Poole Harbour Commissioners making 'good progress' with oil clean-up
Nearly 420,000 litres of oily water's been collected so far
Poole Harbour Commissioners have collected 417,000 litres of oil and oily water from Ower Bay since the clean-up operation was enacted on March 26th.
They say the clean-up operation has gone “extremely well” but floating booms will remain in place to ensure that oil does not escape into the wider harbour.
Thus far, there have not been any reports of oil outside of Poole Harbour, nor have there been any sightings of oil outside of the contaminated site in Ower Bay since 3rd April.
However, Poole Harbour Commissioners advise fishermen that any shellfish harvested from the harbour since March 26th should not be relayed or marketed due to the difference in metabolism between fish and shellfish.
Fishermen have instead been advised to contact Perenco directly at wytchfarm.claims@uk.perenco.com for any insurance claims
BCP Council and the Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority continue to assist CEFAS - the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - to carry out sampling of shellfish from Poole Harbour.
CEFAS and BCP Council will issue a further update regarding the status of the shellfish once all tests have been conducted.
Despite, all of the agencies involved in the clean-up operation having made “good progress” by collecting approximately 300 bags of oil contaminated materials from the beaches, the PHC have confirmed that the clean-up will continue at Ower Bay until the contamination has been fully dealt with.
Should anyone see oil on the water, sightings should be reported to Harbour Control on 01202 440 230 or via pooleharbourcommissioners@phc.co.uk