Norwegian Oil Spill response – organization, training andexercises – are we prepared?
By
Senior Adviser Ole Kristian Bjerkemo
Norwegian Coastal Administration

1. Abstract
The intention of my presentation is to give you a broad picture of the background for theNorwegian emergency preparedness system against acute pollution, the role andresponsibility of the different parts of the system and how we are working to be prepared forthe next spill. Are we prepared for an oil spill incident in Norway? I hope to answer thisquestion through my presentation.

2. Background about geography, weather and climate
The Norwegian coastline is one of the most challenging areas for oil spill response anywherein the world. At this northern latitude there are huge variations in weather and light conditions.
While some parts of the country have an arctic climate, mild winters with mean temperatures
above freezing are common on the southwest coast. The length of the continental coastline
is 25 148 km (including fjords and bays). In total the Norwegian shoreline adds up to 83 281
km (including fjords, bays and islands) which is two times around the equator. It is noexaggeration to say that under these geographical conditions, maintaining a well-functioning
oil spill response preparedness and an effective oil spill response system is a challengingtask.

3. The legal basis for the Norwegian Oil Spill Response
The Norwegian Oil Spill Preparedness is based on chapter 6 in The Pollution Control Act of
13 March 1981. The Act is based on the Polluter Pays Principle and states theresponsibilities and obligations of the industry, the municipalities and the government withregard to acute pollution incidents.
The Pollution Control Act states that the National Contingency System is divided into private(industry), municipal and governmental contingency areas with specific responsibilities. InNorway, all contingency plans and organisations are standardised and co-ordinated. Hence,in the event of a major national emergency, the national contingency system will work as asingle integrated response organisation.
3.1 Private preparedness
Industrial plants that can cause significant oil pollution are obliged to establish an adequatelevel of preparedness. The Climate and Pollution Agency sets requirements and supervises
contingency measures against oil and chemical contamination. These requirements primarily
apply to operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the crude oil terminals, the refineries
and companies distributing oil products as well as major industrial companies.
The the requirements are stated in the regulations relating HES (Health, Environment andSafety) on the Norwegian continental shelf.

3.2 Municipal preparedness
In Norway the approx. 430 municipalities are divided into 34 intermunicipal preparedness
areas; each with its own approved contingency plan. The local authorities are responsible for
dealing with minor acute spills that may occur within the municipality due to normal activity,
which are not covered by the polluter’s private contingency arrangements. The local
authorities, the fire departments, the port authorities etc. all collaborate on municipal
preparedness. In addition, the municipalities have an obligation to assist the government in
the event of a major oil pollution action.
3.3 The governmental preparedness
The governmental preparedness against acute pollution is targeted towards major instancesof pollution and is based upon an assessment of environmental risk – not towards worst caseincidents. Norwegian Coastal Administration is responsible for the governmental
preparedness.

