Environmental Report 1999 Index

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The Atlantic Margin In the UK Atlantic Margin to the north-west of Scotland, oil and gas industry operators have taken the opportunity to adopt a co-ordinated, strategic approach to environmental management. This novel and groundbreaking initiative is now setting the standard for other emerging oil provinces. All oil companies operating in the area are: co-operating with each other; working with Government and regulatory authorities; working with the academic research community; developing a dialogue with local communities and other interested parties; researching and understanding the existing environment; identifying key sensitivities; developing and monitoring protection measures. Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network In 1994, recognising that the environmental issues facing the oil and gas industry in the Atlantic Margin would be the same for each operator, eight companies established a working group known as the West of Shetland Group. Following the 16th Offshore Licensing round, membership increased to fourteen operators, and in 1995 it became the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN), one of the networks within the Atlantic Margin Joint Industry Group (AMJIG). After the 17th Licensing Round in 1997, AMJIG and AFEN membership rose to 21. AFEN also includes as full members, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Through its full membership of AFEN, the Government has been closely involved in guiding the group's work. AFEN has been effective in originating and focusing a range of regional studies to establish the current state of the environment in the licensed area. The regional programme has been carried out in parallel with individual operators' localised studies of drilling or development sites. By adopting a joint approach to the whole area and by integrating both local and regional studies, information has been obtained much more efficiently. A consultative forum was established in 1995 to ensure that the results of AFEN studies were disseminated as widely as possible, and to ensure that AFEN was addressing matters of importance to local communities. Known as the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Forum (AFEF), it has an independent chairman and representatives from local authorities, wildlife and other conservation bodies, central government and government agencies, academia and the offshore oil and gas industry, via AFEN. AFEN's work to date covers four main areas, which we outline below. We cannot go into the detail of the work or describe the huge volume of information gathered by AFEN through its studies in this report; there is simply not enough space. We hope you will access our website for further information in the section devoted to the Atlantic Margin. The Atlantic Margin Seabed Surveys In 1998, AFEN carried out the second Atlantic Margin Environmental Survey in areas licensed in the 17th Round. These are to the north of the Shetland Islands and west of the Hebrides. As with the first West of Shetland survey carried out in 1996, the assessment was performed in two stages: the first was a sidescan sonar survey, and the second a direct investigation of the seafloor. Both surveys were designed to provide a region-wide, baseline assessment of the seafloor in the licensed deepwater areas. The regional surveys differ from individual operator's local site surveys, and provide a broader assessment of the deep-water environment as a whole. The survey team collected samples and other data representative of the general environmental characteristics of the region's seafloor, and these were assessed in terms of the biology (macrobenthos), chemistry (hydrocarbons, heavy metals, organic carbon and nitrogen) and geology (sediment type and particle size) of the seafloor. In addition, they took photographs that allowed them to study the larger organisms and geological features of the seafloor. This survey also looked specifically for signs of coral reefs but, although it found some small pockets of Lophelia (a cold water coral), it found no evidence of large accumulations of coral in the area. The information is used to define the broad environmental circumstance before any activity is undertaken. Monitoring Sea Birds Of The Atlantic Frontier Sea birds are some of the most conspicuous inhabitants of our offshore waters. The principal objective of the project was to gain adequate information about the location at various time of the year of seabirds along the Atlantic Margin. Seabird observations were carried out by staff from the JNCC Seabirds at Sea Team on board a dedicated survey vessel, while supplementary observations were gathered from other vessels passing through the region. The project has resulted in detailed maps showing the distribution and abundance of seabirds throughout the year. The data is used by the industry for inclusion in Environmental Impact Assessments and to guide oil spill contingency plans and response measures. Monitoring Marine Mammals Two AFEN-funded projects have examined the distribution of marine mammals along the Atlantic Margin. The first project was a visual survey carried out during the Seabirds at Sea cruises described above. The visual survey also confirmed electronic tagging studies, which had indicated hooded seals occasionally feed in the deep water far to the north of the Shetlands. This species breed on the Arctic Ice, particularly to the east of Greenland, and have a wide range. These were the first confirmed sightings in UK waters. The second project was the acoustic monitoring by passive acoustic arrays of large whales off north and west Britain and Ireland. As vessel-based surveys of whale distributions are limited by visibility, sea-state and daylight, they are generally restricted to the summer months. In addition, visual observations can only be made if whales come to the surface. To get over these problems the industry utilised passive acoustic monitoring using seabed listening devices which can give records 24 hours a day, all year round, and in a wide range of sea conditions. Calling whales can also be detected at ranges far in excess of the best visual limits using the acoustic monitors. The results of these projects has allowed the industry to establish the likely locations and characteristics of the marine mammals in the Atlantic Margin. Coastal Protection Strategies Whilst there are clearly established arrangements for dealing with oil if it is spilled from an offshore installation based on a range of data from wind speed and direction to type of oil, the industry recognised it was vital to supplement these by an examination of Britain's Atlantic Margin coastline. However unlikely it is that a spill would reach the coastline the industry felt it vital to address the hundreds of miles of rich coastal habitats which face the Atlantic Margin. Strategies for the Shetland, Orkney and parts of the Harris, Lewis and the Sutherland coasts have been compiled by different oil companies in previous years. During 1998, AFEN co-ordinated these individual studies and commissioned more work to fill the gaps. The result is a strategy that covers all the Shetland, Orkney and Hebridian Islands, and the entire mainland coast from the point of Ardnamurchan to Duncansby Head. The industry's coastal protection strategy, fully detailed with environmental sensitivity maps and charts, oil spill contingency plans, booming plans, coastal protection sites and clean-up sites, is available on a CD ROM from UKOOA. Chemical Analysis Of Oil Residues Tarballs and oil on the shore are a common nuisance to some parts of the country including Shetland and Orkney. Concerned to identify the origin of these tarballs, AFEN commissioned Environment and Resource Technology Limited to carry out an analysis of samples collected by the Orkney Islands Council, the Shetland Islands Council and other organisations such as the RSPB. The objective of the analysis was to establish the oil types and, if possible, identify their source - a process known as fingerprinting. In 1998 the contract was extended to include the Western Isles. These tests monitor any oil coming to shore and none of the crude oil samples originated from Atlantic Margin oilfields.