the amount of oily waste arising from such actions).
(d) Obtain and allocate resources on an agreed priority basis
(e) Determine methods for disposal of oily wastes arising from the cleanup operations.
(f) Monitor progress of the cleanup operation.
(g) Issue regular briefings to the press, elected members, and Government Ministers.
1.4 It is essential that participating parties in the JRC act within groups defined by their function rather than separate individual organisations. Experience has shown that the establishment of functional groups, with defined responsibilities, will enable participating organisations to coalesce rapidly within a JRC and perform effectively. The main functional groups are the Management. Technical and Procurement Teams and these are supported by the Press Team, Environment Group and the Finance Group.
E. Cleanup operation in a rough sea; Operations policy, strategy and equipment employed
1.1 Mechanical recovery operations at sea above wind force 6 are ineffective and potentially dangerous to personnel working on deck. Aerial spraying operations can continue further but a decision needs to be taken on whether the oil droplets are being blown away and not making a good contact with oil. The point is if the conditions are really rough then nature is carrying out the dispersant operation for you and no further means of assistance is needed from man. The BRAER incident in 1993 is an example where there were storm force winds for much of the time so no at sea operation was mounted, except aerial spraying was tried right at the beginning but was terminated due to weather, and no oil landed on the beach as it was dispersed naturally in the water column.
1.2 It is not considered cost effective for UK to make a heavy investment in larger vessels because of its long coastline and poor weather conditions. It is estimated that mechanical recovery is not feasible for over 70% of the year. There is always a limitation with mechanical recovery of oil going under a boom at more than 3/4 kt and over the top above force 5.
1.3 There will always be a major problem with heavier fuel oils which are not amenable to dispersants but new dispersants are being produced which claim to be more effective on heavier viscous oils and UK is conducting trials this September in the North Sea to check their veracity.
Discussion
Toenshoff: Mr. Gainsford, you have a very sizable amount of spill response equipment in your inventory. I was wondering, how are your steady state operations funded for capital as well as operating expenses? Are they funded by government or by industry?
Gainsford: Well, obviously, oil spill response is a joint effort between central government,local government and industry. Central government does provide a certain amount and has funded those stockpiles, which are by no means totally comprehensive. So in a major oil spill incident like SEA EMPRESS, we rely heavily on contractors, who work our equipment, and also on the oil industry to provide backup in manpower, particularly beach masters, and also in other equipment. We have about 1,200 t of dispersant, which is quite sizable, and that's backed up by about 300 t of industry's dispersant. So it is a joint effort and always will be.
Toenshoff: With only 13 people, what is the source of your response personnel and do they have any special training requirements in the U.K.?
Gainsford: We've always kept the main team very small. In that 13, there are three scientists, three mariners, 6 Administrators and myself. And we centralize so that we are available to go anywhere
