The Environmental Protection Unit of the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture have consulted with other government departments, the Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority and various stakeholders and have obtained agreement and co-operation on a new plan produced as a guidance to actions in event of a major pollution incident in our rivers and coastal waters.
 
The plan gives contact details for responsible staff and procedures to be followed in response to a major pollution incident with the aims of providing a timely and effective response minimising any environmental effects.
 
The plan relies on the services of existing government staff and does not require any extra expenditure in these days of economic pressures.
 
A major benefit has been the agreement to utilise the services of Civil Defence volunteers for out of hours work thereby saving the expense of a department funded call out and stand by system. DEFA staff have agreed to provide pollution response training to the Civil defence volunteers to carry out this role.
 
The plan also details contacts for non governmental bodies which have an interest in the water environment including the Isle of Man Angling Federation, the Manx Wildlife Trust and the Manx Basking Shark Watch who all provide useful advice specific to their own interests.
 
The Member for the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture Mrs Brenda Cannell said  “This plan assists Government staff and NGO’s by detailing an effective response route to pollution incidents with the added benefit to all that a rapid response is possible.
 
It is particularly re-assuring to know that trained and equipped volunteers are available through Civil Defence to provide out of hours assistance at minimal cost to government”.
 
The Water Pollution Incident Response Plan is on the Environmental Protection Unit’s page of the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture’s website (http://www.gov.im/daff/enviro/protection/).