THE BRAER INCIDENT: SHETLAND ISLANDS, JANUARY 1993

ABSTRACT On Tuesday, January 5, 1993, the tanker Braer laden with 84,700 metric tons of Norwegian Gullfaks crude oil drifted aground at Garths Ness, Shetland Islands. Over the next eight days, the vessel's total cargo of crude oil was spilled. The Marine Pollution Control Unit immediately activated the Marine Emergencies Information Room in London and deployed staff to Shetland. It was agreed with Shetland Islands Council to establish a joint response center at Sumburgh Airport to coordinate and control the shoreline cleanup. The incident affected an area of international environmental importance and also threatened the local economy. Because of the lightness of Gullfaks crude and the severe weather, the bulk of the oil dispersed naturally and very little came ashore. The land beyond the shoreline was polluted by airborne oil spray carried on the storm force winds. Aerial spraying of dispersant on oil on the sea took place on three days. Some environmentally sensitive areas were protected by booms and dams. Of the 39 sites considered at risk, only 9 beaches and other sites merited cleaning.

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THE SEA EMPRESS INCIDENT: OVERVIEW AND RESPONSE AT SEA

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1997-1-177 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 1997 (1) ◽

pp. 177-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Harris

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Crude Oil ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Control Unit ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Aerial Surveillance ◽

Oil Tanker

ABSTRACT The oil tanker Sea Empress spilled more than 72,000 tons (23 million U.S. gallons) of crude oil when she grounded at Milford Haven, United Kingdom, on February 15, 1996. The response at sea by the U.K. government through the Coastguard Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit involved aerial surveillance, the spraying of dispersants from aircraft, and the recovery of several thousand tons of oil from the sea surface. This paper by the overall commander presents an overview of the incident and the response operation at sea.

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Glenwood Canyon Tunnel Aesthetic Design

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198196154900108 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 1549 (1) ◽

pp. 61-68

Author(s):

Craig A. Frey ◽

Scott L. Danielson ◽

Douglas M. Slakey

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Driving Forces ◽

The United States ◽

Environmental Concerns ◽

Advisory Groups ◽

Environmentally Sensitive Areas ◽

Mobile Population ◽

Environmentally Sensitive ◽

And Control ◽

Transportation Facilities

As a growing and increasingly mobile population demands the construction of new transportation facilities, often in environmentally sensitive areas, the significance of quality transportation aesthetics cannot be overemphasized. Given the associated costs, impact, and permanence of these facilities, it is imperative that citizen advisory groups, public agencies, and design professionals work together in striving to improve the design and construction of transportation facilities. The Glenwood Canyon Tunnel in western Colorado is testimonial to the successful corroboration of these groups. Designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff and completed in 1993, the Glenwood Canyon Tunnel transports Interstate 70 traffic through one of the most scenic areas in the United States while preserving its natural features, vistas, and associated recreational opportunities. Architectural aesthetics and environmental concerns were driving forces in the design of the tunnel, in addition to life safety, tunnel ventilation, and surveillance. This study elaborates on the emphasis given to aesthetics and environmental concerns in the design of the tunnel, the Shoshone and amphitheater portals, and the Cinnamon Creek ventilation and control complex, as well as on the coordinated efforts of all those involved in making the Glenwood Canyon Tunnel state of the art and an aesthetically pleasing reality that has gained recognition throughout the United States.

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UNITED KINGDOM MARINE POLLUTION CONTINGENCY PLANNING—A REVIEW OF THE LAST TWO YEARS

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1987-1-167 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 1987 (1) ◽

pp. 167-169

Author(s):

Michael L. Stacey

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Research Effort ◽

Control Unit ◽

Contingency Planning ◽

Emergency Operations ◽

Chemical Spills ◽

Bulk Chemical ◽

Made In

ABSTRACT A report presented two years ago at this Conference described United Kingdom marine pollution contingency planning and a number of changes that had been identified. Progress has been made in these areas and further areas for change have been identified. Responsibility for dealing with marine pollution has been centralized in a Marine Pollution Control Unit, and to this has now been added responsibility for Her Majesty's Coastguard as well as for marine casualties around the U.K., with authority vested in one post—Director, Marine Emergency Operations. Work on developing contingency plans for bulk chemical spills also has begun and some research effort has been redirected from oil spill problems to this area.

