Bay clean-up continues after Dublin oil spill

A clean-up operation will continue in Dublin Bay today after the weekend leak of an estimated 200 tonnes of diesel from a storage depot in the docks.

Dublin Port Company said it was investigating the spill, which is thought to be responsible for the oil slick washed up on the Sutton side of the bay on Saturday night. Tedcastle Oil Products, confirming that road diesel had overflowed from one of its storage tanks, was also carrying out an inquiry.

A strong oil smell was reported in Clontarf on Saturday, but most of the on-shore pollution appears to have occurred across the bay. The slick was covering a stretch of Sutton Strand yesterday, and Fingal County Council was sanding parts of the coast road where oil had washed over the sea wall at high tide.

Environmental activists complained of the likely effect on wildlife in the vicinity of Bull Island, an important bird sanctuary. A sandbank to the north of the island also hosts a number of seals.

A Marine Emergency Services helicopter monitored the bay at high tides and the Dublin Port Company sent two tankers to the scene to suck up oil as it came ashore. But there was criticism from locals about what they claimed was an unco-ordinated response to the spill.

Mrs Jacqueline Feely, a member of several campaign groups in the area, said she had been trying to contact all the agencies since Saturday lunchtime and had seen no evidence of a co-ordinated plan, except "one little tanker on the beach" at Sutton Strand and another further up the coast. She predicted it would take a week before birds were seen to die as a result of the pollution.

The chief executive of the Dublin Port Company, Mr Enda Connellan, rejected the criticisms, which he said were predictable. The equipment available for any oil spill - "even the Exxon Valdez" - was always deemed inadequate, he said.

He added, however, that the company was not using all the equipment available because it was dealing not with heavy oil but with a volatile material, much of which was being dispersed naturally. "But it is still highly regrettable that this happened."

The company said that by early yesterday 100 tonnes of polluted water and other materials had been removed from the affected area, and added that it was in constant contact with wildlife agencies and environmental experts. Fingal County Council was also monitoring the bay area and has posted signs warning residents not to swim there.

Tedcastle could not be contacted for comment, but in a statement the company confirmed oil had overflowed from a tank during "a routine transfer" from a ship and said the spill had been contained "as quickly as possible". It is understood that Tedcastle estimates the spillage at 200 tonnes, but the statement said the company was carrying out an inquiry into how the accident had happened and exactly how much oil was involved. It also promised a review of procedures to prevent further spills.