Press Releases - ABLE

ABLE BOSS HITS BACK AT PROPHETS OF DOOM
03/09/03

The man at the helm of the operation to re-cycle redundant merchant ships from the United States today reacted angrily to claims that he is putting health and the environment at risk.

Peter Stephenson, managing director of Able UK on Teesside dismissed today’s page one “ghost fleet” story in The Guardian as inaccurate scare-mongering of the highest order.

The paper quotes a so-called US salvage expert saying the journey risks bringing an environmental disaster its wake and that the ships are “heavily polluted with asbestos, oil and deadly PCBs.”

“Do they think I want to commit commercial and industrial suicide?” asked Mr. Stephenson. “I am in the business of creating jobs and security on Teesside, not pressing the self destruct button.

“Stories about ghost fleets may make good headlines I prefer to stick to the facts and reassure my workforce, the people of Teesside and all of us who care for the environment that this decommissioning process is being handled properly and safely.

“Fact. The ships re not heavily contaminated with toxic substances. Total contamination among the 13 vessels is in the region of one per cent of the total weight.

“Fact. There are no liquid PCBs on board. Paint samples taken to date show only very low levels of lead in the paint.

“Fact. There is no more risk to the marine environment during transportation than for any other ship on the high seas.

“Fact. The ship recycling operation in the dry dock is the safest, most environmentally friendly method of recycling ships in the world.

“Fact. Our site, Seaton Meadows is located next to a nuclear power station, sewage treatment plant and a chemical manufacturing plant, hardly an area of high density home ownership.

“Fact. The Seaton Meadows landfill site is located within a natural clay bed of some 18 meters of the best impervious clay in the UK. This makes it one of the safest geological barriers currently available among any landfill site in the UK to date.

“Fact. Removal and disposal of asbestos from engine rooms of the ships to be dismantled is no different from current operating ships that have asbestos removed from engine rooms at various ports and ship repair facilities in the UK.

“Fact. In gaining the approval to import the fleet, Able were in full consultation with the Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Hartlepool Borough Council, English Nature, INCA, Port Authority, and Tees Valley Development Company.

“Fact. Only a fool would go ahead with such a dangerous, unhealthy and reckless process as the newspaper and some pressure groups have suggested. Those who carelessly point the finger of doom should check their facts properly before they try to panic the people of Teesside and beyond.”

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