Welsh Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 8:51 pm on 29 February 1996.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Cynog Dafis Mr Cynog Dafis , Ceredigion and Pembroke North 8:51, 29 February 1996

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I was referring to the 6,000 tanker movements a year in Milford, which is the biggest oil port in the United Kingdom even though seafaring there is an inherently hazardous business. Why were booms not used to prevent oil from entering the haven and coming ashore? Were the salvors in any way culpable? Are there built-in disincentives to effective action in the system of remuneration for salvors? Does not the need to save time in docking, unloading and turning around constitute an incentive to take deadly risks? How can that be prevented in future?

Might the dispersants and detergents used to break up the slicks be more damaging than the oil itself? I have tabled a parliamentary question about this, but it is worth asking now whether they contain the oestrogen-mimicking substances that are now widely suspected of significantly reducing the fertility of many species, including our own. If so, what is the likely effect on biodiversity in the area in the future?

We have to ask whether enough is being done, even now. There has been great praise for the valiant efforts of many people but a local resident, who has been working hard on his own local beach, telephoned me last night to say with deep sadness that, whereas the clean-up of the well-known beaches might be proceeding well, there are a host of others, including small coves, where little is being achieved. He wanted the area to be declared what he described as a "disaster area" and many more resources to be brought in.

I notice in the notes of the technical advisory group, prepared by the Department of the Environment, that the emergency planning manager can in certain circumstances request military resources in a clean-up operation. I ask that consideration at least be given to that suggestion.

I do not think that the person who telephoned me last night would have much time for what the Secretary of State for Transport said last Monday week. The Secretary of State's words now sound highly ironic. He said: Where an incident does occur, we are determined to react swiftly, thus effectively to reduce the pollution or damage caused.In this instance, despite severe weather, the practised implementation of our national contingency plan should ensure that the situation will be brought under control."—[Official Report, 19 February 1996; Vol. 272, c. 34.] Those words already ring pretty hollow.

I shall deal briefly with the issue of compensation. Who pays? How much is to be paid for the ecological damage? Of course, it cannot be calculated or expressed in monetary terms, but the polluter should be required to make recompense, and in a big way. That is quite separate from economic compensation, but the economic damage to fishing, tourism and a host of related activities is unfortunately bound to be significant.

No complicated stumbling blocks should be placed in the path of genuine applicants. Whom do I mean by "genuine applicants"? They should include the bed-and-breakfast provider in Teifi valley on the borders of Pembrokeshire, who may suffer a negative spin-off from the reduced number of tourists visiting the area. They should include the Tenby baker who works part time in winter, but full out in summer. He should be compensated if his work hours do not reach their normal level in summer. Fishermen in Cardigan are unable to sell any fish, although that may be the result of the negative perception of all Welsh fish by continental buyers.

Anyone who is able to show a loss of livelihood resulting directly or indirectly from the disaster should be fully compensated. That should be the rule. The sums needed to compensate properly for the consequences of the disaster, which will be huge. There is no justification for not making such sums available. The polluters, by which I mean the ship owners and the oil companies, should pay. It would be unacceptable if the main beneficiaries from the compensation process were to be lawyers.

One could say much more about the Sea Empress catastrophe but it would be irresponsible not to consider the wider implications. The hon. Member for Pembroke anticipated correctly that I would refer to orimulsion. The case for a public inquiry about the burning of that fuel at Pembroke power station has been greatly strengthened by this event. The Department of Trade and Industry should hesitate no further in acceding to that demand.

I am informed on good authority that knowledge of how orimulsion reacts when spilled into sea water is limited. It is an unknown factor that needs to be identified. It is certain that the introduction of orimulsion would significantly increase the number of tanker movements. The size of tankers, double hulling and port management practice, along with the existing concerns about the burning process and the pollution arising from it, are among the topics that need to be considered by an inquiry into the application of orimulsion. There is also the question whether the international oil pollution compensation fund would cover orimulsion, which, strictly speaking, is not oil.

A wider and ultimately even more important issue is the exploration for, and possible exploitation of, oil and gas reserves in Cardigan bay. Plaid Cymru opposes all oil and gas exploration in Welsh seas this side of the establishment of a Welsh Parliament. That is not to say that we would approve of it even afterwards, except under very particular circumstances and conditions.

It is important to recognise how priceless an asset— first, ecologically, and secondly, economically—is Cardigan bay. In Cardigan bay, I include the coast right down to the outskirts of Milford Haven and the parts that are being damaged. I do not need to rehearse the litany of specially designated areas along the coast or the fact that part of the bay will probably become a marine special area of conservation under the EU habitats directive. I shall mention the variety of cetaceans—porpoises and dolphins of more than one sort—that live in the bay. Some are listed in the appendices to the habitats directive. The sea bed, or benthic, diversity of the bay is apparently especially rich. More than 1,000 species of invertebrates, including some new to science, have been identified in a recent survey. Almost certainly, there are many others that have not been identified. The estuaries of the bay have valuable roosting and feeding areas for migratory and wintering birds. The Dyfi estuary is a Ramsar site.

