MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONAL INFORMATION IN AMAJOR OIL SPILL.THE ERIKA AND PRESTIGE EXPERIENCES

摘要

In 1999-2000, the response operations to the exceptional Erikarnpollution (400 km of coastline affected, totalling 400 000 man daysrnof work until summer 2002, 260 000 t of oily waste) highlightedrnthe importance of a daily archiving of operations data and swiftrnexploitation of that information. Satisfactory performance wasrnachieved as regards the map production of overall activity andrnresults, but no real time maps and diagrams, accurate enough tornbe used as decision aids, could be produced.rnWhen the Prestige incident occurred, in 2003, Cedre proposedrnto the coordinating authorities in charge of coastline response inrnFrance (Civil Defence Zones) to install computerised networks inrntheir Headquarters in order to collect and exploit data aboutrnquantity and origin of manpower involved in real time, the amountrnand characteristics of collected waste, the different techniques,rnmaterial and products used on response sites. Thanks to this initiative,rnhead response authorities had graphical summaries onrntheir desks daily, synthesis maps weekly, and a complete, fullyrnupdated visual situation for each key meeting with the Centralrnauthorities, in which budgetary needs for the weeks to come wererndiscussed.rnThe handling of data exploitation was managed according tornthe necessity of transmitting the information quickly to decisionrnmakers in a crisis context. We first had to send data in a hurryrndaily or weekly: they were diffused in an approximate and simplifiedrnway to enable a quick analysis of the information. Afterwardsrnmore time could be taken to complete and validate the informationrnto allow a more detailed exploitation work. They can now be consideredrnin retrospect.rnThe quick transmission, processing and communication of therninformation helped avoid some inappropriate responses like excessivernwaste collection for example (a situation which we had tornface during the Erika response phase).rnThe Prestige experience proved once again the strength andrnsignificance of illustrations (graphics or maps) especially in anrnemergency situation as sensitive as this one: they carry much morernpower of conviction for decision makers and the public than pagesrnof complex explanations.