Councillors back ballast water change

Councillors have backed a major change in ballast water regulations for Scapa Flow.

The long running, and contentious, issue of changes in ballast water regulations was the subject of a two-hour debate in the council chamber today, at a special meeting of the OIC’s policy and resources committee.

A present, ships must deballast outside the Flow, but the OIC has been looking at changing these regulations for almost five years.

Following discussions and a vote today, the committee supported the adoption of a new policy, which will allow ballast water  to be released into Scapa Flow. In addition, ships with onboard ballast water treatment plants will have to not only exchange the water before entering Scapa, but will also have to treat it before it is released.

Last week, it was reported that the OIC  has paid £454,000 for specialist environmental, scientific and legal advice, ensuring, it said, that the information which informs the decision before councillors was as full and technically fit for purpose as it can be.

Despite this, there have been concerns voiced from some environmental organisations, and representatives of the local fishing industry, that allowing vessels to discharge ballast water in Scapa Flow could lead to the introduction of foreign, and potentially harmful, species to Orkney waters, including into the environmentally sensitive Stenness Loch.

Although agreed by councillors today, the final decision must be ratified by the full council, which is due to meet on December 10.