from Sunday Herald, 25 July 2010
Thousands of dangerous distress flares could be illegally dumped and put
the lives of beachgoers around Scotland at risk, coastguards have warned.
New arrangements for disposing of out-of-date flares, which can contain powerful explosives, make it much more difficult to get rid of them. The fear is that this could prompt some sailors to throw them overboard, or abandon them on land.
There are now only six authorised disposal sites at coastguard stations in Scotland, with only one on the west coast mainland. And unused flares can only be dropped off at limited times, with appointments having to be made in advance.
Brightly coloured flares, which are carried by sailors to attract attention in case of emergencies, have to be replaced every four years. Up to 35,000 are disposed of every year in the UK.
Before April this year, boat-owners could dispose of “time-expired pyrotechnics” at more than 70 coastguard stations in the UK. They used to be regularly collected by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who would ensure they were safely blown up.
But the MoD decided that it could no longer afford to provide the service, and safety rules were tightened up. So since April this year a new disposal system has been in operation, requiring out-of-date flares to be taken to one of 18 designated coastguard stations.
In Scotland these are in Shetland, Stornoway, Inverness, Cruden Bay and St Andrews. The single station on the west coast mainland is at Girvan in South Ayrshire, and it is only open one day a week.
“This, I’m afraid, is the best we can do in straightened circumstances,” a spokesman for the government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) told the Sunday Herald.
“We are not a hazardous waste disposal authority. Yachties seem to think that we are, and they get quite upset that we no longer have the same number of disposal facilities.”
Disposal was more difficult in Scotland, he said. “We’re getting complaints from all over, including Orkney and the Isle of Skye.”
There was a risk that flares would be illegally dumped and pose serious dangers, he cautioned. If mishandled they could be lethal, particularly for children on beaches.
It was also illegal to fire them except in an emergency, the MCA spokesman pointed out. Last month, a false alarm was triggered after out-of-date flares went off in a bonfire at Stornoway harbour.
According to David Shaw, the coastguard at Ardrossan in North Ayrshire, dumped flares had been found at Dunoon and elsewhere. “We’re always finding pyrotechnics on the beach and calling in the navy’s bomb disposal people,” he said.
“The majority of people play by the rules, but you are going to get people who will throw them into the sea and they will be washed up months later.”
The MCA wants local authorities, ports and manufacturers to take more responsibility for disposing of flares. Without more disposal routes, there are also concerns that boat owners will be deterred from using them.
"When people find it hard to dispose of flares, I fear they they might stop carrying them,” said Simon Willis, the author of ‘The Scottish Sea Kayak Trail’.
“Small craft, like sea kayaks, can be hard to spot in a rough sea, particularly from an inshore lifeboat, so a double-ended flare - smoke one end, red-burn the other - can be invaluable for guiding rescuers the last quarter of a mile or so.”
The Royal Yachting Association thought that responsible people would not dump old flares at sea. “We have received a high volume of calls from yachtsmen seeking advice on the disposal of out-of-date flares, which suggests to us that boaters wish to ensure that they dispose of their flares responsibly,” said the association’s Gus Lewis.
“If the MCA’s reception facilities are not convenient then the RYA strongly recommends that when boaters need to buy new flares they do so from a supplier that will also take their out-of-date ones back in return.”
The Scottish government pointed out that marine safety was reserved to the UK government. “We would encourage people to dispose of flares safely, in line with guidance provided by the MCA,” said a government spokeswoman.
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