Five Glaring Issues With The Oil Spill Response In Mauritius Today – Forbes
13 August 2020: just a month ago, the large iron ore vessel was on the coral reefs of Mauritius. ... [+] Now it is in pieces with the front section discarded in an unknown location and oil is still along the beaches.
There is something very fishy going on with the oil spill response in Mauritius.
The evidence in a major international crime appears to be disappearing. The oil spill and deliberate sinking of the Japanese owned Wakashio in Mauritius is a crime.Actually, several national and international laws appear to have been broken.
Four Mauritian crew of a Wakashio salvage support vessel, the Sir Gaetan Duval tugboat, are feared dead (three confirmed deaths and the captain still missing).
If evidence in this increasingly wide-ranging investigation is found to have been not handled properly, this could be a very serious offence indeed.
9 Aug 2020: view from the air of the salvage operation around the Wakashio as oil gushes into the ... [+] coral lagoon, just six days before the vessel split in two.
For context, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is in the midst of a major oil spill crisis the largest it has ever faced.A state of environmental emergency was declared by the Government when oil started gushing out of a large Japanese bulk carrier, The Wakashio, onto an important 100,000 year old pristine barrier coral reef and into a network of highly protected nature reserves containing some of the worlds rarest creatures.These had been designated nature reserves as they also contained some of the most important sites of historical and cultural importance to Mauritius.
The front half of the 300m long Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel was then controversially sunk on 24 August and within days almost 50 whales and dolphins washed up dead on Mauritius shores, that had already been heavily impacted by the oil spill from 6 August.The island nation was shocked and there have been large and ongoing national protests since then demanding greater transparency and accountability in the oil spill response.The size of these protests are unprecedented for the island nation.
2 Sep 2020: Fishermen from the Bois des Amourettes region employed by Floch Depollution wash the ... [+] jetty in Bois des Amourettes, Mauritius.
Compounding this has been the oil spill cleanup that is being funded by the insurer of the vessel, the Japan P&I Club, as revealed in a series of Government press releases. This oil spill cleanup is being conducted in an even more secretive way than is usual for major oil spills.This is despite the entire eyes of the world being on Mauritius given the high-profile nature of this crash in one of the worlds most famous biodiversity as well as beach holiday destination islands.
The lack of transparency by all parties has been the only consistent and reliable characteristic of this incident.
Restricted areas of Mauritius were significantly expanded on 28 August 2020 compared with the size ... [+] of the area on 6 August.
125 square kilometers and 36km of Mauritius ecologically sensitive coastline is now being cleaned without any independent oversight, aside from Government scientists whose independence has already been challenged over early pronouncements on the whale and dolphin deaths.Despite the highly educated country having all the necessary expertise to handle a major oil spill response, both within the country and among its large and well-educated diaspora population, a large army of international consultants was hired by the insurers of the vessel and deliberately kept these offers of support from Mauritians at a distance.The entire South Eastern coast has now been fenced off and access is being restricted by a large police presence to Mauritian independent scientists, and only the international consultants are allowed into this zone.
The entire handling of the oil spill cleanup is now raising eyebrows that all may not be as it seems.
The dead whales and dolphins being transported by Government vehicles (indicated by the licence ... [+] plates) from the South East Coast
There have been three pivotal moments in the oil spill response already since the vessel split in two on 15 August (three weeks after the initial grounding on 25 July).
Each one of these events alone should have caused a radical pivot in how the oil spill response is being handled.
Instead, press releases by the international organizations involved in Mauritius imply a sense of more of the same, rather than profound shock and reflection at each event.This, in part, explains why there have been such large numbers marching in protest at how the oil spill is being handled and the indifference to the appeals by the Mauritian population.
It is a crisis that could have been avoided by a more accountable and responsible set of national and international actors.
Only Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and the IMO have publicly issued statements expressing their sorrow for the loss of life on the Sir Gaetan Duval tugboat.In a response to Forbes on 2 September, MOL, said our thoughts and prayers are with those who were affected by the collision between the tug and the barge on the way to Port Louis. The following day in a response to Forbes, a spokesperson for the IMO said We are saddened to hear of the fatalities of people involved in the salvage operation.There is a mandatory casualty investigation process.
17 Aug 2020: the UN regulator, the IMO, has taken a very prominent role in coordinating the heavily ... [+] criticized oil spill response, salvage and rehabilitation efforts in Mauritius.