4. Background and responsibility of the Norwegian Coastal
Administration – the governmental responsibility
The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) is a Governmental agency under the Ministryof Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. The main tasks are to safeguard and develop the coastline
for all users. The Norwegian Coastal Administration shall contribute to secure vessel trafficand good accessibility along the coast as well as a good, national preparedness against
acute pollution.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration is responsible for organizing and maintaining thegovernmental oil spill response preparedness and for co-ordinating the governmental, themunicipal and the private industry’s preparedness in a national contingency system against
acute pollution. This also involves controlling and monitoring any response operations
undertaken by the industry or the municipalities’ major spills from unidentified sources.
Additionally, the NCA can provide resources to response-operations under private ormunicipal management. If the party responsible for carrying out the response-measures does
not master the task, the NCA will assist, and (possibly) take over the management of theoperation if so required. The NCA is responsible for co-ordinating private, municipal andGovernmental preparedness into a national emergency response system.
4.1 Elements in the governmental preparedness
At present this preparedness consists of the following elements:• The Norwegian Coastal Administration, Department for Emergency Response in Hortenwith stations in Tromsø and Bergen.
• 16 contingency depots with oil spill control equipment, trained personnel and small boats• 4 governmental oil pollution control vessels.
• 8 Coast Guard vessels permanently equipped with oil recovery equipment• One specially equipped surveillance aircraft• Agreements with other governmental authorities and private industry regarding
assistance with personnel and resources.
• International agreements regarding assistance in the event of oil spills, e.g. The Bonn
Agreement (www.bonnagreement.org) and The Copenhagen Agreement(www.copenhagenagreement.org ) and the agreement with Russia on oil spill response inthe Barents Sea.
4.2 Co-operation with other governmental organisations
In incidents involving vessels in distress, the Main Rescue Coordination Centres have theresponsibility for saving lives. NCA will have the responsibility for any clean-up operations ofoil at sea and emergency-offloading measures on behalf of the ship owner. NorwegianMaritime Directorate (NMD) has the responsibility to intervene with the owners and ensure
the safety of the vessels. NCA and NMD therefore have developed a close co-operation withregard to operations aimed at vessels in distress.
On Director General level an agreement between NCA and The Petroleum Safety Agency
has been established. The aim of this agreement is to have a forum for co-ordination anddecision-making during response operations involving large oil spills from the petroleumactivities. Examples of such operations are blowouts and other large spills from theproduction facilities offshore.
In addition, NCA has an agreement with the Norwegian Coast Guard and the Armed Forces
regarding assistance with personnel and equipment. This agreement is the foundation for
putting oil spill response equipment permanently on board 8 Coast Guard vessels.
There are also other agreements with different governmental bodies such as Civil Defence,
National Metrological Centre etc.

5. Oil Spill response in Norway – operations and cooperation
All of the bodies with a responsibility for preparedness against acute pollution have,according to the pollution control act, to document their preparedness in a contingency plan.
5.1 Private preparedness
Around 70 land-based industrial companies, including refineries and coastal tank facilities
are subject to separate preparedness requirements issued by the Climate and Pollution
Agency (Klif).1 They have also established their own contingency plans.
The oil companies operating on the Continental Shelf are subject to preparedness
requirements following HES (Health, Environment and Safety) regulations for petroleum
related activities. As regards the oil activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, theresponsibility lies within the individual petroleum companies. All of the operating companies
are members of NOFO (Norwegian Clean Seas Organisation), who render equipment andtechnical staff available to the afflicted oil companies.
It is the duty of all companies to have contingency plans and to take action in the event ofacute pollution following own activities, as well as contribute to actions led by national andlocal authorities.
NCA will exercise super visionary authority by ensuring that sufficient actions are taken by
the responsible polluter.
5.2 Municipal preparedness
The basis for the municipal/inter municipal preparedness is stated in the pollution control act.
The Climate and Pollution Agency approves their emergency preparedness plans. One
important part of the control procedures is to control that the plans are prepared according to
the national system.
NCA will exercise super visionary authority by ensuring that sufficient actions are taken by
the municipalities.

1The Climate and Pollution Agency (Klif) is the former Norwegian Pollution Control Administration(SFT)6. How can we be prepared for the next incident?
It is essential that the participants of the oil spill response organization are qualified and havethe proper training for the upcoming emergencies. Participation in training and exercises on aregular basis is required to maintain these qualifications.
The types of courses and exercises described in this chapter are the most common to upholdthe competence of the three responsible parts of the national contingency system in Norway.

