Contingency Plans for Large-Scale Oil Spills
Updated: 18/02/2009
Israel has 185 km of coasts on the Mediterranean Sea and some 14 km in the Gulf of Eilat. Oil tankers unload some 12 million tons of liquid oil per year in fuel terminals along the Mediterranean and Eilat coastlines. Another 2 million tons of oil a year are exported each year through Israel's fuel terminals. According to the Marine and Coastal Environment Division of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a severe oil spill will undoubtedly cause major environmental and economic damages in Israel. In a March 1998 decision, the government called on the Environment Protection Ministry to prepare a National Contingency Plan for Preparedness and Response to Combating Marine Oil Pollution. Furthermore, Israel was obligated to approve such a contingency plan both internationally in accordance with the Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), which was adopted in 1990. The contingency plan was prepared by professionals in the Ministry of Environmental Protection in collaboration with an interministerial steering committee and was adopted by government decision in May 2008. It aims to assure prompt and effective action to minimize the damage which may result from major oil spills. As part of its preparations for the contingency plan, Israel completed an oil spill sensitivity mapping project which will facilitate decision making on priority treatment in case of a severe oil spill according to the sensitivity of different sections of the coast - whether in terms of tourism, biodiversity or nature reserves. Based on these layers, each coastal area is described according to its sensitivity to pollution. Seven levels of pollution sensitivity have been identified, ranging from highly sensitive areas to so-called "sacrifice zones," to which oil spills will be diverted, given the right conditions such as weather, size and type of spill, and location. The objective of the contingency plan is to define a three-tier system for preparedness and response to marine pollution incidents by oil, including the mapping of sensitivity sections along the coast, risk scenarios for marine pollution, policy for combating a marine pollution incidents, specification of methods and means for combating a severe marine pollution incident and more.
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