KARACHI, Sept 12: A committee constituted by the federal government has called for establishing a system for preparedness and response to accidental marine pollution emergencies, particularly in the wake of any future oil spill.
The committee, which was assigned to evaluate the environmental impact caused by the massive oil spill from foreign ship Tasman Spirit and propose a workable environmental and restoration programme, also suggested strengthening of the draft national oil contingency plan which is aimed at responding to any future oil spill.
In its report, the national committee incorporated the inputs from different government and private bodies discussing in detail the damages caused to environment and ecosystem due to Tasman oil spill during a period of over 40 days.
It is understood that about 30,000 tonnes of crude oil drained out to the sea from the PNSC-chartered oil tanker, which ran aground on July 27 and collapsed later.
Deliberating on the state of preparedness and response in any oil spill emergency situation, the official report stated that accidental marine oil for the most part was generally considered as an environmental emergency, which might have a serious impact on population, its economic activities, and there may be a certain degree of damage to the ecosystem.
It stated that regardless of the scale of oil pollution, response to a marine pollution emergency can only be successful if a response organization existed there and any strategy of response has been agreed upon in advance while on the other hand trained personnel, tools and equipment are also available to operationally execute such a strategy, the report added.
The committee recalled in the report that Pakistan had prepared a draft National Contingency Plan (NCP), which was presently awaiting approval.
According to the draft plan, the response is based on three levels, i.e. Level 1, which is the oil spill situation in which the agency (port authority/provincial organization and institutions) in whose jurisdiction the oil spill has occurred to be competent to respond to the oil spill without activation of the NCP of Pakistan.
Accordingly, the agency which would act as lead agency may, however, request assistance from any other agency under mutual agreement to respond to the oil spill under Level 1.
Level 2 is the oil spill status in which the agency in whose jurisdiction the oil spill has occurred requests the National Environmental Coordination Committee (NECC), headed by the DG of the Federal EPA, which is responsible for the execution of the NCP, to activate the NCP irrespective of the size of the oil spill.
Level 3 is the situation in which the NECC requests for international assistance. NECC is supported by an administrative and finance committee, while operational matters to combat the spill is given to the DG of the Maritime Security Agency, who is designated as the coordinator of the operations committee.
In the light of the lessons learnt, it would be recommended that the NCP is revisited to reflect in the light of this experience before it is taken further, the report said.
It was further pointed out that a review of the contingency plan should be a part of the contribution to building the capacities for preparedness for and response to oil pollution.
About the proposed preparedness system it was stated in the report that such a project needed to be placed within the context of the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Cooperation, 1990 (OPRC 90), which Pakistan has ratified, the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP) established by UNEP and National Environmental Action Plan supported by UNDP in the field of environmental capacity building.
The overall objective of the project shall be to establish an efficient and reliable national system for preparedness and response to accidental marine oil pollution. The project could have some specific objectives, which include the revision and updating of the draft national contingency plan and relating regional, local, public and private plans for the provincial area of Sindh.
Other objectives as the report emphasized upon are: to prepare legislation establishing a national system (organization) for accidental marine pollution response preparedness; to make a detailed risk assessment for Karachi Port and Port Qasim; to introduce sensitivity mapping and oil spill modelling as tools for developing proper response strategies; to establish a database on national expertise and programmes on oil-related matters; to identify oil spill response equipment, products and other means required for the effective implementation of the contingency plan and to facilitate the procurement of necessary material and the setting up of response equipment stockpiles.
It was further recommended that the government should also facilitate the establishment of an Oil Spill Response Centre equipped with communication equipment for use in case of emergency covering Karachi Port and Port Qasim.
To train sufficient number of response personnel at different levels, in various aspects of oil spill response, with a view to enabling effective functioning of the national system and the implementation of the national contingency plan within areas extending from Karachi Port to Port Qasim.