Between 100 and 400 times a year, large quantities of carcinogenic substances are released from inland shipping tankers in and on the Marker and IJsselmeer. This is evident from figures from the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate. Despite a national and Flevoland ban on so-called sailing degassing, it still happens.
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It is tolerated by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, pending an international total ban, reports Broadcasting Flevoland. The province of Flevoland assumes that degassing will not take place while sailing. But on a special map of the ministry, skippers exactly indicated where the degassing is tolerated. And one of these routes runs right along the Flevoland coast.
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When cleaning the tanks, degassing, the released substances, such as benzene, can end up in the water or on land. These vapours/gases usually belong to the group ‘substances of very high concern’. This means that, for example, they impede reproduction, are carcinogenic or accumulate in the food chain.
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According to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, the province itself could take action against the degassing, but the Flevoland & Gooi en Vechtstreek Environment Service, which enforces environmental legislation, says that ‘this is not a task that the province has entrusted to them’.
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