NATURAL RESOURCES WALES (NRW) continues to work closely with partners to minimise and assess the impact of the oil spill that occurred in Nant y Caws on October 4.
Two oil containment booms remain in place on the Nant Pibwr and the Nant y Caws to contain any residual oil, but have now been clear of oil or any oil sheen for over two weeks. The booms will only be removed once NRW is satisfied that no more oil is likely to migrate into the river.
Boreholes have been installed in the valley floor near to the source of the oil spill to test the groundwater for oil. Initial results from the first two boreholes indicated that there was no presence of Kerosene, however the results from the remainder of the boreholes that have been constructed will not be known until later this week.
At the time of the incident, there were reports of two private water supplies to properties having been affected. Carmarthenshire County Council’s Environmental Health team has sampled the ground and well water of both properties and no oil was detected in either.
Air quality monitoring has also been conducted by the Local Authority and Valero’s environmental contractors in the vicinity of the spill. Hydrocarbons have not been detected above any limits which may have an impact upon human health.
As part of Valero’s work to repair the pipe, a dormouse European Protected Species licence was issued by NRW for the installation of a section of diversionary pipeline. The works under that licence have been completed and was overseen by an ecological contractor employed by Valero. A second licence will be required for the work to remediate the site.
NRW’s investigation into the cause of the oil leak and impact is continuing.
Huwel Manley, Operations Manager for Natural Resources Wales, said: “The investigation is progressing well. Our officers have carried out a number of surveys to assess the ecological impact of the oil on the Nant Pibwr.”
“We previously surveyed the river back in August which will help us with our full assessment of the fish losses. However, we already know that the oil has had a significant but localised impact on both fish and invertebrates.”
“The investigation will inform what action we take going forward. As the assessments are ongoing, we are minded not to release further information at this stage that could influence the investigation or any legal case.”
A meeting of the multi-agency recovery group, chaired by Carmarthenshire County Council, will be held on November 21. The role of this group will be to look at putting in place any long term monitoring requirements to fully assess the impact of the oil spill in addition to working with Valero regarding a strategy to mitigate those directly impacted by the incident.
As with any incident of this nature the group will also task a Structured De-brief to be undertaken which will focus on the incident response as part of the Incident Plan review process.
Add Comment