A marine environmental scientist has launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay court costs to file a lawsuit against the government for dumping contaminated materials into the sea.

Kevin Kennington appealed to the government for the dumping of the material in 2016 shortly before announcing the Isle of Man as a UNESCO Biosphere – an area where locals work with biodiversity and its sustainable use.

He has so far raised more than £3,000 of his £10,000 target to present the constructive dismissal case.

Earlier an investigation revealed that an unnamed senior Manx official sanctioned the deliberate dumping of contaminated silt into the Irish Sea.

Silt was known to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals, which are banned because they cause a range of conditions harmful to the environment and human health, including cancer, effects on the immune system, reproductive systems, nervous disorders. system and endocrine systems.

This action ignored local and international agreements, according to Dr Kennington.

chemical products

Sediments analyzed from Peel Harbor revealed that many chemicals exceeded environmental standards. Dr Kennington said it had caused ‘significant pollution’ in Peel Bay.

In a statement, it said: ‘The government’s legal team had argued that there was no case to answer on their part and asked the Employment Tribunal to strike out the case. An expungement hearing was held in May 2021.

“However, upon arriving in court, the government’s own legal team immediately withdrew the request for disbarment.

“As a result, my legal fees have cost over £70,000 so far, with the bulk of that spent preparing for the strike-out hearing.

“I think this was a deliberate strategy by the government to waste my legal representative’s time, my limited financial resources. This of course led to more stress and mental anguish.

He added: ‘[UNESCO Biosphere status] is a huge blow for the island and it is wrong that government services, which have the responsibility to protect the environment, can jeopardize this status, contrary to the advice given to them by professional officers. I believe this is nothing less than environmental vandalism.

He collects witness statements that he intends to exchange “during the month of February”. Court dates have been set between March 29 and April 5.

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