Decision ID: 000038

In February 1999 the 1971 Fund Executive Committee noted that the Venezuelan Ministry of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources had ordered an environmental audit (at an estimated cost of £180 000) to establish whether oil in collected beach material had seeped into the subsoil and subterranean waters. It was noted that the Director had considered that the audit did not satisfy the Fund’s criteria for post-spill studies and had informed the Ministry that the Fund was not prepared to contribute to the costs. It was also noted that the Instituto para el Control y la Conservación de la Cuenca del Lago de Maracaibo (ICLAM), part of the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, had presented a claim for £83 000 for costs incurred in analyses carried out in monitortng the clean-up operations and that the Director had considered that costs of £74 000 related to preventive measures and were therefore admissible. The Committee instructed the Director to provide more detailed information so as to enable it to decide whether the actions covered by the claim fell within the definition of pollution damage.

Date: 01.02.1999
Category: Post-spill studies
Subjects: Claims for costs of environmental impact studies, Specific claims considered by the governing bodies