Convention EU On The Prevention Of Marine Pollution

Convention EU on prevention of marine pollution
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Abstract
The use of conventions to deal with marine pollution is a manifestation of the growing interest on the impact of marine pollution on the environment and habitats. Pollution from both ship and non-ship sources contributes to marine pollution and human activities may lead to either pollution or destruction of the marine environment. Human activities pose a threat to the marine environment through the release of toxic materials. In essence, marine pollution depends on the way through which pollutants enter into the marine environment as well as the composition of toxic substances, as they have varying effects on the environment.
To emphasize on the prevention of marine pollution, the paper highlighted on the need for more comprehensive conventions that deal with marine pollution on the global scale. The impact of human activities on the environment can be devastating to the environment through destruction and causing pollution. The impact of human activities on marine environment need to assessed in coming up with an appropriate framework on preventing marine pollution. Oil spills and the shipping industry have a more devastating impact on the environment than accidents because of their frequency. However, oil spillage has an immediate impact because of the direct contact with the flora and fauna of the marine surroundings.
There are various causes of marine pollution and marine debris is one of the common types of pollutants that find their way into marine environments. Plastics debris is common pollutants that entangle marine animal impairing their activities. The release of heavy metals and oil into seas and oceans has a negative effect on the environment and could lead to the death of marine animals. Radioactive materials also result from human activities and can impair the functioning of human beings and flora and fauna, but the effects of these materials are felt in the long term, and hence it is difficult assess their immediate impact on the environment.
Table of Contents
 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc374732931"
1.0 Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc374732931 \h
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2.0 Marine pollution  PAGEREF _Toc374732932 \h
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3.0 Causes of marine pollution  PAGEREF _Toc374732933 \h
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3.1 Marine debris  PAGEREF _Toc374732934 \h
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3.2 Hydrocarbons  PAGEREF _Toc374732935 \h
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3.3 Heavy metals  PAGEREF _Toc374732936 \h
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3.4 Radioactive materials  PAGEREF _Toc374732937 \h
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3.5 Plastics  PAGEREF _Toc374732938 \h
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3.6 Sewage  PAGEREF _Toc374732939 \h
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3.7 Nutrients  PAGEREF _Toc374732940 \h
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4.0 CONVENTION EU ON THE PREVENTION OF MARINE POLLUTION  PAGEREF _Toc374732941 \h
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5.0 IMO conventions  PAGEREF _Toc374732942 \h
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5.1 Incorporation of international and regional conventions  PAGEREF _Toc374732943 \h
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5.2 Marine pollution at international and regional level  PAGEREF _Toc374732944 \h
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6.0 EU implementation of IMO  PAGEREF _Toc374732945 \h
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7.0 EU and HELCOM  PAGEREF _Toc374732946 \h
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8.0 Introduction of penalties for infringements  PAGEREF _Toc374732947 \h
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9.0 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc374732948 \h
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10.0 Reference List  PAGEREF _Toc374732949 \h
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1.0 Introduction
Air pollution has received more attention than marine pollution owing to the effects on respiratory systems and presence of smog in acute air pollution. Nonetheless, marine pollution now poses a big challenge as conventions on pollution have recognized the devastating impact that pollution has on marine habitats. Marine pollution can be from either a ship or a non-ship source, but in most cases marine pollution is a voluntary activity, but accidents can cause massive destruction to the marine environment. Depending on the way entry of environment hazards into the marine surroundings, there are different conventions, which determine the way, which environmental cases are handled at the international level.
Pollution typically relates to the waste material and their negative impact on the environment. Marine pollution in turn refers to the release of substances into the marine environment through human activities, and this is accompanied with adverse effects on the environment. Marine pollution has received interest because of the cost implications of environmental cleanup and conventions to deal with environmental protection. In Europe, the breakup of an old oil tanker along the coast of Spain in 2002 is an example of the cost implications of marine degradation. Both France and Spain resulted to using tough measures to deter continued us of aged oil tankers. Thus, marine pollution laws have been created to deal with marine protection, and the European commission in turn resulted to issuing the directive that ship owners would be more responsible for the cost implications of marine clean up for insured vessels.
