Chapter 5 Selected European Oil Spill Policies INTRODUCTION authority to use whatever means are deemed most appropriate to fight the spill. Oil that In order to investigate oil spill technologies has reached the shoreline is the responsibility in use abroad and to learn how the United of local authorities. States might benefit from the oil spill experi- For fighting oil spills at sea, the offshore ences and policies of some other countries, area surrounding France has been divided OTA staff visited four countries bordering the into three maritime regions. Oil spill re- North Sea in September, 1989: France, the sponses within each region are directed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Nor- responsible Maritime Prefect, a senior Navy way. OTA’s trip was coordinated by the Inter- officer who is also responsible for the defense national Petroleum Industry Environmental of the area.1 The Maritime Prefect’s first pri- Conservation Association and included visits ority is to prevent maritime accidents by en- to a number of government and industry or- forcing navigation regulations. Traffic separa- ganizations in these countries. The four coun- tion lanes have been established in some tries selected represent a wide range of tech- areas, and large, ocean-going tugs are used as nologies and countermeasures policies. Below both “watch dogs” and rescue ships. In the are some of the highlights of our findings. event of a spill, the Maritime Prefect func- tions as onscene commander rather than on- scene coordinator, and hence has considerably FRENCH OIL SPILL POLICY more authority than his U.S. Coast Guard counterpart. (If a similar arrangement were in The French seriously began to consider a effect in the United States, at least 4 “mari- comprehensive approach to fighting oil spills time prefects, ” possibly U.S. Coast Guard offi- in the aftermath of the Torrey Canyon cers, would be required, one each for the East, grounding off England in 1967, but French Gulf, West, and Alaskan coasts). Relatively policy evolved significantly as a consequence minor spills are handled with local equip- of France’s unfortunate experience with the ment. If a spill occurs that is larger than local Amoco Cadiz spill in 1978. This accident, in resources can handle, an offshore marine pol- which approximately 223,000 tons (68 million lution plan, POLMAR MER, is invoked, and gallons) of oil were spilled along the Brittany the Maritime Prefect can then draw on the coast, was about 6.5 times as large as the Ex- equipment and expertise of other regions, xon Valdez spill, making it the fourth largest and, if necessary, of private stocks. in history (table 5-l). Local civil authorities are responsible for Notably, the French have assigned respon- containment and cleanup when an oil spill sibility for fighting oil spills at sea to the reaches or threatens to reach land. Each of French Navy, whose responsibilities are gen- France’s 26 coastal departments (states) pre- erally the equivalent of those of both the U.S. pares its own POLMAR TERRE response Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. Although em- plan, which the prefect (governor) of each de- phasis is placed on spill prevention, once a partment can invoke in the event of a major spill has occurred the French Navy has the threat. The plans identify priority areas to be ‘G. Marchand, G. Bergot, M. Melguen, and G. Peigne, “French Know-How in the Prevention and Fight Against Accidental Oil Spills, ” 1987 Oil Spill Conference Proceedings, Apr. &9, 1987, Baltimore, MD, pp. 15-22. 39 40 . Coping With an Oiled Sea: An Analysis of Oil Spill Response Technologies protected and specify how booms will be in- zation to be an impressive element of its oil stalled in these areas, what public and private spill cleanup plans. There is no comparable equipment is available, and where storage emphasis on defensive beach protection sites and treatment centers for recovered measures in the United States. products are located.2 Small spills are handled Stocks of equipment for fighting offshore by commune officials (mainly by fire depart- ments) with local equipment stocks. The spills are maintained at POLMAR centers in Army may be called for major spills and used Brest, Cherbourg, and Toulon, the headquar- to clean beaches with material and equipment ters of each of the three maritime regions, and from the POLMAR stocks. Having experi- also in Le Havre, Lorient, Port de Bouc, and enced major beach pollution and having rec- Ajaccio. Purchase and maintenance of this ognized that a significant proportion of any equipment is the responsibility of the French major spill may reach the coastline no matter Ministry of Defense. Booms for the protection what measures are taken, the French have put of sensitive nearshore and onshore areas are much effort into research and development of located in eight POLMAR centers around the beach cleaning equipment and into planning country, so that no part of the coastline is fur- and training for beach cleanup. OTA found ther than 250 kilometers from a boom storage French beach cleaning technology and organi- center. Equipment for land cleaning opera- PhoEJ cnxfit Jim Mieh French sand washing machine. 