The Environment Agency (EA) has said it is still working to understand events surrounding an oil spill at a harbour seven months after it occurred.

About 200 barrels of reservoir fluid including oil leaked into the water at Poole Harbour in Dorset. A major incident was declared when a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco on Sunday 26 March.

An EA spokesperson said the agency needed to understand the “root cause” to “minimise any chance of a similar occurrence” and was working closely with Natural England to restore the salt marsh near the spill location.

Importance of the Harbour

Poole has the largest natural harbour in Europe and about 5,000 acres of it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Its saltmarshes and mudflats are a feeding and breeding ground for seabirds including spoonbills, avocets and black-tailed godwits.

The harbour is also home to an osprey reintroduction programme, aiming to establish a breeding population of the fish-eating birds of prey after 200 years. There were birds spotted with oil on their feathers at the time of the spill.

Impact of the spill

The EA said: “Sampling has shown that there does not appear to be a significant impact on the wider harbour, and that the spill was mainly contained to the area at the head of Shotover Moor, where remediation work is being targeted.

“We are entering the final remediation stages of the area around the initial spill site. This includes the removal of vegetation and oil-contaminated sediments.”

It added floating barriers were likely to remain in place “for some time”, and that Perenco would be required to carry out “ongoing monitoring and reporting” to ensure the reversal of any damage.

The full news report from the BBC can be read here.