web version of environmental emergencies - learning from multilateral response to disasters

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Environmental EmergenciesLearning from multi lateral response to disasters

Ofce or the Coordination

of Humanitarian Affairs

(OCHA)


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Environmental EmergenciesLearning rom multi lateral response to disasters

Geneva 2009

Ofce or the Coordination

of Humanitarian Affairs

(OCHA)


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Published in Switzerland, 2009 by the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit

Copyright United Nations 2009

Document Number: XXX

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any orm or educational or not-or-prot purposes

without special permission rom the copyright holders, provided acknowledgement is made o the source.

Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit

Palais des Nations

CH-1211 Geneva 10

Switzerland

Tel: + 41 22 917 4419

Fax: + 41 22 917 0257

Email: [email protected]

http://ochaonline.un.org/ochaunep

Disclaimer: The inormation and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily

reect the views o the United Nations/Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit.

Writing, editing, design and layout, and prooreading: Green Ink, UK (www.greenink.co.uk)

Printing: United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

Cover photo: Rescue teams dig out the town o Xiaolin in August 2009.

The town was buried by mudslides ollowing Typhoon Morakot Sawyer Mars


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Contents

Forewords (by Mikhail Gorbachev, Achim Steiner and John Holmes).................................................................................................................. iv

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... vi

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Dealing with disasters: Developing an international response system ....................................................................................................... 7

2. Putting things right: Responding to technological emergencies .................................................................................................................. 21

3. The power o nature: Environmental impact o natural disasters ................................................................................................................. 35

4. Conict and war: Complex environmental emergencies...................................................................................................................................... 53

5. The changing ace o international response ................................................................................................................................................................ 61

6. Stepping up preparedness activities: Meeting the challenge o climate change ............................................................................. 79


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i v

Foreword by Mikhail Gorbachev

Having grown up in a rural area, rom

a very early age I came to appreciate

the inherent interdependence o

people and nature. I discovered that

humans are not independent or

above their environment, but rather

an intrinsic and inalienable part o it.

Later, serving in various capacities or the Soviet leadership, I saw theterrible environmental price we paid or many o our industrial and

technological decisions. None o this, however, prepared me or what

would occur early on the morning o 26 April 1986. The Chernobyl

Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Ukraine, then part o the Soviet Union,

resulted in a severe release o radioactivity. People will have to live

with the dire consequences regionally and locally or years and even

centuries to come.

It was clear to me ater Chernobyl that environmental threats were

becoming more prominent. In January 1990 at the Global Forum onEnvironment and Development or Survival in Moscow, I brought up the

idea or an organization that would apply the Red Cross emergency

response model to ecological conicts and disasters and expedite solu-

tions to environmental problems that transcend national boundaries.

As a result o this, Green Cross International was created in 1993. The

mission o Green Cross is to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure

uture or all by ostering a value shit and cultivating a new sense

o global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanitys

relationship with nature. One o the areas that Green Cross ocuses on

is addressing the environmental consequences o wars, conicts and

disasters, including ensuring that environmental rehabilitation is now

included within the umbrella o humanitarian assistance.

The web between humanitarian and environmental damage is

intrinsically interconnected. Thereore, I was heartened when the Joint

UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit was created to deal with environmentalemergencies. The United Nations eort is particularly important as

politics lag behind in realizing the true challenges that lie ahead. Due

to the dark cloud o climate change, the necessity or properly respond-

ing to and handling environmental emergencies is ever growing. The

work o OCHA and UNEP is thereore an important and vivid example o

the advantages o multilateralism.

I congratulate the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit on its rst 15

years as the primary United Nations mechanism to mobilize response

to environmental emergencies worldwide. Green Cross Internationallooks orward to continued close collaboration with the Unit and real-

izing the ull spectrum o response to environmental emergencies.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President o the USSR and 1990 Nobel Peace

Prize Laureate, is the Founding President o Green Cross International


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Foreword by Achim Steiner and John Holmes

Natural disasters, industrial accidents, conicts and wars

draw the worlds attention through dramatic images

o destruction and human misery. Their impact on the

environment, however, oten ails to make the headlines.

We hope that this publication will help illustrate the

important work done in preventing, preparing or and responding to

environmental emergencies, in order to prevent uture suering and loss.

Since its inception in 1994, the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit

has responded successully to a wide range o environmental emergen-

cies around the globe, including industrial and technological accidents,

chemical and oil spills, orest res and secondary impacts o natural

disasters. As a result, countries acing environmental emergencies and

natural disasters have beneted greatly rom the joint assistance o UNEP

and OCHA at the times when they needed it most. With the help o other

important partners eatured in this anniversary publication, the JointEnvironment Unit has also provided capacity building and training to a

large number o countries.

In the ace o global challenges such as climate change, it becomes all

the more important to address environmental issues as an essential part

o humanitarian response. In response to increasing global awareness o

the environmental dimensions o crises, and to growing demand or the

services that address them, UNEP has identied Disasters and Conicts

as one o six priority areas o work. Along with a greater understanding

o the role o the environment in humanitarian action, this inevitably

leads to higher expectations or the

Joint Unit, including expectations or

an even more eective cooperation

between the two organizations.

We must thereore work to improve

the global environmental emergency

response regime; or example, through greater awareness, greater capacity,

more partnerships and learning the lessons rom past emergencies.

With this in mind, we hope that this publication celebrating 15 years

o successul multilateral environmental emergency response undertak-

en by the Joint Environment Unit and its partners will serve to highlight

the work done thus ar and inspire increased action. Although we can

do little to prevent many disasters, we are capable o taking action to

prevent environmental emergencies rom causing major loss o lie and

livelihoods, both in the short and long term. Disaster risk reduction mustbe an increasingly important part o all we do.

John Holmes, United Nations

Under-Secretary-General or

Humanitarian Aairs and

Emergency Relie Coordinator

Achim Steiner, United Nations

Under-Secretary-General and

Executive Director United Nations

Environment Programme

Achim Steiner John Holmes


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v i

Acknowledgements and Dedication

This publication celebrates the collaborative nature o past, current

and uture eorts to deal with environmental emergencies all around

the world. The sta o the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit wish to

thank the countries who have received assistance in an environmental

emergency or allowing others to learn rom their experience. Likewise,

we acknowledge the generous eorts made by the providing countries,

who may one day be on the receiving side themselves.

Many people and organizations have contributed considerable time,

eort and ideas to help make this publication representative o past mul-

tilateral response to environmental emergencies. We would like to extend

our sincere thanks to everyone who has given an interview or provided

other inormation, editing or specic advice. Our cooperation and part-

nership with all o you help us to make continuous improvements.

Special thanks go to Vladimir Sakharov, Chie o the Joint EnvironmentUnit, who has been at the oreront o rening the disaster response

mechanism rom the days o the United Nations Centre or Urgent

Environmental Assistance, the predecessor to the Joint Environment Unit.

Without his institutional memory and longstanding commitment to

environmental emergency response work, this publication would not be

what it is. We also wish to extend a special appreciation to our colleagues

at UNEP and OCHA or successul collaborative eorts to date.

This publication is dedicated to the memory o Gerard Le Claire, a

United Nations disaster response proessional who played a pivotal role

in shaping the United Nations response to environmental emergencies

and establishing the Joint Environment Unit.

Gerard was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Mongolia in 2000

during a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination mis-

sion. The accident also claimed the lives o several other United Nations

personnel.

In homage to a respected environmentalist and humanitarian, the Ge-

rard Le Claire Environmental Trust Fund (http://www.gerardleclairetrust.org)was established to urther his ideals. As Gerard once wrote: The environ-

ment is not just green elds; it is everything we live in, use and produce.

What we see, eel, smell and breathe is the environment.


