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15 ural phenomena (heavy rains, hurricanes or thunderstorms) leads to catastrophes, which are often created by man. It is often the deficiencies of human condition that transform a natural phenomenon into a natural disaster, e.g. the construction of dangerous industrial plants in risk areas, the construction of residential areas in naturally hazard-prone areas, the destruction of natural compensation areas, and so on. 17 For instance, in Germany the gas supply system was affected by the 2002 flooding. An investigation was carried out to inspect, depict and classify damages on gas provision facilities. Damages on the gas system were caused by both the physical impact of water and the kinetic energy of water flow and flotsam. Results from the study showed that there is a need for a more efficient pre-warning system. Communication between the authorities and the gas provision companies must also be improved. Also, an "independent" communication system must be developed. Planning is important to avoid damages. One recommendation is to prepare information to the providers, customers and companies that are situated in a risk area for flooding. It is also important to include the gas provision companies in the crisis teams. 18 3.3. Oil Spills Oil spill prevention and preparedness is a vital part of bilateral and multilateral cooperation based on the existing everyday needs and risks in a society. Oil spillage is a particular type of accident, integrated into the sphere of international activities and mostly it has to be solved by means of international cooperation. In the Baltic Sea Region, cooperation in this field was established with the Helsinki Convention (17/03/92). There exist also bilateral agreements between BSR countries to tackle oil spills, e.g. between Sweden and Germany. There are variable sources for potential oil spills in the BSR. For instance, in Lithuania there are around seven oil spill risk areas: the industry, water pollution from road and railway traffic, industrial plants in Kaliningrad and Belarus, export of oil products, oil refineries, oil pipelines, and local oil accidents. An additional challenge is the pipeline on the Latvian border, where illegal connections are quite common. Transit of oil is also a risk, for example in 2000 there was a railway accident. To manage the risks, training, manuals, equipment and exercises are needed. During the last years, exercises have been arranged together with Poland and Russia (the Kaliningrad region). 19 4. Some Examples of Emergency Situations in Case of Cross-Border Risks in the Baltic Sea Region In the following section we briefly deal with oil spill response arrangements in the Baltic Sea States. Even if the Eurobaltic Project mainly deals with land-related oil spills, it also describes how an oil spill is combated at sea. The main reason for this is that an oil spill at sea may or may not reach land. In addition, the risk of oil spills is named as the highest potential risk factor among the BSR civil protection authorities interviewed for this study. 4.1. Denmark Since 2000, the Admiral Danish Fleet under the Ministry of Defence has been responsible for the control of oil and chemical pollution at open sea in Denmark. Marine pollution and responses at sea and in shallow waters near the coasts are divided between the Defence Command and the Naval Operative Command. In addition, the Admiral Danish Fleet is responsible for national contingency arrangements at sea. The regional and local councils have the responsibility of combating pollution on the shores. The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) can under special circumstances, e.g. if a NATU- RA 2000 or Ramsar area is threatened, assist the local authorities in the job. The municipalities are responsible for the combating of pollution in harbours and ports. The Danish Law for the Protection of the Marine Environment stipulates that oil drilling and production companies must develop their own contingency plans and provide their own equipment. The navy possesses four spill response vessels and DEMA has eleven bases of equipment for near and on-shore response. 17 Zaayenga, Bernd; Natech Disaster Risk Management in Bavaria, Analysis of Natech Disaster Management, European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, 2004, 64. 18 Fröbel, Jörg; Oil spill risks, Seminar Memorandum on Lessons learned from disasters, near accidents and exercises, 9.9.2004, 7. 19 Tubis, Laimonas; Oil spill risks, Seminar Memorandum on Lessons learned from disasters, near accidents and exercises, 9.9.2004, 5-6.
