15 June 2012
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JEJU, Republic of Korea -Environmental Laboratory (EL) researchers recently represented ERDC as delegates of the 35th meeting of the Scientific Group of the London Convention in Jeju, Republic of Korea.
The London Convention is the international treaty governing the disposal of wastes in the oceans and has been in force since 1975. It authorizes disposal of limited categories of materials in the oceans, with dredged material as the single largest category of material, by volume, which is disposed of in the oceans worldwide.
EL’s Drs. Todd Bridges and Tom Fredette were delegation members at the meeting, which also included representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA and the U.S. State Department.
More than 30 countries participated in the scientific group meeting, in addition to several observing organizations.
Bridges highlighted U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) practices in regard to dredged material management, including its Data Quality Management program, thin-layer placement of dredged material, strategic placement of dredged material for beneficial use and the USACE Engineering with Nature initiative. Bridges also chaired a working group to update the international guidelines for dredged material. The working group included representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan, The Netherlands, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, the United States, Greenpeace International and the World Dredging Association. The updated guidelines represent a substantive improvement with updates drawn from significant advancements in the science and engineering of sediment assessment and management over the last 15 years.
Fredette chaired a working group during the meeting to address barriers to compliance with the London Convention and the 1996 Protocol.
Learn more about the London Convention and its Protocol at http://www.imo.org/blast/blastDataHelper.asp?data_id=21278&filename=LC-LPbrochure.pdf.