Ambès
The incident
On 12 January 2007 at 8 a.m., a crude oil storage
tank belonging to the Canadian company Vermilion Emeraude Rep, located
in Ambès (Gironde, France) on the oil storage depot operated
by the Société Pétrolière du Bec d’Ambès
(SPBA) gave way.
The entire contents of the tank, 13,500 m3 of Aquitaine crude oil,
were suddenly released, creating a wave effect causing some 2,000
m3 of oil to spill over the top of the retention tank.
Aerial view of the oil depot and the slick on the Garonne, on 12/04/07.
Impact of the spill
A large part of the oil flowed into the drainage
system, and then ran into the settler, meaning that the pumps used
to transfer the settled water into the natural environment had to
be immediately stopped.
A small part of the oil flowed out of the depot
to pollute, on the eastward side, nearly 2 km of marshland trenches
and channels, deeply infiltrating into the ground and reaching the
water table. On the westward side, the pollution reached a main
road and the river Garonne. On the south side, the oil spread over
the ground and deeply through channels, it crossed over the main
road where most of it was then contained in a parapet along the
Garonne. A limited quantity however spilt over the parapet and slightly
polluted the upper part of the bank.
Around 50 m3 flowed into the river as the
tide was beginning to rise. The slick mainly remained contained
along the right bank, but moved up the bank as the tide came in.
Sheen was observed as far as the bridge of Aquitaine some 12 km
upstream. When the tide changed, the slick began to drift downstream,
to reach the “Bec d’Ambès”, where the Garonne
and the Dordogne rivers meet).
On 13 January, traces of pollutant were observed over 20 km downstream
of the depot as well as on the Dordogne. The following tides caused
40 km of embankments of the Garonne, the Dordogne and the Gironde
rivers to be polluted. The most heavily polluted 10 km were the
right banks of the Garonne and the Gironde.
Some oiled birds were reported during the first surveys carried
out on the river, but the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO)
did not attest to any particular impact on the avifauna. A few dead
coypu were also reported. In the marshland channels, traces indicated
that wild boars had been wading though the oil, spreading it as
they went. No particular impact was reported however by environmental
associations or hunters.
Name: Ambès
Date: 12 January 2007
Location: France
Accident area: Ambès, Gironde, France
Cause of spill: rupture of an oil storage tank
Type of pollutant: Aquitaine crude oil
Quantity spilled: 13,500 m3 in total, 50 m3 in the river
Type of structure: oil depot
Oil accumulated in the settler.
Evolution of natural clean-up of embankments.
Source: Google Earth.
(Click to enlarge)
See also
Last update: 15/01/08