Copy of letter being penned to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following a Fishermen's Meeting with MMO, EA and CIFCA Mylor Harbour 12/04/11

Fishermen’s Conclusive Statement

It was utterly conclusive that the applicants for the ‘master planned’ dredging of 1,000,000 tonnes of sediment including the highest concentrated levels of heavy metals and TBT (used in antifoul paint until 1987) found in the UK, construction of a new Cruise Liner terminal and extension of the wharves at Falmouth Docks, have done the bare minimum required by law with regards to environment issues. They have deliberately not consulted with any of the fishermen about the impacts of dredging and dumping over 1 million tonnes from the docks.

In a meeting arranged by the fishermen of Falmouth, chaired by an impartial Marine Consultant, with great thanks for hearing our voices to: Marine Management Organisation, Environment Agency and Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Agency that answered the questions, it was quite clear that the statements issued by the applicants (FHC & A&P Falmouth) had been grossly misleading.

In the unthinkable event of any new application or appeal on the grounds of “Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest” the minutes have been forwarded to you, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to ensure that;

The Environmental Impact Assessment is revisited entirely and includes the concerns of the working fishermen

Nothing is disturbed in Falmouth Harbour (including shipping movements that deliberately run the engines over the toxic grounds) and nothing is dumped anywhere in the estuary or at sea without MMO, EA, NE, CIFCA, CFPO, CEFAS and any local fishermen’s associations being consulted directly in writing

Nothing can replace the clean waters, the return of fish stocks, the livelihoods or the fishermen that with all the local knowledge handed down from generation to generation still risk their lives daily to provide a sustainable food source for everyone

I enclose a petition signed by over 100 people, a list of fishermen that attended the first meeting, some letters from those unable to attend and associated accompanying documents

Christopher J. Ranger
www.oystersfromthefal.org
07791 378503

___________ ___ ___________

BBC News

Biggest threat to the last fleet working under sail is the planned Falmouth Marina & Cruise Liner Terminal for Falmouth Docks, dredging 700,000 cu m of the most toxic substance ever deliberately introduced into the marine environment, 24hrs a day for 6 months...
BBC News Article - December 2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12031154

...Port company lied on toxic waste dumping while developing Falmouth Marina

The company behind a luxury yacht marina development in Cornwall has been ordered to pay more than £600,000 after lying about dredging toxic sediment and dumping it in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The deception was only spotted when an inspector from the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) visited the site and saw a digger at the wharves lowering a bucket into the water and shifting the silt.

The method was captured on video tape and condemned by Natural England as "the worst possible way" of moving toxic sediment around.

Yesterday at Truro Crown Court, Judge Christopher Elwen said the company had embarked on a "prolonged" campaign to "mislead".

"There is no evidence of damage to human health but there is certainly the potential," he said.

A&P Ports and Properties Ltd admitted three breaches of the Food and Environmental Protection Act.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/regionalnews/Port-company-lied-toxic-waste-dumping/article-3038696-detail/article.html

Toxic Docks

Tourists aboard floating resorts flock to Cornwall in there thousands to see the last fishing fleet working under sail, but things have changed and all the oysters died when they “dredged 700,000 cu m of the most toxic substance ever introduced into the marine environment, to develop the cruise liner terminal”, the men and women are gone and the children cannot afford to carry on the traditions handed down for generations… now the boats are in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall situated in the new private and exclusive FHCA&P Master Marina & Cruise Liner Complex…

Rare, unique, wild Cornish Native Oysters

The Times
February 5th 2011
Oysters, the ‘food of love’ renowned for there aphrodisiac qualities are dying out because of dredging and disease. 85% of the world’s native oysters have disappeared from estuaries and bays, a wide ranging study published this week reveals… As natural reefs were dredged away, oystermen began farming the fast growing Pacific oyster, but it too is threatened with disaster the new strain of ostreid herpesvirus-1”

Objective One Website
July 7th 2007
Objective One Fisheries investment (£240,000) helps regeneration of Duchy of Cornwall oyster farm “This project will also bring benefits to they oyster fishermen in the Fal River helping to safeguard this fishery which is unique as it is fished only by sail and rowing”

Telegraph.co.uk
June 10th 2009
“Non native Pacific Oysters can damage biodiversity in these waters, including killing mussels, and dredging is another potentially damaging activity… It is against European Conservation law for a project like this to go ahead in an area of conservation without an assessment to ensure it will not cause environmental damage. The Duchy of Cornwall estate accepts that no such assessment has happened, but maintains that it is not responsible and does not have environmental expertise.”

In 2009, having overfilled the native oyster beds with fast-growing Pacific oysters, more than two thirds of the entire stock was wiped out when red algae entered the Helford River and ‘drowned’ the bivalves.

