Pollution hazard from the submarine wreck off Fedje to be eliminated

Following discussions by the Government, the Acting Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Dag Terje Andersen, has decided that the submarine wreck and the contaminated areas around it are to be entombed. A sarcophagus will isolate the mercury from the marine environment, thereby eliminating the pollution hazard. Subsequent annual inspections are to ensure that the sarcophagus protects the environment in the long term.

“It is important for us that the actions we take are the best ones for the environment in both the short and long terms,” says Andersen. “The mercury must be isolated permanently to prevent its being taken up by marine organisms, shellfish and fish. For that reason we are following the recommendation of the Norwegian Coastal Administration to entomb both the wreck and the contaminated sediments. For the entombment pure olivine sand is to be used first, which is good at binding mercury. This will be covered by other materials to protect against erosion. The entombment work will be put out for bids, with work set to begin as soon as this summer,” Andersen adds.  

In its report to the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, the Norwegian Coastal Administration considered several alternatives for eliminating the pollution from the wreck. The Administration’s assessments and recommendation are based on physical investigations of the actual wreck and area surrounding it in 2005 and 2006, as well as assessments collected from a number of Norwegian and international experts and institutions. Det Norske Veritas has done an independent risk assessment of alternative means of dealing with the wreck. The overall environmental risk of entombing the wreck is substantially lower than of raising it.

Raising the wreck would involve a major risk of spreading mercury pollution to areas not yet contaminated. Raising can cause uncontrolled spreading of mercury in two ways. First, damaged mercury containers/loose mercury in the wreck can leak out during the actual raising operations and the moving of the wreck to sheltered waters, which is necessary to raise the wreck. Second, during any raising there will be a great risk an uncontrolled spread of the already polluted sediments to areas as yet uncontaminated. Another aspect is possible accidents when removing ammunition from the wreck.

Subsequent inspections and yearly analyses of sediment samples taken from the area will ensure that we can be confident that the entombment is effective in the long term as well. This subsequent inspection and testing programme will be a guarantee that the mercury from the submarine has actually been isolated.

“The wreck of U-864 with its hazardous cargo has been lying there from 1945 until today. It is therefore time to clean up. The sediments near the wreck have been contaminated, and the environmental risk is deemed to be great. As I am confident that this is the best solution from an environmental perspective, I am happy that we are now getting started on eliminating the pollution hazard permanently,” Andersen, concludes.

State Sectretary Vidar Ulriksen's presentation at the press conference on 13 February 200 7 (in Norwegian)  
(pdf-format)

See also: The Norwegian Coastal Authority’s web pages on the submarine U-864