"Oil slicks on land"

So far, we have only detected oil slicks on land; during our survey, we have not seen free-floating oil at sea.

Work on mapping and cleanup of existing and new discoveries is carried out with priority in environmentally sensitive areas, where we seek to clean up before the breeding season starts to minimize the risk of birds coming into contact with oil slicks.

Equinor's investigation of the incident in the period from December 31 to February 18 is underway with a focus on determining causes, sequence of events and, not least, what learning points we need to take with us going forward.

Total staff effort this week;

• 180 people involved in mapping and collecting clumps

• 7 vessels in action

• 20 inspection drones in use,

                in addition, two transport drones that can carry up to 35 kg of oil lumps

Status mapping/cleanup

• In the area of IUA Nord-Helgeland, no discoveries have been made as of March 12. The Lovund area has been checked out and no oil lumps have been found. Træna is being surveyed this week.

If nothing is detected in the next few days, efforts here will be scaled back. We will still be prepared to take action if the public or others report any findings.  

• In the area of IUA Sør-Helgeland, some minor discoveries have been made at Vega and Sømna. These have been cleaned up. Many of the discoveries are oil that does not originate from the discharge from Njord. New areas, including Torghatten and Lyngværet, as well as islands in the World Heritage Area, check it out this week.

As for Nord-Helgeland, if nothing is detected in the coming days, efforts will also be scaled back here. We will still be prepared to take action if the public or others report any findings. 

• In the area of IUA Namdal, some minor discoveries have been made at the islands around Vikna and Sklinna. This has mainly been collected, and the priority breeding areas in the area have been cleared. IUA Namdal continues with less priority areas.

Here too, efforts will be scaled back if nothing more is detected in the coming days. We will still be prepared to take action if the public or others report any findings.

• Within the area of IUA Mid-Norway there are no finds on the Fosen peninsula.

• In the area of IUA Midt-Norway, oil slicks have been discovered in several places in the Sula – Mausund area. This area is now a priority, and greater resources have been deployed, both on land and by vessel. Discoveries have also been made in the Froan area and north to Halten, which have largely all been cleaned up.

• Clarifications are underway with the environmental authorities on how the area will be surveyed in the future. The assessments are based on whether it will be more harmful to the environment to travel in the areas at this time of year, compared to the environmental risk of not all oil slicks being collected. Most have been collected, but some may occur in certain areas. The oil slicks are relatively small and solid.

• Oil slicks have also been detected in several places north of Frøya. The largest spill was in the Kvisten area (not an environmentally sensitive area), and this has been collected.

• In Hitra municipality, the area of Bispøyan has been checked, with a few finds. This has been compiled. The rest of Hitra has not yet been mapped, but based on analyses and where other finds have been made, the probability of larger finds here is very low.

• Smøla and the areas Veiholmen, Aunvågen and Remman have been reviewed by IUA Nordmøre, without finding any oil lumps.

In addition to mapping in relation to oil slicks, remediation of garbage is uncovered and mapped.

Potential/risk of harm

We use expert teams in Akvaplan NIVA and NINA to conduct environmental surveys, including mapping animal and plant life in exposed areas. Samples of both biota and sediment are taken and sent to Sintef for analysis.

As of now, we have no reports indicating major environmental damage, but this will be followed up even after the cleanup. We will follow guidelines given by the Norwegian Environment Agency regarding this.

The picked oil lumps are relatively firm/hard and very viscous. The high pour point means that significant solar heating is required for the consistency of the oil lumps to change significantly.

NINA has surveyed seabirds in areas around Frøya, no observations of oil-damaged birds so far. No marine mammals have been found with oil impacts either.