2.0 Marine pollution
Similarly, the effects of the pollution may lead to harmful effects on the human health, while also being a hindrance to marine life. Even though, the major sources of marine pollution fall into land based, water based and from air, there are biological pollutants that cause maritime pollution. Biological pollutants lead to the spread of diseases or produce toxins that are harmful to the human body. Nonetheless, the impact of maritime pollution on maritime environment affects the flora and fauna found in the seas and oceans than it affects human beings because of close contact with polluting agents.
Human activities on environment have had different negative effects on the environment, and the adverse effects depend on the level of human interference. This may result in either pollution or physical destruction of the environment. On the marine environment, the bigger threat is pollution, and encompasses a broader definition than simply the destruction of natural habitats. At the same time, environmental degradation and destruction of the environment typically goes together with pollution, but destruction of habitats may simply be environmental threats. Air pollution is one of the ways through which there is maritime pollution, but it is difficult to assess the impact of air pollution on the marine environment.
Marine pollution has long being a cause of concern, because it typically acts as a repository of waste from various sources. Maritime pollution is unique because most chemical toxins that pollute the land and air also pollute the seas and oceans. The hydrologic cycle is responsible for the movement of various chemicals. Land based pollution is one of the main causes of pollution, but also one of the least regulated. This is probably because the sea is universally used for dumping. Thus, in order to address maritime dumping various conventions have been created especially to protect the ocean environment and minimize impact of dumping toxic materials into the sea. Conventions on dumping have tended to focus on provisions regarding oil tankers, ships and aircraft. The convections further spell out those substances that are not to be dumped, and cases in which people may request special permits to dump the chemicals.
Marine pollution through oil spills typically occur through oil spills, and shipping activities. In essence, the activities involved in oil explorations and production have a direct impact on the marine environment. Nonetheless, seabed exploration only consists of a tiny fraction of the pollution activities found in marine environments. Oil shipping is typically the biggest contributor of oil pollution. Historically shipping has been seen as a polluting industry especially with the larger sized ships. At the same time, oil transpiration through oil tankers is a major pollutant of the marine environment. Even though, incidences of oil tankers causing marine pollution has decreased over time, because of oil transport through pipes.
Vessel source pollution accounts for 12 % of the total marine pollution and is subject to rigorous rules set by the international bodies and under international law. Various conventions under the UN and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), govern the rules that determine vessel source pollution. The EU exerts its power through enforcing the conventions and takes part in the decision making process. As a bloc, the EU does not participate as an individual entity in the IMO, but the EU member states contribute individually, to influence policies and support international legal frameworks. Oil tanker distastes in the late 1990’s and early 2000 have necessitated the adoption of more stringent measures to deal with marine protection with European waters.
International law plays a critical role in the protection of the environment from degradation and guarding against misuse of resources. Under customary international laws, states have to ensure that they do not pollute their surroundings. Other than customary legal issues governing marine protection, various contentions and international laws address international maritime protection. Nonetheless, there is a need for more comprehensive laws, given that conventions on off shore pollution and gas exploration receive little attention unlike oil spillage from ships.
There are various types of marine pollution, and sedimentation is one of the most common given that segmentation from the land finds its way to marine environments through rain and water carriage. Both thermal and light energy are naturally occurring and can cause marine pollution but there may occur through nuclear activities. Nonetheless, the major types of pollution come from human activities with sewage causing imbalance in nutrient levels of seas and oceans while also contaminating the environment. Use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides is also another pollutant brought about by human activities. Chemicals, oils and solid waste have different impacts on the marine environment, and appear through human activities, but biological types of pollution may be present in the environment and triggered by humans.