21bid. Chapter 5–Selected European Oil Spill Policies ● 41 tions (e.g., sand washing equipment and hot water pumps) is stationed at two of these eight centers.3 The Secretary of State for the Sea is responsible for the purchase of equip- ment for onshore activities. Unlike the three other countries OTA vis- ited, the French do not rely primarily on one countermeasure technique. Both mechanical equipment and dispersants are at their dis- posal, and the technique or techniques best suited to the circumstances will be employed. While recovery at sea is preferable, the Navy may use dispersants without conferring with others if the spill is seaward of environmen- Ptwfo credit Jim Midke tally sensitive areas (as a rule of thumb, where the water depth is greater than 30 meters). French Egmolap skimmers stockpiled at the POLMAR center in Brest. Egmolap skimmers were used to recover oil French mechanical cleanup equipment is in nearshore areas of Prince William Sound. not radically different from that available in the United States. Some French technology, CEDRE’s missions are spread around various including the Egmolap skimmers successfully U.S. Executive Branch agencies. CEDRE is a used in nearshore operations in Prince Wil- key element in the French oil spill counter- liam Sound, is available in the United States. measures approach. Its existence ensures that Beach cleaning technology (e.g., sand wash- at least some attention is devoted to oil spill ers) is innovative and deserves some attention issues in the sometimes long periods between for use in the United States. Also, the French major spills. have been experimenting with biodegradation accelerating agents. They supplied one of the products (Inipol eap 22) for bioremediation DUTCH OIL SPILL POLICY experiments in Prince William Sound. In the wake of the Amoco Cadiz oil spill the The Dutch rely entirely on mechanical re- French government established CEDRE, the covery for fighting spills as they have no confi- Center for Documentation, Research, and dence in the effectiveness of chemical disper- Experimentation on accidental pollution. sants. The most notable aspect of Dutch Among other things CEDRE advises authori- reliance on mechanical means is their use of ties responsible for pollution control about large dual purpose vessels. Large skimming state-of-the-art techniques, assists and ad- vessels have advantages over small skimmers vises authorities during crises, trains person- because they can simultaneously skim and nel, conducts research to improve existing store much more oil than a small vessel and methods, and tests equipment (including oc- because they can operate in heavier seas. Nev- casional testing in small, deliberate oil spills ertheless, large, dedicated spill vessels are ex- at sea). The organization has a permanent pensive to maintain and operate and slow to staff of 26 and a budget of 10 million francs respond to distant spill sites. The Dutch argue per year. There is no equivalent U.S. organiza- that a large vessel built purely for pollution tion, although counterparts of many of control purposes would be idle for the greater %entre POLMAR de Brest, “The Fight Against Oil Pollution on the Coastline: Missions and Methods of the POLMAR Centers,” May 1987. ——. 42 . Coping With an Oiled Sea: An Analysis of Oil Spill Response Technologies part of its life and is therefore economically The Dutch system is intended (perhaps op- difficult to justify.4 However, vessels that can timistically) to be able to cope with a 30,000 be put to use in periods between oil spills are cubic meter spill (about the size of the Exxon much more attractive. Hopper dredges are es- Valdez spill) in 3 days. Assuming that about pecially suitable for dual use purposes in the 50 percent of a spill evaporates, mechanical Netherlands: the country is small, has a sandy equipment must be able to recover 15,000 cu- coastline, and has significant dredging needs bic meters. In all, 7 units, each unit containing in important ports and waterways. These 200 meters of boom, 2 sweeping arms, a recov- dredges can be equipped with recovery equip- ery vessel, and an assistant vessel, are avail- ment and can hold sizable amounts of recov- able to meet this goal. ered oil. Dredges normally operate in areas where the risk of oil spills is high– the ap- Dual use dredges could prove useful in the proach channels to ports. Moreover, it takes United States. Although no single approach is only a few minutes for a hopper dredge to dis- likely to be the magic solution for all situ- charge its cargo and to be available for spill ations, major port areas where dredges are op- cleanup duties.