CARES have been responsible for provision of an Spill Management Plan for Total Petroleum Ghana at the Takoradi Oil Jetty.

The Spill Contingency Plan is a first line emergency response plan that applies to oil or chemical spills in surface waters and on site.

The principal objective of the Takoradi Jetty Oil Spill Contingency Plan (OSCP) is to minimise, as much as possible, the potential effects of an oil spill within the Jetty on marine and shoreline environments.

Effective oil spill management is achieved through the application of recognised practices and procedures to control and treat such incidents.

The plan defines the emergency procedures to be used at the Takoradi Jetty in the event of an oil / chemical spill resulting from;

• The grounding of a vessel near the station
• Loading/unloading operations during ship to shore transfer
• Failure of pipes, vales, joints, small fuel storage tanks, vehicle fuel & oil tanks, aircraft fuel & fuel drums
• Refueling of day tanks, or vehicles

The plan also proposed response techniques to protect key marine and coastal resources from impact by oil.

The immediate actions adopted in the first few hours following an oil spill will largely determine how successful spill management will be. These immediate actions including the alert system, assignment sheets and agents involved were detailed in the OSPC.