Bridget
Norris - 2-Nov-2006 - The Environment Agency is
investigating how 27,000 litres of diesel leaked
from a fuel storage tank and bund at an oil terminal
beside Poole Harbour earlier this week.
The problem was reported to
the Agency on Monday (October 30).
None of the oil has got into
the harbour, an internationally protected site,
although it has made its way to Wessex Water’s
Poole sewage treatment works.
The oil terminal comes under
the joint jurisdiction of the Health and Safety
Executive and the Environment Agency. Officers
from both organisations have been to the scene
advising and working with specialists to minimise
the impact of the spill.
‘We are working closely with
the site owners and their contractors to ensure
that all the necessary measures are being taken
to protect the harbour and in the longer-term
that the spilled oil is recovered,’ said Nick
Gupta for the Environment Agency.
The faulty tank, which has a
capacity of over a million litres, is approximately
60 metres from the harbour-side. The remaining
fuel has now been safely transferred into a second
storage tank.
A full investigation into
the spill is being carried out.
