UK High Court Bars Recycling of U.S. Ghost Ships

LONDON, UK, December 9, 2003 (ENS) - Four obsolete, contaminated U.S. naval vessels may not be dismantled in Teesside, England without a new waste management license, a High Court judge ruled Monday. The four ships from the James River Reserve Fleet, known as the ghost fleet, are docked at Teesside after being towed across the Atlantic Ocean.

In a case brought by Friends of the Earth UK, Mr. Justice Sullivan formally declared the license modification granted to the ship demolition company Able UK in September by the UK Environment Agency to be “legally flawed” and said he intends to quash it.

But the judge said he will not formally quash the license modification until next week when he is scheduled to hear another challenge to Able's shipbreaking plans brought by residents of the neighboring Borough of Hartlepool.

The redundant U.S. ship "Caloosahatchee" arrived on the Teesside November 12. (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto)

The ruling does not determine whether the ships will be recycled in Britain or returned to the United States. But the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said on November 15 that, "The U.S. authorities accept that the four ships will have to return to the United States next spring, unless environmentally suitable and legally acceptable methods for their disposal have by then been identified."

Friends of the Earth sought the judicial review because, the environmental group argued, the Environment Agency did not consider the effect that dismantling the ships without a dry dock might have on nearby internationally protected wildlife sites, including Seal Sands.

The Environment Agency agreed with Friends of the Earth and asked the Court to quash its own decision.

Friends of the Earth called the ruling a "victory for the environment." 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."

If Able UK still wants to dispose of the ships it must now apply for a new waste management license, which will involve a full environmental assessment before any work is carried out on the vessels.

Able UK must also still obtain other licenses from DEFRA and planning permission from the Hartlepool Borough Council to build a rock-filled bund, known as a dry dock. An environmental assessment will be required before planning permission for the bund can be considered.

Ghost ship Caloosahatchee is towed to Teesside. (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto)

Able has maintained throughout the controversy that its facilities are suitable for dismantling the ships, and that Friends of the Earth has been guilty of "disgraceful scaremongering tactics."

“The vessels are not the horrific ‘toxic ships’ which Friends of the Earth and others have claimed," said Able UK Managing Director Peter Stephenson on November 14, shortly after the first two ships docked at Teesside.

"There is a growing groundswell of both support for our contract and an understanding of the benefits that it will bring for Hartlepool and the area. and anger at the way in which many people feel they have been deceived and misled," said Stephenson.

“I certainly hope that we are now moving towards a situation where discussions and decisions on these vessels - and indeed the wider question of the recycling of redundant shipping - can be conducted on the basis of facts rather than fiction,” he said.

James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia (Photo courtesy American Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum Ship)

Friends of the Earth UK believes that it must work to prevent the other nine ghost ships from being sent to England. Juniper said, "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 ship demolition is Seal Sands, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, protected under European and international law. It is a feeding ground for more than 20,000 birds, with concentrations of knot and redshank species. Located along England's River Tees, Seal Sands is filled with both industry and wildlife, including seals.

Seal at Seal Sands in the River Tees (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto)

The ships were towed across the Atlantic by ITC, a Dutch towing company. All four ships are berthed at Able's facility, known as the Teesside Environmental and Reclamation Centre. The "Caloosahatchee" arrived November 12, the "Canisteo" arrived the following day. The "Canopus" arrived November 27, and the "Compass Island" arrived December 3.

The first two ships, both oil tankers, were built in 1945. The "Canopus" was designed to repair submarines while at sea.

Able UK says it intends to remove the waste in an airtight environment, with workers in protective suits double-bagging the asbestos and disposing of it plus the carcinogenic PCBs, in its nearby landfill site, Seaton Meadows.

A statement from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transport, cited on the Friends of the Earth website, http://www.foe.co.uk, says that the ships were allowed to leave for Britain because America is the only developed country that has not ratified the 1989 Basel Convention, an international agreement to limit the international shipment of hazardous waste. In 1998, President Bill Clinton banned shipments of waste from leaving the United States, but the current administration of President George W. Bush has lifted the ban.

The Environment Agency says that it warned Able and MARAD on October 3, before any of the four ships had been towed out of Virginia, that the permissions were not in place, and advised against setting sail.

Friends of the Earth and other environmentalists are calling on the British government to put in place a national policy on ship recycling.