16 4.1.1. Oil Pollution from the "Baltic Carrier" in Groensund 2001 and "Fu Shan Hai" in 2003 In March 2001, a freight ship and an oil tanker collided east of the Danish island Falster. This collision led to an oil spill. The oil spill demanded cross-organisational cooperation and understanding. Improvisation was needed to find solutions for gathering and depositing oil and polluted materials. Despite this challenging task the overall impression is that the response was performed satisfactorily. During the incident Denmark received international assistance, since German and Swedish environmental units participated in the response and provided material. EU observers were also sent to the site. However, some problems and technical defects were revealed during the response. Firstly, there was a need to have access to committed and numerous manual resources. Secondly, the equipment at hand was not able to collect the heavy high viscosity oil. Consequently, new solutions had to be found and an evaluation of existing technical equipment was needed. The need for improved cross-organisational planning was also displayed. In the evaluation of the incident three recommendations were made. The first recommendation was to establish a general plan describing tasks and operational phases in a control operation following pollution at sea. The second proposal was to prepare a separate risk analysis for the waters around Denmark. The analysis would be used to judge if necessary equipment is available. The last recommendation concerned the need for more training: "Exercises and education in the handling of larger and/or longer lasting mishaps and disasters should be given higher priority with all operational authorities". In 2003, the "Fu Shan Hai" accident in the Bornholm Straits caused damage on a small group of islands called Ertholmene, 10 nautical miles north of the main island. The incident also affected Sweden. The main problem was that there was no proper machinery on Ertholmene that could be used to clean up the oil, and the spill had to be cleaned up using manual labour. When the response was evaluated, it was stated that the work organisation was successful during that operation. In addition, the different organisations cooperated well, e.g. the police and the Swedish Coast Guard, and sufficient personnel and expertise were available. What did not work so well were, firstly, the insufficient Swedish weather forecasting and spreading model for oil, and secondly, the fact that oil spill combating and cleanup plans had not been elaborated for South East Skåne. The lack of plans implied that the rescue services' information concerning the responsibility and role of the municipalities was insufficient. 20 4.2. Estonia In Estonia, the Board of Border Guard with its structure units organizes the detection and handling of sea pollution. It is also responsible for the necessary equipment. The Board's task further includes the detection and handling of pollution at Peipsi, Lämmi and Pihkva lakes. The localization of oil pollution in coastal areas is the duty of rescue services (also the limiting of pollution and its diffusion), but the final handling of pollution is the task of local administrations. In case of pollution on mainland, the primary reaction comes from the rescue services. After the prevention of further leakage and diffusion, the obligation of handling the pollution is passed either to the Road Administration, the Railway Administration, the Environmental Inspectorate, or the local administration. The port authority is in charge of oil spills in ports or terminals. A sensitivity atlas showing the Estonian shoreline and its sensitive ecological and socio-economic areas is available. 4.2.1. Lessons Learned from an Oil Spill and Accidents at Seveso II Enterprises Usually, three to four very small oil spill accidents happen every year in Estonia. In 2003, a Maltese tanker ship with thick crude oil arrived in Estonia. After a while, oil was seen in the water and the unloading was stopped in order to check the problem. The captain of the tanker declared that no oil was leaking and unloading started again until new oil was seen in the water. Both the captain and the harbour authorities sent down divers who discovered that the hull had been poorly mended. Altogether 300 tons of oil was spilled out. Estonia did not have enough equipment for the cleanup and help was received from 20 Presentation by Göran Norberg, Lars-Erik Larsson and Thomas Hermansson, South East Skåne Rescue Services, and Magnus Holmqvist, Southern Military District, "Training Course for operational personnel in the field of oil spill response on land and in rivers and lakes" Karlskrona 13-14 September 2003.
Page 2 and 3: CROSS-BORDER RISKS IN THE BALTIC SE
Page 4 and 5: Contents Eurobaltic Foreword 1. Int
Page 6: FOREWORD The aim of the Eurobaltic
Page 9 and 10: 8 ty of identifying ships and oil s
Page 11 and 12: 10 Table 1: Some essential regional
Page 13 and 14: 12 sea. Once the Dengertneth plan
Page 15: 14 Lithuania is the Environmental P
Page 19 and 20: 18 4.5. Latvia The National Oil Spi
Page 21 and 22: 20 Galadusys in 2000 was the fir
Page 23 and 24: 22 The skills are regularly trained
Page 25 and 26: 24 shows that during emergency situ

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