Case Studies

UK Oil Jetty - Foam discharged into river 2004

Whilst this discharge is not a well documented case, it has occurred in the UK and is known to be a common practice.

Oil jetties are used to load and unload ships carrying hydrocarbon and other fuels. These jetties have fire fighting foam systems fitted to provide an initial foam attack should a fire occur during this type of operation. These fixed systems require periodic testing to ensure that they operate correctly.

During one particular testing procedure, the foam was simply allowed to discharge directly into the river without any method in place to either capture or contain the foam. This type of testing with fixed systems is common place. In this particular case, the engineering company undertaking the testing contravened the Water Resources Act 1991, by knowingly discharging a polluting substance to a water course.