AS the debate rages over whether the ghost ships should have been sent to Teesside, isn't it interesting to read the comments of Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis.

On this side of the Atlantic, opinions vary wildly over the potential dangers posed by the rotting American Navy vessels.

The business lobby in the North-East, supported by such powerful figures as Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson and the Mayor of Middlesbrough, Ray Mallon, insists the risks have been blown out of all proportion by the likes of Friends of the Earth.

The environmentalists, on the other hand, say the dangers are very real indeed and it is a scandal of international scale that they were allowed to set sail in the first place.

Our view is that it is a huge mess, with conflicting messages coming from the Government, and too many questions for ordinary people to be able to make a judgement on bringing contaminated ships 4,500 miles across the ocean to the North-East coast.

Congresswoman Davis, however, is very clear indeed in what she thinks. Her press release drips with her delight at seeing the back of the ships which "are potential disasters waiting to happen".

"An oil spill would cripple the James river, creating an environmental disaster and decimating the economy of the area," she adds, before boldly asserting: "We are doing the right thing by removing these ships. It is an environmental necessity."

Obvious questions spring from her ebullient words: If an oil spill would cripple the James, what might it do to the Tees? Can it be right to send ships which are 'disasters waiting to happen' thousands of miles across stormy seas? And what does this all do to the image of our region?

Heralding the launch of £1bn regeneration plans for Teesside this week, the aforementioned Mr Mallon said this: "People think of Teesside as smog and bleakness which is not true. We need to re-brand, we need a new designer label tag for the area."

Does that re-branding exercise include Teesside becoming a dumping ground for the ships American politicians are overjoyed to see the back of?