In so-called "black smokers", whole communities of highly specialised bacteria eke out their lives where the earth's crust vents huge amounts of superheated water and metals into the ocean depths. It also holds other metals, including much zinc, copper and cadmium, plus wood, plastics and rubber, oily sludges, low-level radioactive material, silt and seawater.Writing in the journal Nature in June, Professor Euan Nisbet and Dr Mary Fowler of London University argued that the quantities of heavy metals in Brent Spar are minuscule compared with those found naturally in parts of our deep oceans. In addition, they questioned the claim that the deep-sea environment is poor in species, especially where invertebrates in deep-water sediments are concerned.Brent Spar consists of 6,700 tonnes of steel, 6,800 tonnes of iron-ore ballast and 1,000 tonnes of equipment (ranging from pumps to batteries). They also disclosed that Sams scientists - who have considerable knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems around the proposed dump site - were never consulted for information. In a letter to Dr Wallace written in July, Drs John Gage and John Gordon of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams) expressed broad agreement with Greenpeace's practical concerns. Dr Helen Wallace of Greenpeace's science unit believes that sinking Brent Spar could have made the deep-sea dumping of other low-level radioactive and hazardous wastes seem more acceptable. These are not subject to minimum safe-disposal levels established by international agreements such as the London Convention.Greenpeace is not alone in questioning the basis for Shell's proposals.
And Paul Horsman, Greenpeace's head of oil campaign, acknowledges that "it is unrealistic to remove some items such as sub-sea concrete structures on the seabed".What most troubled objectors was the precedent that would be set for other wastes. Only a minority of oil or gas rigs would even be considered for deep-sea disposal. Surprisingly, the first possibility is less serious: the oil-and-gas industry is not seeking to dump each and every structure. Engineering firms are ready to take on the task.Objectors feared the ocean-dumping of Brent Spar would not only open the gates to widespread dumping of old oil and gas rigs, but make general ocean-dumping of wastes - from industries other than offshore oil and gas - more acceptable. And deep-sea dumping could create an all-too-important precedent. Recycling, treatment or containment of wastes is a more environmentally acceptable alternative, and disposal after dismantling on land is technically feasible. It was impossible to be sure of their impact on the deep-sea environment (one of the most difficult ecosystems in the world to study).
The British government had previously approved the oil company's plan to dump the 14,000-tonne structure in 2,000 metres of water between the Hebrides and Rockall at the North Fenni Ridge.Brent Spar currently lies in Erfiord near Stavanger in Norway awaiting an independent inventory of its contents and a decision on how it is to be disposed of.Though much of the Brent Spar debate was highly emotive, Greenpeace based its campaign on a number of facts. Shell had no detailed inventory of what substances the structure contained. Deep oceans - but not our shallow seas where 96 per cent of our marine living resources are - could be used to dump large concrete and metal structures, sewage sludge and even low-level radioactive waste, providing the site was capped with inert soil." More dumping on land is not an attractive alternative, given the danger of groundwater becoming polluted.Oceans deeper than 2,000 metres cover 65 per cent of the world's surface. Most contaminants reaching those depths stay put and do not rise to surface waters. "No impact on biodiversity is likely to occur because so very few of the oceans' species live in these depths," says Dr Angel.
"We know enough about our deep oceans to carry out a large experimental dumping, which must be monitored."Not everyone agrees, as became abundantly clear when Greenpeace forced Shell to abandon plans to sink the Brent Spar oil-storage structure in the Atlantic. "But," says Dr Angel, "with the human population set to double by the middle of the next century, even with recycling and waste minimisation, our waste-disposal problems will increase. Dr Angel was speaking at a one-day conference on the theme "Can ecological innovation sustain us?" organised as part of the British Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting, held this week at the University of Newcastle.Dumping materials in the deep oceans may not seem a very sophisticated approach. None of these masses of steel - some, like the Titanic, 4,000 metres down - betray their presence with pollutants on the surface of the waters above. So why not consider our deepest oceans as burial grounds for all manner of materials, if they are not going to pose any measurable pollution risk? This was the topic explored yesterday by Dr Martin Angel, a senior biologist at the Institute of Oceanographic Studies.
Lost in storms, in collisions, or in times of war, many of the vessels had been carrying toxic cargoes It is fiendishly difficult to locate these wrecks. The Titanic, for example, proved tantalisingly evasive, even though the searchers knew its location when it ploughed into the iceberg. On the pitch-dark beds of the world's great oceans, millions of tonnes of shipping lie under thousands of feet of ice-cold water. The general rule was that a covenant to keep premises in repair obliged the covenantor to keep them in repair at all times, so there was a breach of the obligation immediately a defect occurred.Lord Justice Roch and Lord Justice Hutchison agreed.Paul Magrath, Barrister. to make it good.The basis of that decision necessarily affirmed the general rule, recognised in the subsequent authorities, that a landlord must be held to the terms of his covenant to repair if the defect occurred in premises not comprised in those demised to the tenant. we ought to import into the covenant the condition that he shall have notice of the want of repair before he can be called on.