Pollution

Citation

(1999), "Pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308cac.003

Pollution

Pollution

Keywords Disaster, Marine transport, Pollution

21 May 1998 ­ Long Beach, California, USA

Shortly after morning rush hour on 8 May, a 48-year-old oil pipeline under Elm Avenue in Long Beach, California, burst, splattering lawns and cars with sour crude, and sending 56 people to seek medical treatment for exposure to hydrogen sulphide fumes. ARCO Products Company, the pipeline owner, took full responsibility for the spill, directing both containment and clean-up, according to the USCG, federal monitor for the incident. ARCO paid the hotel bills of 170 people displaced by the 24-hour clean-up operation, and put claims adjusters to work on more than 50 complaints of property damage or loss of business, according to the company. With the clean-up nearly complete on 11 May, responders had recovered more than 28,000 gallons of oil and 90,000 gallons of contaminated water, the company said. ARCO blamed the breach on a pressure surge, which split the pipe along a welded seam for 46mm. Preliminary investigation also suggested "a material defect in the pipe dating back to its manufacturing in the late 1940s," according to ARCO. ARCO, the California State Fire Marshal, and the California Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Office are investigating the cause of the surge, the company said. The line returned to service at about midnight, 9 May, the company said. Most of the oil poured into storm drains, and containment efforts focused on keeping the oil out of the Los Angeles River, said Patrick Cosgrove, of the USCG's Marine Safety Office in Long Beach.

22 May 1998 ­ River Guadiamar, Spain

Authorities estimated today it would cost $105 million to clean up rivers and streams flowing into Europe's largest nature reserve that were contaminated in one of Spain's worst ecological disasters. Environment Minister Isabel Tocino announced an eight-year emergency plan to purify the waters that feed Donana National Park and said responsibility for paying for the clean-up lay with "those who produced the (toxic) residue." Tocino has blamed Canadian-Swedish conglomerate Boliden Ltd for the massive spill. Boliden spokesman, James Borland, today reasserted the company's denial of negligence and said it would be up to Spanish courts to determine liability. The government has vowed to pursue legal action against the Toronto based company. Spain's cabinet, which has been accused by environmentalists of mishandling the response to the spill, today approved an eight-year plan to clean up the contaminated waterways. The $105 million cost will be financed by European Union structural funds and from the general budget, the government said in a statement. It also announced a $30 million emergency loan to pay for the removal of tonnes of poisonous sludge from the Guadiamar River. Officials are rushing to complete the river clean-up by the end of October, when they fear the onset of fall rains could cause the contamination to spread. Environmentalists have estimated that it could take up to three decades for the ecosystem to recover. Makeshift dykes succeeded in diverting the toxic flow away from the national park last month, but surrounding marshlands suffered severe damage. Up to seven million tonnes of poisonous mud stretch more than 30 kilometres downstream from the mine reservoir west of Seville. Spanish agriculture officials have estimated up to 3,600 hectares were contaminated by the spill, destroying the livelihood of 2,000 farm families living in one of the country's poorest regions.5 June 1998 ­ The flood of toxic waste in the Coto Donana will take at least a year to clean up, experts said yesterday. John Prescott tours the affected region today, and conservationists have told him in advance that the disaster poses an increasing danger to human health. Mr Prescott has been warned by environmentalists to take a face mask to avoid breathing toxic dust, which has high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and zinc. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which has been working with the Spanish Ornithological Society to analyse the effects of the waste from the Los Frailes zinc mine, has told Mr Prescott to be sceptical of claims by the Spanish government that the spillage will be cleared up by the autumn and has not affected the Donana national park. The RSPB says that contrary to claims by the Environment Minister, Isabel Tocino, that the park was not affected, 3,000 acres of protected area, national park and the adjoining natural park, and 15,000 acres of wetland important for birds have been contaminated.