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Introduction

Disasters and conicts can impact the environment in ways

that threaten human lie, health, livelihoods and security.

Disaster managers and humanitarian workers must thereore

identiy and address acute environmental risks quickly and

consistently as an integral part o eective emergency response.

John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General or Humanitarian Aairs and Emergency Relie Coordinator

during the 1980s and early 1990s conrmed eelings among the public

and governments that there was an urgent need or change (see boxeson ollowing pages).

Calls or an international mechanism to respond to environmental

emergencies were nally answered in 1993, when United Nations Mem-

ber States ormally requested a new mechanism to deal specically with

the environmental aspects o disasters. With the establishment o the

Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit a partnership between the United

Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Ofce or

the Coordination o Humanitarian Aairs (OCHA) many needs rom both

requesting and providing countries were met.

Environmental emergencies oil spills, pollution o rivers with toxic

chemicals, explosions at actories are associated with sensationalmedia headlines and mass public protests. And or good reason. Their

eects can be devastating and long-lasting, and it is the worlds respon-

sibility to prevent them where possible and deal with them quickly when

they occur.

Until the 1990s, international response to industrial accidents dealt

with them largely on an ad hocand bilateral basis. But as the scale o

industry has increased and public awareness o the damaging eects o

industrial accidents has grown, so the volume o calls or a more coordi-

nated response system has risen. Several large-scale accidents occurring


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Large-scale orest res endanger lives, have a huge impact on theenvironment, and contribute to global warming

Johann Goldammer/GFMC

3 December 1984: Bhopal, India

In the early hours o the morning, people woke up to the

sounds o screams and the sensation o intense burning in

their eyes, noses and mouths. Running outside, they ound

themselves surrounded by a thick, choking cloud o gas. Whole

neighbourhoods ed in panic; children were trampled and their

parents convulsed and ell dead in the streets.

The accident happened at the Union Carbide Plant, near

the city o Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. More than 20,000 people

required hospital treatment or terrible side eects, including

blindness and kidney and liver ailure. Government gures put

the nal death toll at almost 4,000 but other sources estimate

that between 8,000 and 10,000 died within the rst 72 hours

and a urther 10,000 later on rom gas-related diseases.

Frequently cited as the worlds worst industrial disaster, the

tragedy was caused by the release o a highly toxic cloud o

methyl isocyanate, used to make the pesticide carbaryl. A valve

in the plants underground storage tank had broken under

pressure, exposing around hal a million people to the gas.

The actory was closed immediately ater the accident and

three senior members o sta arrested.

Cost-cutting measures at the plant are said to have com-

promised saety standards. The eects o the accident were

compounded by a lack o local awareness and preparation

planning. In 1989 Union Carbide paid the Indian Government

US$470 million in a compensation settlement.


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3

I n t r o d u c t i o n

International collaboration was a key actor in minimizing theenvironmental impact o a large oil spill on the coast o South Koreain 2007

Olo Linden

26 April 1986: Chernobyl, Soviet Union

When the number our reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded,

it released 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and

Hiroshima and caused a re that burned or nine days.

Engineers on the night shit had been conducting an experiment to nd out i the

cooling pump system could unction efciently under low power. However, by removing

too many control rods they allowed the reactor core to overheat and at 1.24 a.m., two

explosions blew away the reactors dome-shaped roo.

Because the reactor was not housed in a reinorced concrete shell, as is standard

practice in most countries, the building sustained severe damage and large quantities o

radioactive debris were released into the atmosphere. Much o the allout was deposited

close to Chernobyl in parts o Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, but traces o radioactive depos-

its were ound in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere. More than 100,000

people were evacuated rom the nearby town o Pripyat and the surrounding area.

Over 200 people were aected by acute radiation sickness and almost 30 o them

died within three months o the explosion. Since the accident, there has been a sharp

increase in thyroid cancer among local people, particularly among those who were

children or adolescents at the time. Environmental contamination with caesium and

strontium means it could be as many as 200 years beore the area surrounding the power

plant can be used again or agriculture or industry. The reactor itsel will remain highlyradioactive or around 20,000 years.

Reviews o the disaster have concluded that a potentially unstable reactor design,

poor and inadequate saety eatures, poorly trained operators, and the lack o a contain-

ment building all played their part. It was elt that the underlying vulnerabilities and aws

in the Soviet nuclear industry that set the stage or the tragedy had been developing or

as long as 35 years. Furthermore, international response to the disaster was hampered by

a lack o inormation.


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The Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit represents a single entry

point, including a 24/7 duty system with dedicated telephone and ax lines

or requesting assistance to environmental emergencies. Through the Joint

Environment Unit, countries can nd out which services are being provid-

ed by others, thereby avoiding duplication and optimizing eectiveness o

aid. Cooperation between the two United Nations agencies complements

their specic specialities and was a unique situation at the time.

In 2009, the Joint Environment Unit celebrated its teenth anniversary,

oering an opportunity to draw attention to the importance o multilateral

cooperation in preparing or and responding to environmental emergen-

cies.

This publication, which highlights success stories and lessons learned,

is aimed at a wide audience. The intent is to urther raise awareness o the

devastation that an environmental emergency can cause, and to promote

advocacy and action in response. It also aims to highlight the strong need

to integrate humanitarian and environmental action.

Chapter 1 introduces the key players in the eld o environmental

emergencies and describes the development o the United Nations

international response mechanism. The ollowing three chapters high-

light international responses to some o the many emergencies that have

occurred as a result o industrial accidents, natural disasters and conict

situations over the past 15 years. Chapter 5 looks at some o the lessons

that have been learned rom environmental emergency response work,

and how these have inuenced changes in disaster response eorts and

management. And the nal chapter looks briey at what is perhaps the

greatest challenge aecting response and preparedness activities in the

uture: climate change.

1 November 1986: Schweizerhalle, Switzerland

People living along the Rhine had a terrible shock when a re

broke out at the Sandoz chemical plant at Schweizerhalle,

near Basel. Because there were no retention reservoirs, water

used by re ghters to put out the blaze ushed huge quanti-

ties o agricultural chemicals, pesticides and dyestus into

the river, sparking an ecological catastrophe. The river ran red,

thousands o dead sh oated on the surace, and eels were

totally wiped out. The eects were elt along the Rhine as ar

away as the Netherlands.

Although local residents were largely untouched, other

than by the oul-smelling cloud o chemicals emanating rom

the re, there was a delay in raising the alarm downstream,

and pictures o the disaster were broadcast around the world.

Occurring just a ew months ater the Chernobyl accident, the

disaster severely damaged the image o the Swiss chemical

industry as immune to such catastrophes.

As a direct consequence o the disaster, signicantprogress has been made in eorts to prevent a similar event.

These include legal regulations and controls on the chemi-

cal industry as well as chemical and biological monitoring o

water quality. Moreover, willingness or international coopera-

tion in river water management and protection has grown

considerably.


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5

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Cyclone Indlala, which hit Madagascar in April 2007, caused extensive ooding and travel waspossible only by boat

Hassan Partow/UNEP

21 January 1991: Persian Gul

In August 1990, Iraqi orces invaded Kuwait, sparking the rst

Gul War. By the ollowing February, coalition orces, drawn

rom 34 nations (with United Nations authorization), had been

successul in restoring Kuwaiti sovereignty, but the conict

caused widespread devastation with explosions, res and

spillage o millions o tons o crude oil.

The worst incident happened on 21 January 1991, when

Iraqi orces opened valves at the Sea Island oil terminal and

dumped oil rom several tankers into the Persian Gul. The

apparent strategic goal was to oil a potential landing by US

Marines. Estimates o the volume spilled range rom 160 to

1750 million litres; the slick reached a maximum size o 160

by 68 kilometres and was 13 centimetres thick. Despite the

uncertainty surrounding the size o the spill, gures place it 5

to 27 times the size (in volume spilled) o the Exxon Valdez oil

spill in Alaska.