To date, Forbes has reported on 16 international organizations that have publicly been announced in the country, bringing in at least 79 consultants (from publicly available information).The actual numbers are likely to be significantly higher.These organizations are essentially the whos who of international shipping and maritime insurance, and includes the UN shipping regulator - the International Maritime Organization - who has had an on the ground presence since 12 August, the oil owners organization - ITOPF, the vessel insurer - Japan P&I Club, the salvage team appointed by the vessel insurer Boskalis-owned SMIT salvage, the vessel charterer - Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).
Despite the presence of some of the most well-respected names in global shipping, even the most basic processes that should have been in place for a major oil spill appear to be missing.The question is why?
24 Aug 2020: The deliberate scuttling of the Wakashio in good weather and calm conditions, has been ... [+] strongly criticized by citizens and international organizations
It is 61 days since the large iron ore vessel plowed straight into Mauritius Eastern Coral Reef, and it appears at several international laws have been broken during the oil spill response phase alone.An initial glance reveals potential breaches of IMOs Marpol Annex V, IMOs Ballast Water Management Convention, IMOs Control of Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, IMOs Hong Kong Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, and given the deaths of 49 protected whales and dolphins, this raises questions around breaches to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals or CMS, as well as breaches to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling under the International Whaling Commission.This was not a small oversight.
There had been multiple offers from well-respected Governments around the world with deep experience in oil spill responses.What happened to these offers of assistance?
Why were those responsible for the oil spill so confident they could handle the situation that such offers of assistance were rebuffed?The results show that the situation has lurched from one catastrophic result to the next.
The story has now moved beyond the initial shock of the oil spill, but to how the oil spill response is being handled and the conduct of the bodies involved.
The Wakashio is fast turning into a business case study of what not to do in a major industrial accident in a far-off land, where there is no real understanding of the context, history or ecology.
Rick Dawson, veteran of over 40 of the biggest oil spills and responsible for overseeing NRDAs and ... [+] clean up operations for the US Department of the Interior.
Rick Dawson, a veteran of 40 of the most high-profile oil spills in the world, spoke to Forbes about what he expects to see following a major oil spill, and what he is observing in Mauritius.His role was to oversee and manage the clean up and Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA).
Rick worked with the US Department of the Interior for four decades, and has been involved in the prosecution of some of the highest profile oil spill cases in the world, such as the Exxon Valdez, Cosco Busan, and the BP Deepwater Horizon.His role was to produce the evidence required in any prosecution of those responsible for any pollution anywhere in US waters, and he was involved in the defining agreement between the US Government and the global shipping insurance companies the P&I Clubs.
He has been closely following the oil spill and response in Mauritius and had the following observations.
26 Aug 2020: a boy touches the carcass of melon-headed whale at the beach in Grand Sable, Mauritius, ... [+] on. At least nine melon-headed whales washed up on the shores of Mauritius on Wednesday.
Rick Dawson: This is the strangest oil cleanup operation I have ever seen.And Ive seen a lot of oil spills over 40 in a career spanning four decades.I dont know what to make of the Wakashio situation in Mauritius.Even the most basic protocols appear to be missing.With the presence of so many international organizations on the ground, I find this puzzling, as there is a standard set of responses that should have just kicked in.
Here are my top five issues that Im having right now with the response.
49 Dead dolphins and whales washed up on Mauritius' coast soon after the oil spill and sinking of ... [+] the Wakashio.
Rick Dawson: There were 49 dead whales and dolphins within three weeks of the Wakashio oil spill.This is deeply troubling.This is not normal.Something went very badly wrong, and it is critical to understand what was the cause of these deaths, the role the oil played in this, and in what way the oil spill response changed at this point.This has environmental and legal implications.In previous oil spills, what causes the death of marine mammals exposed to fuel oil is that they develop a respiratory virus that kills them, in much the same way as Covid-19 is a serious respiratory illness for humans. However, in the Mauritius spill case, the case of mortality is more acute and remains unknown.
Killing a whale without a permit is a violation of both national and international law.In many countries of the world, arrests would already been made for such an event that has broken the law.In Mauritius, 49 protected whales and dolphins have died.This is a crime. There are 49 victims, each one of which needs an investigation.
26 Aug 2020: The coastguard recover the carcass of a dead melon headed whale from the coast of ... [+] Mauritius. This is one of nine that washed up on 26 August alone.
As this is a crime scene, the carcasses of the whales and dolphins should be frozen as evidence so the right specialists can perform independent necropsies, what is essentially an autopsy performed on whales to identify the cause of death.
