Daily, thousands of tonnes of oil, gas, and hazardous materials are reported spilled into our oceans, land and air environments. The global trend is for this volume and number of spill incidents to increase.

Spill response is the actions taken to reduce the harmful effect of a spilled product on its receiving environment. Regardless of whether the spill is the result of human error, mechanical failure, or the environmental conditions, the clean-up needs to be an immediate priority for the organization responsible for the incident.

The initial 24 hours of response can be critical to the safety and health of persons and result in substantial savings in cleanup costs and time-consuming response efforts. The persons involved and activities performed during the operational phase can be equally important. Spill response is a team effort and being prepared is essential. An experienced response team will work together to ensure that plans are developed and a process is established to address the spill related issues raised by government and stakeholders. Combined, these actions can bring about meaningful results in the cleanup and mitigate the legal conflict that is potential in all spill incidents.

Key factors to an effective spill response are having:

   •  Trained personnel – experienced with skills and knowledge
   •  Equipment – strategically located and specifically suited to the spilled substance       and environment
   •  Resources – support services that are appropriate, available, and cost-efficient
   •  An Incident Management System and the ability to develop an Incident Action Plan
   •  A spill response network – established to address environmental issues and       priorities of government and stakeholders

Methods of spill response vary and the nature of spill response is very dynamic. On an ongoing basis, the incident status may change and require new response priorities, measures, equipment and resources. The ability for personnel to work together, adapt, remain positive while working under stress can be ever challenging.

For more details on spill response, please contact CSRO for a list of companies who conduct and consult in this area.