The Persian Gul oil spill decimated marine invertebrate,

sh, seabird and other wildlie populations, especially in the

areas surrounding Iraq and Kuwait. The oil moved southward,

ending up on the north coast o Saudi Arabia, where it smoth-

ered the ragile mangrove orests, destroying miles o valuable

wildlie habitats. Eects o the accident were exacerbated by

delays in response and a lack o local experience.

1


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A ather holds his injured child and surveys the damaged city o Balakot, Pakistan, ollowing a major earthquake in 2005 Edward Parsons/IRIN


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Dealing with disasters:

Developing an international response system

Every day, disasters threaten human lie and welare somewhere in the world.

They may be natural disasters oods, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes,

landslides and orest res or they may be man-made accidents, involving

chemical releases and oil spills. Conict and war also create disasters. Not only

do disasters kill people, they also wreck peoples health, property and l iveli-

hoods, and can have severe and long-lasting impacts on the environment.

In many developing countries, the rate o industrial growth has outpaced

the governments ability to cope with disaster. People living in these coun-

tries are highly vulnerable to the eects o an environmental emergency;

when one occurs, international help is oten needed. This trend, along with

continuing land degradation, climate change and increasing use o chemi-

cals, is putting more and more people at risk and highlights the need or

a strong international response system, both now and in the oreseeable

uture.

So what is an environmental emergency? What happens when disaster

strikes? And how does the international response system work?

What is an environmental emergency?

A major spill o lethal cyanide into Romanian rivers in 2000; a devastating

earthquake in South Asia in 2005; an oil spill caused by the bombing o the

Jiyeh power plant in Lebanon in 2006: these diverse events have in com-

mon their potential to cause an environmental emergency. They typiy the

three main types o environmental emergency technological or man-made

disasters usually resulting rom an industrial accident; natural disasters

caused by elements such as earthquakes, oods and res; and complex

emergencies resulting rom conict and war.

Natural disasters can have negative impacts on the environment, potentiallycausing environmental emergencies. In July 2009, oods afecting Cotonou,Benin caused an oil leak at the central electricity power station. Given theporous soil in the area, the drinking water drawn rom an aquier just belowthe surace was likely to have been afected.

Matthew Conway/OCHA

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C h a p t e r 1

An environmental emergency is the sudden onset o a disaster or an

accident as a result o natural, technological or human-induced actors

that cause or threaten to cause severe environmental damage.

Peoples health, livelihoods and property are oten endangered at the

same time. Environmental emergencies can also represent secondary

risks: natural and complex emergencies can damage inrastructure and

industrial installations, and this in turn may aect the environment, as

well as the health and saety o the population and emergency workers.

endangers not only the environment, but threatens to eed back into

a worse humanitarian disaster. The humanitarian and environmental

aspects o emergency response are inextricably linked.

Nonetheless, or many years environmental issues took a back seat to

the humanitarian response to emergencies. Responders tended to think

o environmental problems as longer-term green issues something to

be dealt with later without considering the way the environment can

have an immediate eect on peoples lives.

Keeping the environment on the agenda in the midst o an emergen-

cy is a tough job that the world is gradually coming to recognize.

A global response system

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster and other environmental emergencies o-

cused global attention on the seriousness o this threat. Mikhail Gorbachev,

then President o the Soviet Union, ormally requested the United Nations

General Assembly to establish an appropriate United Nations centre to deal

specically with environmental emergencies. Several organizations and

countries including the European Union, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and

Scandinavian countries lent their support to his request.

Vladimir Sakharov is Deputy Chie o the Emergency Services Branch o

OCHA and Chie o the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit. He has been

involved in environmental response work or over 20 years. The Member

States recognized that something was missing rom the United Nations

because no-one was taking care o this huge area, he explains. At the time,

the ocus o emergency response was on humanitarian aspects, and there

were no mechanisms or resources available or the environmental impacts

o disasters.

As a result, in 1992 the United Nations Centre or Urgent Environ-

mental Assistance was set up in Geneva on an experimental basis, with

The humanitarian

and environmental

aspects o emergency

response are

inextricably linked

Environmental emergencies lie on the border between an environ-

mental crisis and a humanitarian disaster. A natural disaster such as an

earthquake can have a huge humanitarian impact deaths and injuries,

houses ruined, crops and livestock destroyed. At the same time, there

may be severe environmental consequences: landslides and oods

endanger survivors and rescuers alike, while debris and waste create

environmental and health hazards. Access routes may be blocked, delay-

ing the arrival o ood and supplies, and slowing the economic recovery

o aected areas in the longer term. An environmental emergency

D e a l i n g w i t h d i s a s t e r s : D e v e l o p i n g a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e s p o n se s y s t e m


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support rom the European Commission and Switzerland in addition to

various other countries. As a rst step, the Centre reviewed the interna-

tional response to major environmental emergencies over the previous

10 years. The exercise revealed signicant gaps in response mechanisms

and identied ways to improve international arrangements.

Sakharov describes the early learning process. We studied several

large technological, industrial and man-made emergencies Chernobyl,

Bhopal, Schweizerhalle and the environmental impacts o the Gul con-

ict to review international responses and learn rom what happened.

We also considered whether and how to build a roster o international

expertise that we could call on in case o an emergency. However, gov-

ernments advised us that while this was easy to build, it would be almost

impossible to keep up-to-date and use, and anyway, each disaster is so

About OCHA and UNEP

In 1998, the United Nations Department or Humanitarian

Aairs was transormed into the United Nations Ofce or the

Coordination or Humanitarian Aairs (OCHA). This organiza-

tion plays the leading role in the coordination and manage-ment o activities relating to disaster response in the United

Nations system, in particular through its Emergency Services

Branch based in Geneva.

Within the United Nations system, the United Nations Envi-

ronment Programme (UNEP) is the voice o the environment.

UNEPs work in the area o emergency response is coordinat-

ed by OCHA through the Joint Environment Unit. UNEP also

deals with longer-term environmental programmes that may

ollow on rom environmental emergency response work.

The work o the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit iscomplemented by that o UNEPs Post-Conict and Disaster

Management Branch. This branch investigates the environ-

mental consequences o conicts, determines the environ-

mental impacts o reugee movement, and proposes solutions

or clean-up and environmental activities in the post-conict

period.Vladimir Sakharov, Chie o the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unitand Deputy Chie o OCHAs Emergency Services Branch working inGuinea in 2001

OCHA

dierent, the type o expertise you need is very specic indeed. We have

thus established a system where in case o disaster, we ask our partner

countries to make specialized experts available.

C h a p t e r 1


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p

The experimental stage highlighted the need or a special interna-

tional mechanism to respond to environmental emergencies. To prevent

a prolieration o disaster reponse mechanisms, the Governments want-

ed to integrate UNEPs environmental expertise into the Department

o Humanitarian Aairs (DHA). The already established United Nations

Centre or Urgent Environmental Assistance (UNCUEA) was transormed

into the Joint UNEP/DHA Environment Unit, hosted by DHAs Disaster

Response Branch in Geneva. Ater endorsement by the Committee o

Permanent Representatives to UNEP, the Joint Environment Unit became

operational on 1 July 1994.

A logical partnership

Reecting the crossovers between humanitarian and environmental

aspects o emergencies, the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit takes

advantage o the emergency response coordination inrastructure that

exists in OCHA and pairs it with the technical and scientic environmen-

tal expertise available within UNEP. It thereore provides a comprehen-

sive response to environmental emergencies that maximizes the use o

resources and minimizes duplication o eort.