Where are the 49 whale and dolphin carcasses being kept?How have they been labelled and stored? What security protocols have been put around them? What part of each animal has been taken for the necropsies?Mauritius has industrial scale fishery and aquaculture operations, so freezing and storing these carcasses there should not have been an issue.Even if these are privately owned facilities, when a country is in a state of national emergency, the Government has stronger powers to act.
Islanders were surprised seeing the appearance of so many protected mammals that had been a familiar ... [+] daily sight swimming and jumping out the water at the edge of the coral lagoon.
If this had occurred in the United States, the death of a protected whale or dolphin would be considered a crime under both the Marine Mammals Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (1973), among various other international UN laws that protect whales and dolphins.So this would mean that several international laws could also have been broken.
In the US, each incident is punishable with a fine of $25,000 for each violation.It can also include sentencing terms ranging from supervised probation and community service to years in prison.Ive seen both.So for 49 dead whales and dolphins, this means a fine of $1.2 million and potentially many years in prison.Under the definition of the law, knowingly killing a protected species, would include circumstantial evidence such as conscious avoidance and deliberate ignorance of the law.
28 Aug 2020: Mauritian journalist Reuben Pillay used drone footage to identify many more whales and ... [+] dolphins were being transported secretly from the coast.
An officer of the law would have been interviewing both the vessel insurer, the vessel charterer and the vessel owner, under caution to identify which civil or criminal laws had been broken that would warrant the arrest of representatives of either of them.
Having 49 whales or dolphins appear dead so soon after a major oil spill is deeply troubling.It is not normal.The oil spill response should have paused at that point and there should have been a radical reflection and change in the approach at that point.An inquiry will need to find out whether any major changes were taken to the oil spill response at that point, or did things continue with business as usual.
Could the deaths of the whales and dolphins have been avoided or mitigated if universal best practice steps were being followed?
Painting of the famous 1810 Battle of Grand Port between Britain and France showing both the HMS ... [+] Magicienne and HMS Sirius being scuttled by fire in Old Grand Port. This area is now covered by the oil spill.
Rick Dawson: An oil spill clean-up operation is analogous to a doctor treating a patient for an illness or a disease.First, they diagnose the illness or disease by performing tests to determine the area(s) of the body affected then they decide the most efficacious treatment to apply to the disease in the area or organs affected.Any other course of action would be considered reckless.
So, the first thing you do when you arrive on the scene of a major oil spill is to get a map of the entire zone.You take a large marker and start identifying the areas that are significant and may require special attention.
8 Aug 2020: oil from the Wakashio heads into the coral lagoon toward many historic, cultural and ... [+] religious sites along the coast
This is not a closed process but engages the local community who often have the best understanding of local fishing grounds, ecological zones and cultural and historic sites.This should be done in an open way to build trust and ensure everyone is on the same page and no major sites have been missed.This is a critical step.
From there, a cleanup plan should be agreed upon and then embarked on with the oversight of independent scientists and representatives selected by the local community who have to live with the consequence for decades to come.Trying to do this behind closed doors with agencies that have a clear conflict of interest, and with the level of protests being seen in the country would be the equivalent of lighting a match to an already flammable situation. Why would you do that?
An oil spill cleanup operation should be treated like a dermatologist removing moles from your skin.It requires surgical precision and a scalpel.Taking a one-size-fits all approach across the entire region is like burning a mole off your face it will cause permanent scarring.
Mauritius has a range of different coastlines in the region of the oil spill. Seen here is the ... [+] oil-drenched mangroves of Point d'Esny with the famous Lion Mountain in the background.
In Mauritius, I see at least 8 different zones.These include sandy beaches, stone beaches, volcanic rocks, mangrove forests, coral atolls islets, underwater coral reefs, seagrass, historic forts.These cover an area of at least 32km in length and many more square kilometers over the area of the oil spill in the coral lagoon.
I would then have community representatives, independent experts and local fishermen or tourist boat operators, who know the area, to map out every ecological, cultural and historic site along that coast.
We would need to know every species that could possibly be impacted by the oil spill or the response, as well as any sites of cultural or historic importance.Mauritius has areas that have been well studied, so this should not be hard.
The location of the oil spill took place in a region of extreme historic interest.I see there are wrecks from the 1810 Battle of Grand Port.If this was the battle that defined Mauritius and marked when Mauritius changed hands from the French to British, this is significant.It is also featured on the Arc de Triomphe.Your previous articles talked about the 137 sailors that died in the lagoon during the 1810 battle.So, we are now talking about war graves that could have been disturbed.Before any cleaning operation begins, there needs to be a survey commissioned to understand the state of these wrecks, before any further damage is caused.
