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USCG Case History

On the morning of March 18, 1967, the T/V Torrey Canyon  ran aground on Pollard
Rock on Seven Stones Reef off Lands End in England due to the Master's
negligence.  The entire cargo, approximately 860,000 barrels (references range
between 857,600 and 872,300 barrels), was released into the sea or burned during
the next twelve days.  Ships of the Royal Navy carrying detergents were en route
to the scene within four hours of the grounding.

The response command post was established at Plymouth.  The Royal Air Force and
the Royal Navy implemented an early warning system for oil movement.  A panel of
expert scientists was assembled to consider scientific problems involved with
the cleanup procedure.  Local authorities were instrumental in dealing with the
oil beached within their jurisdictions.

A detergent, primarily BP1002, was sprayed on much of the floating oil to
emulsify and disperse it.  Manual methods were used for removal of oil on many
of the sandy beaches, although the dissected nature of the shoreline made it
impossible to clean the whole coastline.  The vessel lost structural integrity
on March 26, releasing more oil into the water.   Since towing the vessel off of
the reef was deemed impossible, the government decided to bomb the vessel.