27 May 1998 ­ River Danube, Hungary

Weed-killer accidentally released into the Danube south of Budapest today has killed over 200,000 fish but is not harmful to humans, officials said. According to Hungarian radio, 120 litres of powerful weed-killer leaked from a tank into the river near Szazhalombatta, in the county of Pest, central Hungary, today. The Hungarian news agency MTI said supplies of drinking water to 23,000 homes in the area had been cut as a precautionary measure. "We are trying to clarify how the poison found its way into the river," said Ivan Komoroczy, spokesman for the Pest County police, adding that over 50 police officers were helping the river authorities deal with the spillage. Hungarian radio reports said the spill would take two weeks to clean up.28 May 1998 ­ Hungarian chemicals group Chinoin agreed today to pay compensation for a spill of powerful insecticide into the River Danube that poisoned thousands of fish. "The Chinoin Pesticide Branch has officially taken responsibility for the large-scale death of fish," the company said in a statement. The leakage from a tank near Szazhalombatta, south of Budapest, killed thousands of fish after seeping into ponds at the town's fish-breeding farm yesterday. Chinoin director Istvan Szekely told Hungarian radio the company estimated the damage at less than initial reports suggested. "We feel that we will have to face damage worth a few tens of millions of forints." Chinoin said in a statement said that the leaked insecticide, called Chinmix 5 EC, is "not harmful to warm blooded beings." Some fish species are sensitive to it, however, the statement added. Hungary's environment ministry said the material is dangerous to fish, has a slight toxic effect on birds and mammals and may cause eye irritation to humans. The head of the Central Danube Valley Environmental Board said the insecticide had now been diluted in the river and the source of contamination had been stopped. Local authorities have restored drinking water to residents in the area after cutting supplies yesterday as a precaution, the Environment Ministry said.

28 May 1998 ­ Washington, USA

A report in the 28 May issue of Fairplay states: Washington State's Department of Ecology has fined Russia's Far Eastern Shipping Co. (Fesco) $182,000 over an oil spill on 1 January. The department blamed "crew negligence" on board ro-ro mv Anadyr, which spilled about 7,500 gallons of heavy fuel oil into Tacoma harbour while refuelling. An additional $94,000 penalty was levied for damage to the environment. Steve Hunter, a supervisor of the state's spill-response programme, said the spill happened as Anadyr was being refuelled by a barge. Fuel tanks overflowed because the crew failed to monitor gauges.

2 June 1998 ­ River Danube, Austria

M container vessel Marianne (1,934gt, built 1978) spilled 40 tonnes of oil into the River Danube in Austria after striking a submerged rock, Austrian police said on Sunday (31 May). Two of the vessel's 14 tanks, which were carrying a total of 1,600 tonnes of oil, leaked after the incident late Saturday near Melk, 70km west of Vienna. Police said the accident might have been caused by either a steering error or a fault in the vessel's radar system. In any case, the vessel had been travelling too close to the Right Bank of the river, said police spokesman Reinhard Vorderwinkler. A Russian vessel went to assist Marianne, and the rest of the oil was pumped onto another vessel. Attempts to restrict the oil spill were hampered by strong winds. A chemical transformer was used to counteract the oil, and an agglomerate was added to disperse it, a spokesman for the Austrian fire service said.

