Pollution

Citation

(2007), "Pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2007.07316eac.002

Pollution

20 February 2006Prestige (Bahamas)

The long-running factual discovery phase in Spain’s $1bn lawsuit against ABS and its consulting subsidiary ABSG Consulting, formerly ABS Marine Services, is scheduled to conclude at the end of next month as two critical offshoots of the case await decisions by a US federal court in New York. The main case is not expected to come to trial as Spain has demanded at least until the summer of next year as the litigating parties wend through the submission of Spain’s and ABS’s expert reports, expert liability discovery and other pre-trial work. However, the two offshoot decisions awaited from Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York have the potential to swing the main case decisively in one direction, or effectively to decide it altogether. The discovery phase has been under way for more than two years, and to date has involved more than 75 depositions. Spain sued ABS for $750m following the incident involving crude oil tanker Prestige in November, 2002, alleging the society’s negligence in classifying the tanker as fit for business. Spain amended the complaint in July, 2004, to include the ABS consulting subsidiary as co-defendant, raising the damages claim to $1bn. Spain’s contention is that ABS’s alleged negligence had been continuous throughout the life of the Prestige. In August, 2004, Judge Swain dismissed four counter-claims against Spain asserted by ABS. ABS separately responded to Spain’s amended complaint, denying the charges levelled against it and presenting several affirmative defences in a legal move possibly designed to pave the way for an apportionment of blame. Spain, however, moved in June last year to dismiss ABS’s affirmative defences, specifically the society’s claim that Spain’s charges against it did not stick because by refusing the Prestige a place of refuge the country had itself effectively breached international law. Spain’s stance in this regard is that as a nation, and also under international law, it had an “absolute and sovereign right” to deny the Prestige access to a place of refuge, a course of action adopted by other European nations in the vessel’s path. Judge Swain’s ruling on Spain’s motion to strike out ABS’s affirmative defences is still awaited. No hearings were scheduled by last week. ABS, meanwhile, has opened up an entirely new legal front in this convoluted case, a move described by experts as unprecedented in shipping annals. The class society has moved before Judge Swain for a summary judgement under the Civil Liability Convention asserting that the only forum for litigation under the convention would be Spain. The argument is that as the deemed agent of the Prestige owner ABS enjoys immunity from all damages arising out of Spain’s lawsuit and should be allowed to avail itself of the convention limits as a ship-owner would. Should the judge agree with this legal viewpoint it could effectively scuttle Spain’s painstakingly compiled $1 bn lawsuit. It remains unknown whether Judge Swain will rule on the motion in tandem with the main $1bn lawsuit.

20 February 2006Xuexi River, Sichuan Province, China

Toxic wastewater was flushed untreated into a river in Southern China, prompting the government to cut water supplies to 28,000 people for at least four days, a local official and a Chinese newspaper said today. The official China Daily said that a power plant on the upper reaches of the Yuexi River in Sichuan province was to blame for the pollution, which prompted environmental officials to suspend water supplies to the town of Guanyin last week. A town leader reached by telephone said 28,000 people had been without water since Tuesday evening (February 14). He said a power plant in nearby Xinqiao County had discharged untreated wastewater directly into the Yuexi. Fire trucks were bringing clean water to residents but supplies were short, he said. There were no reports so far of people sickened by the pollution, he said. A source at the Xinqiao Power Plant said poor quality coal may have been partially to blame for the pollution and that an investigation was under way. The plant had temporarily halted power generation, said the man. An employee with a local water supply company noticed the river water had turned yellow last Tuesday, China Daily said. Tests showed it was polluted with high levels of fluoride, nitrogen and phenol, also known as carbolic acid, it said.

