杏吧原创

IF the Brent Spar oil platform is ever sunk in deep water off Scotland, it could be ripped apart by violent undersea storms 鈥� and some of its contents eaten by fish that end up in Scottish fish markets. This is the picture painted by Scottish scientists who say that despite having 鈥渂y far the greatest experience鈥� of conditions at the proposed dump site, they 鈥渨ere never consulted鈥� about the dumping plan by Shell or the British government.

In June, after a public outcry orchestrated by the environment group Greenpeace, Shell called off the planned deep-sea dumping of the Brent Spar at the last moment. The giant floating oil storage tank is now berthed in a Norwegian fjord. But government ministers and Shell have hinted that a fresh attempt to dump the rig at the North Feni Ridge off Rockall in the North Atlantic could be made next summer.

John Gage and John Gordon of the government-funded Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) at Dunstaffnage, near Oban, do not say that the dumping plan was wrong. But they claim that Shell鈥檚 environmental assessment of the dump site and public statements by some government scientists have been 鈥渧ery misleading鈥�. In letters sent to Greenpeace, Shell and others last month, Gage and Gordon also suggest that data gathered by government scientists for Shell showing severe submarine 鈥渟torms鈥� around the proposed dumping site may have been suppressed. Gordon told New 杏吧原创 this week that some of the biology in the environmental assessment 鈥渨as very far-fetched and shoddy鈥�.

Gage and Gordon claim in their letter to have 鈥渂y far the greatest experience of deep-sea ecosystems in the Rockall Trough area, including the North Feni Ridge鈥�. Yet Gordon said this week: 鈥淲e still have not been able to see one of the reports done by the Scottish Office for Shell as part of the assessment, looking at conditions at the three proposed dumping sites.鈥�

The letter points out three major errors in the crucial Shell report, which concluded that dumping on the North Feni Ridge, at a depth of 2400 metres, was the 鈥渂est practical environmental option鈥�. It suggests that the North Feni Ridge is much less isolated from surface ecosystems, including fisheries, than supposed 鈥� raising the prospect that contamination could reach surface ecosystems (see Map).

First, they say the Shell report is 鈥渁pparently uninformed鈥� about the strong seabed currents or 鈥渂enthic storms鈥� in the area, which could break up the Brent Spar and spread any pollution into the water far above it. The claim in Shell鈥檚 report that mean current speeds are between 1 and 2 centimetres a second is, the scientists say, 鈥渁t odds鈥� with measurements made by several teams of government scientists, which indicate a 鈥渧ery dynamic regime鈥�.

The Scottish scientists claim to have heard informally that studies carried out for Shell by Scottish Office scientists within the past year found 鈥渟ustained current peaks at the site where the Brent Spar was to be dumped [of] well over 50 centimetres per second 鈥� indicative of severe benthic storms鈥�. Gordon says that 鈥渋f the Brent Spar imploded on the seabed, the material would certainly be carried in these currents鈥�.

Secondly, they say, the report ignores the recent growth in deep-water fishing close to the proposed dumping grounds. 鈥淔rench boats sometimes fish down to 1800 metres in this area,鈥� they say. Catches include the grenadier and orange roughy. 鈥淚 saw a brotulid, which normally lives below 1500 metres, on sale at the fish market in Lochinver only this May,鈥� says Gordon.

鈥淭o state that the deeper-water fish living below about 1500 metres are relatively isolated from those above, and to imply some sort of boundary at 1500 metres, is very misleading,鈥� say the scientists. According to Gordon, the cutthroat eel, the most abundant deep-water species in the region, ranges from a depth of 400 metres down to 2500 metres.

Thirdly, Gordon and Gage deny the report鈥檚 claim that 鈥渢he deep ocean environment supports 鈥� a small range of species鈥�. In fact, they say, there is 鈥渧ery high diversity鈥� which, among small invertebrates in the ocean sediments, 鈥渕ay rival that of the tropical rainforest鈥�. New research, they say, shows that the rate of biological process on the deep-ocean floor is 鈥渕uch faster than previously supposed鈥�.

Gordon and Gage stress that they are not making a judgment about what should happen to the Brent Spar, but simply calling for good and open science. Whether or not deep-sea dumping of the Brent Spar is considered again, they say, 鈥渢he scientific debate should continue, and information, both that available and that presently not in the public domain, should be openly discussed鈥�.

Late last week, Greenpeace鈥檚 UK director Peter Melchett wrote to his counterpart at Shell UK, Christopher Fry, claiming the SAMS evidence shows that 鈥淪hell got their science wrong鈥� and accusing Fry of having 鈥渕isled the UK government鈥�. Shell said its research was 鈥渙f the highest quality鈥� and had been 鈥渁ssessed by both government scientists and independent experts鈥�.