3 June 1998 ­ Pakistan coast

Belize tanker Yashica-6, bound for Mumbai with 5,000 tonnes of furnace oil, was reported leaking and sinking near the Pakistan coast today, Pakistan Navy officials said. They said the tanker was half-submerged some 60 nautical miles from Ormara, and was drifting towards the coast. "The crew have been saved by m bulk carrier Aditya Kiran," a Navy spokesman said. "The leaking furnace oil has caused a slick which has by now spread over a radius of 20 nautical miles posing a threat to marine life in the exclusive economic zone of Pakistan," the official APP new agency said. The vessel was in transit to Mumbai from Bahrain.4 June 1998 ­ A press report, dated today, states: A report from Karachi, dated 3 June states: The Pakistan navy has found an abandoned and half sunk oil tanker 190 nautical miles off Karachi, officials said here today. Leaking furnace oil had caused a slick which by now spread over a radius of 20 nautical miles posing a threat to marine life. The crew of the unidentified tanker were rescued by m bulk carrier Aditya Kiran, said director-general of Maritime Security Agency Admiral Gul Zaman Malik. The vessel was carrying 5,000 tonnes of furnace oil from Bahrain for Mumbai. After conducting an aerial survey of the vessel along with technical committee members of Marine Pollution Control Board he said the MSA got the first information about the vessel at 10.00 yesterday. Initial observation of MSA patrol vessel Barkat, stationed one nautical mile from the tanker, revealed that the oil slick is heading towards the coastal area of Gadani, Baluchistan, and it is likely that it may also enter into the channels of Karachi port due to rough weather conditions. The tanker will drift to Gadani coast within three days if she does not sink. The director-general of MSA said the tanker has so far drifted 20 nautical miles towards Pakistan coastal area in the Arabian Sea. He said initial reports had suggested the name of the vessel as Yashica-6 registered in Belize. Following the directives of the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Fasih Bukhari, the MSA authorities are taking various measures and have taken samples of oil to determine its exact nature. The MSA director-general said at present they could not say what were the reasons which prompted the crew to abandon ship which had not yet fully sunk and continued to drift towards the coast. He said it was too early to reach any conclusion, adding it was even dangerous to send a team on board the vessel which might sink any time. Moreover, they do not exactly know the nature of the oil in the tanker. Meantime, the technical board members are working on various theories with the assistance of MSA and they do not rule out the possibility of mischief by unknown people. "Sea pirates could also be involved in it", said an MSA official, adding: "We have failed to comprehend why the crew have camouflaged the vessel's name."5 June 1998 ­ A local Press report, dated 4 June, states: The Marine Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has concluded that cleaning up the oil spilled from m tanker Yashica-6 might be very costly and that the spill be left to disintegrate by weathering processes, the Inter Services Public Relations directorate said today. It said the technical committee of the MPCB, which conducted an air survey of the site, had concluded, after calculating all possible aspects, that as a clean-up operation might prove to be very costly, the spill be left to disintegrate. Though the leaking vessel presented no immediate danger at the moment, huge damage to marine life could not be ruled out at a later stage. Meanwhile MSA patrol vessel Barkat is still on patrol near the abandoned vessel, 63 nautical miles south of Ormara. Furnace oil, loaded in the vessel, is still leaking and drifting towards the Pakistani coastline. The spill has a radius of 30-35 nautical miles, posing a serious threat to marine life. The rate of drift, however, has reduced and the direction has altered towards the east, owing to a change in sea current and wind direction. A team of experts has boarded the vessel to collect information about the identity of the vessel's owners and to ascertain the source of the oil spill. Another MSA vessel has been tasked to provide necessary assistance.6 June 1998 ­ A local press report, dated today, states: The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) has directed another security vessel along with a team of professional divers and experts to make all out efforts in controlling the oil spillage from abandoned m tanker Yashica-6. The vessel is now under positive control of the MSA and after hectic efforts has been made stable. However, she is slowly drifting in an easterly direction, and has moved another 16 miles towards Karachi, official sources said yesterday. The exact origin of the leak could not be ascertained due to rough weather and partial flooding of compartments. It is assumed that because of rough sea and weather conditions it has become difficult to establish the rate and extent of the oil spillage; however, the oil slick seen near the vessel is fast being dispersed by the rough sea.8 June 1998 ­ A local press report, dated 7 June, states: A report, dated Karachi 6 June, states: "The abandoned and sinking m tanker Yashica-6 drifted further in a north-westerly direction and is now heading in the general direction of Karachi and the MSA has sought the help of the Navy to cope with the situation. According to the ISPR, the tanker has drifted another 14 nautical miles in the past 24 hours and currently is 100 nautical miles from the city. If required, the tanker would be taken in tow and efforts are in hand to keep her away from endangering vessels in the vicinity of Karachi. If the safety measures to control the oil spill did not bear fruit, the abandoned vessel will be towed to the nearest harbour/anchorage for further disposal."9 June 1998 ­ Abandoned and partially sunk m tanker Yashica-6 was brought into Pakistani waters yesterday after a joint operation by the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and the Pakistan Navy. The vessel, found abandoned and adrift spilling oil last week, was handed over to Karachi Port Trust (KPT) by the MSA at the channel of Karachi port, from where she was brought to a mooring by two KPT tugs yesterday evening, sources in KPT said. The source observed that there was no oil leaking from the vessel and that she did not pose any ecological threat to Karachi harbour. A Press release yesterday said that the MSA, in collaboration with the Pakistan Navy, successfully managed to minimise the oil spillage. The leakage was stopped by either plugging or covering the suspected cracks, holes and opened fuel covers. The rough monsoon weather hampered the towing operation. The MSA, with the assistance of the KPT, has made arrangements to repair the vessel, while efforts are in hand to resolve the dilemma of the vessel by putting together the evidence and records collected from her, said Inter Services Public Relations. Marine sources said the spill had moved up to 100 nautical miles off Karachi.

