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The disposal of household and trade refuse and refuse from ships into ports, harbours, rivers
and estuaries is controlled by various port and harbour enactments and byelaws. Included with
refuse are ballast, stone, slate, gravel, earth, rubbish, wreck or filth. It is of interest to note that
under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1950, it is an offence to dispose of a diseased animal carcase
into a river, canal, navigation, or into the sea within the three mile limit.
SECTION IV - THE LAW RELATING TO MARINE POLLUTION
The law relating to rivers, watercourses and estuaries is extremely old and obscure, some of
it dating back to Magna Carta 1215. Many of the functions are divided between areas and authorities
for specific or administrative purposes.
The law relating to pollution is beyond the scope of this paper, but for convenience, a
summary of some of the law applicable in England and Wales, which has been considered in the
compilation of this paper, is listed in Appendix I.
Regarding London, the Port of London Authority is responsible for the River Thames and
the associated dock systems from Teddington Lock to a line from Foulness Point in the County
of Essex to the Gunfleet Old Light House, then south-easterly to a seaward point near the Tongue
Lightship, thence to Warden Point in the County of Kent. The total distance is approximately
92 miles. The Port Authority's jurisdiction under the Oil in Navigable Waters Act, 1959, extends
over the whole of the River Thames and Estuary under their control, but their powers under the
Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts do not extend beyond the former Seaward Limit from
Havengore Creek to Warden Point.
The Pollution Control Committee of the Port of London consists of nine members currently
nominated by the Authority, together with representatives of or nominated by the Essex River
Authority, the Kent River Authority, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board, the Greater London
Council, the Corporation of the City of London and a person nominated by the Confederation of
British Industry accepted by the Minister as independent and qualified.
The Thames Conservancy is responsible for the River upstream of Teddington Lock and the
River Lee Catchment Board is responsible for the River Lee Navigations which joins the Thames
at Blackwall.
The Greater London Council is responsible, under the London Government Act, 1963, for main
drainage, sewage purification and disposal and trade effluent control, Thames flood prevention
and refuse disposal. The Council operate 40 pumping stations, 13 sewage treatment works and
six sludge disposal vessels.
SECTION V - PUBLIC HEALTH ASPECTS
The International Health Regulations adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 reaffirm
Article 30 of the International Sanitary Regulations 1965, which provides that a health authority
for a port may take all practicable measures to control the discharge from any ship of sewage and
refuse which might contaminate the waters of a port, river or canal. In Article 14 a health authority
for a port shall be provided with an effective system for the safe disposal of excrement, refuse,
waste water, condemned food and other matters dangerous to health.
The Public Health Officers Regulations 1959, require the Medical Officer of Health for the
port to inform himself of all matters affecting or likely to affect the public health in the district
and a public health inspector is required to keep himself informed of the sanitary circumstances
of the port health district.
Weils Disease or Leptospirosis
Man becomes infected by drinking contaminated water unintentionally or by accidental
immersion or by the organisms getting into the body through skin abrasions. Dr. Twigg (9) has
reported that although farm workers topped the list in the period 1947-50, making up to 31 per cent
of the total, a category "bathing and accidental immersion" came second with 19 per cent of
recorded cases. A recent Public Health Laboratory Service Report (10) states that for the last
seven years the number of cases of leptospirosis reported by laboratories in England and Wales
has been about 30 to 40 cases a year and during 1970 there was a total of 27 cases in England
and Wales of which three were swimmers and one was an angler.
Metallic Elements in Shellfish
Certain kinds of marine life, including bivalve shellfish, actively concentrate substances
such as metals and organochlorine pesticide residues in their flesh with the result that their
bodies may contain quantities thousands of times more than in the sea water adjoining their layings.