A major operation required in Bantry Bay to clean up after an oil spill at the terminal on Whiddy Island.
Three weeks after 250,000 gallons of oil was pumped into Bantry Bay in County Cork from an oil spill from the Universe Leader tanker at the Gulf Oil Terminal on Whiddy Island, the massive clean-up operation continues.
Gulf Terminal manager Kenneth Thomas expects the work will continue for some time. However, the clean-up has moved from spraying to using straw to soak up the oil in various parts of Bantry Bay.
West Cork pollution control officer and Cork County Council's chief assistant county engineer Liam Mullins is reasonably pleased with the progress of the clean-up operation. He expects it will continue for another six weeks. A complete clean-up is not the right thing to do as it would require an overkill of dispersant. It is preferable that,
The amount of oil remaining on rocks and the likes would weather and eventually go away in the natural form rather than in clean-up.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 14 November 1974. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
