Toxic ship court battle
Sep 4 2008 by Jon Tunney, The Journal
CAMPAIGNERS are launching a High Court challenge to stop a toxic ship being taken apart in a North East shipyard.
The Clemenceau, a French aircraft carrier, was deemed too poisonous to be dismantled in India, rejected by the Turkish authorities and refused permission to sail through the Suez Canal.
The ship, which was once the pride of the French navy, has spent the past five years being moved around as officials tried to find a final resting place for the vessel, which contains 700 tonnes of asbestos.
It seemed the journey was set to end in Hartlepool after a waste management licence was granted by the Health and Safety Executive.
Earlier this year Able UK said it would be dismantling the 32,700-tonne Clemenceau at its yard in the North East town.
But campaigners are hoping to block the shipyard work with a challenge in the High Court in London.
Jean Kennedy, of the Friends of Hartlepool group, is taking legal action against the HSE in a bid to prevent the ageing aircraft carrier being brought to the UK.
She said: “The HSE have made a special exception to allow this toxic ghost ship and its deadly cargo into our local community.
“We feel that it is a deep injustice to force a small town, which has already disproportionately suffered the ill-effects of polluting industries and has one of the highest cancer rates in the UK, to accept France’s toxic waste.”
Co-campaigner Iris Ryder said: “Today’s legal challenge is the beginning of a new stage in the fight by Hartlepool residents to prevent our community from becoming the international toxic waste dumping ground of choice of both governments and polluting industries.
“The Clemenceau was considered too toxic to be broken and dumped in India and Turkey and was even refused permission to be towed through the Suez Canal on its voyage of shame back to France. Toxic waste should be disposed of close to where it is produced, not transported around the world to be buried in our community.”
Able UK have stated that they expect the ship to arrive from France later this summer. Lawyers have therefore requested that the court consider this case as a matter of urgency and a hearing is expected to take place at the Royal Courts of Justice later this month.
The Clemenceau was considered too toxic to be broken and dumped in India and Turkey
Click the links below for previous stories on the ghost ships
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