Memorandum submitted by the Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds
RSPB CONCERNS
The RSPB has been concerned about the impacts
of the construction and subsequent deconstruction of a dry dock
at Graythorp on Teesside since the late 1990s. Our main priority
has been to ensure the internationally important populations of
wildfowl and wading birds feeding on the mudflats at Seal Sands,
immediately opposite the proposed dock, are not subject to disturbance
or pollution events that could affect their survival.
THE IMPORTANCE
OF SEAL
SANDS TO
BIRDS
If constructed, the dry dock would be partly
within and adjacent to an area of intertidal mudflat known as
Seal Sands, the largest such area within the Teesmouth and Cleveland
Coast Special Protection Area (SPA). The SPA is internationally
important because it supports over 20,000 wildfowl and wading
birds throughout the year, some species of which are present in
internationally important numbers in their own right. The SPA
is afforded strict protection under the EU Directive on the Conservation
of Wild Birds.
Within the SPA, the Seal Sands mudflats are
especially important, being home to thousands of wildfowl and
wading birds through their autumn and spring migrations and over
winter, including redshank, knot and ringed plover. Therefore,
the September to May period is the most sensitive for the birds
that rely on Seal Sands (and not just the November to February
period identified by the Agency (see below)), for example ringed
plovers peak in April and May.
These birds rely on the mudflats to ensure they
survive the winter and are in a fit condition to make the long
migration to and from their Arctic breeding grounds. Any significant
disturbance from noise or human activity—which prevents
birds feeding, especially if repeated—can reduce their ability
to take in enough food to ensure they are in good condition to
migrate and breed, and could increase their mortality rate.
ABLE UK'S
PROPOSAL
The proposal by Able UK to dispose of the so-called
"Ghost Ships" at Graythorp Dock, Teesside, requires
planning and other consents to construct a rock-filled coffer
dam and dry dock, as well as a waste management licence to dispose
of the waste materials.
Information from Able UK about its 1997 coffer
dam proposal suggests it would take about two months to construct
and require a 150 metre bund comprising "piling gates"
within which rock will be tipped. The rock fill would be tipped
from road wagons, placed by dozer and hydraulic excavator, and
placements would peak at 170 wagon movements per day (5,000 tonnes).
Unless carefully managed, such intensive construction could result
in significant disturbance to the wildfowl and wading birds of
Seal Sands.
THE ENVIRONMENT
AGENCY'S
ASSESSMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ON BIRDS
In deciding whether to grant the waste modification
licence in September this year, the Agency had a legal requirement
to consider the wider effects of the scheme on the SPA, including
construction/deconstruction of the coffer dam and the dry dock.
Such construction/deconstruction could occur more than once depending
on how many times new "ghost ships" have to be brought
in and the dry dock "re-created".
This gave the Agency the opportunity to carry
out a full "appropriate assessment" of the effects on
the birds of Seal Sands, but it did not do so. Instead, it decided
that a condition, placed on the contested 1997 planning consent,
to reduce disturbance to wintering birds during the November to
February period was enough to safeguard the interests of the SPA's
birds. In reaching this decision the Agency failed to address
the fact that the sensitive period for the SPA's birds extends
from September to May.
By failing to address fully the potential effects
of the scheme on the birds using Seal Sands, the Environment Agency
denied itself the opportunity to require more stringent conditions
to protect from disturbance all of the internationally important
populations of wildfowl and wading birds using the Seal Sands
part of the SPA. This could breach British and European wildlife
legislation designed to protect the birds of the SPA.
17 November 2003
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