30 Mar POOLE HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS – PRESS RELEASE NO.6 – 30 MARCH 2023
Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) can confirm that good progress has been made with the Poole Harbour clean-up operation with a total of 327 survey reports thus far. Aircraft surveillance continues today (although low cloud base is restricting visibility) and drones continue to be used as an effective means of collecting information.
A further 31,000 litres of liquid has been recovered overnight. Four containment booms are in place along with absorbent booms and this is proving effective at containing oil that leaked into Poole Harbour on Sunday. PHC continue to work continuously with an environmental team including the Environment Agency and Natural England in order to agree the most effective strategy to deal with the incident and additional manpower from Oil Spill Pollution companies has been assigned to the operation.
There are few areas in the harbour that have a light sheen which where possible can be absorbed or will naturally disperse, and any sightings should be reported to harbour control on 01202 440 230.
The main focus remains around the site of the leak in Ower Bay, however clean up teams are being sent to other parts of the Harbour as and when oil has been identified. Further meetings are taking place today in Poole Harbour’s Emergency Response Centre in order to ensure that the operation is as effective as possible and that up to date information is made available to the relevant authorities who are assisting with the incident.
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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. Testing has taken place and Investigations are continuing at this time.
The UK Health Security Agency has asked that people avoid using the beaches and water in the Poole Harbour area for any recreational use until further updates become available. This includes but is not limited to hand gathering of shellfish, swimming, bathing, watersports, fishing and angling.
Pets should also be kept away from the water in the Poole Harbour area.
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.
Jim Stewart, CEO Poole Harbour Commissioners