Contact Arrangements with Statutory conservation agencies for oil pollution incidents

(May 2008)

Four organisations deal with nature conservation issues in Great Britain: Joint Nature Conservation Committee, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and Countryside Council for Wales. The Environment and Heritage Service is the equivalent organisation in Northern Ireland. The Harbours Division of the Department of Transport manages spills in Manx waters. The contact arrangements in case of oil spills or other major pollution incidents in UK waters for these organisations are as follows:

Countryside Council for Wales (for Welsh territorial waters)

Marine Industries Liaison Officer
Countryside Council for Wales
Maes y Ffynnon Office Hours
Ffordd Penrhos
BANGOR
Gwynedd, LL57 2DN

Office Hours Tel: 01352 706629 or 01248 385660 (swbd)

24 Hour Pager: 07659 140040

(including if unavailable during office hours)
Fax: 01248 385511

Natural England (for English territorial waters)

Steve Benn

Natural England

Marine Pollution Officer

Evidence team

Juniper House

Murley Moss

Oxenholme Road

KENDAL

Cumbria, LA9 7RL

Office Hours Tel: 01539 792840

24 Hour Pager: 07659 124846
(including if unavailable during office hours)

Fax: 01539 792830

Scottish Natural Heritage (Scottish territorial waters)

Dr John Baxter
Scottish Natural Heritage
2/5 Anderson Place
EDINBURGH, EH6 5NP

Office Hours Tel: 0131 446 2434

24 Hour Pager: 07699 761509
(including if unavailable during office hours)
Fax: 0131 446 2405

Environment and Heritage Service (for Northern Ireland waters)

Duty Emergency Pollution Officer
Environment and Heritage Service
Calvert House
Office Hours 23 Castle Place BELFAST, BT1 1FY

24 Hour Tel: 01189 535351
Tel: 028 9025 4741
Fax: 028 9025 4700

Isle of Man

Duty Officer
Director of Harbours Harbours Division Sea Terminal Building
DOUGLAS Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

24 Hour Tel: 01624 686627
For Captain Michael Brew - Fax: 01624 626403

For offshore international waters and all other waters or if any other contacts are unavailable contact:

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Marine Pollution Advisor
JNCC Dunnet House
7 Thistle Place
ABERDEEN, AB10 1UZ

Office Hours: Tel: 01224 655716

24 Hour Pager: 07623 976568
(including if unavailable during office hours)
Fax: 01224 621488

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Defining national boundaries

The following defines the sea boundaries between the country agency responsibilities:

North Sea coastline

Territorial waters above 55º50'N to be covered by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Western coastline

Territorial waters above 54º30'N to be covered by Scottish Natural Heritage

Territorial waters between 54º30'N and the Dee Estuary to be covered by English Nature

Territorial waters within 12 NM of Wales to be covered by Countryside Council for Wales

Territorial waters south of 51º20'N to be covered by English Nature

The Isle of Man's Department of Transport is responsible for all operations within Manx territorial waters i.e. 12 miles offshore or the median line.

In practice, if an incident occurs at or near these demarcation lines (say within 20 nautical miles) or in the Solway, Dee or Severn Estuaries, the relevant officers from both organisations should be alerted.

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Reporting oil spills using above contact list

Fax ALL spills - To relevant number(s)

Telephone or page - If spill exceeds 1 tonne In blocks wholly or partly within 25 nautical miles of the coast or in environmentally sensitive areas

Telephone or page - If spill exceeds 25 tonne in any other area

If you are unsure if the spill is in an "environmentally sensitive areas", please assume that it is.

If you have any queries arising from the points contained in this note, please do not hesitate to contact any of us.

Senior Offshore Advisor
JNCC
Dunnet House
7 Thistle Place
ABERDEEN
AB10 1UZ

On behalf of the statutory nature conservation agencies, EHS and the Isle of Man Director of Harbours

Oil Spill Contingency Planning tools and oiled wildlife response information

Please refer to the JNCC contingency planning webpage for details of the oil spill contingency planning tool Coastal And Marine Resource Atlas (CAMRA), information about the oiled wildlife response organisation Sealarm Foundation and sources of information relating to oiled wildlife response to pollution incidents.