Plan to dump fishing trawler a ‘disgrace’
IT would take the 81-metre-long fishing trawler Dong Won just 20 minutes to disappear under the waters off Dunedin’s coast.
That non-notified decision to scuttle the fire-damaged vessel prompted a hard-hitting letter from a regional council, saying the decision was driven by ‘‘convenience and cost’’. It also horrified one of the few people to look inside the New Zealand-flagged vessel, since it was gutted by a fire at Timaru’s port in April 2018.
‘‘It’s a f ...... disgrace, what they are considering,’’ Sean Colbourne, of Southern Ocean Specialists, said. He had prepared a quote to clean and then dispose of a vessel where ‘‘asbestos was the least of your worries’’.
The ship’s owner, Dong Won NZ (DWNZ), applied for a nonnotified consent to dump it southeast of Otago Harbour. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) granted that precedentsetting request on April 30.
Several agencies were approached by the EPA before the decision. A letter from Environment Canterbury chair Bill Bayfield, obtained by Sunday News, said while ECan had no statutory means to influence the decision, ‘‘we feel duty bound to bring this to your attention. It is our concern that the disposal . . . is being driven more by convenience and cost, than delivering preferred environmental outcomes‘‘.
ECan declined to comment, saying ‘‘the letter is clear on our position’’.
The EPA decision noted it wasn’t possible to reuse, recycle or treat the vessel’s waste without more than adverse effect on human heath or the environment ‘‘or without imposing costs on the applicant that are unreasonable in the circumstances’’.
DWNZ said dumping the Dong Won was the only viable option.
The EPA found by dumping the ship that any environmental harm would be localised, of short duration and highly unlikely to impact any species at a population level.
EPA was satisfied all eco-toxic materials onboard would not ‘‘create risks or material harm to human health‘‘.
But Colbourne doubted the waste could be adequately removed. ‘‘To me, someone is dropping a toxic hazard off our coast to save money.’’
He had spent months working on a solution, on behalf of various parties, and which involved a cleaned Dong Won being towed by a Timaru tug, also due to be scrapped, to India or China.
The company’s Korean head office, and its New Zealand-based lawyer, did not respond for a request for comment.