Spill Alert Issue 24

WELCOME TO SPILL ALERT

Welcome by Lee Barber, Chairman of UK and Ireland Spill Association

As Autumn draws in one has to reflect on a historic year for the country. With significant events such as the death of HM the Queen Elizabeth whose love and affection were was reflected in the outpouring of grief and affection by our nation and the expression of thanks for her service through most peoples lives. The English women winning the Euros and the success of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have also been notable, and despite the economic and political gloom have lifted the nation’s mood and made us moreunited.

The pace of activity in the spill world has been unrelenting and speaking from my own company perspective we have been busy with succession, rather than a flood, of incidents.The Peru oil discharge incident has scaled-down but continues; the vessel collision off Gibraltar, incident off Kent, deployments in the Middle East and Asia as well as our usual preparedness and advocacy activities. Talking to others in the industry everyone seems busy. There is a lot of catching up post-COVIDfrom our customers, and a lot of equipment replacement going on which the high oil priceis helping to fund. The industry is looking atresponse to changing risks such as Very LowSulphur Fuel Oil (VLFSO) and potentially adapting response measures accordingly.

Most of the marine members of theAssociation were at Interspill in June. PostCOVID concerns about attendance werefortunately not realised. People were keen tomeet face to face after such a long period ofonly meeting via a Zoom or a Teams call, soit was great to be back together again. Theconference was excellent and broad rangingwhich reflects the changes occurring in theindustry.

Our own Annual Conference promises to bean interesting event, my last as your Chair. The committee has helped us move the Associationforward into being more relevant to members,more in touch with regulators and generally being more dynamic and responsive to supporting theindustry as a whole. This trend will continue as Ipass the reins over.

I am therefore delighted to see the ConsultationDocument on the development of new CareerPathways released. This will unify career pathwaysfor marine, inland and consultancy member aroundindependent certification from the Institution ofEnvironmental Science. This is a positive move forthe industry.

The work of the Plastic Pollution Working Group isexciting and should result in a Good Practice Guidefor Managing Microplastic Spill Incidents beingreleased early in 2023. It has been encouraging tosee members collaborate so openly and seamlesslyon this. The knowledge the Association membershave is world leading and when we collaboratetogether the results are greater than the sum ofthe parts.

Similarly the formation of the Emerging andFuture Risks Working Group with the EnvironmentAgency, Fire and Rescue Service and whennecessary UK Health Security Agencyshould lead to spill response plans beingcollectively agreed for emerging and futureproducts coming into the marketplace. This shouldmake response safer and bring much closer theinteraction between all Agencies involved inincidents. I hope the devolved nations join thisgroup as its work rolls out.

I would like to express my thanks to the Boardmembers for making my time as Chair soproductive and enjoyable and I wish my successorMark Shepherd, similar fortune.

I suspect however that I shall not be far away asthe Executive Director has told me the Board ofUKEireSpill is like Hotel California – you can checkout but never leave!

Stay safe out there and see you at the Conference!