Philippines urged to stop experimental urea dumping in waters Posted : Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:01:03 GMT Author : DPA In Manila - Environmental and civil society groups on Monday urged the Philippine government to stop the experimental dumping of urea in Philippine waters by an Australian company as part of efforts to fight global warming. The groups, led by Greenpeace South-East Asia, warned that the project that aims to be eco-friendly would have "serious consequences on the marine ecosystem in the Sulu Sea," which lies between the Philippines and Malaysia. They called on the Philippine government to conduct broad consultations and comprehensive assessments of the environmental and socio-economic impact of the project by Australia's Ocean Nourishment Corp. The project involves releasing granulated urea into oceans to fertilize the growth of plankton, which absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The company has already done small-scale experimental dumpings at several ocean sites worldwide, including the injection of 1 ton of urea in October in the north-eastern portion of the Sulu Sea near the central Philippine island of Panay. "Urea dumping and continual carbon dioxide absorption of the sea may eventually lead to the extinction of some marine species," warned Ditdit Pelegrina of the South-East Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment, one of the groups calling for a stop to the project. Food supplies and the livelihood of millions of Filipino fishermen would also be threatened by adverse changes in the marine ecosystem because of the project, Pelegrina said. Greenpeace South-East Asia campaigner Beau Bacongis lamented that ocean nourishment, which is being promoted as a solution to climate change, was "really an unnecessary distraction" to the effort to fight global warming. 5 November 2007  Civil Society groups call on London Convention to halt marine dumping geoengineering experiments Civil society concerns related to urea dumping are similar to concerns raised about iron fertilization of the ocean, although the quantities of urea proposed are higher. Urea and nitrogen fertilizer pollution caused by agricultural run-off has been linked to the creation of toxic algal blooms in the scientific literature, and raises the possibility of dead zones from oxygen depletion. In June 2007 scientific advisors to the London Convention raised broader concerns about the potential impacts of large-scale artificial algal blooms on marine ecosystems. (The concerns were raised in response to plans by commercial firms such as Planktos, Inc. and Climos, Inc. to fertilize oceans with iron for carbon credits.) We believe the same concerns apply to ONC's urea fertilization plans. In an email to ETC Group, Jones asserted "The Ocean Nourishment Foundation (ONC) owns the rights to marine protein generated by the patented processes of Ocean Nourishment." 1 November 2007.