HC Deb 23 January 1979 vol 961 c80W
Mr. Wyn Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what conclusions he has drawn from the report he received on the oil spillages from the tanker "Litopia", and if he will publish them together with the report.

Mr. Clinton Davis

As I told the hon. Member on 1 December, the contingency arrangements for dealing with this oil spillage from a ruptured discharge hose forming part of the terminal equipment at the Anglesey marine terminal were activated quickly and were largely successful. The report on the part we played in this operation was written for internal purposes.

We have concluded that those arrangements are basically adequate for dealing with a spillage of modest proportions, such as that on 10 November. Nevertheless, since the possibility of a larger spill in the Anglesey area cannot be ruled out, we are considering the scope for enhancing our capability for dealing with oil spills in that area in the context of the follow-up work to the report "Accidents at Sea Causing Oil Pollution: Review of Contingency Measures", published last August. We hope to publish the results of that follow-up work next month.

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