Franklin Thvenaz, Deputy Permanent Representative o Switzer-

land to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),

International Fund or Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food

Programme (WFP) in Rome, believes this is a logical partnership: UNEP

has the environmental knowledge, while OCHA brings its operational

expertise. Rudolph Mller, Deputy Director o OCHAs Coordination

and Response Division in New York agrees: The Joint Environment Unit

was a logical step in broadening our capacity to address environmental

emergencies. The United Nations Disaster Relie Ofce (UNDRO) had

established links already, but these had been largely orgotten; the United

Unique international orum or environmental

emergency response

The international response to environmental emergencies is

provided by a wide range o governmental, non-governmen-

tal and international organizations. The Advisory Group on En-

vironmental Emergencies (AGEE), established in 1995, brings

together disaster managers and environmental experts rom

governments, United Nations agencies, non-governmental

organizations and civil society to share ideas and exchange

experiences on global environmental emergency response

issues. AGEE also reviews the Joint Environment Units work,

advises on its uture activities, and acts as its main source o

accountability. In return, the Joint Environment Unit acts as

the Secretariat or AGEE.

Nations had prepared strategies or responding to humanitarian results o

industrial accidents but not the environmental aspects.

In the early years, the Joint Environment Unit ocused exclusively on

responding to technological emergencies. During this period there were

many instances when oers o assistance were not accepted (although

they may have been useul), perhaps because the authorities did not

want to release inormation or appear to admit culpability or an indus-

trial accident. Over the years the Units ocus has gradually widened to

include other orms o environmental emergency, especially ater a major

earthquake hit the Izmit Province o Turkey in August 1999 (see page 38).



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Ater the Turkey earthquake we realized that governments were

much more willing to request assistance or environmental emergencies

when the cause was a natural disaster, says Vladimir Sakharov. In these

cases there is a perception that nobody is to blame. Although o course,

it is never the earthquake that kills people and damages the environ-

ment; nine times out o ten the ault lies with badly designed inrastruc-

ture and poor planning o building development.

The earthquake in Izmit also prompted better integration o the Joint

Environment Units activities into the wider disaster management struc-

ture o OCHA. In the early years, the JEU was really working in parallel

with OCHA, but now response activities are much more integrated, says

Patricia Charlebois, Environmental Aairs Ofcer at the Joint Environ-

ment Unit (20002004) and now Head o the Pollution Response Section,

Marine Environment Division at the International Maritime Organization.

The Joint Environment Unit sta worked actively to eect this change

and became more integrated into emergency systems through active

engagement in large disaster missions such as that ollowing the Turkey

earthquake.

What happens when an environmental emergencystrikes?

When disaster strikes, the situation on the ground is oten chaotic

and overwhelming. There is very little inormation available about the

disaster itsel, the location, how many people have been aected and

where they are. It is oten unclear who is in charge o the response and

what capacity they have to deal with the emergency. Humanitarian

relie workers are oten dispatched within hours o a disaster, but they

do not know what situation they will encounter on the ground. In an

environmental emergency, there are signicant dangers to relie workers

as well as to the local people, particularly where there is a risk that toxic

substances have been released. Inormation is key and usually lacking.

In support o these rst emergency responders, the main priority is

the identication o major environmental impacts and risks: the big and

obvious sites that could create a lie-threatening situation. Oil reneries

and chemical manuacturing sites both pose risks o severe environ-

mental contamination i damaged. The immediate priority is to identiy

where these sites are and get personnel on the ground to assess whether

they have been damaged and what risk they pose. This phase calls or

environmental generalists people who can look at a wide range o

environmental issues, rom chemical pollution o a river to the threat o a

Rescue teams dig out a town buried by mudslides ollowingTyphoon Morakot in August 2009

Sawyer Mars

C h a p t e r 1


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landslide engulng a village, and who can decide which ones need most

attention.

And so, inormation gradually starts to ow. The situation becomes

clearer and the next level o priorities can be decided. Specialists, such

as chemists, waste management experts, geologists or engineers, can

be sent to the area to make specic site assessments. This is the second

phase o the emergency response (as shown in the ollowing diagram).

Making connections

When a disaster occurs, the rst response usually comes rom local and national

sources. The aected communities themselves oten start the relie eort, simply

because there is nobody else to help during the rst hours or even days. National

civil protection agencies and national emergency responders requently take on the

bulk o the immediate relie work.

But dealing with the environmental impacts o a major disaster sometimes

requires a level o technical expertise that is beyond the capacity o individual

countries. Governments must oten resort to requesting expertise and resources

internationally to supplement their own capabilities. In many cases, this is done

bilaterally: individual countries provide assistance directly to the aected country.

For many countries this is a preerred channel, building on their historical links and

on-going relations. In some cases, the Joint Environment Unit is involved in broker-

ing this bilateral assistance, putting aected countries directly in touch with donors

who have the right expertise.

In the case o multilateral assistance, the Joint Environment Unit plays a key

role in acilitating the international response to environmental emergencies. As anintegral part o both UNEP and OCHA, the Joint Environment Unit is able to tap into

these bodies regional ofces, which act as the eyes and ears on the ground, rapidly

identiying emergency situations as they occur and providing on-going situation

reports. Other inormation sources and the media are also monitored to spot poten-

tial emergencies.

Together with national agencies and oten the military, they can begin to

identiy the short-term needs or immediate action, and to consider the

longer-term plans that will help restore inrastructure, avoid uture risks,

and allow people to resume their lives.

The recovery and rehabilitation phase is, o course, the longest.

Once the disaster response is over, the emergency specialists hand over

their assessments, plans and proposals to the national authorities and

international development agencies. As the response to the emergency

Phase 1

Identication

o major

environmental

impacts

?

Phase 3

Integration o

environmentalissues into

recovery /

rehabilitation

activities

Phase 2Specialized

experts and

equipmentdeployed to

address problems

identied in

Phase 1

!Sudden on-set

disasterEmergency phase

Recovery / rehabilitation(mediumlonger term)



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1 3

itsel becomes part o national development programmes, there is a real

opportunity to build back better such as homes that wont collapse

in an earthquake, oil storage installations that withstand ooding, and

roads that are less susceptible to landslides.

A quick guide to environmental emergencyresponse tools

It is a complex and highly pressured task that presents emergency re-

sponders, described by Arjun Katoch, Chie o OCHAs Field Coordination

Support Section, as a high-pressure cauldron. By this, he means they

ace the challenges o sudden, overwhelming needs, damaged inra-

structure and communications, and degradation o local capacity due to

casualties and stress.

Emergency relie workers need to make a quick assessment o a po-

tentially dangerous situation on the basis o very little inormation. They

cannot rely on support or services to be available: water and ood may be

limited, transport and communications disrupted, and monitoring and

sampling equipment unavailable. Over the years the Joint Environment

Unit has worked with many United Nations and national organizations

to contribute to existing systems, and to develop new tools that support

emergency responders in their work.

The UNDAC system

In the immediate atermath o a disaster, national and local govern-

ments are oten overwhelmed. In this initial stage, the government o the

aected country can ask or assistance rom a United Nations Disaster

Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team. These teams are assembled

and administered by OCHAs Field Coordination Support Section, and are

made up o disaster management proessionals rom a range o sectors,

Operating around the clock, the Joint Environment Unit can be reached 24

hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. At the same time, the Unit can put

aected countries in contact with donors willing to provide response resources,

and the release o OCHA Emergency Cash Grants can be arranged in certain circum-

stances to meet immediate emergency response needs.

Once the need or specialist skills has been identied, the Joint Environment

Unit calls on its network o donors and contacts to nd and deploy suitable experts

as soon as possible. Throughout the emergency phase, the Unit also works closely

with UNEPs Post-Conict and Disaster Management Branch (PCDMB) and the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), helping smooth the way or the

transition rom an emergency phase to a recovery phase.

