SLCG organized discussion on oil and chemical spill response
December 10, 2021Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) organized a two-day coordination meeting on ‘Oil and Chemical Spill Response’ with a delegation of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), members of the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka and other relevant stakeholders involved in maritime incident response in the island, on 07 and 08 Dec at the Light House Galley, Colombo.
According to SLCG sources, the fruitful discussions mainly focused on the oil and chemical spill response and issues commonly associated with maritime casualty events.
In addition, participants shared their roles and responsibilities in responding to maritime oil spills according to their respective area of responsibility and the capabilities and limitations of oil spill response.
The U.S. delegation agreed to hold a workshop in the first quarter of 2022, to enhance sustainable cooperation between the Government and other agencies to ensure that Sri Lanka develops adequate oil spill response capability to combat oil spills in the marine environment, SLCG said.
The visiting U.S. delegation included Lieutenant Commander Stephen Woodham, Engineering Plans Officer - Project Manager; Mr Quinton Ford, Marine & Environmental Engineering - Senior Manager and Mr Christopher Sholes, Environmental Security Program Manager.
Representatives from the Sri Lanka Navy, SLCG, Central Environment Authority, Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation, Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited, Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management Department, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Disaster Management Centre, Marine Environment Protection Authority, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the Survey General Department also attended to the meeting.