Even in the absence of a major catastrophe, exploration—but especially extraction—could have a damaging effect on the diverse and remarkably abundant marine life. The cumulative effects of spillages—from leakage of oil, including that from pipes, which corrode more rapidly than was originally anticipated; toxic materials in drill cuttings; lubricants, or what are called muds; the chemicals used in association with the drill muds; contaminated water, including heavy metals; and human sewage from the rigs—can be shown to be significant, even many kilometres away from the rigs. All that in a shallow bay, where the water exchange is slow— in effect it is a sort of slow whirlpool—and any pollution caused by drilling or oil spillage will not disperse easily. Cardigan bay is very different from the North sea.

I commend to hon. Members the detailed and excellent document prepared by the Friends of Cardigan Bay—a soundly based organisation with much sound scientific input. I shall make the document available to Ministers and other Members if they so wish.

I have described what happens with ordinary exploration and exploitation. As for the possibility of a Sea Empress-type disaster, which could occur with a rig in the bay or a tanker taking oil from a well—we do not know whether that is likely to happen or whether oil would be brought ashore—I can do no better than to quote a letter from the Friends of Cardigan Bay to the President of the Board of Trade. I support what it says. The letter states: The fiasco over the salvage attempts of the 'Sea Empress' and the consequent oil spill covering large areas of the Welsh and south-west English coastline has shown that the oil spill contingency plans are at best inadequate and at worst completely useless.If the contingency plans fail to stop the spread of oil from an accident close inshore then we cannot see how the oil companies can be expected to cope with an accident further offshore at a drilling rig. We therefore demand that all oil drilling licences extant around the Welsh coastline are immediately suspended pending a full public enquiry into the events surrounding the 'Sea Empress' accident, and the wider environmental questions this throws up, and until the oil companies show they are able to deal with any situation that may occur. I agree, and I urge other Members to support that demand for an immediate suspension. I would regard that as the reasonable application of the precautionary principle to which the Government subscribe.

I also declare my support and that of my party for the policy proposals set out recently in a document from the Joint Links Oil Consortium, which comprises countryside and wildlife organisations. As regards exploration and exploitation around Britain, the consortium calls, first, for an environmental assessment of the United Kingdom continental shelf, during which there would be an assessment of all the environmental resources and the sensitivity of various areas. That assessment would be undertaken by a statutory agency—in Wales, the appropriate organisation would be the countryside Council for Wales, which would be accountable to the appropriate Secretary of State. In Wales, that would be the Secretary of State for Wales, but in England it would be the Secretary of State for the Environment, not the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

Secondly, the consortium calls for a strategic impact assessment—not just an environmental assessment— focusing on areas of existing and potential interest for oil and gas exploration. Thirdly, on the basis of that assessment, it suggests the designation of certain areas as sacrosanct, others as moratorium areas on the grounds that information about them is incomplete and the impact is difficult to measure, and others as potential areas. In addition, all applicants for licences should have to submit a full project environmental impact assessment with each application and show the environmental impact of the whole process, from exploration to decommissioning at the end. All installations that come into existence should be required to have a zero-discharge policy—something that the United Kingdom Government do not require, although I understand that the Norwegian Government do.

It is a reflection of the nature of government in Wales that the Welsh Office has no input worth mentioning into the licensing process. That means that there is no such thing as a Welsh policy on an issue of major national— not provincial—importance for Wales.

The Joint Links Consortium document is important and merits serious study. It expresses the sort of rigorous and tough conditions that taking the environment seriously must imply. It is the sort of thing that comes at the beginning of the far-reaching process of transition to the very different model of economic and social organisation that we know as sustainable development—again, a concept to which the Government are signed up.

I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition is beginning to wake up to the enormous significance of integrating environmental concerns into all aspects of policy. That was not apparent until the day before yesterday. It is only beginning and has been long delayed, but it is welcome as the right hon. Gentleman is likely to be the next Prime Minister, and the sooner that happens, the better.

Finally, the Sea Empress disaster reminds us that a fundamental precondition of sustainability—I emphasise that word as it concerns the future of the world—is a radical medium-term reduction in our dependency on fossil fuels, the extraction, transportation, processing and burning of which are having such a grave effect on the life support systems of our planet. The Sea Empress disaster is just one small example of the damage that is being caused globally.

As nuclear power is neither acceptable nor feasible, two issues must become crucial to economic and development policy—first, energy efficiency and, secondly, the diverse and decentralised sources that are covered by the term renewables. The Government target of 1500 MW of renewable generation by 2000 is absurdly inadequate. It could easily have been doubled. Pembroke power station has a capacity of 2,000 MW, so the Government's target for renewable generation is equivalent to the output of one major fossil fuel power station.

It is time to stop regarding energy efficiency and renewables as amiable, but marginal and eccentric pursuits. They are essential if mankind and our planet in all its wondrous richness and diversity is to have a sustainable future.

Phil Williams, the Plaid Cymru energy and environment spokesman, who is a renowned physicist, reckons that Wales could halve its use of fossil fuel by the year 2010 through a national programme of energy conservation and the planned development of safe, non-polluting and renewable sources of electricity such as wind turbines, tidal power, wave generators, photo-voltaic panels, small-scale hydro and so on. Another environmental issue that cannot be ducked is the reduction in car transport through the systematic improvement of public transport and the development of a broad-band communication network such as that provided by optic fibres. We have to take an integrated approach aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption.

Let us hope that the day is not far distant when we have a democratically accountable power in Wales to enable us to carry through such a programme and put our country at the forefront of the global move towards sustainability.