Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the collision between the Solong and Stena Immaculate on harbour porpoises.

Now the overall situation has stabilised, the response has moved from a Major Incident Response into the recovery phase. Both ships remain afloat and normal maritime traffic has resumed. Though the situation is stable, recovery work will continue with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency continuing to coordinate operational partners and maintaining their vigilance of the situation to ensure a safe resolution.

Defra is working with multiple organisations, including the Centre of Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the PREMIAM (Pollution Response in Emergencies: Marine Impact Assessment and Monitoring) has been activated to assess the impact of this incident on water pollution and the marine environment. No chemical pollution from the initial fuel spill has been detected.

Pollution in the form of nurdles and burnt plastic has shown up on beaches in NW Norfolk, Lincolnshire and at sea in The Wash. Vessels have been recovering the nurdles at sea and the beach clean-up in NW Norfolk is being co-ordinated by Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, and any clean-up in Lincolnshire will be co-ordinated by the relevant local authority there. The clean-up is ongoing. There has been no sign of any other pollution.

The four Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are working together in a Joint East Coast Recovery Management Group to lead counter-pollution activities.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the Statutory Nature Conservation Body for the offshore area and so has been feeding into the ongoing response efforts as part of this incident. Part of this has been providing information and advice in relation to offshore sensitivities, including Marine Protected Areas and mobile species such as harbour porpoise, and potential impacts to them from this incident. The risks to harbour porpoises are being monitored as much as possible and so far, no significant impacts have been identified from this specific incident.