TN oil spill contingency plan prioritizes eco-sensitive areas
As per the plan, coastal ecosystems including the Gulf of Mannar, Ennore, and Pichavaram Mangroves are prioritized in the prevention and combating of oil spills.
Oil image
CHENNAI: Nearly a year after an oil spill in the Ennore ecological region put the livelihood of fishermen and the environment under threat, the state government has released 'Tamil Nadu State Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan'. As per the plan, coastal ecosystems including the Gulf of Mannar, Ennore, and Pichavaram Mangroves are prioritized in the prevention and combating of oil spills.
As per the plan document, prepared in January but made public a few days ago, in the event of oil spills, locations including Kovalam Creek, Kollidam Estuary, Kalpakkam Creek and others will be given the highest priority apart from the Gulf of Mannar, Ennore and Pichavaram mangroves.
"In the case of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, the entire area is to be considered a priority due to the occurrence of sensitive biological organisms like coral, seagrass, endangered sea cow and other threatened animals," it said.
The plan also mandates priority to regions where power plants and desalination plants are located. "The power plants have indicated that the oil spill affects their seawater intake systems or sources which will cause serious damage to intake systems leading to temporary shutting of respective units of power plants. This applies to desalination plant wells in the sea and intake system for refineries at Ennore, Parangipettai and Nagapattinam," it added.
The plan also categorised the oil spill incidents into Tier 1-3 based on the extent of the oil spill and quantity. Small oil spills that can be dealt with locally have been categorized as Tier 1, while oil spills beyond local capability or affect a larger area have been categorised as Tier 2. On the other hand, oil spills with larger impacts are Tier 3 spills. The quantity of oil spilled for Tier 1 is less than 700 tonnes and for Tier 2 it is between 700 to 10,000 tonnes. If more than 10,000 tonnes of oil is spilt, it will come under Tier 3.
As soon as the information on the spill with details on locations is received by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and ICMAM (Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management) Project Directorate, Chennai, the organisations will activate the already developed mathematical model for oil spill movement.
Any sighting of oil spilling in the nearshore or shoreline areas is to be intimated to the nodal agency of oil spill disaster in Tamil Nadu, the local Coast Guard office located within the district limits or to the Commander, Coast Guard (Tamil Nadu) at Chennai and to the respective District Collector.
As per the plan, the spilt oil will undergo a weathering process including spreading, evaporation, dispersion, emulsification, dissolution, oxidation, sedimentation and sinking, and bio-degradation.
