Module 3: Environmental Objectives, Programme of Measures, Economic Analysis, Exemptions Establishing an Early Warning and Emergency Response Systems (EWERS) Michael Jackman- Chemistry Expert Afyon, 2015

Overview 1) Case Study Examples 2) Lessons Learnt 3) Nine Key Components of an EWERS

Case Studies ) Case Studies There have been three famous international pollution incidents: 1) Basel, Switzerland on the Rhine in ) China on the Songhua River pollution incident that in ) In Buncefield UK in 2005

CASE STUDY 1:Example in the EU: Sandoz disaster November 1986: fire at Sandoz chemical plant near Basel. Water used to put out the blaze flushed huge amounts of insecticides and pesticides into the river, sparking an ecological catastrophe. Environmental awareness rose leading to demands to take much tougher actions against pollution

Case Study 2 Songhua River One famous pollution incident in Asia was the Songhua River pollution incident that happened in 2005 in China. The Songhua river is a major river in northeast China and is the main water source of many cities and villages, including Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province with a population of 3.5 million.

2) Songhua River Incident 13 November 2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Blast from nitration tower producing nitrobenzene 5 people killed, 70 wounded, evacuated and 100 tons of benzene in the river Harbin: 80km stretch of polluted water 40 hours to pass by 3.5 million people without drinking water

Common Problems with the Sandos and the Songhua Incidents Aspects which were deficient: 1) Prepared Emergency Plans 2) Prepared Risk Assessments 3) Rapid organised response. 4) Defined links between government agencies, industry, and general public 5) 24 hour prepared response teams 6) Facilities to contain the fire water 7) Efficient Warnings downstream 8) Legislation clearly defining these roles.

Lessons Learnt 2) Songhua River Incident To improve the ability of water pollution emergency response, to mitigate the loss by the water pollution incidents a number of lessons were learnt: (1) Conduct stratified management for water pollution incidents. (2) Clarify the main body responsible for water pollution incident emergency response plans (3) Enhance the organization and leadership for water pollution incident emergency response. (4) Improve the water pollution incident reporting system.

Lessons Learnt Focused the Government to improve the Emergency Response System by Adoption of the National Plans for Environmental Emergency Response Inter-ministry Roundtable for Environmental Protection under the State Councils responsible for coordination of environmental emergencies and information sharing. Environmental Emergency Response Centres (EERC). These EERCs set up within environmental bureaus

The Buncefield Incident, Hertfordshire, UK 11 December 2005 Major oil UK storage depot Faulty equipment led to overflow 20 similar tanks on the site Explosion of 2.4 on the Richter scale

Case Study 3 The Buncefield Incident, Hertfordshire, UK In the early morning of 11th December 2005 a bulk oil storage tank overflowed owing to faulty equipment in the major oil UK storage depot in Buncefield There were 20 other similar tanks on site. This resulted in a huge explosion 2.4 on the Richter Scale

Successful Operations Fire brigade were on site within 10 minutes Emergency procedures in-place-immediately initiated. The fire brigade had already been trained on site The Environmental Agency (EA)-24hr emergency cover The public alerted rapidly & evacuated when needed Source of Special fire retardent foam known Tactical plan including anti-pollution by the fire-fighters, EA & oil experts

Successful Operations Area defined to collect the fire water for storage (600,000 l) Air monitoring was immediately initiated 4 days later the fire was fully extinguished Groundwater and surface water were monitored Why ? Effective legislation was in place derived from the EU Directive: Seveso II Directive (1996) which the UK produced the : Control of Major Accident Regulations (COMAH) & the Civil Contingencies Act 2004

Key Components: 1) Operational Plans Classification of incidents with their associated operational procedures / Stakeholder’s Contact Details / Schematic Flow Diagram / Reference Organisations / The individual emergency response systems for major factories /

Key Component : 2) Contingencies- Preparedness / Automatic samplers / Readily prepared sampling bottles / Pollutant absorbent pillows e.g. Granulated Carbon to absorb organic compounds / Special floats or booms to localise a surface pollutant such as oil / Boats available to take samples in mid-stream and follow the pollution / Tankers available to siphon off any spill /

Key Component : 3) Co-ordinated Response Clear chains of command- Organogram / Tiered response / Coordination between those who physically respond to the incident and those who provide technical advice / As well as coordination during an incident the bodies will work together to plan and train for emergencies / Overview Case Study Examples Lessons Learnt Nine Key Components of an EWERS

Key Component: 4) Chemical Information Management Support Key Component : 2) Contingencies- Preparedness Automatic samplers / Readily prepared sampling bottles / Pollutant absorbent pillows e.g. Granulated Carbon to absorb organic compounds / Special floats or booms to localise a surface pollutant such as oil / Boats available to take samples in mid-stream and follow the pollution / Tankers available to siphon off any spill / Chemical inventory systems / Chemical’s Hazard Assessment Sheets / TRransport EMergency (TREM) card / Manufacturer’s details / Experts details / Institutes details /

Key Component: 5) Remediation Trained staff in the emergency services who know how to deal with each class of pollutant / e.g. / ： Flammable / Water Soluble / Water Insoluble denser than water / Water Soluble lighter than water / Organic / Inorganic /

Key Component: 6) Monitoring Emergency Monitoring Schedules / Apply computer models to predict speed of migration etc. / Automatic Monitoring stations on full alert / Consider surrogate parameters and secondary pollutants / Alert all water monitoring stakeholders /

Key Component: 7) Public Information Systems Use of multimedia- Template for TV, Radio, Flyers, the Press and Internet to alert the public / Take advice from local official / Public Meetings / Establish an advisory “Hotline” / Have experts online to discuss health aspects /

Key Component: 8) Incident Investigation / Independent expert investigation body / Hold the enquiry as soon as possible after the event / Plan the investigation with a logical list/ flow diagram / Initially do not apportion blame, focus on the facts / Hold a special enquiry platform involving all the major players involved in the incident Focus on the root cause and the lessons that can be learnt / Publish the findings of the tribunal /

Key Component: 9) Cohesive Co- ordinated Policy Ensure that the application of the has the full support of the government in well defined legislation / Ensure that there are incentives to set up such systems especially for the municipalities / Ensure there are adequate funding systems to ensure the EWERS is sustainable /

Overview The establishing of EWERS is an important measure to reduce the accidental pollutions of rivers. Preparation and prevention is better than cure, as such pollutions can cause severe problems that can last a long to time. Therefore investment in EWERS is important for all countries and should be considered as a high priority for Turkey. Çok teşekkür ederim