The devastating impacts of the oil spill from the Wytch Farm site in Poole Harbour are unacceptable in a climate and ecological emergency, says Dorset Climate Action Network.
“This really shines a light on the impacts of fossil fuel extraction at a time when we need to move swiftly away from such a damaging industry”, said Sandra Reeve, one of the DCAN coordinators.
“We call on the regulators and planners who licence the operations at Wytch Farm to call time on it as soon as the current licences run out, or terminate them sooner if that’s possible. This area is vitally important for wildlife and this couldn’t have come at a worse time – at the start of the bird breeding season”.
Wytch Farm was sold to Perenco for £200m in 2017 and is now in a phase of decommissioning.
Perenco extracts oil from the Wytch Farm field from the southern shore of Poole Harbour. The field is the UK’s biggest onshore producer, accounting for more than 80% of annual UK onshore production. The company also operates fields at Kimmeridge and Wareham in Dorset.
102 wells have been drilled at the site since initial permission was granted in the 1970s. In 2013 Dorset Council granted an extension to operations at the site until 2037, otherwise it would have closed down in 2016. The site lies next to and some of it within European sites designated for wildlife, Sites of Scientific Interest and a Ramsar site, which is an international designation for wetlands. It’s within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of the Heritage Coast.
Dr Malcolm Hudson, an associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton, said: “While we don’t know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole harbour raises particular concerns. It’s a very large enclosed bay, and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides. Also, it’s a very low-energy environment, so unlike a spill on an open coast there won’t be much wave action to help break down and disperse the oil. Poole harbour is especially sensitive, and internationally protected for the wildlife there.”
“As long as we have fossil fuels being extracted we face these kinds of risks”, said Sandra Reeve. “Additionally we have the daily risk of releasing greenhouse gases from fossil fuels into our atmosphere, setting us on course for climate catastrophe which will lead to significant species loss and human misery. We cannot continue simply to count the cost of oil spills like this and carry on as before. We must work to end this ruinous activity which has no part in a safe future”.