ESG Press Release on Algeciras Capsized Vessel
16th June 2011

The ESG is aware of the maritime incident which took place a few days ago in the Port of Algeciras when a large vessel overturned dumping several containers with assorted contents into the sea.
While the accident was not explosive in nature, this is still a very serious incident especially as it remains unclear as to the exact contents of the goods in the containers which, if toxic, could escalate the impact of the incident to the environment. There are already reports of oil patches washing up along the shoreline.

The ESG urges the Gibraltar Government to make official enquiries to the Spanish Government into this accident and trust that we shall be informed as soon as possible of the precise details as far as these are known. Our own contacts with experience in port matters suggest that regardless of contents in containers, while this is important to ascertain, all vessels carry a certain amount of corrosive and chemical product on board, as well as fuel and paints etc. These would cause serious harm when released into the marine environment.

This is yet another example of the impacts affecting the Bays ecosystem from industrial activity in the area. Indeed a Greenpeace report found at:-
http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/Global/espana/report/contaminacion/contaminaci-n-en-espa-a.pdf confirms the Bay’s seabed is heavily contaminated from regular accidents as well as industrial discharge. The sum total of this ongoing pollution, according to the Greenpeace report, suggests the bay’s seabed reflects pollution equivalent to a major accident such are the levels of chemicals present.

Please click on following link for information on pollution in Spain which includes a section on the Bay and impacts from chronic discharges to the marine environment from industry and shipping activity:-

http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/Global/espana/report/contaminacion/contaminaci-n-en-espa-a.pdf

Joint statement by ESG, Beach Users and Canoeists
10th June 2011

The ESG, Beach Users and Canoeists have today issued a joint reaction to Govts statement on the decision to re-open Western Beach this weekend. We met with Minister Britto and his technical team today and presented our many concerns which were heard and discussed at length. While Government is clearly stepping up its monitoring and management of public use of Western Beach, which is very welcome, we continue to believe that its opening is premature.

“We remain concerned that the dreadful sewage pollution which has affected Western Beach for the past 10 months or so, could return, albeit at a lower level, but unpredictably and therefore continues to present a public health risk.”

Specifically:

a) The unpredictability of the water quality
b) The time lag between testing and available data
c) The public health threat posed by erratic dumping of sewage and lack of local control
d) The difficulty of preventing bathing during high levels of sewage pollution could lead to possibility of people contracting infections from contaminated water
e) The gap between guide and mandatory levels of sewage allowed to be legally present under EU law before banning bathing is huge and that we could well fall just under mandatory levels and be exposed to high amounts of sewage contamination
f) The current ban on bathing if sewage levels are a problem would still allow the beach to be used making bathing almost inevitable on very hot long summer days, in spite of the ban in place
g) Health information risks to the public and especially to parents of young children should be clearly displayed at the beach near the colour coded board
h) All efforts should be applied to identify as close to an “on the spot tester” to determine the water quality at any given time
i) Showers should be installed at the Beach (or just outside it)- to facilitate rinsing off sea water
j) By using the beach the La Linea Ayuntamiento could slow down any permanent solutions to solving its sewage crisis
k) Brussels efforts to press for such a permanent solution could be weakened by the re-opening the beach
l) Gibraltar should make progress with its sewage treatment plant as should all Bay towns as further underlined by the worsening state of the bathing water quality around Gibraltar and nearby coastline in 2010/2011

Today’s radio broadcast will revisit local issues affecting our environment.

To begin with, we couldn’t start off with anything other than the horrific fire at the Port over a week ago which raised many questions and caused immediate and longer lasting environmental problems.
You may be interested to know that the ESG has fielded and followed up many complaints from residents near the port who have suffered noxious smells off and on for some years now. Obviously there are numerous potential sources of air pollution in this area but the sullage plant has been identified as responsible on various occasions. While some efforts have been made by those responsible to address these problems, the reality is that fumes have continued to occur ending, very shockingly, with a massive accident which has shaken the industry and authorities to the core. Let’s not forget the frightening injuries suffered by a worker and his colleagues.

