Representatives of two international agreements are contacting relevant authorities in the UK about the activities of the Isle of Man Government, regarding issues around man-made organic chemicals in the island’s waters.

That’s according to Dr Calum MacNeil, who was a freshwater biologist and environmental protection officer with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) until September 2017.

He has raised serious concerns in the past about the environmental quality standards recommended by the DEFA for highly toxic man-made compounds called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

PCBs are banned and their deliberate release into the environment is outlawed at any concentration.

They are banned because they persist in the environment for decades, bioaccumulate in mammals and biomagnify up the food chain.

They also cause birth defects in mammals even at extremely low concentrations and are thought to be highly carcinogenic.

Dr MacNeil warned that EQS being recommended for our bathing and non-bathing waters were going to lead to the island breaking international law - as well as being in direct conflict with our UNESCO Biosphere status.

The ex-DEFA employee confirmed to the Examiner that he has ’received assurances from the secretariats of OSPAR and ASCOBANS that they are contacting relevant authorities in UK about the activities of the Isle of Man Government, specifically DEFA, in respect of PCB issues.’

OSPAR is the mechanism by which 15 governments - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - and the European Union cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic - it is so named because of the original Oslo and Paris Conventions.

ASCOBANS stands for the ’Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas’ and is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Dr MacNeil also stated that he has contacted the Zoological Society of London, and that UNESCO will be contacting the Isle of Man Government for an explanation of supposed continued PCB discharge into Peel Bay and supposed discharge of untreated dairy waste into Douglas Bay.

He said: ’Professor Price [of UNESCO] has confirmed he is aware of my other complaints to UNESCO policy sections, in respect of dredging and PCB issues and plans to dump PCB laden silt on an Isle of Man hillside and plans to deliberately put PCB contaminated effluent through conventional sewage treatment plants.

’I am concerned about various seepages of PCBs into the environment such as the river Neb at Glenfaba Bridge.

’If any seepages are occurring in public areas and the public aren’t being made aware of their exposure risk, then I strongly feel there is legal liability there in respect of DEFA.’

He also stated that despite the use of consultants, ’the ultimate responsibility for any legal liability in respect of public exposure risk and ignoring international agreements must ultimately lie with DEFA.’

When Dr MacNeil raised concerns last year over the safe storage of silt from Peel marina, claiming it contains toxic chemicals that are potentially damaging to the environment, the government said: ’The de-watering lagoon for Peel marina silt is subject to a discharge licence which requires compliance with appropriate environmental quality standards and for which compliance monitoring is undertaken including using continuous sampling sensors.’