Hans J Marter

29 November, 2008

Shetland coastguard is calling on all local boat owners to stop dumping old distress flares in community skips, after scores were found by council staff.

Sector manager John Webster said yesterday (Friday) that he was horrified by the irresponsible behaviour by some sectors of the community.

Council workers were risking their lives when emptying skips that are supplied for people to dispose off bulky waste, he added.

"Over the last three months council workers have been picking upwards of 60 old flares from community skips, some of which were in a very dire state.

"It is unbelievable that boat owners are stupid enough to dump these flares in their community skips.

"It worries me that these people don't seem to have a conscience. Could they live with themselves if they knew that flare had gone off and either maimed somebody or worse, kill somebody?" he asked.

He said that on one occasion a distress flare had gone of and hit the cab of a digger that was busy separating the content of the skip.

"If it had been a nice day, the chances are that the driver would have had the front window open, and then we could have been dealing with a very different situation altogether," he said.

Emergency flares can be extremely powerful missiles. They reach a height of 300 metres in just two and half seconds and burn very hot and intense. They usually have a shelf life of four years and need to be disposed of thereafter.

He reminded local boat owners that Shetland coastguard would take care of old flares at no charge and regularly burn them in a controlled environment with the help of specialists from the bomb disposal team.

"It is illegal for anybody to dump time expired pyrotechnics. People are supposed to dispose them in a proper manner," Mr Webster said.