This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition We request a change in the legislation relating to dredged material.
Bring into UK law a clear framework for the regulation and control of dredging. To set out safe systems and controls to cover all dredging activities. The decontamination and safe disposal on land of all dredged materials. Substantial fines to be imposed for breaches of the regulations.
More details
Currently there are no regulations stopping dredged sediment being dumped into the sea. We have over 100 years of industrial pollution that has settled in the deep sediment of many of our industrial rivers.
The toxic sediment is currently allowed to be dumped out to sea, risking an environmental catastrophe which effects a wide range of sea life and a health risk to human life.
At this time of a climate emergency we can take no chances with the health of our oceans.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
We understand you're concerned about the disposal of dredged material at sea. However the disposal of such material at sea is already regulated by the Marine Management Organisation, which has the power to license such disposals and impose fines for breaches of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. You can read this Act here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/23/contents.
It's therefore not clear how the regulation you want would be different from what is already in place.
You could have a petition calling for these regulations to be changed in some specific way, so long as it was clear from the petition what these changes were.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.