Problems of methodical providing and usage of Plans under the warning and liquidations of oil and oil products spillages
The environmental problems are of current importance for marine transport. The influence from functioning of marine transport in a standard regime (waste thrown by the vessels) is essentially reduced due to the international measures, but as for the situation with accidental spillages it is not that favorable.
Indeed, there are no absolutely safe complex systems, i.e. there is always a possibility of danger for an environment and can under certain conditions (combination of specific factors) result failures in functioning of technical systems. And therefore it's not possible to completely exclude the risk, and then it is necessary to be ready for such situations. It is important not only at a state or regional level, it also answers the interests of the ship owner as in case of non-coordinated actions there are more efforts and resources left to try. Analyzing the accidents, the experts normally agree in one thing that consequences could be essentially reduced, if there was a systematic preparing for emergency situations before. And it is not only about the correct actions of one person at performance of any work or reciprocal measures in situation of emergency but also about the importance of the administrative, organizational and system aspects. It goes without a doubt, that today organizational and administrative drawbacks became an important additional factor for major accidents.
For the last years our legislative - standard base has essentially advanced in this direction. A number of Decisions of the Government (for example, N613 from 21.08.2000 and N240 from 15.04.2002), and also the Orders of the Ministries (for example, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia N242 from 18.05.2002) regarding the measures to take in situations of emergency, shows the acceptance of the theory of risk instead of the concept of the "absolute safety» occurring before. For hazardous industrial facilities, in particular for the vessels engaged in transportation of oil, the specified decisions led to the necessity of developing of the Plan under the warning and removal of oil and oil products spillages (Plan LRN).
Disregard the significant step forward made by the local law, in our opinion Plan LRN is the document possessing the features of research project, rather than practical guidance for the companies engaged in oil products. Before the estimation of the efficiency of introduction of plan LRN into the activity of our companies, it is necessary to answer 2 key questions: 1) the purposes of elaborating of the plan and 2) users of the plan (for whom it is being established)? These questions are interconnected, as if the plan is being elaborating only for the purpose to show to nature protection bodies the technical availability for possible spillages, thus the elaborated document is intended mainly for the state structures responsible for the environmental safety. In this case the plan LARN becomes just another kind of the reporting for ship owners, complicating their life, but of no practical advantage.
However, if to consider, that this purpose is not the only one, and moreover is of the second importance comparing with the main aim to make of plan LRN the instrument of ecological management within the company, in this case legislative efforts, and also expenses for the elaboration of the plan, suffered by ship owners are unnecessary.
More proper work on methodical study of the plan content is required to make them a practical instrument of reaction on emergency situations, namely:
1. In our opinion, plan LRN should concentrate on the options of the actions effected under different conditions, rather than on technical characteristics of the devices used for removal of spillages, which normally take the most part of the plan.
2. From a position of the theory of risk, the measure should be directed on its two basic elements: reduction of the probability of incidents and consequences of accidents. Therefore management of risk of accident should include these two variable quantities. Accident prevention is the most economically effective way of controlling the risk and also means the acceptance of safety measures to a source. And though the plan is called Warning and removal of oil and oil products spillages, the first part of it (the Warning) actually is lacking.
3. Factors, in many respects determining the size of consequences from the accomplished accident, are hydro meteo conditions in the area of an oil spillage as they influence a choice of technology of removal of spillage. There is an issue Geographical and hydro meteorological features of area of spillage of oil products in plans LRN, it s required according to the Decisions. However it is not in relevant position with other issues of the plan and therefore does not possess any practical value. In order to make this information useful, "working", it is necessary to construct accident scripts coordinating a weather environment with possible actions.
4. The definition of "sufficiency" of forces and means for removal of the accident should be précised. So far there is one starting point i.e. time of localization of spillage on water areas should not exceed 4 hours (under the Decision of Government N240), it is possible with an adequate accuracy to specify necessary size of oil booms from it (proceeding from the volume of spillage and conditions of spreading of certain oil products). All the rest, in particular, the volume of required capacities for temporary storage of an oily mixture, facility on clearing of oily waters, is planed without due methodical providing.
To make a conclusion I want to note once again, that until plans LRN turn to manual for the company with the purpose of providing flexible reaction to a number of possible circumstances, their utility will remain on a low level.
Kononenko M.R. Candidate of economical science. The ecologist of KONTUR SPb LLC,
Senior lecturer of RSTMU
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