§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many environmental inspections have been carried out in respect of North sea oil rigs in each year since 1980; and how many inspectors carried out this work in each of those years. [1016]
§ Mr. Page[holding answer 29 October 1996]: Numerous inspections of offshore installations have been undertaken by my inspector in each of the last 16 years, although figures are not available apart from at disproportionate cost due to the relocation of the office responsible to Aberdeen and the subsequent archiving of files. I refer the hon. Member to my reply given earlier this year to the hon. Member for Lewisham and Deptford (Ms Ruddock) on 3 July, Official Report, column 457.
There were two inspectors until the end of 1989, but, until 1992, 10 safety inspectors also carried out environmental checks. From 1992 to 1994, there was only one inspector but other staff visiting offshore installations carried out environmental checks. The Department now has six inspectors.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how much oil was discharged in(a) the United Kingdom sector and (b) the Norwegian sector of the North sea in each year since 1980; and what the figures were for each United Kingdom offshore installation in each of these years. [1017]
§ Mr. Page[holding answer 29 October 1996]: The total amount of oil discharged from United Kingdom offshore installations is published annually in the "Energy Report". Copies of this are available in the Library of the House.
Available figures for discharges of oil (in tonnes) in the Norwegian sector are given below:
- 1981: 591
- 1982: 1,534
- 1983: 1,770
- 1984: 3,900
- 1985: 3,490
- 1986: 2,378
- 1987: 1,768
- 1988: 2,339
- 1989: 1,604
- 1990: 1,585.
The provision of discharge information on an installation basis for the last 16 years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.