6.1 Training
The training courses are adapted to the following functions in the oil spill responseorganisations:••••••Introduction (basic) training course
Team leader courseOn-scene commander level course (OSC-Sea, OSC-Coast and OSC-Land)
Incident Command course
Course for governmental depot task force and technical supervisors
Course for NOFO depot task force

The basic training course is designed for all personnel involved in the contingency
organisation.
The team leader level is given a 4-day training course. The course consists of two days oflectures and two days of practical training. During the practical training one day is solely forhands-on exercises using booms and skimmers at sea and from the shoreline.
The 3-4 day on-scene commander level (OSC) focuses on operational management andtactical use of response equipment during an operation. Each course consists of lectures aswell as practical training tailored to fit the needs of the various geographical response areas.
(i.e. at sea, coast or on land).
The incident command of an oil spill response operation is given a three-day training course
consisting of one day of lectures (theory) and two days of practical training. The latter isdivided into a table-top exercise to familiarise the participants with their duties, and a roleplaying exercise to train their abilities during a stressful incident.
On the governmental level, there are 16 depots with their own technical supervisor and a 10men task force. The newcomers to the task force are given a four-day introduction course by
NCA in Horten, and annually the whole task force is given appropriate training at the depot.
In addition to conduct the offshore oil companies special training courses in incident
command and on scene command for their own staff. These courses are held by NOFO
(Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies)
WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature has since 2005 arranged between 3 and 6 courses with a
total of 75-150 volunteers every year. The courses are planned in close cooperation with theNorwegian Coastal Administration. The course lasts 3 days, and is arranged for 20-30 people ata time. The project is a long-term, independent contribution to Norwegian oil spill preparedness,with a preliminary time frame of 5 years. 2
The course has 3 major components:
2

Source: WWF

1) practical oil spill clean-up and beach sanitation;2) safety; and3) nature values and environmental risk in coastal transport and petroleum business.

6.2 Exercises
In Norway, exercises conducted by NCA are adapted to the needs of the municipal and thegovernmental contingency organisations.
NCA has focus on training and exercises for the depot task force. Each depot has twoactivities annually. See picture below as ØDS and DG which indicates all of the activities.
NCA has also experienced that it is important to conduct training together with themunicipal/inter-municipal emergency preparedness organisations. In 2010 NCA will conduct
11 activities with the inter-municipal preparedness organizations. This activity is a combined
training courses and staff exercise, see picture below.
Within the governmental contingency there are exercises arranged over a wide area to keepa high level of preparedness. Several large integrated exercises are arranged annually inwhich personnel and resources from the private industry, the municipalities, the government
and the Coast Guard is taking part verifying that the national contingency system isoperational.
On the international level a number of exercises are arranged annually based on different
international obligations such as the Bonn agreement, the Nordic Copenhagen Agreement
and the Agreement between Norway and Russia on oil spill response in the Barents Sea.
Below you can find a copy of the list of planned courses and exercise for the governmental
preparedness in 2010.

Large exercises

Training for depots

Municipalities Courses

7. Improvement of the preparedness through procurement of equipment
and experience from incidents
The Norwegian Government has, through the national budget for the last three years, given
priority to the improvement of the governmental oil spill preparedness. There has been focus
on replacement of the equipment, but also to improve the knowledge about the use of theequipment. Based on experience from several incidents it is also acknowledged that it isimportant to give priority to training and exercise for personnel on all levels.
Based on this NCA has increased the procurement of oil spill response equipment and thetraining and exercises activity.
NCA receives annually, through the national duty system, about 1100 notifications about
acute pollution. Most of them are small spills were the polluter or the municipalities take careof the clean up.
NCA was in 2009 involved in three oil spill response operations; the “Crete Cement” incident
in the Oslofjord, the grounding of the Russian vessel “Petrosavodsk” at Bear Island in theBarents Sea and finally the grounding of the vessel “Full City” in Telemark on the southeast
coast of Norway. The beach cleaning after the Full City incident is not finalised.
All of these incidents gave us important experience and knowledge which we will use tofurther improve the national oil spill response.

8. Conclusions
In the title in the beginning of this presentation I raised the question “Are we prepared?”
The answer to this is yes – but there are always possibilities for improvement. The budgetsituation is today positive, but reduced budgets will result in lower activity. It is expected
reduced budgets due to the international economical situation.
On the organisational side the contingency system today is working well. The responsibilityof the private industry and the municipalities is well understood and all the different
organizations have contingency plans in place. Nevertheless, training and exercises will be
important to be prepared.