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Protection against acute pollution

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is responsible for governmental preparedness against acute pollution, and has nation-wide administrative authority in the case of acute pollution incidents. This responsibility also entails making sure that preparedness is appropriately dimensioned in proportion to the risk.

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Protection against acute pollution

News

  • Experiences from oil spills at the Norwegian coast

    KV bilde

    The report “Experiences from oil spills at the Norwegian coast. A summary of environmental effects“ contains a brief description of the environmental monitoring carried out after the four largest oil spills from vessels in Norwegian waters over the past ten years: the “Rocknes” in 2004, the “Server” in 2007, the “Full City” in 2009 and the “Godafoss” in 2011.

Facts

The Norwegian Coastal Administration’s Department for Emergency Response

  • Exercises the government’s responsibility for preparedness against acute pollution.
  • Located at the Centre for Marine Environment and Safety in Horten (SMMS), with regional offices in Bergen and Tromsø.
  • Responsible for preventing and identifying acute pollution.
  • In the event of acute pollution incidents, the Department shall ensure that the responsible polluter or local municipality implements the necessary response measures.

Important responsibilities:

  • Maintain the government’s responsibility for 24/7 preparedness against acute pollution.
  • Coordinating and training private, municipal and government resources for preparedness in a national contingency system.
  • Improving government preparedness by organising courses and training programmes, and by developing new equipment and methods.
  • Following up a broad range of national and international agreements concerning notification and assistance, and being proactive in international work on acute pollution response.
    Ensuring that action is taken by the responsible polluter or local municipality according to the obligation to respond.
  • Making demands on the responsible polluter in the event of acute pollution incidents
    Investing in and maintaining response equipment deployed at government depots and on vessels involved in the contingency system.
  • Monitoring shipwrecks and implementing necessary measures to reduce environmental risk.
    Ensuring appropriate national emergency towing preparedness.

Satellite-based AIS

The Norwegian Coastal Administration monitors vessel traffic in the ocean areas outside Norway and the Svalbard archipelago, by using data from the Norwegian AIS satellite, AISSat-1.

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