Torrey Canyon; Lands End, England

Lands End, England | 1967-Mar-18

Initial Notification: On the morning of March 18, 1967, the T/V Torrey Canyon ran aground on Pollard Rock on Seven Stones Reef off Lands End in England due to the master's negligence. The entire cargo, approximately 860,000 barrels (references range between 857,600 and 872,300 barrels), was released into the sea or burned during the next twelve days. Ships of the Royal Navy carrying detergents were en route to the scene within four hours of the grounding. The response command post was established at Plymouth. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy implemented an early warning system for oil movement. A panel of expert scientists was assembled to consider scientific problems involved with the cleanup procedure. Local authorities were instrumental in dealing with the oil beached within their jurisdictions. A detergent, primarily BP1002, was sprayed on much of the floating oil to emulsify and disperse it. Manual methods were used for removal of oil on many of the sandy beaches, although the dissected nature of the shoreline made it impossible to clean the whole coastline. The vessel lost structural integrity on March 26, releasing more oil into the water. Since towing the vessel off of the reef was deemed impossible, the government decided to bomb the vessel. Keyword: BP1002, straw, chalk, bombing, fire, manual removal..