sea birds has been widely publicised. There has, however, been
less publicity given to oil pollution of the sea arising from the accidental spillage at off shore
oil drilling sites in home and overseas waters. Very little is known about the effects of the
drilling and dredging on the shallow and deep sea floor and a major catastrophe could occur at
some time in the future. The proposal to construct sea bed oil storage tanks in the vicinity of
oil rigs also represents a hazard.
Ten years ago a tanker of 50,000 tons was considered to be immense. In 1970 (7) there were
98 tankers of 100,000 tons and over in service and a mammoth tanker of some 450,000 tons is
on order. It must be realised how great the home coastline is at risk when considering the escalation
from "large" to "super" to "mammoth" tankers and that there are something like 800
ship movements through the Dover Straits each day. The accident rate approximates to three
incidents each week.
Since the "Torrey Canyon" disaster, there has been quite a list of major marine accidents
involving oil spillage to coastal waters and beaches. These are as follows:-
April 1969 "Hamilton Trader" — collision in Liverpool Bay
November 1970 "Pacific Glory" — aground after collision off Isle of Wight
January 1971 "Texaco Caribbean" — foundered after collision explosion off Dover
January 1971 "Brandenburg" and "Nicki" - both foundered after striking "Texaco
Caribbean" wreck.
February 1971 "Hydrophone" - after collision off Goodwin Sands
March 1971 "Trinity Navigator" - aground in Torbay
April 1971 "Panther" - aground on theGoodwin Sands
April 1971 "Hullgate" — collision off Beachy Head
and one case involving chemical spillage, the tanker "Bow Rogn" which collided with the Nab
Tower.
The increasing incidence of oil spillages caused by strandings and collisions puts the
seaside local authorities to great trouble and expense, whilst repeated spills prevent the natural
recovery of beaches and marine life.
It is interesting to note that in the Annual Report of the Advisory Committee on Oil Pollution
of the Sea for 1969, there were 64 proseuctions under the Oil in Navigable Waters Acts for unlawful
discharges of oil during the year ending 1968. These resulted in 62 convictions of which 27
related to offences by British registered ships and 30 to offences by ships of foreign flags. The
remaining five convictions concerned discharges of oil from installations on land.