At an immediate level, and as we have said before, the injured and emergency services were of most concern- residents in the area were also clearly affected by the persistent blaze and noxious clouds, but even this could have been far, worse had the wind changed direction and smoke dropped to street level. The entire community, it is also safe to say, were shaken by this incident and many no doubt became aware for the first time, of such industrial practices in Gibraltar.

Question is…have lessons being learnt? When one reads that planning permission had already been awarded to this sullage plant to almost double its capacity- news that frankly would have been unbelievable to residents already suffering the impacts of fumes from such industry – one wonders if we, in Gibraltar are ever going to join the dots and manage our environment more holistically….? Important? Surely, look at the proximity of the liners to the tanks site……

Just yesterday evening the ESG presented a petition directly to the Chief Minister, which incidentally is also available online, to coincide with an environmental protest by our colleagues in Algeciras who were drawing attention to the oil spills on their shores which hadn’t rec’d due attention from their authorities. This lingering pollution and smells of oil and other waste material affecting our harbour waters long after the fire went out, is a stark reminder of how dirty oil pollution is. The fumes are also harmful to inhale and we have been receiving regular complaints from frontline residents.
We do understand, of course, that the fire was an accident, and that all efforts are now being made to clean up and to establish the steps that caused the accident in the first place to ensure this is not repeated again. Fine, this can apply to this particular plant and situation. But as long we have a growing fuel economy surrounding our homes, schools and hospitals, we are running similar risks of accidents with major repercussions.

This is why in our petition to Government yesterday we urged them to look at this oil incident as a symptom of poorly regulated and often conflicting activity which presents risks to the population and causes environmental degradation.
It’s been a stark warning and one that we should all take heed of.
Thanks for listening.

 
Pictures courtesy of Jim Watt.
 

PETITION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER   –   GIBRALTAR GOVERNMENT

                                                                                                8^th June 2011

 WASTE OIL TREATMENT PLANT ABLAZE

 The Environmental Safety Group today submits a petition to the Chief Minister to present legitimate environmental and public health concerns resulting from the accident which took place at the Western Arm last week at the site of the Waste Oil Treatment Plant.

Today, also at 6.30pm, environmental group, AGADEN, is holding a protest in Algeciras calling upon all politicians to address and prevent the ongoing problem of oil pollution in the Bay.

Our petition wishes to highlights the following:-

●While our immediate thoughts at the time of the accident were with the injured parties and our frontline emergency services, we, along with many others,  were also extremely worried about the danger posed by the persistent raging and toxic fire to the community;

●ESG believes that if Gibraltar engages in high risk business such as ship to ship bunkering and waste oil processing, that it needs to step up investment in emergency response and environmental monitoring equipment – ensure best available technology is applied and the precautionary principle adhered to;

●We believe that the oil industry is incompatible with the tourist industry in Gibraltar due to our very small size and our inability to have these located at safe distances away from residential areas/schools/hospital/ships/aircraft/etc.;

●Despite the Plants relocation from Waterport Road, its activity has regularly affected air quality in the area and people’s quality of life;

●That far from recognising or containing the risk to environment and public safety  by this type of plant, we learn in today’s Chronicle that planning permission had been obtained by the company concerned to practically double its capacity to process waste oil material from outside of Gibraltar;

● A few years ago and soon after the Sort Plant as it was known then  had relocated to the Western Arm, the ESG were asked to take air samples in the area to determine the smells near the plant. The results as validated by an accredited laboratory revealed several chemicals present which, once identified, led to some modifications to the plant;

●In the past few weeks an increase in fumes pervading nearby residential areas had resulted in our corresponding with the Port and Environmental Agency with the ESG being told the origin of much of the smells in that zone were emanating from the waste oil treatment plant. We requested permission to visit the plant with Environmental Agency but this was not deemed possible.  A few days later, the explosion occurred.