Battle of Grand Port (1810). The battle between British and French ships defined Mauritius and is ... [+] featured on the Arc de Triomphe. It is in this location that the Wakashio split its heavy engine fuel oil
If this was to have happened in the United States, there is the US National Historical Preservation Act that covers buildings and monuments, as well as the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, for many of the deep historical sites that are still being uncovered.Any damage to a historic monument or archaeological site is a criminal offence with very strict penalties.
400 year old historic remains of Dutch settlement in Vieux Grand Port, Mauritius, that has been ... [+] carefully preserved as part of the Dutch history of Mauritius. This region has been impacted by the oil spill.
The costs of these surveys should immediately be covered by the insurer.It is in their interest to immediately have an accurate sense of the state of these wrecks and historic sites.Mauritius should be free to choose which independent set of experts it uses to carefully evaluate the state of these wrecks following the oil spill, and it is the insurer who pays.
I dont know about Mauritian Law, but Im sure you must have laws that protect such historic sites from any willful damage.This is a crime scene and needs to be treated as such.Someone is accountable for what happened here.
Dutch explorers at Dutch Landing after landing on the Island of Mauritius in 1598. In the sketch of ... [+] the site of Dutch Landing, that has been impacted by the oil spill, Dutch sailors can be seen exploring, hunting and taking a turtle-back ride.
Now once you have a complete picture of what were dealing with, only then can we commence the cleanup operation.This way, we make sure that the cleanup operation itself does not cause more harm than the initial oil spill.Not conducting any of these baseline impact surveys ahead of time, knowing the oil spill happened in an area of significant national and international historical importance could be considered negligence.
Weve seen this happen in many places all of the world, and always hear the same three excuses it wasnt damage caused by us, it wasnt much oil, the oil is not that bad.
1848 drawing showing Dutch Admiral Jacob Cornelissoon van Necks expedition which landed on Dutch ... [+] Landing in Mauritius in 1598. The dodo (possibly from the Dutch 'dodoor' meaning sluggard) and solitaire were hunted to extinction by Europeans and the domestic pets they introduced. These flightless birds were related to the pigeon and were native to Mauritius and islands to the east of Madagascar.
I gave you an overview in a previous interview on how we would think about cleaning each zone, with due care taken around each zone.You certainly would not be using high pressure sprays on some of these sites of historic and cultural importance that risks causing further damage.
Again, all of this would have been addressed with the right, independent, sensitivity map of the area. It is not too late, but this sort of sensitivity map needs to be built, and has to be done in a transparent way with all the community engaged on this mapping.
There is a 16 page technical information page on the ITOPF website (TIP14) that gives a step by step ... [+] guide on how to sample and fingerprint oil. With two representatives in Mauritius, what happened to the fingerprinting?
Rick Dawson: Oil has a unique chemical signature.It is essentially like DNA and is used to fingerprint which source the oil has come from.When oil mixes in an engine, it forms a unique chemical signature (due to the peculiarities of each source).This means oil in every oil spill is unique and traceable to this source. So, for the 60,000 ocean going vessels in the world, we know exactly which oil belongs to which ship.
It is absolutely critical to collect many oil samples early.The reason it is so important is that it can allow scientists to immediately identify the type of oil we are dealing with and understand how it may behave in the ocean.Every oil is different and made up of a cocktail of different chemicals that are toxic in their own way to marine life and human health.An oil fingerprint is the most critical first step in any major oil spill response.It determines every aspect of the scientific assessment of impact, cleanup and rehabilitation efforts.
ITOPF guidance from TIP14 shows sampling locations into the ocean for the 1996 spill from the Sea ... [+] Empress. Why was the sample recommendations not made in Mauritius?
Not doing this is the equivalent of a doctor trying to perform a surgery without having secured a patients blood type.It is that foundational to any oil spill response.
If such oil fingerprinting has not been undertaken in the early days of the oil spill, some very serious questions will start to be asked, given the presence of so many international organizations on the ground who had been advising on the oil spill response and who have deep experience of this.
The ITOPF technical paper even goes down to the specific details of what sort of jar (glass with ... [+] wide mouth) is needed for sampling.
What we usually test for is the fate and effect of the oil.Let me explain why this is important.
