Oh dear! George Monbiot's not buying the official line
Dead crabs and dredging
- Thread starter JackG
- Start date
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
Houtchen said ages ago that it's nothing to do with dredging and man-made pollution as he's a toxicology and marine life expert, so that's alright .
Caesium137
Well-known member
Hasn't the freeport thing and the pyridine thing already been ruled out (well explained away) or is this based on something new?
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
It's been denied as the cause, with little data as far as I can see, and blamed on an undetected algal bloom. The entire Tees estuary must be heavily contaminated after 150 years of constant, heavy pollution.
Caesium137
Well-known member
The below article from February was amended removing the link to the freeport, so has something changed?
Study links crab deaths and dog illness to dredging
Defra report blamed algal blooms but independent research points to chemical released from sediments
www.theguardian.com
A Defra spokesperson said: “Our sampling established that no pyridine was present in the water or sediment samples we collected but was detected in crab tissue from both impacted areas and non-impacted areas elsewhere in the country”.
On re-reading that does sound a bit wishy-washy.
The headline and text of this article were amended on February 8, 10 and 11. An earlier version said that the independent study had linked the crab deaths and dog illness to dredging for Teesside freeport; although dredging has been carried out in the area, it has not been for the freeport development. A reference to “Maske” was corrected to Marske-by-the-Sea.
Caesium137
Well-known member
But it has been constantly dredged?
They're out there all the time, especially if anything big is going into the Able dock/port.
Is anything happening with the decommissioning on the British Steel site that is dumping stuff into the river?
The river is less 'industrial' than it has ever been in the past (well since the industrial revolution probably), seems odd to be causing a major issue now?.
Caesium137
Well-known member
Anyone on here involved in demolition of Redcar blast / coke ovens?
It's explained in the article. TL/DR - deeper 'new' dredging for the freeport is releasing 'old' pollution deposits which are being dumped at sea.
Caesium137
Well-known member
That was corrected in the article I posted wasn't it?
There has been no deeper dredging for the freeports, the freeport status is a set of import/export and financial rules, not vessel size related? The actual port will be the same?
"The headline and text of this article were amended on February 8, 10 and 11. An earlier version said that the independent study had linked the crab deaths and dog illness to dredging for Teesside freeport; although dredging has been carried out in the area, it has not been for the freeport development. A reference to “Maske” was corrected to Marske-by-the-Sea."
Johnny Vincents Motorbike
Well-known member
A dredger started work in the mouth of the Tees at the end of September, deepening the channel. Deere-Jones’s hypothesis is that the dredger inadvertently exposed contaminated mud. This was then dumped at the legal disposal sites farther offshore. The currents flowing southwards, he believes, spread these sediments down the coast. As pyridine attaches itself to particles that fall to the seabed, and accumulates up the food chain, it is likely disproportionately to affect bottom-living scavengers such as lobsters and crabs.
The government’s insistence that chemical pollution was not responsible might seem hard to understand. But consider this. In July, work begins on the Teesside freeport, the biggest and most spectacular of the government’s fabled “Brexit opportunities”. The project is being overseen by the Conservatives’ favourite mayor, Ben Houchen.
Constructing the Tees freeport will require a massive dredging operation. To enable ships to dock at the new South Bank Quay in the Tees estuary, a crucial component of the freeport, the channel needs to be deepened from 9m to 13m, and the “berth pocket”, where the vessels moor, to almost 16m. This means excavating historic sediments that are likely to contain the chemical legacy of Teesside’s old industries. Questions have been raised about whether these sediments have been properly tested before dredging begins. If they turn out to be highly contaminated, the expense of removing them safely could be prohibitive.
Freeports have been a magnet for money-laundering, tax evasion, corruption, smuggling, counterfeiting, drug trafficking and terrorist money flows. Just before the government launched its consultation proposing 10 freeports in the United Kingdom, Brussels announced that it was clamping down on freeports in the European Union. This helps the UK to consolidate its position as the world’s financial entrepot for organised crime, now a major sector of our economy.
The government’s insistence that chemical pollution was not responsible might seem hard to understand. But consider this. In July, work begins on the Teesside freeport, the biggest and most spectacular of the government’s fabled “Brexit opportunities”. The project is being overseen by the Conservatives’ favourite mayor, Ben Houchen.
Constructing the Tees freeport will require a massive dredging operation. To enable ships to dock at the new South Bank Quay in the Tees estuary, a crucial component of the freeport, the channel needs to be deepened from 9m to 13m, and the “berth pocket”, where the vessels moor, to almost 16m. This means excavating historic sediments that are likely to contain the chemical legacy of Teesside’s old industries. Questions have been raised about whether these sediments have been properly tested before dredging begins. If they turn out to be highly contaminated, the expense of removing them safely could be prohibitive.
Freeports have been a magnet for money-laundering, tax evasion, corruption, smuggling, counterfeiting, drug trafficking and terrorist money flows. Just before the government launched its consultation proposing 10 freeports in the United Kingdom, Brussels announced that it was clamping down on freeports in the European Union. This helps the UK to consolidate its position as the world’s financial entrepot for organised crime, now a major sector of our economy.
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Caesium137
Well-known member
Cheers Johnny, that is good info. So how have they got away with stating it wasn't linked to the Freeport?
Enough of us hate Houchen enough to see that as good ammo to fire at him in the local press?
Same_as_before
Well-known member
A well written detailed synopsis. It's far too much of a coincidence, as they say if walks like a duck.
motownjunk
Well-known member
The pyridine theory doesn't seem to add up. Pyridine is pretty easy to detect so I think its very likely to have been picked. My guess would be heavy metals would only need tiny amounts and would be a lot harder to detect at the minute levels needed.
I find this all deeply concerning, especially if the new port area is beyond scrutiny and beyond the law.
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
Metals are pretty easy to detect down to parts per billion with modern techniques.
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
I think that's the main point of free ports. No scrutiny.
To be fair though removing the customs checks at free ports and the risk of smuggling is already redundant because guess what - there are no checks at any British ports these days. Thanks Brexit!
Same_as_before
Well-known member
You would rather be in a grouping currently financially backing Putin, because a right wing sectarian country known as Hungary tells them to.
Not for me
We are back from holiday, France, Portugal and Spain. I was never asked for my passport, I was never asked for confirmation of COVID and they accepted my money. Not much change there. I speak Spanish badly so chatted to a restaurant owner. He says there has been no reduction in British trade. A trade he needs as we spend the money. He jokingly said he would rather have one British family than 10 Dutch. I guess he is a racist.
Not for me
We are back from holiday, France, Portugal and Spain. I was never asked for my passport, I was never asked for confirmation of COVID and they accepted my money. Not much change there. I speak Spanish badly so chatted to a restaurant owner. He says there has been no reduction in British trade. A trade he needs as we spend the money. He jokingly said he would rather have one British family than 10 Dutch. I guess he is a racist.
SmallTown
Well-known member
I suspect same as is doing the classic Brexit trick of flat out lying here. It's actually sad to see, this meltdown. Such a shame he can't jsut admit he was fooled, and move on. Instead he gets ever more desperate and unhinged to try and defend the monumental failure that is Brexit
motownjunk
Well-known member
I do this sort of thing for a living the quantities of some metals needed to kill some sea life will be a lot less than parts per billion.
tripleheader
Well-known member
It's all very interesting stuff, and like most people are upset at any pollution incidents. Are we talking about a one off incident here? I'm assuming dredging has continued and there has been no repeat of the killing of these bottom dwellers. It wouldn't take much to take a few samples and have then analysed would it, bung the skipper a few quid etc etc. how hard can it be.