11 June 1998 ­ Karachi, Pakistan

Pakistani authorities towed m tanker Yashica-6 into Karachi on 8 June, five days after a government aircraft spotted her spilling furnace oil into the Arabian Sea. Anti-pollution teams who boarded the vessel on 4 June stopped all leaks, and the vessel presents no threat of further pollution, according to an official of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA). However, concern persists over the slick she may have left behind, the officials said. Initial tank samples taken by the Karachi Port Trust suggest that the vessel may have lost her entire cargo, reported at nearly 1.6 million gallons (5,300 tonnes), according to MSA. A surveillance flight on 11 June failed to find oil off-shore, but the product could be floating just below the surface anywhere in a vast area, from Omara in western Pakistan to the cape of Ras Muari, just west of Karachi, on the eastern coast, says Hugh Parker, technical adviser for the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF). A cyclone could have dispersed the oil since Pakistani spotters reported a slick 36km in radius on 4 June, Parker says. "We are trying to monitor the slick, but our focus is on the vessel," the MSA official said on 10 June. Investigators want to know why the crew apparently camouflaged the tanker's markings, struck the flag, and removed all hatch covers before abandoning ship, he says. The anti-pollution team found the decks awash, and the hatches leaking oil to the sea, he reports. Crews sealed the hatches and divers patched a leak on the starboard side below the waterline to save the vessel, he adds. Adding to the mystery: paper work on board the vessel generated confusion about her identity, and her owner contacted Pakistani authorities belatedly, MSA says. Communications with the owner and chemical analysis of the cargo may resolve some questions, the official says. An insurer has come forward, according to ITOPF's Parker. The spilled fuel appears to be "on the heavy end of fuel oil," Parker says, but the details "are difficult to sort out." Rough seas would break up a slick of heavy fuel oil, but globs of oil could persist, floating just below the surface, Parker says. MSA took no steps to disperse the slick, in hopes that it would dissipate naturally, the official says. After a week of weathering, heavy oil would defy dispersant, Parker reports. Shoreline at potential risk includes Sonmiani Bay, where the World Wildlife Fund launched a mangrove restoration project more than two years ago. The project includes at least 40 hectares of mangrove nurseries, aimed at allowing sustainable logging, according to the WWF.

2 June 1998 ­ Miami, USA

Royal Caribbean Cruises today admitted to everyday dumping of oily waste into the Caribbean and agreed to pay the biggest pollution fines ever assessed against a cruise operator. Royal Caribbean agreed in a pre-trial bargain with prosecutors to pay $9 million in fines and pleaded guilty to eight felony charges. The company said its crews routinely pumped oily bilge, kept dummy logs dubbed "fairytale" books by crew, and disassembled illegal sewage pipes by-passing cleaning devices as part of a conspiracy to hide the illegal practices. Most of the fines, $8 million, will be paid in Puerto Rico to settle charges there, while $1 million will be paid in Florida. A portion of the fines, $1 million, will be contributed to a conservation fund, according to court papers. The company also agreed to five years' probation and to implement a court-supervised programme to improve its handling of oil wastes, chemicals and other pollutants. Staff training, formation of a directors group on pollution and quarterly reporting will be part of the programme, court papers said. Royal Caribbean remained under investigation and may be subject to other environmental charges, prosecutors and the company said. Royal Caribbean is now assigning an environmental watch-dog to each of its vessels, hired an environmental compliance executive, and appointed to its board of directors former US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator William Reilly, the company said. Prosecutors said the dumping was detected in October 1994, by a high-tech US Coast Guard plane in the Caribbean. Follow-up investigations, often blocked by lying and witness tampering, uncovered fleet-wide use of secret by-pass piping and dumping and led to ten counts against the company, prosecutors said at a news conference. "When a company pollutes, lies and obstructs justice, it is no better than a common criminal," said Steve Solow, chief of the environmental crimes section at the Justice Department. Prosecutors declined to say how much oily waste was dumped by Royal Caribbean ships between 1990 and 1994.

