Nations Agree to Stop Dumping at Sea

The world’s largest industrial nations agreed to a global ban on dumping industrial waste at sea and then set the stage Friday for restricting the far greater volume of marine pollution discharged on land.

“This is very promising. We see the meeting as a big step forward,” said Filip Facius, head of the Danish delegation, which co-sponsored the resolution to ban ocean dumping.

The measure, which calls for phasing out industrial waste dumping at sea by 1995, was adopted late Thursday by consensus among the 43 nations represented at the five-day meeting of signatories to the London Dumping Convention.

It is legally binding on all 64 nations that have signed the 20-year-old treaty, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the Soviet Union, Japan and most other industrialized nations.

The United States, which in 1988 passed a law halting ocean dumping of industrial waste, had originally opposed the international ban, saying more study was needed.

The resolution was sponsored by Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Brazil.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that this is an historic step in cleaning up the sea,” said Remi Parmentier of the environmental group Greenpeace.

Under the measure, a survey will be conducted to identify areas suffering the worst effects of waste dumping. Member countries will be expected to prosecute their own flagships found violating the ban.

The resolution calls for dumping to be stopped without increasing pollution in other parts of the environment.

The measure urges nations to encourage and promote cleaner industrial processes, recycling, the treatment of waste on land and more research and development on alternative and environmentally sound means of waste disposal.

About 80% of all ocean pollution is generated on land, with 10% coming from industrial waste disposed of by ships at sea and the rest thrown or discharged from vessels in routine operations.