Cumbrian environmental campaigners call for halt to seismic testing
Nuclear Waste Services say the appropriate safety checks have been carried out
Environmental campaigners have called for a halt to seismic testing in the Irish Sea as they believe the sonic waves are disturbing marine life but Nuclear Waste Services say the appropriate safety checks have been carried out.
Radiation Free Lakeland has written to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, urging the Government’s advisory body to call a halt to seismic testing in the Irish Sea.
The marine survey is taking place off the coast of Copeland to determine if geology beneath the Irish Sea is suitable to accommodate a nuclear waste disposal facility.
The process involves a 92-metre ship emitting sonic waves, similar to ultrasound.
Although the search is taking place across the country, Mid and South Copeland are two of the areas being considered for a Geological Disposal Facility.
And after opposing the process at a Copeland Council meeting in July, activist Marriane Birkby said: “Unlike seismic blasting for gas, oil and other developments the seismic blasting underway in the Irish Sea now has not been subject to a Marine Management Organisation public consultation or even a vote by Copeland councillors as the GDF Partnership advised by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management applied for an “exemption” from the norms of regulatory control by calling the testing ‘scientific research.’”
Porpoises were spotted off the coast of Whitehaven last weekend and Ms Birkby said: “this has enthralled witnesses but may well be a behavioural avoidance response to the seismic blasting approved by JNCC guidelines.”
She added that the process has seen a “lack of public consultation and independent scrutiny.”
However, Nuclear Waste Services has said it is “committed to environmental protection at all times.”
They said: “The marine environmental assessments identify potential impacts and their severity and confirm any requirements for avoiding or minimising harmful impacts.”
The subsidiary of Radioactive Waste Management has said it is following the UK guidance on avoiding environmental impact which includes: “Using marine mammal observers and passive acoustic monitoring to help ensure that no marine mammals are in close proximity to the vessel before the geophysical survey operations.”
Residents in the areas being considered for a GDF will have the final say on whether they are willing to host the facility.