Eodex and Stop Sea Blasts: Changing policy on unexploded ordnance disposal

Campaign and Advocacy, PR and Media Relations, Government Relations and Public Affairs

The Challenge

Over 100,000 tonnes of unexploded ordnance lie in waters around the UK, a legacy of the First and Second World Wars. These bombs, mines and shells must be cleared to allow for the safe construction of offshore wind farms however the most common method of removing old munitions has been detonation – simply blowing them up.

For marine life, this disruption could be deadly – marine mammals are particularly vulnerable to noise trauma which can cause deafness, disorientation and, in the worst cases, mass stranding events.

The Tendo team was funded by Eodex Limited and supported by a number of leading marine conservation charities to set up the ‘Stop the Sea Blasts’ campaign, which called for leftover WWII bombs to be cleared using a new military-based technology called low-order deflagration can remove munitions from the sea floor without an explosion, allowing for the safe disposal of old munitions without damage to the marine environment.

Our Strategy

The Tendo team implemented an intensive programme of reactive and proactive media engagement with the goal of raising awareness of the issue within Government and harnessing public opinion to persuade the relevant departments to act in our favour. We secured Joanna Lumley as the leading face of the campaign and achieved significant media coverage with hits in national outlets such as the Guardian, Daily Mail, ITV News, The BBC, The Telegraph, The Times, The Express, The Independent, along with significant regional coverage and broadcast appearances on the Jeremy Vine Show, BBC Radio 4, GB News, and Sky News, among others. A report from the NPL was mentioned in almost all of the press coverage of the campaign.

Through a public affairs programme, we drove parliamentary support through briefing sessions and roundtables with disposal experts, marine organisations and Dame Joanna. We supported Eodex to engage directly with officials at Defra to offer a constructive, workable and politically-appealing solution to the problem.

The result

We successfully took an important issue with almost no public or parliamentary profile and, within twelve months, boosted it up the political agenda to achieve change.

The campaign proved to be successful after 1 year of active media and government engagement, with then Environment Secretary George Eustice agreeing to back the cause following a meeting with Joanna Lumley. The decision to opt for the use of new technology was indicated in November 2021 with the publication of a policy paper backing the use of ‘lower noise alternatives’ instead of ‘high order detonations.’

We are proud to have worked alongside EODEX to launch and run the award-winning Stop Sea Blasts campaign, securing policy change to protect marine mammals from the impact of unexploded ordnance disposal.