8 June 1998 ­ Rivers State, Nigeria

A local press report, dated 7 June, states: A crude oil spill involving 800 barrels of crude oil has occurred along Nigerian Agip Oil Company's pipeline which carries crude from Ogbainbiri, Clough Creek and Tebidaba flow stations to the company's Brass terminal in Bayelsa State. Agip's vice-chairman and managing director in a statement yesterday, said that a shut in production had been ordered to check further leaks into the river. The spill was reported on 30 May. "It is estimated that approximately 800 barrels of crude have escaped from the pipeline. The cause of the spill is believed to be due to the removal of a plug on a one-quarter-inch fitting mounted on the river-crossing valve," he said. Agip's clean-up team was being denied access to the site by angry youths from nearby communities. The experts, apart from assessing the site, were to organise relief, stop the flow of crude and minimise impact.

9 June 1998 ­ Barskoon River, Kyrgystan

The executive in charge of Canadian miner Cameco Corp.'s Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan has resigned three weeks after a cyanide spill triggered widespread panic, sent hundreds to hospital and reportedly caused two deaths, a company official said today. Gerhard Glattes, president of the company's Kumtor Operating Co., resigned last Friday (5 June) after barely a year as chief of the joint mining venture in the Central Asian nation. However, the sudden resignation failed to sooth Kyrgyz officials who recently have stepped up their pressure on Cameco, the world's largest uranium producer. Kyrgyz deputy health minister Guldzhigit Aliev said on Saturdav that a 71-year old man had died in a local hospital ­ the second reported death in the area from cyanide poisoning. Kyrgyz government officials said last week that a 31-year-old woman had died after being admitted to a local hospital with symptoms of cyanide poisoning. They said 444 people remained in hospital, including six who were in grave condition. Nearly 4,500 residents of Barskoon, the village nearest to the spill, were evacuated after a truck en route to the Kumtor mine on 20 May crashed and spilled about 1,700 kilograms of granular cyanide into a nearby river. Cameco has agreed to pay about $725,000 in "humanitarian assistance" to affected villagers in Barskoon, but the company continued to deny the spill had contributed to any illnesses or deaths in humans. Official autopsy results for the two villagers allegedly killed by cyanide poisoning have not been made available to Cameco officials. Cameco spokeswoman Elaine Kergoat said there was no evidence to suggest the spill had led to any cyanide intoxication. She added that a team of international medical experts had been dispatched to the area to verify the claims.5 June 1998 ­ Canadian health and natural resources officials have arrived in Kyrgyzstan to examine reports that a big chemical spill poisoned hundreds of villagers. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. says officials from Health Canada and the Department of Natural Resources have arrived in Bishkek to look into the claims and counter-claims. Cameco Corp. says it is willing to pay up to US$500 in compensation to each member of three villages close to the site of the spill, where livestock and fields are said to have been adversely affected. Kyrgyzstan Deputy Prime Minister Boris Silayev is heading a special government commission set up to handle the crisis.

