Background
Following the TORREY CANYON incident off the Sicilly Isles in 1967, the U.K. Government recognised that it was not reasonably practical for owners of deep sea tankers, which voyage world-wide, to make contingency arrangements for dealing with oil spills, wherever they may occur. Accordingly, Central Government decided to accept the responsibility for dealing with spillages of oil at sea from shipping casualties which threaten U.K. interests.
At the same time, shoreline Local Authorities at both Country and District level accepted the non-statutory responsibility for both contingency planning and the cleanup of shoreline pollution arising from oil spills.
Local Authorities have no specific statutory duty for cleanup of the shoreline, but have the power to incur expenditure to alleviate the effects of an emergency oil incident. Lord Donaldson's inquiry into the BRAER Incident recommended that Local Authorities (and harbour authorities) should be given a statutory responsibility for cleanup and a duty to produce contingency plans. The Government has agreed to consider this.
Prior to 31 March 1996, the Oil Pollution Response Plan was written and maintained by the Civil Protection Planning Unit of Dyfed County Council on behalf of the County Council and all the maritime District / Borough Councils in West Wales. The Plan detailed the response to be made by the CPPU Duty Officer in notifying the County Oil Pollution Officer and other agencies to respond to an oil pollution incident.
Following Local Government Reorganisation in Wales in April, 1996, the roles of the County and Districts have merged. An officer from the CPPU has been appointed to each new Unitary Authority and he will work closely with the County Oil Pollution Officer to maintain a Local Contingency Plan for the new authority.
The aim of the Local Contingency Plan is to provide a plan for Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire that will assist them to mount an effective response to oil pollution of the coastline. Also, that the contents of the document are consistent with those of the Milford Haven Port Authority, oil companies, and other agencies, and to collate and record information on all available resources pertaining to oil pollution cleanup. It must also, of course, be consistent with the National Contingency Plan.
The Dyfed Oil Pollution Advisory Group (DOPAG) was set up to foster close working relationships amongst the key local organisations. In 1993, the Group produced beach data and cleanup guidelines which involved detailed sessions between key officers of the various organisations within the Group. The exercise helped to concentrate minds on crucial issues such as access routes and appropriate cleanup methods, and provided very useful 1:10,000 annotated maps showing agreed temporary holding locations.
The Group recently held its first meeting following Local Government Reorganisation, under its new name of WWOPAG, the West Wales Oil Pollution Advisory Group. One of its first tasks will be to update the Local Oil Pollution Contingency Plan, following lessons learnt from the SEA EMPRESS.
Training is an essential part of planning to deal with oil spills. The Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) run courses in shoreline cleanup and management techniques, and also arrange demonstrations of oil cleanup equipment on a regular basis. DOPAG have also run training exercises, including major exercises involving the establishment of a Joint Response Centre.
Booming exercises have also been carried out, and provide a good opportunity to identify the real problems associated with these techniques; such as health and safety issues and difficulties with access to booming points. Boom trials are usually carried out in near ideal conditions, and it is important to realise that conditions may well be far from ideal in a real incident.
Preplanning of waste management is essential, not only for final disposal sites and methods of disposal, but also for setting up secure intermediate storage areas. The Beach Data and Cleanup Guidelines associated with our Plan have outlined various sites for immediate temporary holding of oily waste material, whether it be in skips or lined pits. If this arrangement is likely to persist, then liaison with the Environment Agency needs to be undertaken as soon as possible, as licensing arrangements will need to be pursued.
Consideration also needs to be given to the range of waste which is generated from an oil spill, and the best option for dealing with it. From a spill, the solid wastes are oiled sand and shingle, oiled beach materials such as seaweed and jetsam (timber and plastics), and also materials oiled in the cleanup, such as mops, sponges, booms, protective clothing, and pompoms.
