Pollution 'disaster' averted at Wells

A boom is installed across the entrance to Wells harbour during the oil pollution exercise.

Emergency teams responded to a mock oil slick in Wells harbour this week in a training exercise aimed at averting a potential pollution disaster.

Demonstrations of specialised equipment were given to 36 trainees from coastal authorities, harbour officials and fisheries officers from throughout Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

They included mechanical skimmers and vacuum tanks to collect oil, diesel or other pollutants from the surface of the water.

And a 160m floating boom was deployed to isolate a section of the quay - which in a worst-case scenario could be used to prevent an oil slick becoming an ecological catastrophe in nearby marshland.

The training session was provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and forms part of its national contingency plan for reacting to pollution from shipping and offshore installations.

Neil Chapman, from the counter-pollution branch of the MCA, said: “This training is to give people an appreciation of the equipment involved in an oil spill.

“The scenario is that oil is coming out of the sea and down the creek into the harbour. Depending on the state of the tide it is either prevention or, if it has already inside the harbour, to contain it in the harbour so we can stop it from spreading. If oil got into the marshes it is going to be quite devastating for the wildlife but, it is all down to the circumstances on the day.”

Mr Chapman said the MCA had stockpiles of equipment in Scotland, Wales and Liverpool, but other agencies had resources closer to hand in places like Stansted and Ely.

The trainees included officers from all of Norfolk's coastal district councils and county emergency response planners.

Norfolk County Council business manager Tony Bemrose said if the highest grade of pollution emergency was declared, a Shoreline Response Centre would be set up to co-ordinate a host of environmental agencies and authorities.

“This is for the people on the operational side rather than the strategic planners,” he said. “These are the people who will end up on the beaches if the circumstances happen which we all hope never will.

“The idea of the training is to show people different methods and practical demonstrations so they are better prepared should the worst happen.”

County councillor for Wells Marie Strong, who observed the training, said: “I am delighted to see this emergency preparation and training taking place. To think of this beautiful harbour and others along the coast being desecrated by pollution is unbearable to imagine.”