11 June 1998 ­ Carenero Bay, Argentina

A broken hose led to a spill of 7,000 barrels of diesel fuel on Monday (8 June) morning off the coast of eastern Venezuela, according to authorities from state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The spill occurred around 08.30, local time, when m tanker Maritza Sayalero (28,338gt, built 1996) owned by the PDVSA shipping unit PDV Marina, was making a routine delivery of diesel to a PDVSA storage and distribution centre in the Carenero Bay, off Cabo Codero, about 100km east of Caracas. A seven-inch hose ruptured, spilling the diesel for about 20 minutes, said Domingo Bilbao, operations and distribution manager for PDV Manufacturing and Marketing. About 1.5km of coastline was immediately affected but tides and wind spread the fuel along a 14km stretch, causing seven beaches to be closed in the popular resort area. PDVSA immediately put into effect its National Contingency Plan, installing absorbent containment sponges in the water and collecting washed up oil from the beaches. Bilbao said the clean-up was likely to finish yesterday. He said an investigation would be launched into why the hose ruptured. The hoses are changed every six months, and this one was changed a month and a half ago, he noted. An environmental impact study would also be performed, he added.18 June 1998 ­ Materials experts from Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) are examining two 18cm product hoses that apparently were sliced open on 30 May, causing a 294,000-gallon (1,000-tonne) diesel fuel spill that contaminated seven beaches in Carenero Bay. "They appear to have been hit by propellers", says Siegfried Diller Rauch, national contingency plan advisor for the state-owned oil company. "How that could have happened is not clear. The hoses connected m tanker Maritza Sayalero to a delivery buoy about 3km offshore of the company's Carenero Bay terminal when they were severed, Diller says. Also unanswered is why the hoses spewed oil for 20 minutes before operators cut the flow", he says. The diesel fouled 7km of shoreline with the stench of evaporating fuel and rotting sea life, Diller says. Scientists from PDVSA and three Venezuelan government agencies are assessing the long-term environmental impact, "but it does not look that bad," Diller says. The most sensitive habitat at risk from the spill was a mangrove swamp covering about 5km square, he says. Initial inspection indicates that PDVSA spill responders successfully defended the estuary with a protective boom laid across its mouth, and a secondary network of oleophilic booms protecting creeks inside, Diller says. PDVSA crews dragged the oiled beaches with rotary rakes, to accelerate natural cleansing by the surf, Diller reports. Workers had removed dead crabs, clams, and other debris before the weekend, although local officials had refused to reopen the beaches by Monday, 15 June, he adds. PDVSA has received complaints of damages from shell fishers and beach vendors, he says. Analysis of water samples taken after the spill should give the oil company and government officials a better picture of any long-term environmental effects, Diller says. A new organisation in Venezuela, the National Organization for Safety and Maritime Security (ONSA), will conduct its own investigation of the cause of the spill, PDVSA's response, and the environmental effects of the spill, says ONSA Secretary-General Luis G. Inciarte. The crew of the tanker may not have followed proper procedures, he says. ONSA's members include specialists in environmental conservation and local boaters willing to monitor the area, he says.

11 June 1998 ­ Cape Town, South Africa

Recyclers retrieved nearly 52,000 gallons (174 tonnes) of oil collected by skimmers and sorbents during the response to a 24 May spill into Duncan Dock harbour basin at Cape Town, affirming a second day estimate that the spill totalled 59,000 gallons (200 tonnes), says Anton Moldan, environmental adviser to the Oil Industry Environment Committee in Cape Town. Some of the heavy fuel oil escaped into Cape Town Harbour and Table Bay, oiling 2km of beach and more than 500 seabirds, most of them jackass penguins, a threatened species. However, swift intervention by conservationists has held mortality among the oiled penguins to just 2 per cent, Moldan says. Officials are monitoring Cape Town harbour for residual oil, but responders have left no sorbent boom in the water to catch sheen, Moldan says. To fight sheen in close quarters, such as among riprap or between boats, "we find it faster, more effective, and easier to scatter fiber sorbent on the water and pick it up with swimming pool scoops," he says. The South African Department of Transportation has completed its investigation into the causes of the spill, and may issue its findings by 19 June, Moldan says. Authorities say the oil leaked from the flanges of a Joint Bunkering Services (JBS) pipeline under a bunkering pier, after the pipeline fell from its mounts. About 147,000 gallons (500 tonnes) of oil leaked from the line into an access tunnel before it began pouring into the harbour and staff noticed it, according to JBS. Lynne Jackson, chief of the oil pollution division in South Africa's environment and tourism department, says JBS should have detected the leak sooner and that its "grossly inaccurate" initial estimate of 2,940 gallons (10 tonnes) led to an inadequate early response.

