Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: Mediterranean countries asked for inventory of response capacities for potential support of clean-up operations – May 05, 2010
REMPEC - the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea, one of UNEP/MAP specialised centres - received a request to assist in the identification of stocks of dispersants, fire-booms and other devices to monitor dispersants which could be made available by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in case there will be a need to bring them over to support the clean up operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
The request came via Oil Spill Response (OSR), the response service provider for British Petroleum (BP), which has contacted several Regional Agreements including the Barcelona Convention in order to get the requested information.
Following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard has taken command of the response and has demanded BP, as responsible party, to identify response equipment which could be made available to the US authorities.
REMPEC - the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea, one of UNEP/MAP specialised centres - received a request to assist in the identification of stocks of dispersants, fire-booms and other devices to monitor dispersants which could be made available by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in case there will be a need to bring them over to support the clean up operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
The request came via Oil Spill Response (OSR), the response service provider for British Petroleum (BP), which has contacted several Regional Agreements including the Barcelona Convention in order to get the requested information.
Following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard has taken command of the response and has demanded BP, as responsible party, to identify response equipment which could be made available to the US authorities.
"The request addressed through the channel of the Regional Agreements underlines the added value of this worldwide network mainly set up under the umbrella of the Regional Seas Programme of UNEP, of which the Barcelona Convention is the first-ever Regional Seas programme under UNEP", said Frederic Hebert, REMPEC Director. "At this stage the request has been forwarded to all Contracting Parties, and concerns the identification of resources either through national stocks or by private providers, and the willingness of the party concerned to make them available".
Inventories should include dispersants, fire booms, fluorometry and dispersant monitoring capability.
More information on the spill and the response can be found on the United Respond Command website.