The US ghost fleet - behind the hype

1 November 2003

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of media attention on the arrival in the UK of ageing US naval vessels to be broken up and disposed of in Hartlepool in the North East of England. Coverage has become sharply polarised over the precise nature of the environmental threat, economic prospects for the region and Friends of the Earth's involvement.

The "ghost fleet"

The ships set to be exported to Hartlepool are part of an ageing fleet of naval vessels that have been moored on the James River in Virginia, USA , for decades. UK breaker Able UK has a contract worth around £10 million to dispose of 13 of the ships. Two have arrived in the UK and their fate is awaiting judicial review; two more were expected before the end of November. The departure from the United States of the other nine has been suspended pending legal proceedings in the United States by environmental groups there.

Friends of the Earth's role

Friends of the Earth became involved at the request of local people. The Teesside-based community organisation, IMPACT, had learned of the plans to import the ships to Hartlepool, and asked Friends of the Earth for legal support and environmental advice.

Friends of the Earth has closely monitored the activities of the various regulatory authorities to ensure that they were complying with the law at every stage of their decision-making processes. In some crucial cases it became clear that they were not doing so.

Are the "ghost ships" really toxic?

According to US Government agency assessments, the fabric of the ships includes hundreds of tonnes of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos, as well as heavy fuel, diesel oil and oily water. Asbestos related diseases (mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer) are thought to kill at least 3,000 people a year and have been particularly serious in the North East.

PCBs are recognised as one of the 12 most toxic groups of chemicals worldwide.

The 400 tonnes of the chemicals PCBs present in the first four ships are in a solid state, and therefore there is little risk of them leaking. But once extracted from the ships, waste containing PCBs will be dumped in landfill locally. For more on the environmental and health issues associated with PCBs, see Ghost fleet ships, toxicity and PCBs - key facts (PDF† format 65K).

The US Marine Administration (MARAD) has formally designated 11 of the 13 ships slated for export to the UK as among the "40 worst condition vessels" in its redundant fleet because of the threat that they pose to the environment. This is as a result of their deteriorating condition and because of the toxic/hazardous substances that they contain. In 2000 the US Office of the Inspector General (Department of Transport) reported: "Some vessels have deteriorated to a point where a hammer can penetrate their hulls. They contain hazardous substances such as asbestos and solid and liquid polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)."

What are the environmental risks?

There has been no adequate assessment of the environmental risks that the dismantling and disposal of the substances in the ships might pose in the UK .

Yet it was the environmental threat in the US that prompted MARAD to take action to have the ships scrapped. MARAD reported to Congress in 2001 (PDF† format) that "some of the vessels are in a state of advanced deterioration and the fleet sites are located in sensitive estuarine habitats, including wetlands, posing significant environmental risk and impact".

The site where the ships are proposed to be scrapped in Hartlepool is adjacent to sensitive wildlife habitats that are protected under European and international law.

Seal Sands, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), attracts more than 20,000 birds, with important concentrations of knot and redshank. Nearby mudflats are winter feeding grounds for dunlin, oyster catcher, ringed plover, curlew, bar-tailed godwit, lapwing, grey plover and turnstone.

The threats to those sites have not been properly assessed.

Legal leaks

Investigations led Friends of the Earth to believe there were serious legal flaws in the decision making process, particularly by the Environment Agency, that had given the go-ahead to Able UK to break the ships and dispose of them. Hartlepool Borough Council has stated that Able UK does not have the necessary permissions to build a dry dock for dismantling the ships (Able contests that).

Of particular legal concern was that none of the agencies involved were proposing to consult with local people about these projects. Friends of the Earth has been working to use its legal expertise to help concerned local residents to engage most effectively in the regulatory processes.

The Government, Environment Agency and Hartlepool Borough Council now all agree that bringing the ships to the UK breaks international, European and domestic laws on waste shipment. These laws were established to protect communities and the environment around the world.

The decision to export the ships from the US for disposal overturns a previous moratorium on such practices introduced by President Bill Clinton. Their export required exemptions from US Environmental Protection Agency law banning the export of PCBs.

Exporting the ships, rather than dismantling them in the United States, sets a precedent and makes it more rather than less likely that more ships like this will be exported to developing countries in future for disposal.

Won't the ghost ships bring jobs?

The jobs issue has divided local opinion in an area of high unemployment. It has been reported that around 200 jobs could be created, but there are questions over whether these will be long term and how many will go to local people.

Hartlepool Councillor, Steve Allison, said: " The Health and Safety Executive said jobs could only be given to experienced and qualified ship breakers. Asbestos removers and strippers tend to be itinerant workers. They move in, do the job and move on. What will stay here forever is the stuff they remove."

Hartlepool TUC said: "Jobs and job creation are a major issue for HTUC within Hartlepool but there is no guarantee that any increase in workforce for Able UK would lead to increased employment opportunities for Hartlepool people. With this firmly set in mind it is without doubt that the potential short-term gain for Able UK could lead to long- term disadvantage for the people and community of Hartlepool ."

There are also questions over whether this kind of project is the best way forward for an area already burdened with a history of industrial pollution. "We've spent years getting rid of the 'Grim Up North' scenario. And this really reinforces the stereotype," said Cllr Allison.

In a statement the Clydebank Asbestos Group said: "We believe that pollution should be dealt with at place of origin. We also have first hand experience of the effects of asbestos pollution. Clydebank has been deemed the asbestos capital of Europe . Many lives of our local citizens have been blighted by mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening (the effects of inhaling asbestos dust)."

Has Friends of the Earth threatened legal action against Peter Mandelson MP?

In November Peter Mandelson, MP for Hartlepool, made a number of comments to the media, alleging that Friends of the Earth was "scaremongering", "leading us up the garden path" and "making false claims" about the US ships.

Responding in a personal letter, Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper invited the former Cabinet Minister to stand up his allegations or apologise, and provided him with further evidence to support Friends of the Earth's claims that the ships are toxic. The letter did not threaten legal proceedings, as Mr Mandelson alleged in a Select Committee hearing in Westminster , but the letter did make clear that his statements were defamatory.

Friends of the Earth's position - what should happen now?

• Friends of the Earth will not support returning those ships now in the UK to the United States unless a thorough independent inspection deems it safe to do so. This must include a full external inspection of the hull as well as internal inspections.

• If it is unsafe to return the ships across the Atlantic the UK Government must immediately begin to identify the safest place in the UK to dismantle the ships in a dry-dock. The site should be selected following full consultation with the relevant local community and following a full environmental impact assessment to ensure protection of the marine environment.

• Friends of the Earth has called for the ships to be recycled responsibly. They should never have left the United States , which has the capacity to deal with its own waste. Waste disposal and recycling should be dealt with as close to source as possible. The US and UK should deal with their own waste and should never export it to developing countries.

• It was remiss of Able UK and the US Administration to send the ships after they were asked by the Environment Agency not to do so and after it had become clear that permissions to dismantle the ships were not in place.

• Friends of the Earth believes the UK Government should deliver on the spirit of the Stockholm Convention, banning the import of any further ships contaminated with PCBs and pledging not to allow the export of any UK ships for scrapping to any developing countries.

• The UK Government should use its influence with the US Administration to prevent the export of any of these ships to any developing countries.

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