Public urged to avoid harbour in Dorset after oil leak causes major incident
A clean up operation is continuing after an oil leak caused a major incident to be declared in Poole Harbour in Dorset.
Members of the public are urged to avoid using the water and beaches within the harbour following the spill.
Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC), who regulate activities on the harbour, said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco, under Owers Bay on Sunday.
Perenco, the UK’s largest onshore oil field, said a “small” amount of reservoir fluid (consisting of 85% water and 15% oil) escaped from its pipeline and that, as of late Sunday night, some of it had already been recovered.
While “early indicators are that the surface slick is already dispersing”, PHC said.
The commissioners added that Perenco had reported “no risk” of further leakage after the pipeline was shut down and booms were placed on either side of the leak to minimise pollution.
Local leaders are now calling for questions to be answered about how the oil managed to leak into the sea.
Cllr Phil Broadhead, Leader, BCP Council
Leader of BCP Council Phil Broadhead said: "At the moment my focus is just to react to what we've got on the doorstep.
"I'm as angry and upset as everybody else. I live here too, this is an amazing natural environment and of course we're a major tourist destination as well.
"We're cautiously optimistic at the moment that it's not the disaster that it could have been.
"We're already hearing that the slick is dispersing but I think this is something that we're going to have serious questions about afterwards."
Anyone who came into contact with the spill was being urged to “wash immediately with soap and water”.
Approximately 200 barrels of reservoir fluid was released into Poole Harbour after the leak occurred at Wytch Farm oil field in Dorset on Sunday.
The MP for Poole, Sir Robert Syms, said he and neighbouring South Dorset MP Richard Drax have requested the Government to take an urgent question in the Commons on Monday about the incident.
According to Poole Tourism, Poole is Europe’s largest natural harbour and a site of nature conservation, with many international protections in place.
Jim Stewart, Chief Executive of Poole Harbour Commissioners said: "We've had five teams out this morning all over the harbour.
"We've had helicopters, we've had drones, we've got boats out on the water. They're effectively collecting information which they will feed back to the control centre.
"I've been the Chief Executive of Poole Harbour Commissioners for 21 years and we've never had an event like this.
"So it is very rare, hence the attention we are paying to it currently."
The harbour is also a Ramsar site which recognises wetlands of international importance, particularly for wildfoul, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).
Franck Dy, Perenco UK’s Wytch Farm general manager, said: “Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.
“It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.”
The firm confirmed a clean-up operation is under way.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We have received reports of a large amount of oil in Poole Harbour and we are supporting the port authority and other partners in responding to this incident.”
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