eastern region oil spill disaster contingency plan - Indian Coast Guard

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be the preferred response operation. If the oil slick is moving onshore, then the
response could be either containment or recovery dispersion or shoreline
cleanup.
2.14. The OSC must evaluate the existing in-house response capability and
assess their effectiveness to combat the contingency on hand. The OSC is to
assess and evaluate the capabilities available with other departments and
agencies and is to recommend the degree of understanding and co-operation
required to be worked out in the event any required response is being
requisitioned from outside sources. The details of pollution response capabilities
presently available with the various government and non –government agencies
in accordance with the field of activity is placed at Annexure-6.
2.15. Based on the assessment and evaluation, the response decision would be
ordered by the RCA. The response decision would lay emphasis on a central coordination
under a single Organisation for handling the operation. In case this
scenario is not feasible, the RCA shall lay down the procedures for co-ordination
between the various groups associated with the response contingency. It is to be
noted here that there seldom exists ‘the right approach’ but, if ever only’ the
best approach’ to the given situation, The response decision would also attempt
to select equipment on a total solution basis rather than an option wherein each
operation is to be considered separately.
Phase IV : Response Decision and Mobilisation
2.16. As previously described, the response decision will be broadly classified
into three aspects:-
(a) Monitoring if no threat exists
(b) Contain recover and clean-up
(c) Application of OSD
2.17. In case of threat perception, the response decision is to be arrived at after
prioritising the threat perception and areas where the threat perception is likely
to cause maximum damage. Certain ‘sacrificial areas’ may have to be considered
for the overall response to the threat perception. The general strategy would be
ordered for containment and recovery using existing techniques, which may
involve mechanical recovery equipment or use of chemical dispersants. The
details of the various methods of operation of mechanical recovery equipment
are available in the manuals and publications of the response equipment held
with the concerned agencies.