Oil platforms are duty-bound to send their waste and wastewater to the shore for safe disposal. However, it has emerged that oil rigs and tankers release their waste directly into the sea, and Iran’s top environment body is not yet authorized to directly monitor their operations.
Speaking to the press, Parvin Farshchi, the deputy for marine environment at the Department of Environment, said, “This is the main reason why we need to revise marine environment laws; to authorize the DOE to keep a close watch on these activities,” Mehr News Agency reported.
Sources of marine pollution are divided into two groups: Land (cities, factories, etc) and sea (vessels, oil rigs, etc).
“Unfortunately, the DOE has not been able to monitor the second source of pollutants properly,” said Ziaoddin Almasi, director of the Marine Pollution Office at the DOE.
To help address the problem, he said five new measures were devised over the past year, one of which has been communicated to relevant environmental organizations.
The measure includes holding a refresher course on marine environment management for DOE staff in coastal provinces and drawing up an inspection scheme to monitor oil rigs and water bodies.
In collaboration with the Management and Planning Organization of Iran, the department has devised training courses for marine experts stationed in coastal DOE offices. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a license from the National Iranian Oil Tanker Company to monitor offshore platforms.
Almasi pledged that his office will officially begin inspecting oil tankers and rigs by June.
