Document kmZoqJdGkENEmLX8DpEzZbdZJ

Report No. MM* 2.9 Length 3 ffiAhS. Transmitted on We&tX&fd Television "Westward Diary" Date 8th. Decempery 1969 . Time 6 p.m Short Title F.C.B.. . Del Cooper: "Mew warning to Britain on wild life sea deaths". "Riddle of the ditch of death". "This stinking sea". They're three headlines that point to the grim possibility that the seas around the South-West could be polluted by a poisonous chemical. The chemical is known as F.C.B, It's a poisonous waste substance that the plastics industry dumps at sea, the sea in question being the Irish Sea. There is a possibility that it drifts down the Irish Sea towards the coast of the South-West. Well, just how poisonous is it? Well, this autumn, about ten thousand guillemots, a common sea bird, died in the Irish Sea, the big concentrations of F.C.B. were found in the carcasses of the dead birds, but it could be that the poison substance has found new victims. Over the last few weeks, dead and dying baby seals have been washed up along the coast all around the South-West. Well, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries seal experts have said that the seals have died from pneumonia and that their deaths aren't abnormal, but Hr, Arthur Bourne, who is the Chairman of the Ocean Resources Conservation Association, an independent body of marine scientists, isn't so sure. He reels there have been far too many deaths. During the last few weeks, fifty dead and dying seals have fetened up around our coast, including one reported in the Scillies today, and the connection with the poisonous r.C.E.? Well, the Ministry admit tnat this substance has been found in commercial fish around the coast, particularly in the Irish Sea and MQNS 030365 Report No. ..^9^ r. .25 CooUouation No. 1 fishermen in the South West nave reported pollack, cod, sickly, underweight and in some cases witn ulcers on their bodies. Well, could there be r.C.B. in these fish? Well, this is a question I'd like to put to Mr. ARthur Bourne, who's in our London studio. Hr. Bourne, is it possible that the poisonous fish had been eaten by these seals wno have subsequently died? Mr. Bourne: I suppose it's possible, yea, we have no evidence of this though and I hope the Ministry's scientists are, in fact, investigating this very point. D, Cooper: Mow we've had fifty seal deaths around our coasts, do you regard this as being abnormal? Mr. Bourne: I do for the Cornish colonies, yes. Where you get a large colony, such as in the Orkneys and so on, you might get quite a large number of deaths at this time of the year, but no, not in Cornwall. Furthermore, people who knovr the area well, would have spotted this kind of thing going on years past, but they haven't. They've come acro83 up to about seven, perhaps ten dead seals in the time we've had recently where we've got fifty ... this is - w'nat - ninety per cent more. D. Cooper: Of course one tiling that would worry, 3 think, a lot of people is that if this r.C.B. can get into fish, can it also get into people? Mr. Bourne: Well, if it gets into fi3h and we eat the fisn, obviously it can get into U3, yes. D. Cooper; How worried are you that this might happen? Hr. 3ourne; Well, I think we're all worried about this kind of pollution, I don't think it's just me ... any one individual ... any group of individuals, we are all concerned. What we want to see done is the Latural Environment P.esearcn Council, the Ministry of Ag and Fish, to look into tnis for MONS 030366 Report No. 22 Continuation No. p our benefit, not just for the wild life, tnis is our environment too. D. Cooper: There is some suggestion, in fact, that the Government isn't telling us the v/nole truth about F.C.B, Mr. Bourne: No, I don't know about that because, let's be honest, when we had the guillemot disaster, which you mentioned, the N.E.R.C. did, in fact, call a Council of their experts and bodies involved in this and they did put out a press statement. I think what is lacking is a more co-ordination and a speedier investigation of such happenings in the future. We should have somebody there ... and still should have somebody in the area now, looking into this, D. Cooper; What practical steps do you think ought to be taken at this moment? Mr. Bourne: Well, one of them I've just hinted at is that we should have a group of scientists on the spot, looking at the seals who are still coming in, taking blood samples for virus studies and so on, taking tissue out for chemical analysis, so that they can get right to the laboratories without any delay, and also have the authority to call in other specialists who they think they require at any one time. D. Cooper: For many years a lot of scientists suspected that D.D.T. was a poisonous substance which could eventually harm human beings, do you think this t'.C.E. is in the same class? Mr. Bourne; Well, it's not far off it, yes, I think it could build up and build up in the fat tissue just like D.D.c. which is a breakdown substance from D.D.T. Already it has been reported from the Baltic and from the Dutch coa3t, from fish, wild fowl and other animals in their environment. It'3 increasing, obviously. HONS 030367 Report No. . 29 . Continuation No. 3 D. Cooper: Should people oe worried at tula stage anyway, about eating fish? Mr. Bourne: No, I don't think so, I shouldn't tnink so at all. There's a lot of scare about at the moment but I hope that the Minister of A? and Pish will allay this one by saying: "Well, we're looking into the fish and the seal3 for these chemicals", and tell us exactly what is happening and what they've found. D. Cooper: Mr. Bourne, thank you very much indeed. * O0O MONS 030368 \ t