In recent years, a growing number o developing countries have ocused on

building their own environmental emergency response capacity. Better emergency

preparedness ensures that governments are ready to deal with an environmental

emergency, with appropriate procedures in place and equipment accessible. With

the help o an environmental emergency preparedness mission rom the Joint

Environment Unit, a country can assess its needs and priorities at strategic, mana-

gerial and operational levels. Since 2005, the Unit has conducted preparednessmissions in, Iran, Kuwait, Turkey and the Republic o Yemen, and has also supported

OCHAs preparedness activities in Cambodia, Cte dIvoire, Lao Peoples Democratic

Republic, Papua New Guinea and others. With the Joint Environment Units integra-

tion into OCHAs Emergency Preparedness Section in 2008, the Unit has urther

increased its emergency preparedness activities.

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1 4

who are seconded by donor governments, as well as by OCHA, UNDP, the

World Food Programme, the United Nations Childrens Fund and the World

Health Organization. In many emergency situations, UNDAC teams have

been identied and deployed within hours o a disaster. Their task is to

make a rapid assessment o the situation and prioritize needs, and to sup-

port the national authorities and the United Nations country teams in the

coordination o international relie.

UNDAC teams were rst deployed during the Indonesian orest res

in 1995, and have since become an important tool or inter-agency

response to environmental emergencies. While UNDAC teams deal with

issues ranging rom healthcare to landslides, environmental issues have

gradually been given more prominence. Alongside the medical, ood aid

and other specialists, the UNDAC teams can oten include an environ-

mental generalist, whose job it is to identiy and assess environmental

threats and to call or specialist help where needed.

Since its inception, UNEP has been a member o UNDAC and a num-

ber o UNEP sta members have been trained, ready to be deployed with

the UNDAC teams. In 2008, Sweden supported the training o a urther

15 associate environmental experts, eectively doubling the standby

environmental capacity o the UNDAC system.

Hazard Identifcation Tool

In the early stages o an emergency response, relie workers may be

dispatched blind to the aected area. Oten very little inormation is

available about the hazards they are likely to ace and the rst job or an

environmental expert is to identiy what installations and inrastructure

exist, where they are, and what hazards they may pose both to emer-

gency relie workers and to the resident community.

This job can be made easier and quicker i the locations o such instal-

lations are known beore the UNDAC team arrives. Together with the

Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT), the Joint Environment Unit

developed the Hazard Identication Tool (HIT). This is usually applied

to a region at the rst sign that a disaster is occurring, triggered by the

UNDAC stand-by alert message. By the time the UNDAC team arrives in

the eld, the initial hazard identication can be complete. HIT is based

on the methodology o the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool and

provides a rst screening o an actual situation rom a distance, says

Sander van Dijk, Environmental Expert and Dutch UNDAC member.

Ater an industrial accident,

relie workers may be aced with

the release o hundreds, or even

thousands, o dierent chemicals

and it is easy to overlook or

misjudge important risks

Using remotely available inormation sources, the HIT helps the opera-

tor to draw up a list o known secondary environmental risks in the area,

including large inrastructure, nuclear acilities, hazardous waste storage

sites and other industrial acilities. The tool also lists the hazardous chemi-

cals known or likely to be present, such as ammonia, chlorine, cleaning

agents, cyanide, crude oil or uel, solvents and pesticides. The result is a

technical list o the known and probable hazards in the aected area that



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1 5

might pose a threat to people or the environment, and that need to be

checked on the ground to veriy their status. To make the inormation use-

ul to non-specialists within the humanitarian response, estimated impacts

on people and the environment are given in non-technical language.

Although the UNDAC teams are the primary audience or the HIT, the as-

sessment is shared with other emergency responders in the aected area.

The HIT has great potential or use in the context o preparedness

activities. I hazards were identied beore an emergency occurred,

the inormation would be immediately available to help responders

ocus their attention on the relevant sites even more quickly. Kenya and

Sweden thus agreed to undertake a joint pilot project to map industrial

installations and large inrastructure installations, such as dams, airports

and port acilities in Kenya. A replication o these eorts in other coun-

tries could contribute signicantly to the prevention or mitigation o

environmental emergencies.

Flash Environmental Assessment Tool

Environmental emergencies have the potential to release a myriad o

hazardous materials into the environment. Ater an industrial accident,

or example, relie workers may be aced with the release o hundreds, or

even thousands, o dierent chemicals, each with its own toxicity prole,

exposure pathway (through the air, water or soil) and receptors (humans,

livestock or sh, or example). In such complex situations it is easy to

overlook or misjudge important risks. At the same time, the overwhelming

demands o disaster situations make a ully edged environmental assess-

ment impractical. What rst responders need is an accurate yet simple tool

that can be used in the eld.

Introduced in 2008, the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool or FEAT

is a user-riendly, rst aid manual that helps responders identiy and

prioritize environmental risks. The manual that is available on the Internet,

The strong involvement o

numerous countries in the

development o response tools

such as the Flash Environmental

Assessment Tool and the

Environmental Assessment

Module has led to substantial

progress in strengthening the

international system to respondto environmental emergencies.

Chris Dijkens, Head o Crisis Management o the Ministry o Housing,

Spatial Planni ng and Environment o the Netherlands

C h a p t e r 1


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1 6

balances simplicity with scientic rigour, and provides quick answers in

complex disaster situations, even when specialized technical resources

and expertise are not available.

Sander van Dijk, UNDAC Environmental Expert, was in charge o the

team at the Netherlands National Public Institute or Environment and

Public Health that developed the tool in the wake o the Indian Ocean

earthquake and tsunami in 2004. The Flash Environmental Assessment

Tool was developed because there was no uniorm methodology or

rapid post-disaster assessments, he explains. Individual experts were

dispatched with their own background and speciali ty, which might range

rom very chemical to very ecological. With basic training, the tool allows

an UNDAC team member to know what questions to ask and whether they

need to call or more expert advice.

Environmental Assessment Module

Imagine a re in an oil renery. A dense plume o black smoke rises into

the air and is carried by the wind. Oil tanks rupture and spill. The wastewa-

ter treatment plant ails and oily residues escape, washed into the sea by

re ghters hoses. Which toxins escaped? Where exactly did they go? How

ar was the smoke carried beore it dropped its polluting load? Did it all in

armers elds or on a drinking water supply?

While other tools can point to the risks, only sampling and analysis can

provide concrete answers to these questions. And in the atermath o a

disaster, local laboratories are likely to be damaged or overwhelmed. In

environmental emergencies, specialist equipment and skilled operators

are needed, on the spot, and equipped to work independently o local

services.

To ll this hole in the environmental emergency response capability, the

Netherlands Ministry o Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, and

the Ministry o Foreign Aairs, developed the Environmental Assessment

Module. This mobile laboratory consists o two ully equipped, o-road

vehicles that can be used in emergencies involving hazardous substances. It

is designed to allow rapid assessment o environmental contamination and

related health eects. The module provides sampling, detection and on-site

analysis o toxic compounds; and allows rapid scientic interpretation o

data, and conversion o those data into an exposure or risk assessment that

can be used by national authorities and response organizations.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Module being tested during atraining exercise in Sweden and Norway in 2008

Ren Nijenhuis/OCHA



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1 7

Dierent parts or all o the module can be transported, depend-

ing on the demand or the various sampling, measurement and analysis

options. Three or our sta can accompany the module, backed up by

personal saety equipment, communication and power-generating tools,

and acilities or data processing and transer. All equipment can be

stored in dedicated aluminium boxes or sae transportation to the a-

ected site. The boxes can be transported by air using commercial ights

or an aircrat rom the Netherlands Ministry o Deence, or by land in the

two our-wheel drive vehicles i the emergency occurs within Europe.

