Poole Harbour: "60% of oil now recovered" after pipeline leak
Officials have issued an update
Almost 100km of shoreline around Poole Harbour has now been checked by officials following Sunday's oil spill.
Experts say around 14,000 litres of oil mixed with water has been recovered so far.
It comes as the company behind the spill insist lessons will be learned.
Perenco says an investigation's underway with operations at Wytch Farm currently suspended.
Franck Dy, Perenco UK’s Wytch Farm General Manager, said:
“The spill remains contained with four floating barriers in place and clean-up operations are progressing well with approximately 60% of the estimated discharged oil now having been recovered.
"Perenco is working as fast as possible to return the area affected to its original state.
"The location of the leak has been identified but the cause of the leak continues to be investigated by Perenco UK in close consultation with the Environment Agency and the local authorities. After the investigation, we will take on board any lessons that will prevent another discharge into this sensitive area.
"The integrity of the Wytch Farm infrastructure undergoes regular inspection with a complete and thorough survey of this pipeline completed less than ten months ago. Operations at Wytch Farm remain temporarily suspended.”
Jim Stewart, CEO of Poole Harbour Commissioners, said:
"Onsite Response at Ower Bay continues 24 hours a day supported by strategic planning from PHC Command & Control.
"PHC incident response command & control have made significant progress with shoreline Assessment and Cleanup Technique (SCAT), covering almost 100 km of shoreline and recovering approximately 14,000 litres of oil/ water mix and approximately 1,500 kg of oil sediment.
"We would like to thank again the strategic co-ordination group (SCG), including Dorset Police, Dorset Council, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, NHS, Environment Agency and Natural England. This is an excellent example of multi-agency collaboration in response to a major incident.
"Key stakeholders in the shellfish industry have been advised not to market shellfish harvested from Poole Harbour from Sunday 26 March onwards.
"This advice will remain in place until further assessment has been made and advice has been received from the Food Standards Agency and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) regarding safety. Investigations are continuing at this time.
"As a precaution, the public are advised that they should still avoid using Poole Harbour for recreational purposes – including the hand gathering of shellfish - and continue to avoid bathing at beaches within Poole Harbour until further updates become available.
"We continue to ask that members of the public do not try and help with the clean-up at Poole Harbour, specialist trained teams are working hard on the ground.
"It is unlikely that there will be any long term health effects from short exposures (eg days). Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water for ten minutes. If eyes have come into contact with the spill, they should be rinsed with water. Anyone who has been exposed to fuel oil and is feeling unwell please contact NHS 111 or seek medical attention from your GP. "