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The work of the Marine Pollution Control Unit

10.1049/ic:19951015 ◽

1995 ◽

Author(s):

K. Colcomb

Keyword(s):

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Control Unit

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SPILL MODELING AS PART OF THE RESPONSE AND MONITORING STRATEGY AT THE SEA EMPRESS INCIDENT

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1997-1-930 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 1997 (1) ◽

pp. 930-932

Author(s):

Jan Rusin ◽

Tim Lunel ◽

Andrew Tyler

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Great Britain ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Control Unit ◽

Response Strategy ◽

Monitoring Strategy ◽

Dispersed Oil ◽

South Wales

ABSTRACT On February 15, 1996, the Sea Empress went aground at Milford Haven off the Pembrokeshire coast of South Wales, Great Britain. Between February 15 and 21 some 72,000 tons of Forties blend crude oil were released into the marine environment. The model OSIS (oil spill information system) was developed jointly by AEA Technology and BMT Marine Information Systems. OSIS was successfully used by AEA Technology for the U.K. Coastguard Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) as a response tool to predict the fate, trajectory, and likely beaching of oil, thus aiding in the decisions and optimizing response strategy. The MPCU has subsequently contracted AEA Technology to develop OSIS to predict the long-term fate of the dispersed oil and to identify areas of deposition following oil-sediment interaction.

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Protection of Sensitive Coastal Areas in the United Kingdom: From Torrey Canyon to the New Millenium1

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1999-1-149 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 1999 (1) ◽

pp. 149-163

Author(s):

Robin Perry

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Control Unit ◽

Oil Industry ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Oil Storage ◽

Environment Agency ◽

Future Plans

ABSTRACT The tanker Torrey Canyon grounded in 1967 beginning the era of the major oil spill. The United Kingdom was unprepared for this event. Nevertheless, following the spill, much research was carried out, including methods for the protection of environmental and socio-economic sensitive areas. However, little was done to produce detailed protection plans for such sites. These can save hours of response time, as boom locations, priorities, layouts, deployment methods, equipment requirements, access and temporary oil storage arrangements will be specified. Yet in the United Kingdom, the Shoreline Response Centre (Command Centre) continued to decide these things after the spill had occurred, which was often too late. In 1990, a spill from the tanker Rosebay occurred in the English Channel, off the sensitive South Devon coast. Protection plans were non-existent. This gave an impetus to develop coastal protection planning, which the SW Region of the National Rivers Authority (NRA) commenced. In 1995, it was recommended that this should be extended throughout the United Kingdom to a common standard. Unfortunately, various factors delayed commencement of this work, which was jointly carried out in 1998 by the Environment Agency (EA), the successor to the NRA, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Marine Pollution Control Unit and the Northern Ireland Environment and Heritage Service. In the meantime, many unsatisfactory plans were produced for the upstream oil industry. The paper reviews this background and describes the new national coastal protection planning guidelines. It also includes completed examples, describes the testing and validation process and describes future plans.

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UNITED KINGDOM—A REVIEW OF THE NEED TO MINIMISE OIL SPILLAGE IN MARINE CASUALTY SITUATIONS

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1981-1-211 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 1981 (1) ◽

pp. 211-214

Author(s):

Michael L. Stacey

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Control Unit ◽

Paper Briefly ◽

Port Authorities ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Oil Spillage ◽

Safe Working

ABSTRACT This paper briefly describes the recently formed Marine Pollution Control Unit for dealing with marine pollution around the United Kingdom and considers the need to minimise oil spillage in marine casualty situations by emergency lightening, and the need for safe working conditions provided by coastal havens and ports of refuge. Concern is expressed at the reluctance of coastal and port authorities to offer assistance to damaged ships.

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