Irish Coast Guard
Local Authority oil spill
Contingency Plans
Coast Guard co-ordinates the
response to marine casualty
incidents within the
Irish
Exclusive
Economic
Zone
The zone is a resource of high
value in terms of ecological and
socio economic use
Usual Phases of Response
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Search & Rescue
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Dealing with the Casualty
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Coast Guard
Counter Pollution at Sea
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Coast Guard
Coast Guard
Counter Pollution on Shore
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Local Authority under the direction & co-ordination of the
Irish Coast Guard
Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act 1999
Section 2- (3)
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Local Authorities –have a statutory
responsibility for providing oil spill
contingency plans.
Port, Harbours, oil facilities & offshore
installations – have a statutory responsibility
for providing oil spill contingency plans
These plans must be submitted for approval
to the Irish Coast Guard
Why we need specific Plans
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Different response elements
Many organisations
Geographic area
Overall scale
Complexity
duration
Why we need specific plans
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Planning services
Waste management
Roads & transport
Procurement
support
Human resources
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Health and safety
Financial services
Communications
internal & external
Key Components and Scope of
a Contingency Plan
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STRATEGY
Scope of the plan, Risks,
proposed response strategy
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ACTIONS
Mobilisation resources, operations and
DATA
data on personnel, equipment and
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response
sensitivity/shoreline protection maps etc
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What area does it cover
What is its geographical boundary
What has to be protected
How does it link with other plans
What do we find in a plan
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Aim, objectives and scope
Links to other plans
Triggers, activation and alerting
Roles and responsibilities
Specific actions
Liaison and communication
Review and revision procedure
Training and exercising
Risk Assessment
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Historical
Sources
Oil Types
Potential Size
Scenarios
Sensitivity Mapping
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Fisheries
Mariculture
Birds and other wildlife
Wetlands
Power Plants
Amenity beaches
Yachting/recreational areas
Cultural/ archeological sites
Shoreline protection strategy
Initial Response Actions
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Assemble team
Gather information
Assess health and Safety risks
Set up communications system
Prepare Sitrep
Assign Responsibilities
Implement response
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
SRC
What is a ShoreLine Response
Centre
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Shoreline Response Centre provides:
Overall co-ordination of the shoreline
operations
Joint decision making
Common purpose
Shoreline Response Centre
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Overall co-ordination of the shoreline
operations
Determine the extent of the problem
Agree a clean up strategy and priorities
Initiate response
Obtain resources
Determine method of waste disposal
Monitor progress
Inform public, media and politicians
Ship Casualty - Intervention - Pollution Response
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Report accidents: Why?
Maritime casualty: Why?
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Prevent , Mitigate or eliminate pollution:
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Threat of grave and imminent danger of major harmful
consequences through pollution to the coastline or related interests
(Sea Pol Act 91)
Place of Refuge Why?
Best course of action for the purposes of protection of human life or
the environment (SI 573 2010)
IRCG Incident Response
Impact on Local Authority/Port
All vessels in distress or needing assistance
or sighting pollution are required to notify
the nearest state.
Ship requests a place of refuge
Onshore Oil Spill Response
Shoreline clean up carried out by Local Authorities
under the direction of the IRCG
MRCC
Shoreline Response Centre
Planning
Logistics
Operations
Finance
ONSCENE
Beach Master
implements the cleanup plans
of the SRC
Directs the shoreline cleanup of a
specified section of coastline
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Requires site management and
planning
De contamination
Equipment laydown
Food
“Not if it happens but
when it happens”
Preparedness
Contingency Plans
Training
Exercise
Vs
• Environmental costs
•Economic costs
•Social costs
•Political costs