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Pollution incidents costs and impacts
Phil Gibbon
Waste Regulatory Specialist – GMMC
Environment Agency
Flood risk management
Water management
Fisheries, Conservation,
Recreation
Environmental protection
What we do
Our environmental protection role
Regulating large industries, e.g.
COMAH
Waste regulation, e.g.
Recycling/treatment, disposal
Protecting and improving water,
land and air quality
Preventing and mitigating impact
of pollution incidents is an
important part of this work
EA incident response Category 1 responder
Assess all incident reports (22000pa) from public/FRS/others
Attend within 2-4hrs potential Category 1-2 and some high profile Category 3 incidents
Priority to prevent or mitigate damage
Use pollution control hierarchy – i.e. as close to source as possible
Other aims, e.g. collect evidence/recover costs
Pollution incidents overview
14287 Cat 1-3 pollution incidents in 2013
Wide range of types, e.g. oil/chemical spills, fires, fly
tipping, sewage treatment failure, flooding, etc
Sources, e.g. industry, agriculture, water industry,
transport ,construction, domestic etc
Serious pollution incidents
Serious/persistent /extensive impacts or effects on people & the environment
688 Cat 1-2 Incidents in 2013. 323 (47%) from sites we permit
Increase in 2012 reversed downward trend
Other includes. Transport, Domestic, Natural/Not identified
Many types/causes
Spillages
Containment and control/structural failure
Equipment/plant failure
Poor maintenance/practice
Road traffic collision/Other transport incidents
Deliberate, e.g. vandalism/fly tipping
Natural, e.g. high temperatures/flooding
Fires
Confirmed fire pollution incidents 2013 1587 Cat 1-3 incidents caused by fire
Approx 11% of total pollution incidents
Approx 16% of the fires linked to waste activities
30 fires had serious impact.18 (60%) of these from waste activities
2014 figures still not complete, but number likely to be similar
overall, but slight increase in waste fires
Impacts of pollution incidents -
people and the environment Water pollution:
Drinking water supplies
Water used by industry/agriculture
Fisheries/recreation use
Wild life
Air pollution:
Public health risk
Nuisance
Land:
Soil contamination
Impacts on operator/business
Disruption to business/Loss of permit to operate
Increased insurance premiums
Clean up costs/compensation claims
Fines and potentially imprisonment
Damage to business reputation
Cost of pollution incidents Marine spills well documented
Deepwater Horizon -$14 billion response/clean up costs
Sea Empress - £60 million, response/clean up costs
Less info on inland spills. Buncefield best known £70 million and rising.
EA project, to develop methodology to calculate all cost of an incident
Cost of incidents project Direct Financial Costs
Property damage
Recharge costs
Penal damages
Reputational Costs
Impact on Environment
Damage to aquatic environment
Damage to fish
Air quality damage
Impact on Society
Recreation
Human health
Restrictions on events
Diesel spill at water treatment site
Type of Cost Cost
Polluter’s Recharge Cost £2k
Polluter’s Cleanup Costs £1.2m
Penal Damages £15k
Awarded Legal Costs £1.5k
Total £1.22m
Type of Cost Cost
Polluter’s Recharge Cost £192k
Fire & Rescue Incident Response £107k
Penal Damages £40k
Awarded Legal Costs £15k
Local Authority Incident Response £8k
Public Health England Incident Response £2k
Damage to Recreational Angling £310k
Impact on Golf Club £13k
Fish Kill £47k
Loss of Spend on Angling Equipment £27k
Impact on Recreation £9k
Impact of Exposure to Smoke £112k
Loss of production at neighbouring site £500k
Total £1.4m
Large waste wood fire
EA role - Prevention a priority
Range of powers and initiatives in place. Some examples:
Regulation, e.g. COMAH, EPR, APPW notices/regulatory
guidance
Targeting illegal sites/activity. Defra consultation to extend
EA Powers, e.g. Financial Provision
Advice and Guidance – Effort reducing
Influencing/partnership working, e.g. Fire and Rescue
Service
Incidents will still happen. We will work with polluter
/partners/others to minimise their impact
Pollution response strategies Contain, e.g. booming, use of on site containment facilities
Aeration including peroxide
Dilution
Chemical treatment /Diversion to foul sewer
Fish rescue
Influencing others response, e.g. controlled burn or extinguish or both
Influences on strategy Speed of response, equipment available, access, drainage
Pollutant/Incident type, e.g. oil/chemical spill, fire
Environmental sensitivity, e.g. GW SPZ/ bathing water
Best environmental option , e.g. controlled burn, extinguish
Other priorities, e.g. life threat, threat to health, economy
We want polluter (Insurer) to lead, but will act ourselves if necessary,
e.g. polluter unknown, or response too slow
Other EA priorities during an incident
Regulate advice on waste disposal
Warn the public/abstractors, other partners
Monitor environmental impact
Seek remediation/clean up
Investigate cause/collect evidence
Record our costs for later recovery
EA legal powers/Others
Various Acts/Regulations, allow us to:
Serve notice to get polluter to take action to
prevent/clean up, e.g. Anti Pollution Works Notice
Recover our response costs
Take legal action – Include civil sanctions, revoke
permits and prosecute in Magistrates/High Court
Cost recovery powers principally water focussed. Defra
consulting on extending to cover deposits to land
Civil claims, e.g. Angling Trust
Our partnership with the FRS
We work closely with FRS, sharing a common interest in preventing/mitigating impacts of fire on people, property & environment
FRS carry EA supplied pollution equipment e.g. pipe blockers, drain mats, land/water booms
We estimate the partnership reduces the number of Category 1-2 incidents by 20-25%. In case of recent large waste fires nearly 50%
Our partnership with the FRS
FRS Risk information plans. Main aim to protect fire fighters. But many now include environmental element too, e.g. firefighting /firewater management strategy
Sharing resources
Working closer together as regulators, ie links between EPR and RRO. Fire Prevention = Pollution Prevention
Summary Pollution Incidents can impact on people, the environment
business and can be costly. More work needed on costs
Most are preventable through good design, housekeeping,
maintenance and/or appropriate response
We won’t hesitate to take appropriate action to minimise impact,
recover costs, and if necessary take enforcement action
We want to work with business/partners/others to prevent them