11 June 1998 ­ Hong Kong

The largest oil slick in two years polluted four bays on southern Hong Kong Island yesterday. However, authorities were unsure whether to blame heavy rains for washing out drains or a vessel for dumping oil. A spill of 200 × 500 metres covering the whole of Chung Hom Kok Bay, one off Repulse Bay measuring 5 × 100, one at South Bay 15 × 100, and another off South Horizons, Ap Lei Chau, measuring 10 × 200 metres were reported. Combined, the slicks are the largest in Hong Kong waters since a vessel dumped oil off Tsuen Wan in July 1996. That action cost the Government more than $1 million and took several days to clean up.

15 June 1998 ­ Moji, Japan

M container vessel Kuo Hsin, 15,122gt (built 1990), in collision with m container vessel Sea Ranger, 24,415gt (built 1974), at about 05.20, 13 June, off Tanegashima. Kuo Hsin, Keelung for Tokuyama, loaded, sustained severe damage to her starboard hull, details unknown. Reportedly some oil leaked from the damaged fuel oil tank. Clean-up of oil carried out by MSA. Vessel departed the site for Keelung for dry-docking and repairs. Sea Ranger, Tokyo for Hong Kong, loaded, sustained severe damage to her starboard bow plating in the way of the forepeak tank. No cargo damage or oil pollution reported. Vessel arrived Sasebo 14 June to carry out temporary repairs, which will take about one week.

15 June 1998 ­ Carenero Bay, Venezuela

Two Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) executives have been arrested in case they try to destroy evidence relating to last week's spill of 7,000 barrels of diesel fuel. The manager of PDVSA's storage and distribution plant and the operations manager are being held at night in a municipal police station cell but are allowed to go to work under watch by the National Guard. Municipal authorities said they would ask for damages from PDVSA to cover losses to local traders in the popular beach zone. Venezuela has a strict environmental crime law, which stipulates prison sentences for persons, including company managers, found guilty of negligence.

15 June 1998 ­ Escanaba area, USA

M bulk carrier St.Clair (27,482gt, built 1976), while in Escanaba Harbour on Friday (13 June), spilled approximately 600 gallons of diesel fuel overboard. The US Coast Guard contained the leak and set up a containment boom around the vessel. Vessel was expected to sail on 14 June.

15 June 1998 ­ North Sea

A technical failure in systems on board P&O Nedlloyd's m container vessel Repulse Bay (50,350gt, built 1992) was the cause of a pollution incident in the North Sea last August, according to the company. As a result of the technical failure, water leaked into the engine-room of the vessel and then leaked back into the sea mixed with engine-room oil, a spokesman for P&O Nedlloyd said. P&O Nedlloyd is due to appear in court on 30 June after a case was brought against the company for allegedly causing an 83km oil slick in the North Sea. A spokesman for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, whose enforcement arm brought the action, said the slick was first spotted by Dutch aviators, who passed information to the German authorities who then informed the agency. A P&O spokesman said that the company had been informed of the incident by the Dutch and "took the necessary action". It had "fully co-operated" with the authorities and would continue to do so. Other company vessels had since been checked. P&O Nedlloyd should know on 30 June whether it will be fined over the discharge. The maximum fine for an illegal discharge is £250,000. Tanker owner, John H. Whitaker Tankers, was fined £40,000 plus costs for two oil spills off the Kent coast last year.

18 June 1998 ­ Carson, California, USA

A nitric acid spill at a Southern California metal plating company has forced the evacuations of several hundred people and the closure of a mile-long stretch of freeway. Los Angeles County fire-fighters say at least 300 people are being evacuated today from a 1/4-mile area surrounding the plant, where at least three gallons of nitric acid are believed to have spilled. Fire-fighters say one injured worker was treated at the scene and appeared to be OK. The California Highway Patrol has closed a one-mile stretch of the nearby 110 (Harbor) Freeway because of the spill. Fire Inspector Henry Rodriguez says the nitric acid spilled from a 200-gallon container and escaped through a vent in the plant's roof this morning, sending up a yellow-orange cloud. The Red Cross has set up an evacuation centre for area business employees and residents.

