Archived press release

Ghost Ships - Fact Not Fiction

8 November 2003

Friends of the Earth is concerned that comments made today by Peter Mandelson, MP for Hartlepool, about the import of dilapidated US naval vessels misrepresent the facts of this case and that he has sought to deflect attention from the real issues concerning the illegal shipment of waste to the UK.

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

"Allegations that Friends of the Earth has some hidden political purpose, is providing misinformation or scaremongering are all false. The facts speak for themselves. These ships do contain dangerous toxic materials and do pose an environmental threat. That is why the US is so keen to get rid of them."

"Friends of the Earth has simply worked to make sure national and international laws are upheld and the environment and community is safeguarded, including protecting people worldwide from the change in US policy that this transaction represents."

"We are not alone in having serious concerns about these ships, the Environment Agency, the Environment Minister, the Secretary of State for the Environment and the EU's commissioner for the Environment all now support our call for the ships to be returned".

It is fact and not speculation that the ships contain toxic and hazardous materials and that because of their aged and "dangerously deteriorating condition" [] and pose an environmental threat. In March 2000 the Office of the Inspector General (US Department of Transport) investigated the state of these ships and reported that:

"The vessels are deteriorating, contain hazardous substances and pose and immediate environmental threat" and "Environmental dangers associated with MARAD's old, deteriorating ships are increasing daily. These vessels are literally rotting and disintegrating as they await disposal. 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)."

(Office of the Inspector General, Dept of Transport, USA, March 2000).

Because of the environmental threat posed by the old ships on the James River, the United States Marine Administration [MARAD] concluded that there was a degree of urgency in removing the obsolete vessels for dismantling. In 2001, MARAD produced a formal `Report to Congress' which reported 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 similarly sensitive habitats, protected under European and international law.

In 2002, MARAD produced a formal Report to Congress concerning the state of the Ships, which concludes:

"MARAD is gravely concerned about the environmental threat that currently exists with our highest risk vessels, and with the increasing threat as all obsolete vessels continue to deteriorate."

The above quotes refer generally to the state of the fleet, which numbers more than 150. Eleven of the thirteen ships that have been slated to travel to Hartlepool are formally designated by MARAD as being amongst the "40 worst condition vessels" (including three of the first four) precisely because of the threat that they pose to the environment.

Among many other references to the threats posed by the ships at their point of origin, Virginia Senators Robb and Warner reflect (in a May 2002 letter to President Bush) the concerns of their constituents in making it clear that the fleet of ageing naval ships moored on the James River is "a potential environmental disaster" and "a clear and present danger". Friends of the Earth believes it is right and responsible for these facts to be drawn to the attention of local people.

The decision to export the ships outside the USA for disposal is a new Bush Administration policy, and breaks a previous moratorium on such practices. The export of the ships has also required exemptions from US domestic law banning the export of PCBs. By allowing the ships into the UK, it is more likely, not less so, that such vessels will be exported to developing countries in the future. The four ships en route to the UK therefore represent a precedent for export that could include countries such as Bangladesh in the future - that is precisely the concern of environmental groups in the USA.

Friends of the Earth has for months drawn attention not only to the threats posed by these vessels but also to the potential breaches of national, European and international laws. It is because these warnings were not initially heeded by the British and US authorities that we are now faced by the present situation. As the Environment Agency now accepts, these ships should never have left the USA. The fact is that it took a campaigning organisation to take legal action against the Environment Agency to reveal the true legal position.

Note

1. Judgment of Judge Collier, 2 November 2003, US District Court, Washington DC - not available from Friends of the Earth

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust