Cross-Border Risks in the Baltic Sea Region: Lessons to ... - Helsinki.fi

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Finland. The cleanup operation took approximately
one month but all the oil was cleaned
up and no damage was caused to the environment.
The responsible shipping company is
being prosecuted to compensate the cleaning
costs of the Estonian Government. 21
In June 2004, there was a fire on a waste
collection site near Tallinn. There were several
issues that made this incident rather difficult
to handle. First of all, it was not known
which substances were stored inside the
burning building, and therefore the fire fighters
could not enter it. In addition, a railway
passed close to the fire. During this incident,
cooperation with the rail authorities was
problematic and it took a while to stop the
railway traffic. After the incident, the importance
of giving "right" information to the
media was stressed. However, this task was
difficult since the Fire and Rescue Services
did not have enough information themselves.
During the same year, there was a fire in
a chemical plant. This fire was caused by the
human factor since the workers were not
properly trained. Also the fire fighters lacked
necessary training for fighting chemical fires.
Consequently, they suffered from injuries
during their work. Conclusions from this incident
were the need for training, the use of
right equipment, and the need for practising
and developing communication with the
media. 22
4.3. Finland
The Ministry of the Environment is responsible
for the management and control of oil and
chemical spill response in Finland. The Finnish
Environment Institute (SYKE) is the governmental
marine pollution combating authority.
SYKE has the responsibility of responding to
major incidents and to those that take place at
open sea. SYKE is also in charge of the equipment
and maintains 13 depots. SYKE can provide
international assistance.
A number of authorities have the legal
obligation of collaborating in oil destruction
measures. According to the "Act on the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships"
(1979/300, Section 31), the Frontier Guard,
the Finnish Defence Forces, the Finnish
Maritime Administration, the Finnish Institute
of Marine Research, Police, the State
Provincial Offices, and the Finnish Road
Administration have a duty, when requested,
to provide executive assistance to the
authority responsible for ship oil and chemical
damage prevention measures. If the prevention
measures require, the above-mentioned
authorities should promptly start the
prevention procedure even before a request
for executive assistance has been made.
The municipalities are responsible for combating
pollution within the municipal limits. The
coastal regional rescue services have to provide
emergency response in the areas they
cover. The Rescue Services Authorities
respond to oil spills and, together with the local
authorities, create a joint contingency plan.
The regional Environmental Centres also
advise local municipalities about pollution preparedness
and response. Three coastal areas
have developed regional contingency plans
and there is also one plan for the inland waterways.
The governmental "Decree on Ship Oil
Damage and Chemical Damage Prevention"
(Chapter 3; Section 6) has laid down provisions
on a cooperation plan. The regional
Environment Institute formulates the required
plans in cooperation with the above-mentioned
authorities. The Decree also contains the minimum
requirements for the plan.
Finland has started a project where volunteers
can sign up for duty in case of an oil accident.
Until now, 10,000 people have signed up.
The training includes, among other things,
training on collecting oil and the functioning of
the Coast Guard.
4.4. Germany
In Germany, spill response is shared
between the Federal Government (Federal
Waterways and Shipping Board of the Ministry
of Transport) and the Federal Coastal Länder
of Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-
Holstein. In case of a spill, a national response
group that includes the Ministry of Transport
and the concerned Land / Länder is created.
After the Pallas disaster experience in the
Wadden Sea in 1998, these partners founded
the Central Command for Maritime
Emergencies Germany (Havariekommando)
in 2002. It is responsible for all heavy maritime
disasters and carries out the cleaning operations
both offshore and on shorelines. All ports
and harbours have to have their own response
resources and create contingency plans.
21
Presentation by Riho Sömermaa, Estonian Tartumaa Rescue Service, "Training Course for operational personnel in
the field of oil spill response on land and in rivers and lakes" Karlskrona 13-14 September 2003.
22
Presentation by Priit Laaniste, Estonian Rescue Board, "Lesson learned from disasters, near accidents and exercises",
September 2004, Trondheim.