Campaigners jubilant on ghost ships decision

Environmental campaigners were tonight celebrating a legal victory in the latest stage of their battle to prevent a fleet of so-called “ghost ships” being dismantled in the UK.

A judge ruled that the licence modification allowing the vessels to be taken apart at a breaker’s yard in Hartlepool “cannot stand“.

The case had been brought by Friends of the Earth which claims the former United States Navy ships carry toxic chemicals which could threaten wildlife in the area.

The group said Able UK, which owns the yard, would now have to apply for a new licence, subject to a full environmental assessment.

In court it had argued that Britain should not become a “dustbin for the US Navy’s old ships” and later a spokesman hailed the ruling as a “victory for the environment“.

A further court battle is due next week as three Hartlepool residents argue that planning permission for the work should never have been granted.

Able UK won the contract to dismantle 13 ships from a fleet of ageing vessels berthed on the James River in Virginia earlier this year.

Nine of them were blocked from setting sail due to a last-minute injunction by campaigners in a US court pending a further hearing over their seaworthiness.

The Environment Agency had granted a modification to Able UK’s already existing waste management licence to allow the company to carry out the work, but Friends of the Earth contested the modification and the Agency subsequently agreed to declare it invalid.

At today’s court hearing the environmental group’s formal application to quash the modification was not contested by the agency, but faced opposition from Able UK.

Giving a short judgment, Mr Justice Sullivan formally declared the licence modification made in September “legally flawed” and said he intended to quash it, but would delay doing so until after next week’s hearing.

Peter Stephenson, managing director of Able UK, said today’s ruling showed up the failures of the Environment Agency which, he said, has “created a situation which helps nobody”.

He added: “We applied in all good faith for the modification of the licence and received the agreement of the Agency before the vessels left the United States.

“It was only when the ships were well on their way to the UK that the Agency informed us that they believed that there were problems with the way in which they had handled the application.

“The result is that we now find ourselves having to examine how we should proceed, recruitment of local people to work on the vessels is on hold, and yet our company has the experience, the track record and the facilities to carry out the recycling of these and other vessels in the best possible environmentally friendly and safe conditions.”

Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson offered his backing to the firm’s plans to carry out the work on the ships.

Reacting to today’s ruling he said: “It makes no difference to the wider argument that the US Navy ships are best broken up by a qualified company like Able UK and that is what should happen now that they are in Hartlepool.”

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker said the decision vindicated those who opposed the ships.

He said: “The clear message is that the ships have been imported to the UK with no legal basis. They never should have been allowed in in the first place.”

Friends of the Earth executive director Tony Juniper said the whole case had wider implications about ensuring compliance with international laws to protect the environment and the involvement of local people in decisions affecting it.

He added: “Our job now is to prevent the USA abdicating its environmental responsibilities by exporting the other nine ships. The four ships already in Hartlepool must be dealt with in the least environmentally damaging way.”

Campaigners believe the work would threaten Seal Sands, officially a Site of Special Scientific Interest protected under European and International law which is an important feeding ground for more than 20,000 birds.

The lawyer representing the residents taking separate legal action next week welcomed the ruling.

The group is taking both Hartlepool Council and the Environment Agency to the British High Court arguing that Able UK’s current planning permission does not allow the ships to be dismantled.

Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, said: “In dealing with today’s case, I think the judge will have seen for himself that Able UK have cut corners and are way out of their depth. He has seen for himself what these people are about.”

The residents’ legal action is scheduled to start on Monday and is expected to last two days.