Awareness and Preparedness or Emergencies at Local Level (APELL)

programme

The international community and national governments have learned

to respond more eectively to environmental emergencies over the

past decades. Increasingly, the ocus is now shiting to preparing or

disasters beore they occur. With support and unding rom UNEP and

industry, the APELL programme aims to do just that: on the one hand,

providing inormation to communities to help them understand local

risks, and on the other, helping local and national authorities to put

together a coordinated plan to protect people, their property and the

environment in the event o a disaster.

While the main ocus o the programme is on environmental emer-

gencies related to industrial activities with potential or re, explosion or

toxic release, it is also relevant to natural disaster preparedness. So ar,

it has been used to improve the coordination o emergency response

services in both local and cross-border situations. See Chapter 4 or more.

National Focal Points

In close consultation with the Advisory Group on Environmental

Emergencies (AGEE), the Joint Environment Unit established the global

network o ofcially designated National Focal Points, which allow the Unit to

maintain efcient links between potential donor and recipient coun-

tries. This global network o signicantly placed individuals is poised to

provide the Unit with critical inormation on the nature o the emer-

gency, together with supporting incoming assistance.

Building capacity or environmental emergencyresponse

National governments hold the primary responsibility or preparing or,

and responding to environmental emergencies. When a disaster hap-

pens, the speed and eectiveness o the response is largely dictated by

the national governments ability to manage resources and organize

the response. There is much that governments and local authorities

can do to plan or such an event, ensuring or example that everyone

knows their role and responsibility, the chain o command, and what to

do i communications break down.

Donors also need guidance on the most eective way to support

another country that has been aected by a disaster. How can they

ensure they are ready to provide support, and how do they mobilize

the right response proessionals quickly enough? To help develop this

capacity among both potential recipients and donors o environmental

emergency assistance, the Joint Environment Unit and its partners have

developed a number o guidelines (these are available on the Units

website: http://ochaonline.un.org/ochaunep).

Guidelines or Environmental Emergenciesf : provides guidance or

donor and recipient countries on their roles and responsibili-

ties in response to environmental emergencies. The Guidelines

cover the phases o preparedness, alerts, oer and request o

assistance, receipt and provision, as well as post-mission.

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1 8

Guidelines or the Development o a National Environmental Contin-f

gency Plan and Establishing a National Environmental Emergency

Response Mechanism: describe options or establishing national

structures to coordinate resources and expertise in response to

environmental emergencies. A sample National Environmental

Contingency Plan shows how these might be used in practice.

Guidelines or Environmental Assessment Following Chemicalf

Accidents: can be used as an emergency assessment tool to help

competent national authorities or international experts gather data

on the ground. This allows the Joint Environment Unit and possible

donor countries to decide on the exact type o assistance needed.

Guiding Principles or Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness andf

Response: prepared under the umbrella o the Organization or Eco-

nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), this sets out guid-

ance or the planning, construction, operation and saety review o

hazardous installations, with the aim o preventing accidents.

Training courses

Experts deployed in the atermath o an environmental emergency need

to hit the ground running. An eective international response relies on

the availability o well-trained experts, who understand the emergency

response process and are amiliar with the tools and resources available

to back them up. Arriving in a new country in the midst o an emergency

is not the moment to learn.

To support the streamlining and increasing proessionalism o the

international response system led by the Joint Environment Unit, envi-

ronmental experts rom donor countries are encouraged to participate in

a training course on environmental emergency response. The course was

developed by the Government o the Netherlands, in close collabora-

tion with the Government o Sweden, and piloted in August 2008 in the

Netherlands. The curriculum covered a wide range o issues including

the United Nations response system, saety and security, inormation and

stress management, and cultural awareness, as well as tools such as the

Flash Environmental Assessment Tool, the Hazard Identication Tool and

the Environmental Assessment Module.

As Lei Jnsson, Head o the Regional Desk or Western, Eastern and

Southern Arica at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, notes: Most

environmental experts deployed with the UNDAC teams need training in

deployment and how to work in a disaster zone, not in the environmen-

tal aspects.

From response to preparedness

As the ollowing three chapters show, disasters occur with tragic regu-

larity around the world. The response to environmental emergencies

oten comes rom a huge range o groups: local communities, local and

national authorities, oreign governments, the United Nations, non-gov-

ernmental organizations, and increasingly, corporate entities. In this con-

using mele, the Joint Environment Unit is the primary multilateral ocal

point with a remit to mobilize and coordinate international responses to

environmental emergencies.

Over the past 15 years, the Joint Environment Unit has worked with

many international partners to develop tools, systems, training and co-

ordination mechanisms that make environmental emergency responses

more eective. The world will never be ree rom environmental emer-

gencies: natural orces are too strong to be contained, accidents will

happen, and conict recurs. I anything, climate change and population

pressure will increase the danger. But with planning, preparation and

coordination, vulnerable countries can be ready to deal with disaster and

the international community can respond quickly and eectively.



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1 9

MEXICO

Floods 2007

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Hurricanes 2004

GRANADA

Hurricanes 2004

HAITI

Hurricanes 2008, Floods 2004

URUGUAY

Floods 2007

LEBANON

Crisis/Oil spill 2006MOROCCO

Inland oil spill 2003

MOZAMBIQUE

Floods 2000

oPt

Crisis 2009

CAMEROON

Lake Nyos potentialdam collapse 2005

NIGERIA

Munitions depotexplosion 2002

BENIN

Floods 2009

COTE DIVOIRE

Dumping of toxicwaste 2006

MADAGASCAR

Cyclones/Floods 2007

KENYA

Hazard identification 2008Fuel spill 1999

DJIBOUTI

Toxic spill 2002

YEMEN

Response preparedness 2006

GEORGIA

Inguri dam 1997

ARMENIA

Potential damcollapse 1997

SEYCHELLES

Tropical storm 2003Heavy rain 1998

MALDIVES

Tsunami 2004

MYANMAR

Cyclone Nargis 2008

CAMBODIA

UNDAC responsepreparedness 2009

SRI LANKA

Tsunami2004

SUDAN

Environmental issues in resettlementcamps (Darfur) 2004

SOMALIA

Alleged hazardouswaste 2005, 1997

TIMOR-LESTE

Toxic spill/leaking container 2007

SAMOA ISLANDS REGION

Earthquake/tsunami 2009

TANZANIA

Power outage 2008 (Zanzibar)Ground water pollutionassessment 2004 (Pemba Island)

IRAN

Responsepreparedness2005Drought 2000

PAKISTAN

South Asia earthquake2005, Oil spill 2003

INDONESIA

Sumatra earthquake 2009Cracked gas well/mud volcano 2006Dam integrity assessment 2006Yogyakarta earthquake 2006Mt. Merapi preparedness 2006Tsunami 2004Forest fires 1997, 1998, 2005

TURKEY

Response Preparedness 2007Izmit earthquake 1999Dumpsite collapse 1995

BURKINA FASO

Floods 2009PHILIPPINES

Tropical storms/floods 2009Capsized ferry 2008Oil spill 2006Payatas dumpsite collapse 2000Mine tailings spill 1996

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Forest fires 1998Post-Chernobyl assessment 1997Komi Republic inland oil spill 1995

MONGOLIA

Mining spill 2007

TAJIKISTAN

UNDAC response preparedness 2006Dam and Lake Sarez assessment 1999

SERBIA

Kosovo forest fires 2007Kosovo phenol spill 2003Kosovo conflict 1999

MOLDOVA

Underground water pollution 1998

BELARUS

Post-Chernobyl assessment 1997

HUNGARY

Cyanide spill 2000, Mining waste spill 2000

MONTENEGRO

Dam collapse 1994

ALBANIA

Ammunition storageexplosion 2008,

Pesticide storage 1994

THE FORMER YUGOSLAVREPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Forest fires 2007