Operational pollution through vessels is one of the least highlighted and occurs more often than vessel accidents. In many cases, pollutants are released into marine environments when vessels are on voyage than through accidents. This encompasses pollutants released in the form of sewage, oil residues, engine pollution and garbage. Of particular concern is the release of sewage, which may have a devastating impact on the environment by destroying fishing sites and aquaculture. Solid debris associated with activities from ships also poses a challenge to the protection of marine environments especially in countries where there are less strict laws on environmental protection.
The impact of marine pollution is devastating to the marine habitats, and ships can cause harm to natural habitants even with little pollution, with coral reefs the most at risk. However, spilled oil has adverse effects on the environment and requires time to clean up. Even when there are little concentrations of spilled oil, it is possible to cause devastating harm to adult animals, and may alter the biological and physiological functioning of various species. Oil also impairs the normal breeding patterns of fish, coastal amenities and fisheries.
3.0 Causes of marine pollution
3.1 Marine debris
Marine debris (litter) is one of the most visible causes of marine pollution and this involves manufactured solid waste that enters into the marine environment through land and ocean pathways. Land based debris involve all the litter material found on land and which is later washed up to oceans. The debris may also be discharged through dumping, industrial sites and poorly maintained drainage, litter or sewerage systems. Thus, land based debris are one of the main causes of marine degradation as their disposal typically involves non-biodegradable materials. At the same time, waste handling methods also affect marine environments as they result to falling of debris that later finds its way into marine environments. Ocean based marine debris also happen from human activities, but may also be a result of accidents or poor waste disposal methods.
3.2 Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons are by far the most familiar source of marine pollution, with oil being the main cause of environmental degradation in marines. The hydrocarbons can be divided into alkenes, alkanes, naphthenes and aromatics. Oil has different composition of hydrocarbons depending on the source. Equally, other compounds may be present in crude oil including sulfur, vanadium, nitrogen and oxygen (25). The release of oil into seas may be deliberate or discharged accidentally through off shore leakages or from on shore refineries.  The negative impact of oil lead to physical and chemical changes and increases the toxicity of marine environments.
In most cases, oil spillage result to a change in the physical form of both flora and fauna. For instance, the oil spillage results to the reduction in the photosynthetic ability of flora organisms, and this impedes the photosynthesis. On the other hand, larger organisms like birds are coated with oil leading to a loss in their feathers water proofing abilities, and this may cause them more susceptible to sinking and drowning. Nonetheless, the chemical composition determines the toxicity levels brought about by oil spills as the components of the hydrocarbons typically have different levels of toxicity. The accumulation of toxic hydrocarbons in fish and in the sediments may pose a long-term environmental problem. At the same time, oil can lead to the suffocation of flora and fauna interfering with the cellular process impairing the ability to process food and possibly reproduce.
Oil spillages from oil tankers typically receive more attention than other sources of oil contamination, but other sources account for a bigger share of oil pollution. In most cases, oil contaminated sewage and storm water as well as oil leakage from oil-powered engines in cars and boats represents one of the major causes of oil pollution. The constant sources of oil pollution that finds its way into marine environments are the human activities on land and along the coastal regions. Even though, natural sources of oil also contribute to marine pollution, it is a concern that human activities are by far the biggest contributors of marine pollution.
Halogenated hydrocarbons are another category of pollutants affecting marine environments. Release of ornganochlorine compounds (OCs) has occurred in a number of ways from industrial use, chlorination in pulp mills, incineration and pesticide use. In the North Pacific the use of these compounds will mostly likely result to a buildup of toxins, if nothing is done to enforce the ban on use of harmful substance. Similarly, it is likely that winds would move volatile toxic materials from the North Pacific towards North America. The countries around the North Pacific also use pesticides that were banned in the 1970’s and 1980’s; this includes the use of PCB and DDT. Similarly, the transport of HCH has been experienced in the Arctic Sea and Bering resulting to an increase in HCH contamination in these marine environments.