By fate, this means understanding the chemical composition of the oil, and how it starts to change when it interacts with ocean water.Oil immediately starts changing the moment it hits the ocean.It is affected by the water temperature, sunlight (both the heat and ultra-violet rays, which each have different effects), the bio-availability (i.e., how much oil an chemicals smaller creatures can absorb), bio-concentration (the toxins that are building up along the food chain), oil particle size.In every major oil spill, the oil is usually taken apart molecule by molecule in the very early days.It is a full-scale crime scene investigation similar to the famous TV show CSI.A crime has taken place in Mauritius, and the evidence needs to be handled as such.
By effect, this means understanding how the oil changes over time.All the samples will need to be taken every day at the same locations to study and understand how oil changes over time.Wave action, sunlight, ocean currents all change the particle size of the oil.By changing the particle size, the chemistry of the oil changes, and so too does the toxicity.
The ITOPF TIP14 paper even shows how oil should be extracted for sampling using a separation funnel. ... [+] Why was this not publicly mentioned in Mauritius?
In terms of scale of the sampling, this is huge.I would expect at least a sample of a jar of oil from every kilometer of coastline, and additional samples around every different environmental landscape that has been identified (e.g., corals, mangroves, beaches, seagrass etc).I would also be expecting these samples to be collected daily.
I would also have expected samples to have been collected directly from the vessel as well as the bunker vessels that transported the oil off the Wakashio.These have clearly been identified.
By now, Mauritius should have had hundreds if not thousands of samples that have been correctly kept, labelled and securely watched in a large warehouse somewhere.This sampling is something that will have to continue for the weeks and months to come.
Every oil has a unique 'fingerprint' as seen here. This can quickly be identified using a ... [+] chromatogram (GC-MS) seen here. This analysis can be completed within an hour and should be conducted for all oils on board.
Sampling is not controversial or complex.It is very simple and the analysis can be conducted within an hour.At the very most, a sample may need to be flown to a laboratory that has a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).But that is at most a 24-hour delay.It has been 52 days since the grounding of the Wakashio.
There are clear guidelines and manuals on sampling written and published on the ITOPF website it is easily found and called TIP14: Sampling and monitoring of marine oil spills.These are all standard playbooks.There is a representative of the ITOPF on the ground in Mauritius, so it should not be hard to have organized and set up best practices around oil spill sampling.These things normally happen within days of a major oil spill, so it is almost unheard of to go weeks without any large-scale sample collection and oil fingerprinting taking place.
3 May 2010: EPA scientists collecting baseline samples as part of BP Deepwater Horizon response. ... [+] Why did this not happen in the case of Mauritius?
There are a series of other international organizations on the ground such as the IMO and the insurer, the Japan P&I Club, all of whom understand how oil sampling and fingerprinting works.
Most seriously, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), whose motto says promoting effective spill response on its logo has two representatives on the ground in Mauritius. There are 17 technical guides listed on the ITOPF website to address all aspects of an oil spill. There is even a Technical Information Paper (TIP14) that is solely focused on how to sample and fingerprint oil.
So what happened to all the samples and fingerprinting of the Wakashio oil that the ITOPF says is best practice? When did ITOPF issue its recommendation as part of the daily National Crisis Committee meetings? [ITOPF have been contacted for a comment but have not yet responded.]
There would be a lot of international scrutiny if this advice was not being given formally to Mauritius, given the significant legal implications of withholding such advice.
The increase in algae in Blue Bay Marine Park on 5 September has raised suspicions around about the ... [+] oil from the oil spill or any chemicals used in the cleanup operation.
Rick Dawson: Oil contains a lot of bad stuff inside.When it gets into the ocean environment, it starts to change in toxicity.There are many ways how this toxicity changes, but one important pathway is the reduction of particle size that makes it easier to be digested by smaller creatures.
That is why it is not simply a question of just spraying the oil off the coast with water, chemicals, soap or low grade detergent, as this could often cause even more serious long term damage.We have learnt this from many oil spills around the world and every major oil response organization is aware of this.Thirty years after the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, there are many serious environmental consequences from both the oil spill and the way the cleanup operation was handled.
Phosphate that is commonly found in fertilizers can be extremely toxic for coral reefs by ... [+] stimulating harmful algae blooms. Image: organic fertilizers bone meal pellets and rock phosphate before planting crops.
We need to know how the oil is changing and what the chemistry is doing, so we can stay ahead of the destruction this oil may be unleashing on the environment.
There are at least four chemical test results I would expect to receive fairly early on, and to have this regularly reported on in different parts of the spill location.Those are the levels of 1. Carbon, 2. Nitrogen, 3. Phosphates, 4. Heavy metals.
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Five Glaring Issues With The Oil Spill Response In Mauritius Today - Forbes