Archived press release

Sea empress: FOE slams environment agency and consults its lawyers over private prosecution

16 July 1997

Friends of the Earth today expressed outrage over the Environment Agency's decision to prosecute only the Milford Haven Port Authority and the Harbour Master for the Sea Empress oil spill disaster 17 months ago, and is now urgently consulting its lawyers on the possibility of bringing a private prosecution against the Department of Transport (DoT).

FOE has been collecting evidence for months which shows that the net should have been cast wider, to include particularly the DoT, in the light of its legal responsibilities and role in the botched salvage operation.

In line with Friends of the Earth's investigations, the private, internal report of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch - to be published this afternoon - is expected to catalogue a series of blunders by several bodies and individuals, including the DoT's Coastguard Agency and Marine Pollution Control Unit. The report, however, is expected to fail to address a number of significant questions [1].

Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth said:

"Friends of the Earth is furious at the Environment Agency's failure to act as a strong, independent regulator. Actions speak louder than words: we had been led to believe that the Agency's post-election rhetoric would translate into a tougher enforcement policy. The Agency's refusal to properly enforce environmental law against central government is a missed opportunity and can only damage public confidence. We are urgently consulting our lawyers about bringing a private prosecution against the DoT"

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] We expect the report to be inadequate in addressing particularly: the adequacy of the navigational aids available at Milford Haven at the time of the Sea Empress' entry; the position of the buoys marking the entrance channel and the extent to which they had drifted

on the tide; the navigational equipment that was available on the vessel; the significance of the decision by Milford Haven Port Authority to dispense with the requirement for a Class 1 pilot plus an assistant pilot on vessels the size of the Sea Empress; whether the salvage strategy would have been considered feasible had all available information about tidal characteristics been taken into consideration by those in command; the final position of the Sea Empress at the conclusion of the fateful turning manoeuvre on the Saturday evening;why the Sea Empress was not taken out to sea at each of the opportunities that were presented. We also seriously question the wisdom of the expected recommendation to examine the adequacy of the navigational aids at Milford Haven by conducting "live trials"with fully laden ships.

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