11 March 2006Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, USA

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska’s North Slope region, US officials say. They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state’s Northern tip. The spill was detected on March 2 and plugged. Local environmentalists have described it as “a catastrophe”. “I can confirm it’s the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of”, Linda Giguere from Alaska’s state department of environmental conservation was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. The estimate is based on a survey conducted several days ago at the site where the leak was discovered, officials say. The spill covers about two acres of the snow-covered tundra in the sparsely populated region on Alaska’s North coast, some 1,040 km north of the state’s biggest city, Anchorage. The source of the spill was a hole caused by internal corrosion in the pipeline, officials say. It remains unclear when the leak started.

13 March 2006

Cleaning up the estimated at up to 267,000 gallons of oil spilt in the Prudhoe Bay oil field has been slow going because workers are having to take frequent breaks to protect themselves against extreme conditions. In recent days, the wind chill factor dipped to more than 70 degrees below zero, barely warming to 44 below today. About 60,000 gallons of crude have been recovered since the leak from a ruptured transit line was discovered on March 2 at a site operated by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. Crews used a vacuum truck to recover oil that pooled in some places and carried fresh snow to other spots to absorb the crude. After transferring the contaminated snow to a concrete pad, the mixture will be melted and separated. The crude will ultimately be treated and sold, according to BP officials. The goal is to collect at least 90 per cent of it. Officials emphasise the spill bears a small imprint, taking up a size smaller than two football fields in a vast industrial hub traversed by a network of pipelines, oil gathering stations and power plants. Despite the numbing conditions, the weather is actually helping recovery, turning oil as thick as honey, so it does not spread as quickly as it would in warmer temperatures. The source of the spill was a quarter-inch hole apparently caused by corrosion inside the three-mile line that leads to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Workers on Saturday (March 11) repaired the rupture, welding a metal sleeve on a six-foot section of the line. Crews are inspecting the line to determine whether it can withstand resuming production. The plant, 650 miles North of Anchorage, usually processes 100,000 barrels of oil daily. Full production is not expected to resume for a week or more, said BP incident commander James Fausett. For now, a six-inch pipeline is being used for production of 5,000 barrels daily. BP also is looking at a plan to reroute the crude through another pipeline. The pipeline is equipped with a leak detection system, but officials do not know when the crude began trickling out of the line. BP will investigate whether the system was working at the time, Fausett said. The extent of regulatory penalties BP faces is unknown. Officials with the state DEC said the company could be fined close to $2 million.

21 March 2006

Clean-up operations are continuing at Prudhoe Bay, nearly three weeks after the area’s largest oil spill. BP officials say the active phase is now over, and they have collected more than 63,000 gallons of oil. They are currently in the long-term clean-up phase, meaning the number of workers on site has been cut in half. Officials estimated a little more than 200,000 gallons were spilled. Frigid temperatures continue to hamper their efforts, but crews have been able to work. Meanwhile, a fact-finding investigation has been launched involving BP, state and federal officials.

4 April 2006Tasman Spirit (Malta)

Coastal residents exposed to the crude oil tanker Tasman Spirit oil spill off Karachi nearly three years ago are still suffering eye, skin, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, a study published yesterday reveals. Researchers from Karachi’s Aga Khan University, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency and the University of Alabama in the US began the study shortly after the August 2003 spill. They surveyed 400 people in three groups, coastal-dwellers, those living 2 km inland and 20 km inland, with the first group displaying the most health problems. Khalid Mushtaq, an area physician, confirmed that patients often complained of respiratory infections and asthma. “In the last one year or so, the number of patients of asthma to my clinic increased by some 15 to 20 percent”, he said. Zafar Fatmi, who participated in the research, said there was also a long-term risk of lung cancer. Pakistan last week called for early finalisation of compensation for oil spill caused after Tasman Spirit beached off the Karachi coast, according to local news reports.

