[seadog] ITOPF Takes Heyerdahl Award
- From: "Tom Blanchard" <tomblanchard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "SEADOG" <seadog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 18:16:03 -0400
The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) last night was
awarded the prestigious Thor Heyerdahl International Environmental Award,
presented by the Norwegian Shipowners Association. Accepting on behalf of
ITOPF was Dr. Ian White, the group? Managing Director and a marine biologist
who has been with the organization since 1977. ITOPF has, since being
established in 1968 in the wake of the Torrey Canyon accident, taken an
advisory role in the event of oil spills around the globe, sharing lessons
learned from past spills and providing detailed information regarding the
characteristics of certain products once they enter the sea environment.
ITOPF serves in an advisory function only, and has worked in the background
to minimize the environmental effects of oil and chemical spills more than
500 times in 85 countries. During his acceptance speech, Dr. White lamented
the ?PR? driven response plans ? plans enacted by political will which could
?look good on TV?, but could actually do more harm than good. ?Plants and
animals don?t mind a bit of oil, but they don?t like being sandblasted? he
said, upon showing a picture of an aggressive measure to wash oil from rock
formations.
Pretty strong words from a tanker owners group. They have a great web site
at ITOPF.com
Other related posts:
- » [seadog] ITOPF Takes Heyerdahl Award