Wightbros.eu.com/duchyfarm/sales.html
September 15th 2010
“Due to the loss of stock during the algae bloom in 2009, Helford Oyster sales are currently restricted to London and Cornwall… A significant proportion of our production is exported to France where the oysters are packed and distributed to wholesalers in the major oyster markets across the world”

Private Eye
June or July 2010

“Duchy Aquaculture Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation in May 2010… but Ben Wright, who formed a new company, “bought” the equipment from the defunct one for £35,000…”

Not content with destroying one of Cornwall’s native oyster farms Ben Wright has bought the mussel farm next to King Harry Ferry with the intention of growing non native species in another special area of conservation…

...in a statement regarding the Initial Designation of the Fal CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquiculture Science) changed the zone from just the Fal Estuary to include the Helford Passage, the reason... Because of the close proximity with tidal effects and the frequent movement of shellfish from both locations.

"In relation to your phone call, the rationale behind the Helford being incorporated into the Bonamia exitiosa Designation (CD 01 / 2011) is due to the movements of susceptible species from the Fal to the Helford and the Helford’s close proximity to the Fal. When we obtain further test results we will issue a more formal statement which I will forward to you." Peter White CEFAS

However, even with all the tracibility legislation designed to prevent a disaster, such as Banamia Existiosa, CEFAS would point the finger at either:

The introduction of tonnes of French Pacific Oyster spat to the Helford in 2007
The laying up of tankers on the Fal or the bunkering in the bay
The disturbance of the highest levels of banned toxic paint by A&P in 2007

...but suggested it could be anyone of those factors that may destroy 20-80% of the wild natives found on the River Fal.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36759493
@N07/5812088338/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Cruise Liner Floating Resorts

The evolution of the Residential Condominium Ship

www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk
“Now rather than being a means of travel cruise liners are a destination in themselves and have become floating resorts.”

West Briton
September 16th 2010
3,000 particularly the elderly visitors brought ashore from the visiting Crown Princess, had to wait more than an hour “and a number intended to complain to the ships owners”

We want St Tropez not Southampton

The third natural deepest harbour in the world needs dredging from 8m to 9m to bring in 220,000 tonne cruise liners and up to 7,000 day visitors (The World due 2011) at the cost of £20 million pounds of public money. Also to go will be the 8,000 year old mearl beds that act as a nursery for commercial fish stocks and are vital for the countries fishing industry and last but not least the detrimental effect of disturbed sediment reaching the oysters on the last fishery working under sail.

St Austell already has major docking and transport infrastructure, why not bring the cruise liner terminal project to somewhere that has been struggling to clean up its image after the decimation from pressure mining china clay, rather decimating another natural habitat.

The largest super yachts in the world draw less than 6m (with centre boards retracted) and can navigate safely into most harbours around the world. Falmouth is unique in geology, location, climate, sailing conditions and has very little commercial traffic compared to other ports.

At a brief public question time at an Falmouth Harbour Commissioners AGM: Mr Ellis, Mr Fish and Mr Sansom stated they “didn’t know the Fal was the third natural deepest harbour and that the contaminated silt was a result of the Wheal Jane Mine discharges and nothing to do with the docks”.

Falmouth and Pendennis. Two words steeped in maritime history, formally known as PennyComeQuick. Where there’s money there’s greed and where there’s greed ther’ll be lies 

FHC have £2,000,000 in the bank, how much revenue would they be forecasting from cruise liner berthing fees?

Meanwhile Falmouth Coastguard that monitors VHF Channel 16, 24hrs a day, helps save lives by rescuing those at sea, could be closed down to save the government the cost of 24 jobs.

Why should big companies get away with it… 

Falmouth Packet
February 25th 2009
Column 1
Delay on plans for new marina
“The MFA (Marine Fisheries Agency) is worried about small boats stirring up contaminated sediment on the seabed, yet every week we move several vessels in and out the port” said docks boss Peter Child

“Both ships (PO Bilboa at 20,000 tonnes and RFA Argus at 28,500) travel over the same areas and ocean going vessels like these disturb far more silt than the marina would in a year, but these movements are viewed as navigation by the MFA and therefore allowable, whereas small marina users and the remote possibility of dredging apparently not. The marina project would initially create at least 25 jobs…”

On the very same page…
Column 2
Early start to dredging?
To date a number of key milestones have been achieved and ongoing activity is taking place: The EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) was completed in November 2008. A public exhibition to report the findings of the EIA was then held and all responses were in favour of the project.”

The EIA, failed to even include the Fal Estuary in its modelling (figure 6-3 2007 Survey – Impact Receptor Sampling Stations). Yet the fact we have a unique wild natural oyster and mussel fishery that has supplied oyster farms all around the UK is partly due to the natural phenomenon that the water column doesn’t actually move very far.

SW Water proved the dye from the proposed, and now working, sewage outlet near Black Rock, travelled up past Turnaware Bar to the very top of the Carrick Roads. As a result its permission was only granted for discharges on an ebb (outgoing) tide. A&P need to dredge 24 hrs a day for six months, dredging only on an ebb tide would mean the project machinery would be sat around for six and the project take 12 months to complete.

