Stop massive cruise ships belching toxic fumes near homes and schools #NoToxicPort

Started: 8 June 2015

Petition to: Michael Gove (The Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) and 1 other

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This petition made change with 11,916 supporters!

 

Started by Isle of Dogs with egra.london

 

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We won the battle 

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Not because the government introduced new legislation to control toxic emissions on the Thames or at ports around the UK. We won because Morgan Stanley decided to do the decent thing and withdraw planning for the cruise terminal at Enderby Wharf.

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We didn't win the war 

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The fight against toxic emissions from cruise ships is still ongoing. We can only hope that once the Brexit furore is over the government will sit up and take notice.

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To read about the campaign in its entirety here is the original petition:

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If a new toxic cruise port in London goes ahead, ships will be allowed to pump out toxic fumes from diesel engines - causing permanent damage to children's lungs - near homes and schools!

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Other major cities make the cruise ships plug into an power supply onshore. We're campaigning for the same - A CLEAN CRUISE PORT - with onshore power - or none at all.

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Michael Gove has promised to take action on diesel fumes on the roads, but so far there's little legislation in place when it comes to toxins, particularly nitrogen oxides (NOX) from river traffic, or the port.

Just one medium sized cruise ship moored at the Greenwich site at Enderby Wharf (or 'Maritime View'), will consume about 700 litres of diesel per hour, emitting equivalent levels of nitrogen dioxide and deadly particulate matter as 688 lorries with their engines idling. 

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Experts claim that pollution leads to 40,000 deaths in the UK every year causing:

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• permanent lung damage in children

• issues with dementia and cognition

• untold suffering for people with asthma

• birth defects

• heart attacks and strokes

• chronic and acute bronchitis

• cancer

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Diesel fumes are rated as a level one carcinogen by the World Health Organisation, in the same category as smoking. Yet there are 12 schools within a half mile radius of the site.

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Clean onshore power is the common sense solution. It's worked in Hamburg, Oslo, New York and the Port of Los Angeles serving 43 miles of coastline. In fact, since the installation of on shore power in LA, air pollution monitoring has recorded:

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• 90% reduction in sulphur emissions

• 85% decrease in diesel particulate matter

• 50% reduction in NOX

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This petition was started as a cry for help when Greenwich Council forced through planning permission for Enderby Wharf in 2012, despite vehement opposition from locals. Now, years later, the #NoToxicCruisePort campaign is supported by politicians from all sides.

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AN ISSUE FOR ALL OF US

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We’re not a bunch of tree hugging activists with nothing better to do, but ordinary people concerned about the long term health of children, family and friends whose health will suffer if this goes ahead. Not just here but in cities where pollution is already dangerously high, and at ports everywhere, like Southampton, where cruise ships contribute up to 23 per cent of the city's air pollution.

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Enderby Wharf is up for sale through agents Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).  Whoever buys it needs to know that unless they install an onshore power supply, the terminal is pure poison. Yes, there will be an extra price tag attached. But compared to the human cost, and the burden it will invariably place on the NHS, it’s well worth it. 

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The EU has a directive that says that all ports must provide onshore power by 2025. If, as Mr Gove believes, we’ll be better off and greener outside the EU, now is the time to prove it.

 

Petition update

Victory!

 

Isle of Dogs with egra.london

London, ENG, United Kingdom

22 Sept 2023

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Morgan Stanley decided to rethink development plans after taking community concerns into account. They wrote: “[We have] listened to the comments expressed by both the Council and the broader community. “As a result, we are discussing revised plans and proposals for the Enderby site that would no longer include a cruise terminal at Enderby Wharf and will continue to explore options to meet the needs of the Council and the local community.”

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Petition update​

Enderby Terminal is sunk but the battle is far from over

 

Isle of Dogs with egra.london

London, ENG, United Kingdom

2 Apr 2019

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No doubt you already know that developers Morgan Stanley decided to do the decent thing and withdraw plans for the terminal at Enderby Wharf. 

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Yet it won’t be all plain sailing from now on.

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The win came about, not because our government decided to do something, but because the developers listened to our concerns.

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Sadly, throughout our three year campaign for onshore power or no cruise port at all, many of our public servants at DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs ) seemed unwilling to engage.

We pay their wages, yet despite impassioned and very well reasoned argument from respected scientists, and us, they have seemed disinclined to put our health above the interests of the shipping industry.

Currently legislation isn’t in place to protect people who live near ports around the UK. We took our case to the High Court but failed, not because we were wrong, but because by law, there were no rules in place on Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) or particulate matter in relation to shipping vehicles.  What legislation does exist is out of date.

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A lot of facts and figures have surfaced in recent years, proving that pollution is a silent killer. Politicians are keen to reduce pollution on the roads but there’s an abject failure to tackle shipping, even when it has a reputation for failing to observe the rules. A French captain was fined £100,000 for using dirty fuel only recently.

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Currently pressure group, Mums for Lungs (@MumsForLungs), are asking the Mayor of London to allocate money from the Air Quality Fund to fund a website on Idling Engines.

While residents of Greenwich and Tower Hamlets will still have to contend with two other Port of London Authority piers in their midst -Tower Bridge and The Greenwich Ship Tier – in spitting distance of a child’s playground! Greenwich Ship Tier is only expected to host 12 cruise ships a year, not the 55 planned for Enderby Wharf, but it’s still 12 too many when you consider the effect emissions can have on children’s lungs.

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Just recently Zac Goldsmith has tabled a question asking Michael Gove, Secretary of State for DEFRA, Michael Gove, what steps DEFRA re taking to protect children from toxic air.

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We wait with baited breath ...

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Of course pollution is by no means a new problem.  In 1952 the Great Smog of London claimed 12,000 lives and left 15,000 unable to work.

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Professor Gary Fuller of Kings College, London has recently published a book entitled ‘The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back.’ In the book he reports how a car manufacturer laughed in his face.

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Only we’re not laughing. Not when it comes to cars, and definitely when it comes to giant cruise ships known for their abysmal record.

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It’s a concern for passengers and for people who live nearby at ports such as Southampton and Hull.

According to Channel 4’s Dispatches the majority of cruise ships use heavy fuel oil, which, though much cheaper than other fuels, is vastly more polluting. By law, this oil is permitted to contain 3.5% sulphur, compared to 0.001% for road fuel. According to NABU’, a German pressure group, each cruise ship emits as much particulate matter per day as a million cars.

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Since 2009, Friends of the Earth has compiled an annual Cruise Ship Report Card that grades each line on its environmental record. The grading takes into account sewage treatment, water quality compliance, transparency and air pollution reduction. 2016’s report card indicates that certain lines are doing a far better job than others. All but one are graded F for transparency, owing to a failure to respond to requests for information.

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If they won’t volunteer information they must be made to.

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Only government can make that happen.

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We have a long way to go, and we need public figures like Mr Gove to make that happen.

At Enderby Wharf we may have won a battle, but we have not won the war. It’s up to people with real power to force industry to fall into line and take steps to protect our health and that of our children.

Mr Gove gave a speech on climate change at the end of 2018. At the end he concluded:

‘Scientific knowledge is, always, a good in itself. In that sense, there can never be too much information. The more we know, the greater our ability to shape events for the better. But also the heavier the responsibility to act. 

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We look forward to finding out what that action will be.

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