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The graphs below show the average total levels of different classes of contaminants taken as part of the licensing of different port dredges around the UK. The River Tees is responsible for a large of the UK's disposal of contamination in UK waters, both because of the consistently elevated levels of contamination within the dredged sediment and also due to the large quantities of material dredge each year.
Looking at polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), gives a sense of level to which the River Tees is contaminated.
The total PAH level in the River Tees sediment is 10x that in Harwich sediment, 4x that in Mersey Docks sediment, 4x that in River Mersey Channel and equivalent to that in Mersey Approach Channel.
River Tees
MLA/2025/00263
MLA/2015/00088
Mersey
MLA/2021/00202 - Mersey Navigation
MLA_2014_00573 - Liverpool Docks
Harwich
MLA/2023/00020