9 April 2006Exxon Valdez (USA)

Oil that spilled when non-specific tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a jagged rock in 1989 still lingers on and just below Alaska’s surface. So does the resentment, and a series of state hearings on the continued effects of the 11 million gallon spill is reviving the pain and anger of the people affected by the spill. Exxon Mobil spokesman Mark Boudreaux has said the company paid the compensation it owes and that its studies show Prince William Sound is “healthy, robust and thriving”. But in sometimes emotional testimony on Saturday (April 8), fishermen, native leaders, conservationists and academics said the government should seek additional damages of up to $100 million from Exxon Mobil Corp. for unexpected effects of the spill. “What Exxon did to us is not fair. What has been done to us is a travesty”, said Robert Wolfe, a fisherman who lives in Girdwood. Dozens of people have spoken at hearings that state officials are holding to decide whether to file a claim for additional damages, and at least two more sessions are scheduled. Some of those who testified Saturday raged against Exxon Mobil. Some offered ideas about research and restoration projects that could be done with the money. Others talked about specific species that have not recovered in Prince William Sound, such as Pacific herring. “We’re just fishermen, but it’s a way of life and it’s been destroyed”, said Evan Beedle of Cordova. Bill Hall, a former mayor of Cordova, said the hearings have just sharpened the painful memories of the spill, and the state and federal governments should be able to figure out the lingering effects for themselves. “This for me is an experience of a lingering effect of the oil spill. It’s dragging and making it more painful and sustained over time”, Hall said. Alaska Attorney General David Marquez, who is conducting the hearings, said he was struck by the emotion of the hearings. “One of the things, of course, we have been reminded about is the great passion that surrounds the aftermath of this horrible tragedy, and that’s important for us to hear”, Marquez said. In a 1991 civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay $900 million over a ten-year period ending in 2001. A “re-opener” provision created a window from 2002 to 2006 in which the state and federal governments could claim up to an additional $100 million. That is separate from an unresolved punitive damage judgment of $4.5 billion that the company has not paid. An assessment presented by consultant Lucinda Jacobs for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estimated that as much as six miles of the sound’s shoreline is still affected by the spill, and that as much as 100 tons of Exxon Valdez oil remains in the sound. An undetermined amount lingers beyond the sound, she said. The re-opener provision expires on September 1, and the state and federal governments must file a claim 90 days before that date. They would have to prove that a population, habitat or species had suffered loss or decline in the area of the spill, and that the loss can be linked to the spill.

7 April 2006Maersk Barcelona (Brittany, France)

A court in the French port city of Brest has imposed a record €800,000 fine on the master and manager of the German KG company-owned c.c. Maersk Barcelona for causing the longest marine pollution slick detected in recent times off the French Atlantic coast. Rendering judgement after a hearing on February 1, the court went beyond the €600,000 fine called for by the public prosecutor for the 61 km slick, despite the claim of the Ukrainian master’s defence that it had been due to a “sudden and unexpected breakdown of the vessel’s waste water separator”. Unusually for this type of case, the bulk of the fine −90 per cent – is to be borne not by the vessel’s owner, the KG company Munia Mobiliengesellschaft, but by the vessel’s technical manager, V.Ships. V.Ships confirmed this yesterday but was unable to explain why the court had imposed the fine on it rather than on the vessel’s owner. It said that it would, however, be making an appeal against the judgement. The 1975-built, 2,328 teu Bahamas-flagged vessel was spotted by a French customs service aircraft at the head of the slick 160 km off the tip of Brittany on September 20 last year. The ship, which was en route from Antwerp to Gioia Tauro, was ordered into the port of Brest for inspection and only released after payment of €500,000 bail. An inspector from the Brest ship safety centre told the court in February that he had never seen a waste water separator in such a poor state and the prosecutor said: “We are not in the presence of an accident but of a lack of maintenance of the oily water separator”. V.Ships said after the incident that the vessel had undergone a full flag state inspection, including an examination of its oily water separator, in Antwerp on September 19 and that no deficiencies had been found. There were reports that an alarm had gone off on board the vessel on the day the vessel was arrested, however, indicating the possibility of a malfunction. The separator was shut down after the alarm had sounded but was thought to have been functioning properly for two hours prior to this.