Backhoe Dredgers use a bucket with a lid extended on a conventional digger, the problem is its not just silt and mud, it’s 100,000 sq metres of Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Zinc and PCB’s (Port of Falmouth Development Initiative 31/07/09 Table 6-2 Selected Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines source CCME, 2002) that has been proven to be directly related to the docks.

The Shellfish association of Great Briton hadn’t seen any plans to dredge in a SAC (Special Area of Conservation) and the SWRDA had withdrawn its support for the project after completing the EIA

Penalising A&P for 60 years of illegally dumping toxic waste and getting rid of A&P Ship Repair would stop any more ecological disasters in a SAC, reduce the risk to human health for the residents already living in Falmouth, save £20 Million and the last Oyster Fishery working under sail.

Highest concentrations of toxic materials found in the UK

February 17th 2010

Docks deny toxic dumping claims

“The allegations result from a two year investigation and relates to silt said to contain highly poisonous chemicals shifted from the seabed during work on a proposed marina from March to December 2007. Peter Child, managing director at A&P Falmouth said the company totally refuted the claims and would defend any accusation vigorously… the company take environmental issues very seriously. This is not only in respect of Falmouth but the broader environment generally”

Falmouth Packet
December 29th 2010
Marina firm fined (£630,000) over toxic waste
“Truro Crown Court heard that samples of the silt that were moved contained among the highest concentrations of toxic materials, including heavy metals used in antifouling, to be found in the UK. The companies did not get the permission and misrepresented the facts relating to the depths and about a third (of estimated 9,732 cubic metres) was removed before the agencies found the silt was being dredged”

Western Morning News
January 28th 2011
“Mr Ellis said he could not give a figure for how much extra income would be generated under the scheme or how many jobs would be created… a master plan would be released giving such detail within the next few months. Mark Sansom said the cost of the dredging operation could be in the region of £20 million”

Go ahead, develop the marina as the 300 blocks securing the pontoons, which can be made in house at the docks, will create much less impact on the seabed than another 300 mooring chains swinging around at low tide and unsurprisingly maintained and serviced by FHC.

Falmouth Packet
February 2nd 2011
Dredging plans still ‘alive’
“We are committed to ensuring the environment is protected, and are confident that when the port master plan is produced, the overriding message will be how important this project is for the economy not just of Falmouth, but of Cornwall.” David Ellis

How can company’s that are responsible for dumping 100,000 sq. metres of ‘the most toxic substance ever introduced to the marine environment’ and one that has been fined for trying to dispose of some of the sediment without a license because of the cost, be supported by the Duchy of Cornwall’s Falmouth Harbour Commissioners, a local MP Sarah Newton and be trusted again with sensitive environment issues within a Special Area of Conservation when they deliberately mislead the Environment Agency four years ago, all for the benefit of Falmouth and Cornwall economy. The problem is after more than 10 years of planning FHC still don’t know how many jobs or how much extra income the project would provide.

Risk to Human Health

This site is even within the ‘blast zone’ outlined by the Health & Safety Executive due to the 4,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored on site… and the fuel depot at the end of the docks… probably a good idea to close the Falmouth Coastguard station as it would save 24 intelligent and caring people’s lives.

West Briton
February 10th 2011
“There is a risk of the population of the proposed development (12 apartments in nearby Melville Road) being affected by the toxic fumes generated should the ammonium nitrate become involved in a fire and by an explosion should the ammonium nitrate detonate” Phil Mason also believed occupiers “would be subject to risk to human health should the development be permitted”

Why don’t we just keep it simple and use the resources we have better. Bring in small ferries and cruise liners that can take the Cornish on holiday and bring tourists in return, but they don’t need to be 330m long and drawing 9m until we know Cornwall’s infrastructure can handle that amount of traffic (7,000 / 50 seats = 140 buses in and out of the town)…

Develop the infrastructure so Pendennis Shipyard can build bigger and better super yachts with crews that eat, drink and stay in the town as well as use the services of smaller marine businesses. Encourage small yacht visitors by also offering a free safe harbour and not putting your hand out to collect duties if it’s not even your fundus.

And finally… if the Harbour Commissioner collects mooring and berthing duties on the Duchy’s behalf then one of you must be accountable when diseases such as the Bonemia parasite almost wipes out the fishing communities living off the Fal Oyster & Mussel Fishery.  It is quite likely that the ships laid up discharge their bilge water and with it bring new diseases. If a cruise liner travels from port to port then it bound to carry non-native species and water born bacteria, who loses out… the sustainable fishermen in their little sailboats… the one’s they came to see in the first place.

BBC News Broadcast, December 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12031154

At the public consultation I was refused entry for the first hour and a half, then I was told I couldn't distribute my 'End of the oyster is nigh' flyer within the privately owned (FHC) function room, the reporter jumped on the story but it was later removed from the PirateFM.co.uk website... good old internet cache hey...

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com

If not, download here

All information is believed to be correct at time of publishing

Christopher J. Ranger Aged 36
Cornish Native Oysters .co.uk

Download petition HERE