Marine pollution through offshore activities has increased over time because of improved measures to limit oil spillage. However, off shore activities still pose problems to marine environment even after ratifications of various conventions governing off shore activities and gas exploration. Currently the off shore and gas exploration sectors account for about one to two percent of marine pollution. Nonetheless, there are fears that increased energy consumption and increase in off shore activities would lead to increased pollution levels. Equally, abandoned off shore installations also the risk of environmental degradation and this is compounded by the removal of offshore platform from sites, as they heavy and difficult to move.
3.3 Heavy metals
Another cause of marine pollution is heavy metals, which naturally occur in the earth’s crust. Some heavy, metals are beneficial for metabolic functions as if zinc copper and cobalt, but excessive amounts of these metals have an adverse impact on organisms. Nonetheless, many other heavy metals have no known benefits to organisms. Heavy metals like mercury have negative effects on the body, and have many characteristics with toxic substances, and this typically occur because their accumulation is not bio degradable leading to the buildup of toxic materials. Nonetheless, the level of toxicity from heavy metals depends on the type of metal, and even if absorbed in small doses heavy metals affects brain functions in big animals.
The use of heavy metals in industries has led to the increases in the level of toxicity in the marine environment, and heavy metals can be detected in various parts of the world mostly in sedimentary surroundings. Even though, there is no consensus on what constitutes heavy metals, most substances placed under this category depend on classification as metals. Nonetheless, heavy metals enter into marine environments through the atmosphere or river discharge from industrial waste. Conventions and bans not to use heavy metals have led to the decrease in the level of heavy metals in industrial production, but the metals still pose a threat to the environment. Of particular concern is the sedimentation of metals in heavily polluted areas, where the large concentration of theses pollutants increase toxicity in the surrounding areas leading to marine contamination when the metals are washed up.
3.4 Radioactive materials
The damping of radioactive materials into the marine environment has not received wide spread coverage, because it appear to be on a small-scale level and from military installations. However, the release of radioactive materials from the Fukushima plant in Japan, reignited interest on radioactive pollutants. Even though, the seas and oceans dilute the radioactive materials to less toxic levels, the materials still pose health risks to humans and destroy marine environment. The contamination of fish from radioactive materials has also found its way in the food chain increasing susceptibility to various cancers. Information on radioactive materials in the seas is scanty owing to the secretive nature of industries and military installations that damp the materials in the oceans. Thus, there is a need for more research on the composition and likely effects of radioactive damping.
There are natural radioactive materials found in the chemical isotopes of these materials. At the same time, some marine environments have naturally occurring radioactive materials in the form of uranium, potassium -40 and thorium, and these materials decay naturally without any adverse effects on the marine environment. However, human beings have led to an increase in the level of radioactive materials trough nuclear sites and nuclear weapons, resulting in elevated levels of these materials in the seas through damping. Nuclear plants typically require cooling and the discharge of materials from cooling into the marine environment increase risk of environmental degradation, but the threats posed by radioactive materials depend on the stability of isotopes in the radioactive materials as well as their half-life. One of the dangers of radioactive marine pollution is that the effects may not be felt in the short term and hence it is difficult to assess the damage from these pollutants.
3.5 Plastics
Plastics are a group of materials from petrochemicals, and their production had grown to 280,000,000 tonnes in 2011. Even though, plastics are popular for packaging and manufacture of household items they pollute the environment. Plastics typically move from more populated areas from sewerage disposal, winds, rivers, floods and can occur through off shore installations and through sea vessels. There has long time recognition that plastics cause marine environment degradation, but it is only recently that there have been concerns on the impact of micro plastics on food webs and the marine environment. In any case, more than half of the plastics have at least one toxic component. Consequently, those toxic materials from plastics that find their way into the aquatic environments lead to absorption of the toxins by animal ingestion. Similarly, the contamination of the environment through plastics in turn leads to bio magnification after transfer to other organisms.
Plastics typically result to marine pollution and entanglement of organisms through plastic driftnets, and is estimated to be irresponsible for the death of more than 2 million birds as well as 100, 000 marine mammals. Even though, there are few researches on the impact of plastics on specie the impact of plastics affects different animals differently. In the North Pacific, the level of mass plastic articles appearing at the surfa...