News / Government happy with Exercise Sula
POLLUTION response teams could effectively respond to a Deepwater Horizon type oil spill in British waters, the UK government’s department of energy and climate change has said.
The government’s statement comes as a 67 page report into Exercise Sula, held in Aberdeen and Shetland on 18 and 19 May this year was published on Wednesday.
The exercise was held in response to the catastrophic release of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, in April 2010, and subsequent demands for stricter regulations of deep sea drilling and exploration in the waters to the west of Shetland.
The government said the exercise had “demonstrated that the UK has highly professional and dedicated personnel who can respond effectively”.
The scenario played out in May involved around 6,000 barrels of oil escaping each day from a deep water well at Chevron’s Cambo Well Site, 86 miles to the west of the isles.
Oil spill response teams from Southampton were mobilised and sent to Shetland, however, on the second day of the emergency the imaginary slick was already 58 by two kilometres wide and drifting towards Shetland.
On an extremely windy day in May shoreline response teams in Shetland demonstrated how offshore skimmer and boom laying equipment could be deployed.
The specialist vessel Kingdom of Fife, supported by a few local fishing boats, had been mobilised in Sullom Voe to demonstrate how oil could be skimmed off the sea. Meanwhile a Hercules plane flew over the scene a few times pretending to spray dispersants.
By Day 10 around 60,000 barrels would have been spilled into the sea with the slick now measuring 163 by 78 kilometres, with around 940 barrels of oil washing ashore along Shetland’s west coast.
Exercise Sula was the first major, national exercise to incorporate all aspects of the national contingency plan and the full establishment of various response cells.
“Following analysis of evaluators, controllers, players and observers comments the exercise planning team considered the exercise was a success and that the UK pollution response system could effectively respond to a deepwater offshore drilling incident.
“Their findings are that overall the exercise showed that the UK could deal with an incident of this type,” the government said.
The full report can be found at: www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-dops_cp_environmental-counter-pollution_and_response.htm
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