Over 500 barrels of crude oil leaked from a cracked pipeline yesterday afternoon. The pipeline which connects two oil installations in the Irish Sea, had a failure about 20 miles offshore from Rhyl on the north coast of Wales.
The spill seems to be moving towards the English coast. It is predicted to reach the shoreline at Formby, and then between Lytham St Annes and south of Fleetwood later this week.
The Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve is one of the most important sites in the UK for water birds. More than a quarter of a million migrating wading birds and wildfowl visit the coast and its wetlands in winter. While the impact of Monday’s pipeline leak is still unclear, an oil spill of any size poses a risk to seabirds and other marine wildlife.
Joan Edwards, Director of Marine Conservation, The Wildlife Trusts said:
“Currently, our greatest concern is for the welfare of offshore populations of common scoter, red-throated diver and great crested grebe in Liverpool Bay Special Protection Area. If oil reaches the coastline, then wading birds including knot, dunlin, godwit and oystercatcher that feed and roost across the Ribble and Alt Estuaries are also likely to be affected.”
News of the spill came on the 26th anniversary of what has been called Wales’ worst ecological disaster, when 72,000 tonnes of crude spilled from the Sea Empress oil tanker off the Pembrokeshire coast. Large numbers of seaweeds and invertebrates were killed on the beaches where it drifted ashore, and it took over a year to clean the slick.
It is important that if anyone finds oiled or dead birds on the coast, they do not touch them, and that they contact the RSPCA as soon as possible.
Notes:
- Link to Sea Empress Oil spill story here
- The modelling from Oil Spill Response Limited shows it will have shoreline impact at Formby within 1 day, 3 hours (tomorrow) and then between Lytham St Annes and south of Fleetwood after 2 days.
- Advice has been provided by Natural England regarding Red Throated Diver and Common Scoter that will be overwintering in Liverpool Bay SPA and overwintering birds noted in the saltmarsh area. Natural England advice has also been provided regarding intertidal mud, sandflats and large areas of saltmarsh in the Ribble and Alt Estuaries SPA regarding importance as a feeding habitat for birds alongside extensive roosting sites for large populations of waterbirds and importance during the winter for duck and wader species and for supporting wader populations moving along the west coast of Britain during the spring and autumn migration periods.
