AN international legal battle to stop the US "Ghost Fleet" heading for Britain was launched by environmentalists last night.

Campaigners fear plans to tow the condemned warships from America to Teesside for disposal could lead to an environmental disaster.

And The Northern Echo can reveal that one of the rusting hulks earmarked for the 4,000-mile trip has already been at the centre of a major pollution scare.

Marcello Mollo, a lawyer for Californian-based Earth Justice, said he was preparing a lawsuit to be filed in the federal court.

The group also claims that the US Environmental Protection Agency should have solicited public comment before granting the Maritime Administration a waiver for shipping the vessels to another country.

The action is being backed by the Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN). Spokesman Richard Gutierrez said: "We fully intend to block it. This is a transport of pollution from the US to Britain."

As well as oil in the ships' tanks, environmentalists are worried about tons of other hazardous material on the ships including asbestos, lead, mercury and carcinogenic PCBs, an insulant used in ships' wiring.

Those fears were reinforced last night when it emerged that one of the ships was involved in a pollution spill three years ago.

The USS Donner is one of the ageing vessels in the James River, off Fort Eustis, in Virginia, that will be towed to the disposal site operated by Able UK in Hartlepool.

Despite fears that such an arduous journey could damage or even sink the ships, American officials say they are confident the 13 ships are strong enough to make it intact.

However, The Northern Echo has discovered that in August 2000, about 1,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil leaked from a hole in the Donner's corroded hull.

It created a slick two miles long.

At the time of the spill, the Donner was regarded as a "low risk" vessel.

Although the US Maritime Administration has agreed to remove heavy fuel from the ships before they are scrapped, the revelation will only increase unease among environmentalists.

About 100 large cargo and military-support vessels are moored in the James River Reserve Fleet; nearly 70 are considered obsolete and ripe for the scrap yard. Locals know them as the Ghost Fleet.

Environmentalists have long lobbied the US Government to get rid of the ships. In total, the fleet is estimated to hold 7.7 million gallons of oil and fuel - only slightly less than the amount spilled by the oil tanker Exxon Valdex off the coast of Alaska in 1989.

The $17m contract to dispose of 13 vessels by towing them across the Atlantic to Hartlepool seemed like the perfect answer. But the vast distance has sparked renewed protests.

American authorities say they selected the Able UK bid because it offered the lowest price - a scrapping rate of $104.50 per ton against the domestic rate of $250 per ton.

In the UK, Friends of the Earth is planning its own legal challenge.

Spokesman Mike Child said: "This is being rushed through at breakneck speed. America wants rid of them."

Under the contract, all the vessels must be removed from the US no later than November 30. Failure to do so will lead to penalties of £1,350 per vessel per day.

Able UK maintains the vessels are perfectly sea-worthy and says environmentalists are merely scaremongering.

If the plan goes ahead, the ships will be tied together in pairs and towed to dry dock at Graythorp, near Hartlepool, where they will be cut up. Material that cannot be recycled will be buried at a landfill site at Seaton Meadows.

Managing director of Able UK, Peter Stevenson, said: "Everything we are aware of has been done correctly and there is no reason why legal action to stop the ships leaving the US should be successful."