ROMANIA

Cyanide spill 2000, Mining waste spill 2000UKRAINE

Oil spill 2007, Post-Chernobyl assessment 1997,Sewage spillage 1996

CHINA

Chemical spill 2005

KYRGYZSTAN

Toxic chemical spill 1998

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Oil spill 2007

VIET NAM

Forest fires 2002, Floods 2000

TAIWAN ISLAND (CHINA)

Typhoon Morakot/landslides 2009

RWANDA

Pesticide storage fire 1995

SYRIA

Oil spill 2006Dam collapse 2002

SURINAME

Hydrogen sulphidecylinders 2007

Floods 2006

D.R. CONGO

Earthquake 2008Uranium mine collapse 2004Nyiragongo volcanic eruption 2002

GUYANA

Floods 2005Toxic spill 1996

GUINEA

Floods 2001

TURKS AND CAICOS

Hurricanes 2008

BRAZIL

Forest fires 1998

PARAGUAY

Floods 1998Chemical damage 1998

GUATEMALA

Hurricane Stan 2005

ECUADOR

Floods 2008

BOLIVIA

Floods 2008, 2002

CHILE

Loa river pollution 1997

PERUUNDAC responsepreparedness 2009Earthquake 2007Forest fires 2005

VENEZUELA

Mudslide and chemical spill 2000

HONDURAS

UNDAC response preparedness 2008Floods/landslides 2008Hurricane Felix 2007

The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The f inal status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties. Created by UN OCHA VMU, 15 October 2009

Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit: Activities as o October 2009

2


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United Nations environmental experts on mission ollowing the collapse o a ormer uranium mine in the Democratic Republic o Congo, 2004 OCHA

2


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2 1

Putting things right: Responding

to technological emergencies

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska was an

environmental emergency on the largest scale. Within a ew days o

the tanker running aground, the oil had killed thousands o animals,

including 250,000 seabirds, 1,000 sea otters and 22 killer whales. Over

1,000 km o coastal habitat were aected, both by the oil and by the

pressure-washing techniques used to disperse it. Although the volume

o oil spilled (about 40 million litres) places this disaster some way down

the list o the worlds most serious oil pollution events, the eects o the

disaster were exacerbated by the remoteness o the location. Clean-up

teams had to travel by helicopter and boat, complicating the response

eort and severely stretching existing disaster management plans.

Classic, man-made or technological environmental emergencies like

this one are generally caused by some kind o industrial accident. They

involve hazardous materials and can occur at any location where such

materials are produced, used or transported. In addition to oil spills and

other orms o water pollution, examples include explosions or other

accidental release o toxic substances rom mines, chemical plants or

power plants. Deliberate dumping o toxic waste in remote locations also

occurs. Common locations or technological emergencies include oil and

chemical manuacturing and storage sites, mining waste and spoil heaps,

and any coastline vulnerable to an accident to shipping.

In addition to causing immediate environmental damage, techno-

logical disasters may also pose a danger to human health. They usually

require specic specialist knowledge as well as a coordinated response

among many dierent national and international agencies. Rapid indus-

trialization and introduction o new technologies in developing coun-

tries (which may lack the capacity to deal with disasters) is creating new

hazards and there is potential or the severity and requency o this type

o disaster to increase as a result.

So what happens when a actory explodes or an oil tanker spills its

cargo? What are the particular challenges associated with this type o emer-

gency? This chapter describes international response missions to some o

the major technological emergencies addressed during the past 15 years,

highlighting the roles o the dierent response agencies and personnel.

Who knows what to do?

An oten-underestimated challenge is the specicity o each disaster in-

volving hazardous materials. Innumerable toxic and harmul chemicals are

used globally in industrial processes, oten requiring very specic technical

expertise to deal with them. In addition, in many developing countries, the

national operational response capacity in particular when it comes to

on-site sampling and analysis is oten insufcient to cope with the needs

o an emergency. One o the benets o the international response system

is that a wide network o proessionals can be contacted quickly and an

expert with the appropriate skills deployed to the scene.

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2 2

July 2004: Shinkolobwe, Democratic Republic o

Congo

Eight people were killed and 13 seriously injured when

part o the Shinkolobwe uranium mine collapsed. Theaccident sparked ears about the harmul consequences o

the mines exploitation on the environment and the local

population, while rumours o an illicit uranium trade and

child labour began to spread.

Located 35 km west o Likasi in the southern province

o Katanga, the Shinkolobwe mine was ofcially closed in

1961 ollowing the countrys independence rom Belgium.

It had been exploited or its uranium and radium deposits

between 1921 and 1959, and its uranium was used in the

Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. At the end o the

1990s, however, artisanal or inormal exploitation o cop-

per and heterogenite (an ore containing cobalt) began to

grow as the worlds demand or cobalt increased. As a re-

sult, a mining village developed at Shinkolobwe, despite a

Presidential Decree prohibiting any artisanal mining there.

Ater the disaster, the Government evacuated the area,

orcibly closed the mine, and requested a ull environmen-

tal assessment.

Responding to the request or international assistance

rom the Minister or Solidarity and Humanitarian Aairs,

the Joint Environment Unit set up an inter-agency mis-

sion that included experts on mining (rom France) and

the environment (provided by Switzerland), an expert on

radiological contamination (rom the International Atomic

Energy Agency) and an environmental health proessional

(rom the World Health Organization), together with sta

Technological emergencies: the role o the international community

A technological emergency requires a rapid and multi-aceted response.

National response capacity is oten completely overwhelmed and this is

where the Joint Environment Unit steps in, playing a key role in the mobiliza-

tion and coordination o urgent international assistance. The exact nature

o this support varies according to the type and scale o the emergency, the

potential environmental impacts and the national capacity to respond to the

situation.

In some cases, the international community simply provides monitor-

ing and hazard identication rather than ull-scale practical assistance. In

others, the Joint Environment Unit needs to contact its network o partner

countries to very quickly nd an expert with the specic knowledge needed

to deal with a particular hazardous substance. The value o multilateral and

multi-agency assistance is a common theme demonstrated throughout this

publication.

Over the years, the Joint Environment Unit has become involved increas-

ingly in post-disaster issues and uture hazard prevention measures, which in-

clude educating stakeholders particularly in developing countries about

potential hazards. Once again, this calls or coordination, collaboration and

attention to nding exactly the right person or agency or the task in hand.

One o the main issues is that in developing countries, hazardous waste

is oten not seen as a hazard people are not aware and will collect and sell

waste material in an unsae way, says Laurent Nicole, a consultant chemical

engineer and specialist in occupational health and saety. In post-disaster

management and prevention work, it is thereore important to educate

stakeholders the government, relevant authorities, private sector and oth-

ers on the potential dangers.

P u t t i n g t h i n g s r i g h t : R e s p o n d i n g t o t e c h n o l o g i c a l e m e r g e n c i e s


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2 3

o UNEP, OCHA and the United Nations country mission team. The mission

team assessed the current state o the mine and evaluated the causes

o its partial collapse. Samples o water, soil and dust were analyzed in

Switzerland. Although the site had been evacuated and was devoid o anyactivity, the expert team also evaluated environmental impacts, including

contamination by heavy metals, as well as humanitarian and health

concerns linked to mining activities and ionising radiation exposure.

The mission team ound that the cause o the accident was hap-

hazard mining with no respect or saety regulations. The ground wasunstable due to unskilled excavation and poorly managed waste heaps.

The risk o urther collapse, thereore, was ver y high. They ound no

evidence to suggest that uranium had been exploited. The collapse

was not a result o a nuclear or radiological accident and, within the

enclosed perimeter o the mine, did not lead to increased exposure to

ionising radiation. However, they warned that uture collapse could

lead to such a risk.

