What is Inland Oil pollution? Key issues as the Environment Agency sees it

Oil pollution incidents reported to us have halved compared to ten years ago, since the introduction of the Oil Storage Regulations in England.  There are now around 3000 pollution incidents involving oil and fuels every year.  Although some of these affect land, the vast majority affect the water environment.  On average an oil spill costs a typical business up to £30,000 in fines, clean up charges and production losses.

There are measures in place to deal with oil pollution of all kinds, including mineral oils, fuel oils and vegetable oils, and identifies possible further actions.

Oil is a highly visible pollutant that affects the water environment in a number of ways.  It can reduce levels of dissolved oxygen and affect water abstracted for our drinking water, making it unsuitable for use.

Mineral oil is a hazardous substance under the Groundwater Regulations and it’s illegal to release it into groundwater.  It can be difficult to deal with groundwater contaminated with oil.  The effects can be long term, and include polluted surface water and drinking water supplies.

Oil can harm wildlife.  Wildfowl are particularly vulnerable, both through damage to the waterproofing of their plumage and through swallowing oil during when they preen.  Mammals such as water voles may also be affected.  Fish exposed to oil aren’t good to eat.

Oil is everywhere in society.  It’s used in large quantities, requiring an extensive distribution and storage system.  There is great potential for spills and other accidental releases.  The principal causes of oil pollution are loss from storage facilities, spills during delivery or dispensing and deliberate, illegal, disposal of waste oil to drainage systems.

The Environment Agency's role

The Environment Agency enforce the Environment Permitting Regulations 2010 in England and Wales to regulate discharges to the water environment, complex industrial processes and sites where waste is handled. 

They have specific responsibility for the storage of agricultural fuel oils through the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 2010 for England and for Wales (SSAFO).  And for oil storage at industrial, commercial, institutional and large domestic premises under the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, known as the OSR England. 

We are responsible for enforcing the OSR England.  Failure to comply is a criminal offence.  You could be fined up to £5,000. 

We’d prefer to work with people, providing advice and guidance, to help you comply voluntarily. 

But we can serve a notice (Anti-pollution works regulations) to make you improve your oil storage standards.  Failure to comply with a notice is a criminal offence and may result in prosecution. 

From April 2010 we received the power to apply civil sanctions to certain regulations we enforce under the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010. This includes the OSR England for a breach of regulation 9(4) of the OSR England. 

The OSR England require minimum standards or oil storage.  If your oil storage is in or near a particularly environmentally sensitive area, for example a Site of Special Scientific Interest, we may ask you to provide greater protection measures. 

We support the Oil Care Campaign, working in particular to understand the causes of oil pollution, to improve facilities for recycling waste oil and to improve delivery procedures.  We also work with other environmental regulators to produce a wide range of pollution prevention guidance for industry and tank owners giving advice on the storage, handling and use of oil. 

The majority of oil pollution incidents affect the water environment.  Our role includes making sure the person responsible for the pollution is identified and pays for clean up and remediation.  We work to identify the causes and where appropriate, evidence is collected and use our enforcement powers, including prosecution, if necessary. 

We have a statutory responsibility to collect and give out information on the state of the environment.  We also provide expert advice to government on environmental protection and carry out research on a wide range of environmental issues, including oil pollution.  We comment on the environmental impacts of proposed developments where they have the potential to affect water quality, including those where oil will be stored and used.

We’re working to reduce oil pollution incidents

Our work includes:

• Enforcing the OSR England - these set minimum standards for above ground oil storage facilities at industrial, commercial, institutional and domestic premises with large tanks.
• Raising awareness of the Building Regulations controls - Part J of the building regulations requires new, higher risk oil storage installations to have a secondary containment system (a bund), to contain any spills from the tank.  This includes tanks within 10 metres of a watercourse or 50 metres of a borehole and within Zone 1 of a groundwater Source Protection Zone.
• Contributing to and raising awareness of the Statutory Code of Practice for underground tanks at petrol stations and other fuel dispensing facilities - this outlines operational and management good practices for all underground oil storage. 
• Enforcing the SSAFO Regulations – these address agricultural fuel oil storage.  All new tanks, substantially reconstructed or substantially enlarged facilities must have secondary containment. 
• Writing good practice guidance – working in partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Northern Ireland Environment Agency we produce a series of Pollution Prevention guidance notes (PPGs) and other publications, many of which incorporate guidance on oil storage.  These can be downloaded for free from our website.
• Working with industry and trade associations to:
  • develop standards and guidance, there are a number of relevant industry standards that deal with the design, installation and maintenance of oil storage facilities.  These range from the Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) standards for the manufacture and installation of heating oil tanks to Energy Institute guidance on petrol filling stations and oil terminals.  We work closely with the oil industry through the Oil and Water Liaison Group, chaired and hosted by the Energy Institute.
  • promote industry standards for pollution clean up.  We’ve worked with UK Spill to establish service benchmarks and raise industry standards so their members offer a world class standard of Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Restoration of Oil Spills. 
• Making sure environmental permits for waste management and industrial installation sites we regulate include standards for oil storage.
• Working with companies to develop voluntary operating agreements and supply chain initiatives.
• Liaison with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for oil pollution incidents at sea.  We have a joint regulatory role for spills of oil, but the lead is normally taken by them.
• Making sure environmental permits for discharges specify limits for operational oil emissions.  Control measures such as oil separators or Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS), e.g. swales, constructed wetlands, detention ponds, may also be specified to control intermittent oil pollution of surface water runoff from sources such as roads, car parks and lorry parks.
• Responding to oil pollution incidents - normally the Environment Agency will make sure the people responsible for an incident clean it up, this can be very expensive.  If no responsible party can be identified we may arrange for the oil to be cleaned up.  In all cases, oil will be contained and removed using suction, skimming, sorption or polymerisation techniques.  Using materials to emulsify or disperse oil on inland waters is an offence.
• Working with the oil industry to reduce oil pollution, through support for the Oil Care Campaign and in raising standards at all points in the distribution and use chain.  Including working to get better and more facilities for recycling used oil.
• Promoting wider use of voluntary operating codes by the industry.
  Background
• Over the last few years we have worked with others to reduce pollution by oil.  In 2008, fuel and oil was responsible for 103 of the most serious water pollution incidents (category 1 and 2 incidents) reported to us.  This is a significant decrease since the Oil Storage Regulations were introduced.  But preliminary oil pollution incident figures for 2009 show the total number incidents in England and Wales increased.  We need your help to make sure the downward trend from the previous eight years isn’t lost. 
• There are more than eight oil pollution incidents every day in England and Wales.
• The Oil Care Campaign was established in response to the rapidly increasing number of oil pollution incidents in the early 1990s.  This brought together regulators, industry, government and others in a concerted voluntary effort to tackle oil pollution. 
• Recognising that this voluntary approach was not enough to bring down the number of oil pollution incidents, the Government introduced the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001. These set minimum standards for oil storage.