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17 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.
18 4.5. Latvia The National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) of Latvia was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in March 2004. Within the framework of contingency planning, GIS sensitive area maps and accident risk assessment calculations are used. Oil spill drift and weather forecast modelling is in place. Organizations involved in activities foreseen by the Plan are Latvian Coastguard, MRCC Riga, MRCC Committee, ARCC, Crisis Control Centre under the State Chancellery, State Environmental Service, State F&RS, State Border Guard, Centre of Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Port Authorities and municipalities located on the Latvian coastline. The National Chemical Spill Contingency Plan of Latvia (2004) has been elaborated, but has not been adopted. The implementation is expected to be similar to that of oil spill contingency. Two laws are important for civil protection in Latvia: the "Civil protection law" from 1992 (amended in 1998) and the "Fire safety and fire fighting law" from 2002. Latvia has bilateral cooperation agreements at state level with Lithuania since 2001, Sweden (2002), Estonia (2001) and Hungary (2004). In Latvia, oil is transported by rail, by road and in pipelines. Oil is also transported at sea, and transit harbours are located in Riga and Ventspils. As in Lithuania, there are illegal connections to pipelines. Latvia is also exposed to risks existing in Lithuania. A wind from the south might imply pollution in case of an accident in a refinery, the nuclear power plant of Ignalina or the Butinge oil terminal. During the last years, experiences from road and railway accidents have been gathered. The international exercise "NOSE" was arranged in 2004. In case of an oil spill, the responsible authority varies: the harbour captain in the harbours, the fire brigade inland, and the Coast Guard, under the Ministry of Defence, at sea. 23 The Marine and Inland Water Administration (MIWA) of the State Environmental Service (SES), under the Ministry of Environment, is responsible for policy making in the field of marine pollution, the coordination of the implementation of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), and the fulfilment of international obligations. The Coast Guard Service has response stations in the three largest Latvian ports - Riga, Liepaja and Ventspils. Three levels of management and decision-making exist in Latvia. For small spills, the Response Commander of MRCC Riga leads the response operations. For major oil spills, a MRCC Committee is convened by the Response Commander for the overall coordination and management of the pollution. The Committee has permanent members from MIWA, the Latvian Coast Guard, the Maritime Administration of Latvia, the State F&RS, the Ministry of Defence, and port authorities. In case of a major pollution leading to a national emergency, the State Emergency Commission is activated under the Ministry of the Interior. The State Fire Fighting and Rescue Service under the Ministry of the Interior, in cooperation with the local municipalities, are responsible for shoreline and beach cleanup. Port authorities are responsible for response operations in port areas. Land and sea activities are carried out in cooperation between the Coast Guard Service and the State Fire Fighting and Rescue Service. The State F&RS operates its own technical equipment. Local municipalities furnish extra manpower and means to oil pollution response operations on the coast. The coordination of sea and land activities is accomplished through direct contact between involved authorities and the respective Commanders. The Latvian response capacities are based on the mechanical recovery technology. The use of chemical agents, such as dispersants, is not foreseen in the marine environment. The Latvian Coast Guard Service does not have special vessels for oil spill contingency purposes. In case of an oil spill, the coast guard cutters, equipped with booms, skimmers and floating rubber bags, will carry out the response operations. A 100 m³ non-propelled barge will be used for primary storage. For aerial surveillance, small aircrafts with no remote sensing equipment will be used. The involvement of private vessels is foreseen in contingency operations through agreements with port authorities. 4.5.1. Experiences from Pollution Accidents Besides the above-mentioned risks in oil transportation, and the dangers that might cross borders, Latvia suffers from floods. These floods are often contaminated with mineral oil from road or transportation accidents and technological failures, spills from pipelines and oil storage. These spills are 23 Rugals, Gunars; Oil spill risks, Seminar Memorandum on Lessons learned from disasters, near accidents and exercises, 9.9.2004, 6.
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 and 16: 14 Lithuania is the Environmental P
Page 17: 16 4.1.1. Oil Pollution from the "B
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

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

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