Inaccessible beaches and coves
Many of the beaches and coves where operations were carried out were very inaccessible and could only be accessed with difficulty. Some sites were only accessible by sea, or with the aid of a crane to provide access for labour and plant and also for the removal of materials.
Winding Down of Operations
Operations were wound down prior to Winter, and the JRC was relocated to a portakabin in Pembroke Dock. This is particularly convenient, as the Finance Section is also located there, and this assists in the preparation and validation of our claim, which is still on-going.
Regular monitoring of affected beaches continued over the Winter period with hit squads being deployed to react to any problem which arose. It was hoped that the high energy generated during the Winter storms would assist in breaking up and dispersing naturally any remaining oil contamination still present.
We have just completed a detailed survey of all beaches and other sites that were treated as part of the shoreline cleanup. The results of this survey have enabled us to assess the degree of natural cleanup achieved over the Winter period, and also to identify areas where problems still exist. The information will enable us to identify and plan operations still required prior to the main tourist season.
Lessons Learnt
A wash-up exercise was held in late September 1996, to review the operation of the JRC. This proved to be a very constructive exercise, with the individual teams within the JRC (Management, Technical, Environmental, Media, Support and Marine) meeting separately to discuss their views on the operation, and then reporting back with their findings.
The aim of the wash-up was:
To identify the strengths and weaknesses of the operation of the JRC.
To note the lessons leamt and make recommendations for the future.
To produce a full report on the proceedings
This information will then be used to modify the National Contingency Plan and to revise MPCU's information sheets (Scientific, Technical and Operational Advise (STOp) Notes). It will also be used to modify our own Local Contingency Plan.
Discussion
Suzuki: In your presentation, you mentioned about waste management and waste disposal, which was quite instructive to us. But there is one thing I wanted to know further. I believe you mentioned about the refineries, where the recovered oil had been transported. What was the technique employed to finally dispose of such oil at the refineries? Because in Japan, in the NAKHODKA incident, the waste oil were discharged into certain designated areas, where the industrial wastes were treated, and incinerated. So how did you do this at your refineries, in your case?
Lunel: In this particular case, they're actually going to try and reprocess the liquid waste through the refinery itself. There's about 1,000 t of oil, and they're blending it in very slowly with the oil that is already coming into the refinery and they're actually going to reprocess it. The solid waste was taken to a land farm. So this only applies to the liquid waste.