 ●That an accident of this proportion needed to take place before our Government addresses any shortcoming of protocols or viability of locating such dirty industries, such as waste oil processing, so close to luxury liners and more importantly, to thousands of local residents, is highly regrettable;

●This accident vindicates many of the ESG’s concerns (as highlighted in our Wish list) which indicates the risks posed by oil related activities in Gibraltar which threaten our safety and the living environment;

●The clean up operation and oil spills now affecting the Bay are stark reminders of how oil pollution is a long term problem with lasting impacts on the marine environment and human  populations well beyond the time of any incident;

●That a cross border agreement as put forward under the Tripartite Dialogue to specifically address environmental and health issues of major proportions be progressed outside of sovereignty implications;

●We strongly welcome the statement issued by you/Govt last week that this serious incident has given you an opportunity of rethinking existing practices of processing waste oil material in Gibraltar and location and practice of other oil related activity. The ESG is in full support of this position.

This petition is therefore intended to send a strong message to the Gibraltar Government that the ESG in campaigning for a clean and healthy environment sees this oil accident as a symptom of poorly controlled and conflicting activity in Gibraltar. We urge Government to evaluate the true benefits of the oil industry to the Gibraltar community, risks to the population and environmental degradation.

                                                Henry Pinna                                                      Janet Howitt

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    Signed on behalf of the Environmental Safety Group on this day:  8^th June 2011

The ESG very much welcomes the Chief Minister’s comments last week on Radio Gibraltar and GBC on the viability of the waste oil treatment plant in Gibraltar. This follows our belief that the oil industry is incompatible with the tourism industry in Gibraltar due to our very small size and our inability to have these located at safe distances away from residential areas/schools/hospital/ships/aircraft/etc
Gibraltar is physically too small to safely locate oil processing plants or oil storage tanks or other oil related industries at a safe distance from residential areas as shown by the plant explosion where we were very lucky with wind direction and the fact that only one of the tanks caught fire. The explosive and flammable nature of the products handled by this industry is incompatible with residential areas and they cannot be physically situated far enough from these to guarantee safety in the event of an accident.

The consequences of an accident in these industries are far reaching and long lasting with regards to oil pollution and their effects on marine ecosystems and human populations as well as tourism and other leisure industries. The effects of this incident are being felt in Gibraltar as well as the entire bay and the Spanish coastline even though the actual fire was luckily contained within the installation.
The general public should also be aware that even when operating normally this oil processing plant creates huge problems for local residents. We were informed by the Environmental Agency approximately a week before the explosion that the waste treatment plant was in fact the source of the noxious fumes that had recently and regularly been affecting many residents in Gibraltar – dependent on wind conditions. Evidently fumes have not been detected or reported to the ESG since the explosion which confirms our conviction that the quality of life for Gibraltar residents was being adversely affected even by the normal operation of this installation.
Given the very real risks to lives and to our environment and to our quality of life in Gibraltar we totally agree with the Chief Ministers statement that serious consideration has to be given to operate waste collection as is done in other ports:  that is purely collection and storage as per EU directives and then shipment on to treatment elsewhere where it can be safely processed. We trust that he will make the necessary moves to allow the decommissioning and dismantling of the waste treatment plant and the clean up of its site as soon as possible.

NEW: Today’s oil pollution seen lapping at the seafront (near Europlaza) is a reminder of how oil hangs around long after any incident has occurred also causing a smell nuisance in the area. An eye witness account informed the ESG of terrible smells in the area this morning.

NEWS FLASH  Since this press release was issued the ESG has rec’d several reports of noxious smells in the area possibly linked to the sudden and heavy rains and flushing of damaged tanks.

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The ESG believes Gibraltar needs to take on board lessons from yesterday’s major fire at Western Arm where Nature Port Reception Facility (NPRF) Plant, previously known as SLOP Oil, then Sort Oil, blazed for over 15 hours producing a toxic plume which for the main, was fortunately blown away from residential areas. This is a real blessing. Had the wind blown towards the town area the consequences could have been very different and impacts even more widely felt.

