Environmentalists call for more protection against oil spills
Friday 04 January 2013
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EmailEnvironmental group WWF has set out plans to reduce the risk of future accidents on the 20th anniversary of the Braer oil spill disaster off the coast of Shetland.
WWF has called for permanent emergency towing vessel cover around the coast of Scotland.
It also argued that the government should avoid deep water drilling in dangerous areas, end subsidies and tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and ban companies with a poor pollution record from operating in the North Sea.
In 1992 a Liberian-registered tanker spilled 84,700 tonnes of light crude oil when it hit rocks at South Mainland in 90mph winds on January 5.
WWF Scotland's Lang Banks said the disaster was "most definitely an extremely close shave" in environmental terms.
"Had it not been for the weather, the spill would have caused much more widespread environmental and economic damage but we cannot rely on the weather to get us off the hook next time," he warned.
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