Find out about the council's Marine Pollution Plan, who is responsible for dealing with oil pollution and how to report an incident online.
Marine Pollution Plan
The council's Marine Pollution Plan sets out the responsibilities and actions of the council in the event of marine pollution incidents. You can download the Marine Pollution Plan below.
There are three levels, or 'tiers', of marine pollution events:
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Tier 1 - Minor operational spills that may occur as a result of daily maritime activities, resulting in shoreline pollution, which can be wholly dealt with by the relevant local authority.
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Tier 2 - Specific small scale incidents, most likely arising from ship operational discharges where local authorities may require mutual aid and assistance (on a county or regional level) in order to initiate and maintain a shoreline response.
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Tier 3 - A large spill where substantial further resources will be required and support from National Government may be necessary.
Dealing with Oil Pollution
Responsibility for dealing with oil pollution is as follows:
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Off-Shore by more than one mile - Maritime and Coastguard Agency
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Off-Shore within one mile - East Sussex County Council
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On-Shore - Eastbourne Borough Council is responsible for clearance of oil pollution from the foreshore
If an on-shore incident exceeds the resource capabilities of the council (Tier 2 and above) then help is available through the alliance of East Sussex Local Authorities and a specialist Oil Spill Response Company.
Reporting Oil Pollution
Incidents of oil on the beach can be reported by:
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using the online Engineering Group Contact Form below
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or the East Sussex Fault Reporting Service website
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or by calling 01323 415235