We would like to thank our emergency services for their incredible efforts in handling the incident. We would also expect that given the scale of oil related activity locally that best possible resources would be available to the services and will wait to hear the official incident report before commenting further on this.

It is clear to us, however, that all fuel activity whether land or sea based in Gibraltar requires that best practice is applied and the precautionary principle adhered to. However, even with these in place, it is still difficult to provide sufficient safety to the community due to the proximity of such activity to residential areas. This was highlighted most clearly during yesterday’s worrying incident.

The ESG would like to see a future Gibraltar less reliant on fuel related economy and based on more sustainable activity for our own benefit and have included such concerns in our published “Wish List 2011” which can be read at www.esg-gib.net

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Contd/.. for info:

In the context of the major fire we would like to highlight the following:

1)     Planning issues are at stake here with inappropriate location of industry and residential areas resulting in conflict; berthing cruise liners next to industry is also a serious problem;

2)     Fuel business in Gibraltar seems to be expanding in every direction even though this represents an associated risk potential – for example: Govt support for possible East Side Bunkering –and – the Nature Oil Treatment Plant planning to import and process waste oil from Ceuta and Malta;

3)     Ongoing activity at the plant has been impacting the nearby residential areas off and on for a number of years now due to noxious smells. Recent weeks saw a spike in complaints and the ESG was in regular contact with both the Port and the Environmental Agency (EA). Indeed having been informed by the EA that the recent increase in fumes was linked to the Oil treatment Plant led us to request permission to accompany the agency on one of its now regular inspections. This was refused.

4)     We are concerned that air pollution from the major fire could have had serious adverse effects on people. We must remember that the tanks did not contain pure oil, but waste oil and other chemical waste. The ESG has previously taken air samples in the area and knows this for a fact. Therefore, the persistent, toxic plume containing several chemicals could have provoked widespread respiratory problems had it penetrated the nearby estates. We were told this was a potential concern.

5)     Marine pollution clearly impacts on wildlife but also on our ability to extract seawater via our water intakes, essential for potable water.

6)     The rapid manner in which this incident developed, which affected many hundreds of people in the frontline, illustrates how widespread the impacts of such an accident can be. Also saw airport closed for considerable time.

7)     Finally, the ESG would like to emphasise the need to ensure that sufficient stocks of foam are stocked in Gibraltar to address any future oil related fire, be it land based or out at sea as this is clearly vital in safely extinguishing such dangerous fires.

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Photo courtesy T Finlayson

In what has shocked the Gibraltar community a tank at the Waste Oil processing plant based at the Western Arm yesterday exploded when apparently being worked on by a contractor.

The immediate impacts from the explosion were felt mainly by those closest to the plant, ie the workmen and businesses located nearby, but also a cruise liner was berthed alongside and felt the force of the explosion.

Since then, (since  3.30pm on the 31st may), fires have raged at the plant with a second tank igniting and the ever present threat of this continuing to spread. Nevertheless there is a form of containment which should prevent the worst of this raging fire from spreading beyond the fenceline.

Of course, at present, local residents and even some in nearby Spain, are beginning to complain about the toxic smoke reaching their homes and finding it difficult to breathe easily. The advice from the authorities is to stay put, shut your doors and windows but this will not eliminate discomfort which many will experience in breathing in this air.

Please read ESG Press Release Wednesday afternoon with a full statement on this issue.

ESG Radio Broadcast 13^th May 2011

• Today’s radio broadcast will focus on four separate issues:

The first is to refer you to this week’s publication of an exciting new report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, otherwise known as the IPCC. The reports authors underline the significant future role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and powering sustainable development using existing renewable energy technologies. A global team of technological experts and scientists studied over 160 scenarios using the potential of six separate renewable energy technologies and the details of their assessments are contained in a thousand page report, the link of which will be posted on the ESG website: www.esg-gib.net.

