Protecting an ecological haven: Oil spill at Poole Harbour triggers major incident response

The solution

An incident room was established and everything was managed from that room. The project was a well-coordinated effort involving many different parties - dozens of people had a say in how the incident was managed and the Strategic Coordination Group was set up to help focus efforts.

Each day involved a shoreline cleanup assessment to check for oil impact, and we would then instigate targeted actions to address that impact. We then produced proposals on how we could help navigate the incident to conclusion in a controlled and timely manner. We were able to bring the vision, strategy, and knowledge required to help those involved through the process.

The next stage was the process of restoring the site back to an acceptable state – ideally as close to pre-incident as possible. The goal was clear: to address the incident while minimising the impact on this area of outstanding natural beauty.

The first step of the investigation and assessment work we undertook was establishing where we should respond and what we investigate – and that hinged on good data. We drew on data from water samples and boreholes we deployed in the early stages to inform the remediation strategy we undertook.

Around 40-50 metres of land were intensely impacted by the spill. Given the sensitive nature of the habitat, a large-scale aggressive remediation programme wasn’t feasible – it would destroy the habitat. Various response strategies were proposed and evaluated, leading to the identification of the most suitable approach in consultation with all stakeholders.

Comprehensive remediation actions were undertaken to mitigate the spill's effects as part of a longer-term environmental risk reduction strategy. A combination of booms, skimmers, and pumps were employed on site to focus the oil into a place where it could be more easily removed, and effective strategies for cleaning up affected shorelines were developed and executed.

Comprehensive Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) surveys were conducted by boat and on foot to assess the extent of the damage. Aerial surveillance was carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fixed-wing aircraft and rotary aircraft to monitor the affected areas from above, allowing for precise real-time data collection and analysis to inform response strategies.