64
Colcomb - Operational experience in the UK and sea trials
• Oil could not emulsify
• With 20/20 hindsight, no reason to spray dispersant
Dispersant use at the Sea Empress spill
Dispersant use during the Sea Empress incident was regarded as highly successful as a
response measure. The dispersant campaign was estimated to have reduced by up to 2/3
the quantity of oil coming ashore and impacting sites of amenity value and environmental
sensitivity.
• February 1996
• 72,000 tonnes Forties crude spilt
• 30-15 knot winds
• 446 tonnes dispersant sprayed
• 37,000 tonnes oil dispersed:
• 50 % - 66 % by dispersant
• 33 % - 50 % naturally
Both the Braer and the Sea Empress incidents were followed up by detailed technical and
environmental evaluations: The Ecological Steering Group on the Oil Spill in Shetland (ES-
GOSS) and The Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee (SEEEC).
Oil spill response - Research and Development in the UK.
Research and Operational experience has helped the UK with the development of smarter
response and decision making with respect to dispersant use. The UK has carried out exten
sive research into oil spill response over the last 30+ years. Much of that work was carried
out at Warren Spring Laboratory, Stevenage UK and subsequently AEA Technology. MCA
have more recently sponsored much research into a wide range of marine pollution related
work including:
• beach cleaning techniques
• clean-up techniques for saltmarshes
• fate of oil at sea and on the shoreline
• waste disposal options
• use of dispersants and demulsifiers
• bioremediation
• chemical spill risk assessment
• limiting viscosity parameters for dispersant use.
• environmental sensitivities of the UK coastal environment including mapping
• potentially polluting shipwrecks
• properties of crude oils
• dispersant droplet size and swath width
• beach material washing - cement mixer and sand scrubber machine
And many more.
UK Dispersant sea trials: 1977 - 2003
Wide ranging dispersant use sea trials were carried out for many years in the southern North
Sea on the research vessel SEASPRING.
• Trials area off Southwold, Suffolk UK - Southern N. Sea
• Licensed by UK Govt.
