and Schleswig-Holstein are responsible for the enforcement of this law; every industrial plant in the coastal area has to be submitted to experts and sanctioned with
regard to possible problems arising from the release of wastes.
At the national level, however, laws of this kind are double-edged: they might lead to
the fact that an industrial plant settles down in the neighboring county if the requirements for the quality of waste water can be more easily met there. Moreover, the
harmful substances are carried from one coast to the other by ocean currents. For
this very reason the Paris Convention has been worked out in the framework of the
European Community which is intended to uniformly regulate the "prevention of
marine pollution from land-based sources". This convention of 1974 has also been
signed by the Federal Republic of Germany, but it has not yet entered into force,
because it took a long time to reach an agreement between the member states of the
European Community on the question whether emission standards or water quality
standards should serve as a basis for judgement. Special guidelines were worked out
by the European Community for the judgement of pollution of sea- and freshwaters
for bathing, for quality requirements of seawater in shellfish-cultivating areas and for
wastes resulting from titanium dioxide production.
The Paris Convention will oblige the member states of the European Community to
protect the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea coasts from harmful substances which
enter the oceans through water courses, pipelines, water works in sovereign territory,
or otherwise from the coast.
There will be a "black list" of substances which because their persistence, toxicity,
or capacity to accumulate are so dangerous that their introduction is not permissible
and immediate action must be taken against existing contamination. Among these
substances are chlorinated hydrocarbons, other halogenated organic compounds, and
substances which can form organohalogen compounds in the marine environment,
unless they are decomposable or biologically innocuous substances. Included are:
mercury and cadmium compounds, plastic driving or floating in the seawater and consistent oils and hydrocarbons derived from petroleum.
A "gray list" includes substances whose introduction into the oceans must be strictly
limited. Only with special permission may these substances be released; among them
organophosphorus, organosilicium and organo-tin compounds, pure phosphorus,
degradable oils and hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, compounds of arsenic,
chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, as well as substances which impaire the
taste of fish-meat and other seafood.
Moreover, the Paris Convention stipulates that the member states gradually establish
a control system in their coastal waters in order to realize the degree of marine pollution and to reexamine the efficiency of measures taken so far. The Paris Convention
does not apply to the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean.
In 1974 the Helsinki Convention was elaborated between Denmark, the German
Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the People's Republic of
Poland, Finland, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. The Convention on the Protection
of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area was enforced on May 3, 1980.
This convention includes all types of marine pollution, not only originating from the
coasts and from navigation, but also from the atmosphere. Thus it is laid down in
Annex I that it is not only prohibited to dump DDT and PCB's into the Baltic Sea,
185
regard to possible problems arising from the release of wastes.
At the national level, however, laws of this kind are double-edged: they might lead to
the fact that an industrial plant settles down in the neighboring county if the requirements for the quality of waste water can be more easily met there. Moreover, the
harmful substances are carried from one coast to the other by ocean currents. For
this very reason the Paris Convention has been worked out in the framework of the
European Community which is intended to uniformly regulate the "prevention of
marine pollution from land-based sources". This convention of 1974 has also been
signed by the Federal Republic of Germany, but it has not yet entered into force,
because it took a long time to reach an agreement between the member states of the
European Community on the question whether emission standards or water quality
standards should serve as a basis for judgement. Special guidelines were worked out
by the European Community for the judgement of pollution of sea- and freshwaters
for bathing, for quality requirements of seawater in shellfish-cultivating areas and for
wastes resulting from titanium dioxide production.
The Paris Convention will oblige the member states of the European Community to
protect the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea coasts from harmful substances which
enter the oceans through water courses, pipelines, water works in sovereign territory,
or otherwise from the coast.
There will be a "black list" of substances which because their persistence, toxicity,
or capacity to accumulate are so dangerous that their introduction is not permissible
and immediate action must be taken against existing contamination. Among these
substances are chlorinated hydrocarbons, other halogenated organic compounds, and
substances which can form organohalogen compounds in the marine environment,
unless they are decomposable or biologically innocuous substances. Included are:
mercury and cadmium compounds, plastic driving or floating in the seawater and consistent oils and hydrocarbons derived from petroleum.
A "gray list" includes substances whose introduction into the oceans must be strictly
limited. Only with special permission may these substances be released; among them
organophosphorus, organosilicium and organo-tin compounds, pure phosphorus,
degradable oils and hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, compounds of arsenic,
chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, as well as substances which impaire the
taste of fish-meat and other seafood.
Moreover, the Paris Convention stipulates that the member states gradually establish
a control system in their coastal waters in order to realize the degree of marine pollution and to reexamine the efficiency of measures taken so far. The Paris Convention
does not apply to the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean.
In 1974 the Helsinki Convention was elaborated between Denmark, the German
Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the People's Republic of
Poland, Finland, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. The Convention on the Protection
of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area was enforced on May 3, 1980.
This convention includes all types of marine pollution, not only originating from the
coasts and from navigation, but also from the atmosphere. Thus it is laid down in
Annex I that it is not only prohibited to dump DDT and PCB's into the Baltic Sea,
185