In a world where nuclear energy is being pressed forward as the energy of choice to combat climate change, this report is very timely offering in-depth technical and socio economic analysis.  Anyone interested in learning about the actual viability of renewable energy, as opposed to arguments pushed forward by vested interests, will find this new report of great interest. You may be interested to know that the energies being considered by the IPCC are:

Bio energy, direct solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy and wind energy

• The second area of focus is our very own wish list for parties standing for local elections. A very comprehensive 5 page list of measures we believe could greatly enhance both our quality of life and our environment will be published on our website this weekend and sent to our local press as well as directly to all parties over the next few days. The ESG has produced two previous wish lists, our first, in 2003, calling for an environmental policy to be declared by all parties. We believe we have come a long way in achieving the necessary awareness, of course, aided by the evolution of environmental legislation from Europe. However, Gibraltar is unique in many ways, not least in environmental matters and we believe we must go over and above legal limits and requirements in order to safe guard our environment and our families. Measures covered in our wish list address: climate change, energy, pollution, traffic, recycling, bunkering, sewage treatment, conservation, planning, Govts own Env Action and Management Plan, Cross Border issues and Epid Studies. 

Watch out for our 2011 wish list and proposed measures!!

• Getting down to very specific issues, bunkering fumes and other pollution continues to affect the community and the ESG is taking up this issue most vigorously on behalf of all complainants with the relevant agencies and ministries. We repeat our call for the public to report problems as they are occurring especially regarding bunkering related fumes- number to call is 56001652, for other sources you should call 200-70620 during office hours, or 200-72500 and ask for the Environmental officer on Duty.   Please also inform the ESG of your reports as you make them.
• Finally, we shall be issuing a press release shortly on the Public Health Conference which took place last weekend in Algeciras.  It is always extremely beneficial to listen to Professor Benach share his views and understanding on matters of public health, especially of his concerns about the state of health of communities in the Spanish bay towns. Mr Benach has begun assessing our own Epid Study and we now await a full report which we know will bring his global expertise to better understanding our own problems and needs more fully.

We look ahead to our next broadcast where we shall share some more news on our environment.   Thanks for listening.

27^th May 2011

“A report in the Gibraltar Chronicle that a minor collision occurred off Gibraltar this week between a Chinese ship and a floating petrol vessel anchored in the bay is of extreme concern to the ESG. This is a grave reminder of the very real threat posed to our environment from existing maritime activity. This “minor” collision reminds us that even with the application of best technology such as Vessel Tracking Systems in place and trained personnel that – accidents do and will continue to happen.

In a press release issued by the ESG in January 2011 we highlighted this risk in response to the official launch by the Port of Gibraltar of its new VTS monitoring technology. We expressed concerns then that while the VTS would have an immaculate record of what happened, it would not necessarily be able to prevent an incident. This latest collision demonstrates how our concerns have been realised and how important it is for the Gibraltar Government to rethink its planned bunkering expansion to the East Side. The ESG believes that VTS should be used to increase distance between ships and therefore safety, and not to increase shipping density.”

See below ESG PR Jan 2011 on VTS

ESG on the VTS (Vessel Tracking System)        13th January 2011

The ESG welcomes the news of the VTS system finally being introduced in the Port of Gibraltar. The group also expects that the new safety cushion created by the system on the present level of shipping should not once again be eroded by increasing the amount of shipping. This is akin to the refinery reducing air emissions per ton of oil processed but then increasing its capacity to negate this and even add more pollution.

If traffic is increased so that there is a greater concentration of shipping around Gibraltar this will further reduce the distance between ships and/or the reaction time available to the Port to react to a crisis situation which will make serious shipping incidents very likely.

The ESG adds that we might have an immaculate record of what happened and how it happened but the incident will not have been avoided.

The group takes this opportunity of urging the Gibraltar Government to rethink current plans to expand bunkering activity to the eastern side of the Rock