Archived press release

Environment Agency in Court over Toxic Ghost Fleet

4 November 2003

Friends of the Earth will today (10.30am, Wednesday 5th November) ask the High Court in London to quash a modification to a waste management licence granted to Able UK allowing it to dispose of ships from the US ghost fleet. The Environment Agency has now written to Friends of the Earth stating that it will not resist the application.

The Environment Agency modified the licence in September 2003, but last week announced that the modification was "invalid" after Friends of the Earth started legal proceedings. Friends of the Earth has argued throughout that the necessary permissions for the licence modification have not been in place, and for this reason the modification must now be formally revoked or quashed.

Four ships, classified as toxic waste due to the high levels of asbestos and non-liquid PCBs contained in their structure, are expected to arrive in UK waters within the next few days.

Three individuals from Teesside are also taking legal action against the Government quango [2], calling for an immediate injunction to prevent dismantling work being carried out on the ships.

Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper said:

"Following our legal action, the Environment Agency has finally acknowledged that the licences are "invalid". These licences must now be formally revoked, and the Government must act to force these toxic ships to be returned to the United States where they can be disposed of safely."

Notes

[1] The Canisteo and Caloosahatchee each contains 34.1 tonnes of non-liquid PCBs and 61 tonnes of asbestos; the Compass Island contains 47.3 tonnes of non-liquid PCBs and 252 tonnes of asbestos; the Canopus contains 286 tonnes of non-liquid PCBs and 252 of asbestos.

[2] The three Hartlepool residents are represented by Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers calling for an immediate injunction to prevent dismantling work being carried out on the ships on the basis that the Environment Agency did not take into account the `proximity principle' that requires waste to be treated where it arises.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust