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Poole Harbour Commissioners have announced* that 200 barrels of “reservoir fluid” have leaked from a pipeline into the harbour.
Prof Rick Stafford, marine biologist at Bournemouth University and Chair of the British Ecological Society’s Policy Committee, said:
“The leak is reported as ‘reservoir’ fluid, which is ~15% oil. 200 barrels of reservoir fluid therefore is 30 barrels of oil equivalent, which is only a little short of 5,000 litres. This is a significant amount of oil. Wytch Farm is on the southern end of Poole harbour, and oil on the surface can be seen throughout the harbour, including at Sandbanks ~ 2km away.
“Perenco have taken over Wytch Farm as companies such as BP have found it commercially unviable to extract the smaller amounts of oil left. While this is still a big onshore oil field, the amount remaining is decreasing.
“Poole Harbour has many protected designations, including as a SSSI. We should be questioning whether large scale oil extraction should occur in protected areas.
“The effects on wildlife are hard to determine at the moment. There are risks to wading birds, as well as to the cockle and clam fishery and oyster aquaculture.
“All of the above, alongside the climate crisis, does mean we should be moving away from extracting the last drops of fossil fuels, and move to renewable energy sources.”
Prof Ben Garrod, Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement, University of East Anglia, said:
“In reading quotes where senior local politicians are grateful a ‘real disaster’ was avoided and stating that, ideally, ‘You want it (the oil) out to sea and dispersing as quickly as possible’ I’m left in a state of despair yet again.
“The release of 200 barrels of toxic material into a coastal area adjoining nature reserves is surely, under any definition, a disaster. And this out of sight, out of mind mentality with our marine environments is almost as destructive as the oil and other harmful material we all too often release into these fragile, essential habitats.
“Hands will be wrung and apologies made, but the damage is already done.
“Bioaccumulation of chemicals up and along complex marine food chains means this may have unforeseen, and long term, impacts for local marine life, and even local people. This will only stop when we protect our marine habitats more rigorously, and appropriately punish those polluting them.”
Prof Richard Davies, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global and Sustainability, Newcastle University, said:
“Leakage from wells and pipelines is a serious issue for the oil and gas industry globally. They occur as catastrophic blowouts such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster, through to barely detectable leaks of gases such as methane from active and decommissioned boreholes.
“Unfortunately, the leak in Poole Harbour is not an isolated incident. In 2014 we published a paper on leaks in the UK and found leakage from boreholes and sometimes from the associated pipelines. Between 2000 and 2013, the Environment Agency recorded nine pollution incidents involving the release of crude oil within 1 km of an oil or gas well in the UK, some probably caused by pipelines and several are in Poole Harbour at the Wytch Farm oilfield.”
Dr Malcolm Hudson, Associate Professor in Environmental Science at the University of Southampton, said:
“While we don’t know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole Harbour raises particular concerns. It’s a very large enclosed bay – and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides. Also, it’s a very low energy environment, so unlike a spill on an open coast there won’t be much wave action to help break down and disperse the oil. Poole Harbour is especially sensitive, and internationally protected for the wildlife there. Thousands of birds nest there in the Spring – they are just arriving and some of the overwintering birds haven’t left yet either – they are all vulnerable to floating oil. There’s also sensitive habitats like mudflats and salt marshes which could be damaged too. Meanwhile, there’s the human angle – people live and work in the marine, there’s a big shellfishery, and tourism is a big part of the local economy. Not only is this potentially a serious environmental incident- it illustrates the risks we take if we place infrastructure like oil pipelines in such sensitive locations.”
Martin Barnes, marine response, Ambipar environmental management company, said:
“The leak from the pipeline on Sunday was well reservoir fluid which is a brine mixture that contains an element of physical oil.
“The mixture will provide a visually unattractive sheen on the surface that will dissipate through evaporation during daylight hours.
“Some oil deposits may be left behind on solid surfaces, mammals, aquatic life and humans that have been in contact with the discharge during the release period.
“The deployed booms should contain any oil on the surface so it can be recovered.
“The brine element (water) of the discharge is also a hazard to the environment that will be very difficult to deal with as it will become diluted by the sea water making it impossible to be recovered at sea.”
Dr Simon Boxall, School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, said:
“The spill along the coast in Poole is relatively small at 200 barrels (about 65 cubic metres or 65 tonnes) but is leaking into the shallow coast close to environmentally sensitive areas. The material is a mix of water, oil and gas which will disperse and break down reasonably quickly but has the potential to cause substantive damage before it does so. This is coming from one of Europe’s oldest and biggest regions of onshore oil exploration and extraction which to date has had a very good safety record. The spill also occurred close to one of the world’s top resources for dealing with spills, Oil Spill Response, based close by in Southampton.
“It will be important to collect as much of the oil as possible in the forthcoming hours and to boom off harbours and sensitive areas. The short term will require quick and decisive action, with longer term monitoring to measure the impact of the spill.”
Prof Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science at the University of Southampton, said:
“The reality of oil exploration, even onshore drilling such as at Wytch Farm in Dorset, is that “where there’s drilling, there’s spilling”. Oil spills have a wide range of well-documented adverse impacts on land, oceans, coastlines, rivers, seabeds and more. Oil has the potential to destroy habitats and disrupt the natural ecosystems that make up these environments. Oil spills are particularly damaging to areas that are sensitive or protected such as Poole Harbour, which is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA). This designation indicates it is an internationally important site for over-wintering wildfowl and waders. It is crucial that the type of oil spilled and its extent are identified quickly, and measures are put in place rapidly to prevent further leakage and dispersion.”
* https://www.phc.co.uk/poole-harbour-commissioners-press-release-2-26-march-2023-20-00/
Declared interests
Prof Richard Davies is involved in the Net Zero RISE partnership, which also involves IGas and Third Energy, but there is no funding/financial links.
Dr Malcolm Hudson: I am not in receipt of any funding from any organisation with an interest in this. I receive funding from the EU for the EMERGE project (as does Ian ): https://emerge-h2020.eu/. Historically (2002), I provided consultancy advice to BP logistics for the development of a Biodiversity Action Plan for their UK sites- aimed at managing and enhancing wildlife. I am a:
Dr Simon Boxall has no declared interests in either the companies involved in the spill or in the Poole Harbour commissioners.
Prof Ian Williams:
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.