Marine Management Organisation
Sample plans and sediment analysis
The UK is signed up to the London Protocol and OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, both of which address preventing marine pollution from disposal at sea.
MMO licenses disposing of dredged materials at sea and uses guidelines produced by OSPAR to regulate this activity. A marine licence to dispose of dredged materials to sea requires the sediments to be characterised to allow the potential adverse environmental effects of disposing of the material to be considered.
The OSPAR guidelines recommend a tiered approach to assess the sediments, if sufficient information is not already available from existing sources. The assessments required will depend upon the specific details of the proposed activities, although characterisation of a standard set of physical and chemical determinands within the sediments is often necessary.
Sample plans
Before you apply for a marine licence, a sediment sampling plan must be agreed with the MMO in consultation with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). The sample plan will set out the sample locations as well as the specific biological, chemical and physical analysis requirements.
The sample plan must be requested through the MMOs Marine Case Management System as a sample plan request.
If an application for a marine licence is submitted without sediment sample analysis and the MMO considers that this evidence is required, the application will be placed on hold and the applicant directed to request a sample plan.
Sediment analysis
The MMO must ensure that sediment sample analysis data submitted to support a marine licence application is consistent and comparable between separate applications, as well as Cefas action levels. Cefas action levels are currently used by the MMO to decide how suitable it is to dispose of dredged sediments at sea.
You must make sure that sediment sample analysis, as set out in the MMO approved sample plan, is undertaken by a MMO validated laboratory.A laboratory may choose to sub-contract analysis of samples for specific determinands. Any sub-contracted laboratories must also meet the same requirements.
To note: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, some laboratories are experiencing delays in analysing certain chemicals for sediment samples. Please be mindful of this when considering project timeframes and engage with your chosen validated laboratory in order to have a clear understanding of predicted timeframes.
Laboratories that have been validated to undertake sediment sample analysis to inform marine licence applications can be found in the table below, alongside the determinands they have been validated to analyse.
Table 1 Laboratories validated by MMO for sediment analysis to inform marine licence applications and validated determinands
- Yes - determinands validated
- No - determinands unvalidated
| Cefas | National Laboratory Service Environment Agency | SOCOTEC | RPS | Ocean Ecology Limited | Kenneth Pye Associates Limited | Fugro GB Marine Limited | |
| Inorganics (inc. Trace Metals) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Organotins (Tributyltin and dibutylin) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Brominated Flame Retardants | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Total hydrocarbon content (THC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Total Organic Carbon (TOC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Particle Size Analysis (PSA) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Submit data
You must use the results template below to submit sediment sample analysis data, undertaken by a MMO validated laboratory, in support of a marine licence application.
Your sediment sample analysis results should be a single report. The validated laboratories must also provide a chain of custody evidence in support of the analysis results to prove samples have been handled and stored correctly.
Samples taken for chemical analysis must be stored frozen in glass containers. These containers must be acid cleaned (10% volume-to-volume aqueous nitric acid), and solvent-rinsed (hexane or pentane) before they are used. The integrity of container closure must also be protected (solvent-rinsed aluminium foil) to avoid potential loss of determinands, contamination of samples, or both.
A temperature of 25C should not be exceeded at any stage of storage or transportation. Samples not analysed within 48 hours must be stored at 4C (short-term storage, under 1 week). Samples stored for more than 1 week and up to a maximum of 3 months must be kept frozen at -20C or below.
The MMO will request further information to support any incomplete su