Archived press release

Sea Empress Oil Spill: 100,000 Demand Inquiry

24 April 1996

Friends of the Earth will be joining Nick Ainger (MP for Pembroke) and the RSPB to hand in nearly 100,000 signatures to the Prime Minister on Wednesday 24 April 1996 demanding an independent public inquiry into the Sea Empress disaster. The signatures have been collected on petitions and pledges by Friends of the Earth Cymru, Friends of Cardigan Bay, Nick Ainger MP, the RSPB and the Western Telegraph, and have come from people throughout South Wales and further afield.

The presentation of signatures will take place at 10.30am at 10 Downing Street and will be followed by a press conference at 1 Parliament Street,Conference Room C, at 11.15. Later in the day (1.30pm) Nick Ainger will lead a debate in the House of Commons on the Sea Empress.

Friends of the Earth is calling for an independent inquiry to address the causes of the initial grounding, the conduct of the salvage operation, and the effectiveness of the pollution containment and clean-up operations. In addition, an inquiry should examine the environmental, social and economic impacts of the disaster and the need to plan and guarantee proper protection to the coastal and Milford waterway environments. Areas of concern [1] include the lack of a plan of entry for the ship into the port,defective radar at St Anne's Head, confusion in the command structure for the salvage operation and inadequate efforts to minimise the leakage of oil from the ship and to ameliorate the effects of the pollution.

Gordon James, Head of Campaigns, Friends of the Earth Cyrmu,said:

"The current inquiry by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the Department of Transport is far too narrow. The huge number of signatures demonstrates the strength of feeling in South Wales that lessons can and should be learned from this disaster."

Others calling for an independent inquiry include NUMAST, the trade union representing more than 18,000 merchant navy officers. A spokesperson said:

"With two major disasters in UK waters within the space of three years - expected to cost more than 80 million in environmental and economic damage - a detailed assessment of the neglect of the country's maritime infrastructure is urgently needed."

ENDS

NOTES

[1] Submission by Friends of the Earth to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch inquiry into the grounding of the Sea Empress. Available from Friends of the Earth.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust