The ship India turned away

[Skandi]

A former French aircraft carrier - rejected by India and Egypt as being too toxic to be broken up - is due to arrive at a shipyard in Teesside.

What's your thoughts on this?
On one hand it will provide jobs for quite a while, onthe other it is full of toxic items. What would you do with such ships?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7877204.stm

[Maelstrom]

What's your thoughts on this?
On one hand it will provide jobs for quite a while, onthe other it is full of toxic items. What would you do with such ships?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7877204.stm

Catapult it into space! :D

Everything has to be made out of something that has always existed in the world - that's a given. People just need to figure out how to divide these toxic items into more basic forms so that they can easily dispose of them without creating adverse effects on ecosystems. :thumbs up

I believe that we, as humans, have a responsibility to be able to unmake anything that we can make, before that item is produced en masse.

[SwordoftheVistula]

What would you do with such ships?

Convert it into passenger ship to send 'asylum seekers' home :cool:

[Beorn]

A former French aircraft carrier - rejected by India and Egypt

It really is a sad day when even India and Egypt won't touch something, but we will!

It's French, so let the French deal with it. Send it rolling up the Seine.

[Atlas]

Could have been done in France. Wonder why wasting time and money sending it to England ? :confused:

[Skandi]

toxic' ship arrives in Teesside

A former French aircraft carrier - rejected by India and Egypt as being too toxic to be broken up - has arrived at its final resting place in Teesside.

The Clemenceau is to be dismantled and recycled at Graythorp, Hartlepool.

Campaigners say asbestos on board will damage the environment and the health of workers, but the Environment Agency says it has rigorous controls in place.

Last year, a local firm won a long legal battle to scrap four former US naval vessels, dubbed "ghost ships".

Able UK says the project to dismantle the 32,700-tonne Clemenceau is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Environmental concerns

Work on the Clemenceau will take place alongside existing contracts to scrap the four US vessels which arrived on Teesside in 2004.

Able overcame environmental concerns over its recycling plans last year and claims operating in a dry dock is the easiest and most environmentally sound way of carrying out the work.



We've now got a ticking, toxic time bomb and we're going to live in a nightmare haze of toxicity for the rest of our lives

Jean Kennedy
Friends of Hartlepool

Controversial end to the Clem
History of ghost ships

The company is due to begin recycling work on the 255-metre Clemenceau after Easter, in a 10m euro (£8.75m) project which will create an additional 200 jobs.

The vessel contains 700 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated materials and was recalled to France from India in 2006 amid concerns over its toxic elements.

Jean Kennedy, leader of the Friends of Hartlepool, a local community group which led the fight against the dumping said: "Here was a ship laden with the worst possible toxins and they want to bring it to this country to get rid of it.

"We've now got a ticking, toxic time bomb and we're going to live in a nightmare haze of toxicity for the rest of our lives. We live in a town where we're breathing it every day of our lives."

Peter Stephenson, the chairman of Able UK, dismissed the objections of Ms Kennedy and others.

Sanctioned

He told the BBC: "The protestors had all the opportunities over the last five years. There was a public inquiry. It's been looked at by all the proper authorities. It's been all sanctioned.

"What we're going to do is what we were going to do in the first place - same methods we've used for years. So I don't see any problem with that."

He said it would take up to two weeks to investigate what work is required, then five months of "remediation works" before the actual dismantling begins in the summer.


We have taken into account the concerns of people and factored into the permits regulatory controls to allay those concerns
The Environment Agency's Bob Pailor
The Environment Agency says it will ensure the ship is recycled in a safe and environmentally sound manner.

The agency's Bob Pailor said: "The operation will be regulated heavily by ourselves, the Health and Safety Executive and the borough council - and provided the regulations are adhered to no harm will occur.

"We have taken into account the concerns of people and factored into the permits regulatory controls to allay those concerns."

The Clemenceau, once the pride of the French navy, has spent the past few years being moved around as officials tried to find a final resting place for the vessel.

Launched in 1957, it sailed more than a million nautical miles and saw service in Lebanon, the first Gulf War and the Balkans before being decommissioned in 1997.

Graythorp is the largest dry dock in Europe.



that and a quote from the video on here saying that this is a specialist company that is already dismantling 4 American ships is why we have the contract.
It will at least provide jobs for at least the next 4 years.

[Æmeric]

I don't understand the fuss:



The vessel contains 700 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated materials and was recalled to France from India in 2006 amid concerns over its toxic elements.

It's a decommissioned aircraft carrier, that's why it has so much asbestos onboard. There are lots of old buildings with asbestos materials in them. Anytime an old school, office building or whatever is torn down or undergoes renovation much of the cost involved is handling hazardous materials. The only difference with the Clemenceau is that it is a ship not a building that must be dealt with onsite. Maybe it is just a public relations matter, the French sent a huge toxic ship overseas to the Third-World to be dismantled & for political reasons it was rejected.

[Skandi]

probably because of the regulations we have on it here, if you wish to dismantle an asbestos garage, you have to have a tent that covers the entire building and decontamination truck on site.

[stormlord]

probably because of the regulations we have on it here, if you wish to dismantle an asbestos garage, you have to have a tent that covers the entire building and decontamination truck on site.

I'm fairly sure that's the point, there's no need for people here to make a big deal of it because we're not a third world country which will use orphaned urchins to take it apart with hacksaws; it will obviously be done to the highest standards with no risk to any of the workers.

[Treffie]

probably because of the regulations we have on it here, if you wish to dismantle an asbestos garage, you have to have a tent that covers the entire building and decontamination truck on site.

Yes, that's exactly it, when dismantling anything with asbestos, a specialist company needs to be employed. They obviously don't have the expertise in India and Egypt. I don't think the natives need to be alarmed, strict legislation covers the disposal of asbestos in the UK.

[Albion]

Strip it down and copy the technology. That's what China does.