18 June 1998 ­ St Lawrence Seaway

The following received from Coast Guard Cleveland, timed 09.47, UTC: P oil/chemical tanker Mountain Blossom (11,598gt, built 1986), bound for Montreal with a cargo of xylene, struck the Eisenhower Lock, St Lawrence Seaway, at 05.45, local time, 17 June. Vessel sustained a crack in No. 1 starboard wing tank, 10 feet above waterline, and spilled approximately 50 gallons of xylene. The area was evacuated within a half-mile radius and clean-up operations commenced. Cargo shifted to other tanks and vessel is now proceeding to Montreal.

20 June 1998 ­ Valletta, Malta

A local press report, dated today, states: About four tonnes of weathered oil was collected from the sea in the Sa Maison area, on 18 June, and the oil slick was still being cleared yesterday. A mile-long oil slick was cleared, on 17 June, from near Ghallies Tower at Babar ic-Caghaq. The clean-ups are being co-ordinated by the Pollution Control Co-ordinating Unit, the National Tourism Organization and Malta Maritime Authority. Unit operations manager Tony Mallia said the spill from Sa Maison was different from the one in Babar ic-Caghaq, which was bilge oil. He said the oil in Sa Maison must have been emptied into the sea from tankers passing the area. The weathered oil does not do much harm but is very dirty, he added. Vessels PLepilla, Ambjent and a small tender vessel of the PCCU, together with a vessel of the authority, were working hard to clear the area. Oil containment booms have been placed outside Sliema Creek and Msida Creek.

22 June 1998 ­ Alaska, USA

Holland America Line has been fined $2 million for environmental pollution violations, the second-largest penalty ever levelled by the USA against a foreign-flag cruise shipping firm. The subsidiary of New York-listed Carnival Cruise Lines agreed in Anchorage to plead guilty to alleged 1994 oily bilgewater discharges by the firm's former cruise ship Rotterdam in Alaska's Inside Passage. Holland America will pay $1 million in environmental pollution fines and $51 million as restitution, which will be contributed to the National Park Foundation for the benefit of marine ecosystems in Alaska. The settlement, which must be approved by US District Court in Anchorage, also sets a five-year period of probation for Holland America. The action follows by less than three weeks a similar settlement by Miami based Royal Caribbean Cruises, which agreed in Miami to plead guilty and pay a record $9 million in fines. It had been charged with repeated oily bilgewater dumpings in Florida and Puerto Rico waters. The Holland America charges followed an investigation launched after a Rotterdam mariner tipped-off the US Coast Guard about the 1994 dumpings, insisting that he had been ordered, but refused to pump the oily water overboard. The Seattle-based cruise line had insisted that the discharges were unintended, and were caused by a malfunction of the vessel's oily water separator.

25 June 1998 ­ Exxon Valdez

Clean-up costs resulting from the 11-million-gallon oil spill from m tanker Exxon Valdez in March 1989, amounted to more than $300 per gallon, according to a new report on the cost of oil spills in the USA. The report, Financial Costs of Oil Spills in the United States, outlined the costs, at 1997 dollar amounts, of 27 oil spills over a 20-year period from 1976 to 1996. The spill from the Exxon Valdez cost Exxon, the State of Alaska and the US government more than $12.2 billion, the report said, including direct clean-up costs, settlement agreements and resource restoration. Exxon paid some $3.2bn in response costs, with the government paying $173m, and the oil company was hit by $32m in penalties. Exxon is still fighting to be allowed to return the vessel to the Alaskan oil trade for which she was purpose built. The company suffered a setback last week after the US District Court in Anchorage dismissed Exxon subsidiary SeaRiver Maritime's lawsuit against the Federal government demanding that an Oil Pollution Act 1990 provision be declared unconstitutional.

23 June 1998 ­ Sea Empress

Milford Haven Port Authority and its Harbour Master, Capt. Mark Andrews, are to face trial in connection with the oil spill from m tanker Sea Empress. The Environmental Agency said the port authority and its harbour master would face pollution charges in January 1999.