Ren Nijenhuis, Ofcer in Charge/Humanitarian Aairs Ofcer o the

Joint Environment Unit (who led the mission), says: Because we had ex-

perts rom several dierent disciplines within our team, we could look at

all aspects o the mine collapse, then provide the authorities with recom-

mendations on how to minimize environmental risks and enorce saety

standards better, protecting local people, especially the children.

21 June 2008: Sibuyan Island, the Philippines

Rescue teams battled urious seas and high winds as they searched or

survivors ater a erry sank with 862 people aboard. The MV Princess o

the Stars had been allowed to sail despite the imminent approach o

Typhoon Fengshen because the vessel was deemed large enough to stay

aoat in the periphery o the storm. But Fengshen tragically made a sud-

den change o direction and headed directly or the erry, pushing it onto

a coral ree and causing it to capsize about 3 km rom Sibuyan Island.

Fewer than 60 passengers survived.

The Philippines Coast Guard and Navy, assisted by the US Navy, tried

to retrieve the bodies rom the ship but operations were suspended on

28 June ater it was discovered that the vessel was carrying a shipment o

Environmental experts take water samples near the village o Shinkolobwe, ollowing thecollapse o a ormer uranium mine

OCHA

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endosulan (a toxic pesticide) and other chemicals in its cargo. Endosul-

an is an organochlorine insecticide and its use is banned in the Euro-

pean Union (EU) and restricted in many other countries (including the

Philippines) due to its acute toxicity and high potential or bioaccumula-tion and environmental contamination.

The Joint Environment Unit and the European Commission (EC) Moni-

toring and Inormation Centre began monitoring the accident through

media reports at the onset o the disaster. Jointly, they oered assistance

to assess and address issues related to the pesticides aboard the ship,

which was welcomed by the Philippine authorities.

On arrival in the Philippines, the rst task o the team, which included

an ecotoxicologist and a marine chemist, was to gather, consolidate and

analyze available data regarding the secondary impacts o the chemicals

contained in the capsized erry. On the basis o this inormation, the team

was able to evaluate on-going and planned response activities (national

and international). The assessment also ocused on identiying gaps in

response activities and making recommendations on urther possible

international assistance.

Our team was able to support the national authorities in nd-

ing out which chemicals and in what quantities were on board the

capsized erry and whether they were leaking, says Rune Berglind, a

Swedish ecotoxicologist and member o the joint expert team. This

contributed to ensuring that impacts on the shing grounds could be

mitigated.

The team undertook on-site assessments on land and at sea, which

included surveying the wreck by plane. They had numerous meetings

and discussions with the relevant national agencies. While they noted

the successul eorts made to monitor the situation with regard to pos-

sible contamination o seawater by chemicals and oil, they also made

recommendations in a number o areas where improvements could

Typhoon Fengshen scattered debris along the shore o Sibuyanisland, while many houses were damaged ater being battered byhuge waves

Jason Gutierrez/IRIN

When the Princess of the Stars capsized in the Philippines in June2008, it was carrying endosulan, a toxic pesticide, amongst itscargo. This and other chemicals on board posed a threat to the

rescue workers as well as to livelihoods in the coastal area Rune Berglind



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be made. These concerned crisis organization (such as contingency

planning and the establishment o a command post), sampling and

monitoring (such as sampling procedures, analytical protocols and bio-

monitoring), and the next steps or the salvage operations (especiallycontingency planning in the event o urther damage to the vessel).

Transboundary emergencies need an internationalresponse

A spill o toxic chemicals will spread wherever the surrounding air or

water takes it. A technological disaster can thereore aect several coun-

tries at once. In these cases, the response eort needs not only efcient

coordination, but also impartial and neutral assistance best provided

by a multilateral response.

30 January 2000: Baia Mare, Romania

A major cyanide spill in the heart o Romanias mining region decimated

local sh populations and polluted drinking water in Romania, Hungary,

Serbia and Bulgaria, beore dissipating into the Black Sea.

The trigger was heavy rain and rapid melting o accumulated snow,

which overowed and washed away part o the dam containing toxic

waste material rom the Baia Mare Aurul gold mine. This released 100,000

cubic metres o wastewater heavily contaminated with cyanide into

the Lapus and Somes tributaries o the River Tisza that ows into the

Danube. Cyanide is lethal to humans and other species even in very small

doses. At the beginning o February, the concentration o cyanide in the

Tisza was 100 times higher than that permitted in drinking water. In addi-

tion to killing sh and other river lie along its path, the deadly pollution

threatened the entire ecosystem o the Danube delta, one o Europes

richest wetland conservation areas.

Cooperation in response

to the Philippines erry

disaster demonstrates that it

is possible to put resources

together and increase

outputSuch partnershipsand synergy help make

international response aster

and more eective, with

the ultimate objective o

supporting the populations

in need o our help.

Advisory Group on Environmental Emergencies,Eighth Meeting Report

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Following requests rom the Governments o Hungary, Romania and

the Federal Republic o Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and con-

sultations with European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrm

and OCHA, UNEP announced that a team o international experts wouldbe sent to the aected area to carry out a scientic analysis o the envi-

ronmental damage caused by the spill.

Sixteen experts rom seven countries (Austria, Czech Republic,

Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) were selected at

very short notice to travel to the aected areas. In addition to the expert

group, a our-person United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordina-tion (UNDAC) team rom the Disaster Response Branch o OCHA was

dispatched to provide essential logistic and coordination support or the

mission. UNEPs Regional Ofce or Europe provided a press ofcer and a

scientic coordinator. The mission also included representatives rom the

World Health Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission

or Europe and the European Commission delegations in Romania and

Hungary.

The range o expertise

included in the team covered

chemistry, ecotoxicology,biology, hydrology, process

engineering and dam

engineering this was quite an

achievement.

Vladimir Sakharov, Joint Environment Unit

The mission was organized by the Joint Environment Unit and headed

by the Director o UNEPs Regional Ofce or Europe. Its terms o reer-

ence included an independent, scientic description o the spill, the

situation and events causing it, the collection and review o data related

to the spill and its environmental implications, and the preparation o

recommendations or uture action and prevention.

The process o gold mining can pose major risks to human healthand the environment. I an incident occurs, immediate action needsto be taken to mitigate the impacts

Alain Pasche



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The Governments o Germany, Switzerland and the

Czech Republic provided three mobile laboratories,

with backstopping available rom the Joint Environ-

ment Unit, as well as the Field Coordination SupportSection and the Military and Civil Deence Unit o

OCHAs Disaster Response Branch in Geneva. Mining

specialists in the UNEP Division o Technology, Industry

and Economics in Paris also provided specialist advice.

Considerable logistical and other support was re-

ceived rom the UNDP Ofce in Bucharest, the United

Nations Liaison Ofce in Croatia and the OCHA Ofce

in Belgrade.

The team assembled in Bucharest in Romania, thentravelled to the breach site in Baia Mare beore cross-

ing the border into Hungary and ollowing the river

system down to the Serbian border. Finally, sampling

was undertaken along the Danube in Serbia.

Since so many dierent institutions were involved,

the mission represented a useul model or inter-agency

cooperation and multi-disciplinary rapid assess-

ment work. It combined sampling and analysis with

discussions among relevant national and local experts,

national authorities, aected populations and local

non-governmental organizations. The mission was not

intended to provide a ull overview o the emergency

and its implications; instead, it provided an environ-

mental input to the ongoing process o international

investigation and review.

This was an obvious environmental emergency

with little humanitarian need; however, dealing with

Creating conventions

The scale o the Chernobyl nuclear accident prompted the international com-

munity to adopt two International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Conventions

(Early Notication o a Nuclear Accidentand Mutual Assistance in the Case o a

Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency) in 1986. These set out an interna-

tional ram

web version of environmental emergencies - learning from multilateral response to disasters

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