Archived press release

Friends of the earth ghost ship court victory

8 December 2003

The High Court has today ruled that the company at the centre of the controversial "Ghost Ship" row does not currently have a crucial legal permission to dismantle the vessels on Teesside. It follows a successful legal challenge by Friends of the Earth, which argued that one of the key ghost ship permissions had been unlawfully granted and must be quashed. The organisation called it a "victory for the environment".

Mr Justice Sullivan ruled that the Environment Agency's decision to modify Able UK's original waste management licence was unlawful as it didn't consider the effect that dismantling the ships without a dry dock might have on nearby internationally protected wildlife sites, including Seal Sands.

If Able UK wish to dispose of the ships it must now apply for a new "waste management licence", which will involve a full environmental assessment before any work is carried out on the vessels. Aside from today's ruling, Able UK must also still obtain other licences from DEFRA and planning permission from Hartlepool Council to build a rock-filled bund (dry dock). An environmental assessment will be required before planning permission can be considered.

Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, said:

"This case was more than a battle over the Ghost Ships - it was about ensuring international laws to protect our wildlife are complied with and local people are involved in decisions that affect their environment. Our job now is to prevent the USA abdicating its environmental responsibilities by exporting the other nine ships.The four ships already in Hartlepool must be dealt with in the least environmentally damaging way."

The wildlife site most threatened by the Ghost Ship deal is Seal Sands - a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), protected under European and International law. It is an important feeding ground for 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 site could be damaged by pollution from the ships or from the noise created which could scare the birds from the feeding grounds.

Today's High Court ruling is due to Friends of the Earth's judicial review of the Environment Agency's decision to give the go-ahead to the scrapping operation by modifying Able's old waste management licence. The Environment Agency agreed with Friends of the Earth and asked the Court to quash its own decision.

The ruling does not determine whether the ships will be recycled in Britain or returned to America.

A Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Notification (TFS) must be obtained from the Environment Agency to allow the four ships in Hartlepool to be imported legally. The Environment Agency withdrew the original TFS when it, belatedly, realised how many permissions Able had yet to obtain to carry out the work.

The Environment Agency has also issued an emergency modification to the waste management licence prohibiting any work on the ships.

Notes

• Friends of the Earth called for a proper examination into the potential threats to the wildlife site over three months ago. Able UK applied for planning permission to build a dry dock bund in August. It withdrew the application on September 17 when Hartlepool Borough Council informed Able that it would need to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment before a planning application could be considered.

• The ships were allowed into the UK as a temporary measure. Under international law they must return to the US when weather permits. Able UK and the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) were warned by the Environment Agency "on 3, 8 and 10 October 2003 that the permissions were not in place, and advised against sailing" [1]. This advice was ignored.

• Local residents will take Hartlepool Council to the High Court next week (Dec 15/16), arguing that planning permission does not allow any ships to be dismantled. Dismantling the ships can not begin until the case has been heard. Able has a contract with the US government to import 13 ships from the James River in Virginia, but a legal challenge by two American environmental groups, "The Sierra Club" and "Basle Action Network (BAN)", has resulted in nine ships remaining in the US until the case is heard in 2004.

• Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers is representing Hartlepool residents.

More information on the Ghost Ships

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