Retired oceanographer hits out at dumping
An ex-Royal Canadian Navy commander fired a broadside at the possible sea-dumping of asbestos off Bermuda.
The plan is currently on hold while Government looks for other options.
But Commander John Butters, a retired oceanographer with the Canadian Navy and ex-Royal Navy officer, said: "I think it's horrible they should even discuss doing such a thing.
"And the fact that they might actually do it is totally irresponsible.'' Government have deferred plans to dump the asbestos at sea after international and domestic opposition and are trying to find an alternative disposal plan abroad.
World-wide green watchdogs Greenpeace pledged to defeat the plan and picketed Department of Tourism offices in New York and Boston in a bid to embarrass Government.
And the Bermuda Industrial Union's marine and ports division said they would not handle the deadly dust -- a position backed by union chiefs.
Cdr. Butters added that Bermuda's actions appeared to be in contravention of a UN convention ratified in Malta several years ago. He said: "The law is quite specific -- you shouldn't put anything into the sea which doesn't naturally belong there.'' And he predicted: "There would be protests, and not only from local people.
"The international community will be very concerned about it because it leaves the barn door open for getting rid of other waste on the Island in the same way -- it's cheaper than having waste dealt with in the proper way.'' Cdr. Butters, 81, who lives in Nova Scotia, transferred to the Canadian service from the Royal Navy in the 1960s.
He worked as an oceanographer until he retired 15 years ago. He surveyed the seas around Bermuda and has been a regular visitor to the Island for decades.
Government's decision to dump the asbestos -- stored in 165 containers, mostly at the Government quarry -- sparked fury when it was announced earlier this year.
It was planned to use a barge to take the containers 18 miles offshore and drop them at the old munitions dump.
A barge was been earmarked as a transport and underwent tests. But Cdr.
Butters said: "Eventually these containers will rust out -- how long it will be before they finally disintegrate is open to speculation.
"Eventually the asbestos will leak out and it will make its way to the surface and be ingested by marine life.'' Asbestos has been fingered as a cause of specific cancers in humans if the dust is breathed in. But Government cited scientific evidence that the substance was chemically and biologically inert and the safest available place to put it was in the sea.
And Ministers insisted that the dumping fell within the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution because asbestos was not "waste'' as defined by the convention, but a finished product.
But Greenpeace toxic waste spokesman Kenny Bruno said Bermuda's interpretation of the rules left the way open for the dumping of lead paint, oil rigs, old cars and appliances at sea.
He also warned that the effects of asbestos on marine life was unknown and some experts had questioned its safety in a marine environment.