Pumping runs against time as oil spill clean-up progresses

Gibraltar held its breath over the weekend as the spill from the OS35 freighter, beached opposite Catalan Bay, continued to make its way around the Rock. In full crisis management mode, a huge effort has been mounted to pump out the oil, contain the spill and clean up the sheen that got away.

SHEEN
As that sheen snaked its way from Catalan Bay past Sandy Bay and round Europa Point alarm bells sounded. It is a well known fact that Gibraltar’s sea water intakes all feed from the west side. The first ones to face the slick were those located at Little Bay. The fact that the sheen is on the surface and the intakes are below sea level has meant that there has not been another forced interruption to our water supply. That sea water is pumped up from these intakes to reservoirs inside the Rock itself, before the water is subjected to desalination in several Reverse Osmosis plants. AquaGib, the Port, Environment and other agencies were quick to deploy a series of protective measures to keep these water intakes safe. There are a further two also on the west which have been equally protected.

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02-09-22 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR