On Wednesday 26th February, teams from Langstone Harbour Board and Chichester Harbour Conservancy came together to practice counter-pollution response. This mock scenario tested the joint response in which 6 cubes of diesel were hypothetically spilled off of Langstone road bridge and into waters near Langstone Sailing Club. The practice included testing both Harbour's Oil Spill Contingency Plans, with contractors Adler and Allan on site to assist with additional equipment and resources.
Practices such as these are vital to test operational capability and resources in the event of an oil spill in the harbours. Representatives from agencies including Havant, Portsmouth, Hampshire, Chichester, and West Sussex authorities, Natural England, Coastal Partners, and the Maritime Coastguard Agency attended the exercise, providing specialist advice.
Langstone Harbour Master, Billy Johnson said "It was a great opportunity for our teams to work with the Chichester Harbour teams. Our workboat, Delilah, was used as a platform to deploy our internal oil spill capability." He added "Weather conditions made deployment challenging but all teams worked brilliantly together, showing their passion for our harbours."
In compliance with the Maritime Coastguard Agency's requirements, our harbour teams conduct multiple exercises of the Contingency Plan annually to ensure preparedness for any eventuality. The exercise involved deploying spill equipment, such as sorbent booms and additional apparatus, to simulate the containment of oil and its movement towards the shore for recovery and safe disposal.
Langstone and Chichester Harbours are internationally recognised for their importance as coastal wetlands, with the species inhabiting these areas being highly significant. The Oil Spill Contingency Plan focuses on effectively managing spills in this environment and preventing ecological harm.
Environment Officer, Meg Roberts said "Langstone Harbour contains protected saltmarsh habitat in close proximity to the exercise site, so this exercise allowed us to test our strategic response to how we would manage the protection of sensitive sites and over wintering migrant birds."
The Conservancy Ecologist, Pete Hughes added "These fragile environments could be severely damaged in the event of an oil spill and training exercises like this are important for practicing our approach to managing potentially environmentally damaging incidents."
Langstone Harbour Board provide separate containers for vessel owners registered in Langstone for the disposal of boat-generated waste oil, oil filters, and oily rags. Further information about waste management is available on our website.
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