20/09/2013 00:00
TW
0
Staff Reporter

PALMA
GREENPEACE yesterday complained that the ship Don Pedro did not have a licence to transport dangerous waste, specifically car batteries.
The ship, which belongs to Iscomar, sank off the port of Ibiza on July 11 after hitting rocks.
According to a reply by the Spanish Ministry for the Environment to a letter from the environmental organisation, “it is confirmed” that the Don Pedro was carrying dangerous waste illegally.” The ship, according to information sent to the Spanish Ministry for the Environment by the director of Merchant Shipping, was transporting 3'016 kilogrammes of used car batteries and 12 drums of potentially dangerous substances.

Greenpeace sources said that the transporting of batteries without a licence contravenes the directive about vehicles at the end of their useful life, and demanded that governments apply strict controls to the storing and treatment of vehicles. “This lack of control and non compliance with European directives confirms that the management of dangerous waste in Spain is very deficient and has grave consequences”, said Greenpeace.

Car batteries, they added, have been declared dangerous waste by the European Union because they contain sulphuric acid, a very corrosive substance, and lead, a highly toxic heavy metal.

Lead, together with its compounds, is bioaccumulative and persistent, and its impact on the environment is “very serious” and could also have serious consequences for human health.

Greenpeace warned that, in addition to direct poisoning, lead and its compounds could cause damage to the kidneys and brain, miscarriages in pregnant women, disturbances of the nervous system, a decrease in fertility, a decrease in learning ability and disturbances of behaviour in children.

In the sea, it is also possible that it affects the health of shellfish, even if there are only small concentrations of lead.
The executive director of Greenpeace, Juan Lopez de Uralde, confirmed yesterday that the case of the Don Pedro showed “the deficiency in the management” of dangerous substances in Spain.

At the end of July Greenpeace made a complaint against the shipping company Iscomar for hiding the fact that it is transporting dangerous waste.
In addition to this, the environmental organisation is asking for “action be taken” over the dangerous waste which is still on the sea bed of Ibiza because “only this will minimise the impact on marine life”.