The European Commission is to open an investigation into the allegedly uncontrolled activities of the so-called floating petrol stations in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The EC will decide whether any penal action is needed. Antonio Muñoz gave the news from Verdemar-Ecologistas en Accion, who said that he had been notified of the investigation by letter last Friday. It comes after his organization had called on Brussels to investigate the matter, claiming that there was not adequate monitoring in the Strait, nor an efficient system of fines, which would persuade the petrol companies to stop putting marine life and people’s health in danger. Verdemar has estimated that nearly seven million tons of oil is transferred between tankers in the Gibraltar Bay. The recent case of the New Flame, the scrap metal boat that remains half sunk off Gibraltar after colliding with a tanker last August, has highlighted the dangers to the environment in the bay. Reports indicate the vessel has a cargo of 44,000 used exhaust pipes, car batteries and other toxic products on board, with pollution from the ship reaching beaches in Algeciras. An earlier investigation into the practice of ‘bunkering’ moving petrol from one tanker to another while at sea, took place in the Strait in 2006 when two Scottish MPs made a complaint, and that merely resulted in some observations coming from Brussels a year later that such operations should always be carried out with attention being made to the environment.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment