Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU
JAMAICA'S COASTLINES and marine ecosystems are vulnerable to oil spills similar to the one now pumping massive amounts of oil into the sea off the coast of Spain.
The country is located at the intersection of a number of sea lanes through which petroleum is transported, putting it at risk for a similar disaster.
As thousands of tonnes of oil are leaking into the sea off the Spanish coast, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) hosted an oil spill training workshop in Montego Bay last week, for disaster response teams in the five western parishes.
The participants included parish disaster co-ordinators, firemen, police, health personnel, and representatives from the local oil marketing companies.
Peter Wilson-Kelly, co-ordinator for ecosystems at the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), explained that an oil spill, whether it occurs at sea or on land, can have serious environmental and financial consequences.
He, along with representatives from the ODPEM, outlined the effects of oil spills and the country's preparedness for such a disaster.
A marine oil spill can prove deadly for marine life and can cause serious damage to beaches and will have its greatest impact when it makes its way towards land.
"For a light oil such as gasoline, chances are it will evaporate but heavy crude oil will more likely make its way towards the shore," he said.
Spills on land not only threaten plants and underground water, but depending on the magnitude, can also be hazardous to residents in nearby communities.
Vapors from the oil can also be carried by wind into these communities where it can cause serious health problems for the residents. Depending on the extent of the spill and the proximity to residential areas, evacuation might become necessary.
"You would want to get persons within 200 metres away from the spill but the amount would depend on the source of action. But certainly you would want to get those very close to it out of there," Mr. Wilson-Kelly explained.
CLEANING UP A SPILL
For land spills, what usually occurs is a tanker carrying oil around the island has an accident and overturns, spilling its contents onto the road. However, the usual method of washing the oil off the roads is not recommended. On the contrary, Mr. Wilson-Kelly noted that this clean-up method can do more harm than good.
"What it does is disperse the oil and increases the level of difficulty involved in the clean up process," he added. "Also it can wash the oil into other sensitive areas for example a stream where people are collecting the water further down."
The extent of the spill should be determined before any clean-up attempt is made. The correct thing to do is to spread the road with absorbent material such as marl, which remove the excess oil.
When a minimal amount of the oil is left on the road, it can then be washed off with high pressure water. However the water method must be confined to hard permeable surfaces such as roadways or tarmacs and only after maximum effort has been applied to remove with absorbent materials.
Another way to clean up land spills is to dig below the spill and bury a permeable material underneath to prevent the oil from reaching the underground water.
In marine spills, an oil boom is often used to form a barrier around the oil to prevent it from reaching land. The boom is mostly plastic, but can also be made from rope or woven thrash.
The type of boom will depend on the body of water it is being used in, such as a calm quiet river or rough sea.
A dispersant can also be used to break up the oil into fine particles where it can be carried away by wave currents. It is very effective in taking away oil, but it poses a risk to plants on the sea floor.
No clean-up can also be an option, in case where clean-up efforts might do more harm than good. For example, a marine spill may be of such a small volume that clean-up is not seen as necessary since the risk is low or clean-up may not be feasible.
It is an option that must be carefully weighed before a decision is taken. In other cases, material spill may have entered sensitive areas such as mangroves, where mechanical removal may result in physical damage to the area.
Whatever the method used, the bill for spilt fuel and cleanup can be very expensive as, price of the lost oil, the equipment used, and manpower all have to be taken into account.
NATIONAL OIL SPILL PLAN
Jamaica has a national oil spill plan which outlines the specific response guidelines that must be followed if an oil spill occurs.
The plan covers our territorial waters, the adjoining shoreline and the exclusive economic zone, that is, the area extending beyond the Pedro Cays.
In the event of a major oil spill it activates all the relevant agencies and acts as a command centre from where the clean up will be supervised.
All Government agencies are mandated to provide resources to the national response plan, and their responsibilities are clearly outlined in the plan.
National oil spill response centres are also located across the island, which are designated sites where equipment are available to provide the necessary requirements to fulfill the provisions of the plan.
These are located at Cagway in Port Royal, Up Park Camp in Kingston, the Montego Bay Wharf, and Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios.
