§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of the stockpile of equipment, particularly oil absorbent booms or barrier booms, held in Scotland at Cambusbarron; and how long it would take to transport this equipment to protect Loch Roag in the western isles in the event of an oil spillage.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Cambusbarron stockpile is one of three centrally located stockpiles of specialist equipment for shoreline clean-up of oil pollution maintained by the marine pollution control unit (MPCU) and available at short notice to local authorites who have accepted primary responsibility for beach cleaning. A list of all directly owned or contracted counter-pollution resources available to the MCPU, including the Cambusbarron stockpile, is held in the House of Commons Library. Equipment from the Cambusbarron stockpile could be deployed to Loch 645W Roag within 10 to 17 hours from Callout, depending on the availability of suitable aircraft and vessels. Additional equipment relevant to a particular incident could also be deployed as necessary from the other MPCU stockpiles or from commercial sources.