The need for good environmental performance has always been a requirement within the oil industry. Moreover, actions to minimise the release of hydrocarbons to the environment can also lead to improvements in safety performance, healthier working conditions for employees and more cost-effective operations. The operation of high hazard industries associated with fuel storage and distribution was put under the spotlight after the Buncefield Incident. Learning from the event was documented widely, including in the UK Health and Safety Executive HSE Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) Final Report: Safety and Environmental Standards for Fuel Storage Sites published in 2009.
There is increasing recognition by regulators that there are limitations to the substance-specific approach for assessing and controlling the environmental fate and effects of effluents. As the number of compounds of interest increases, this method becomes increasingly time consuming and costly. Consequently, many regulators are seeking more holistic techniques such as whole effluent assessment (WEA) to supplement existing approaches.
The economic crisis in 2008 challenged the private and public partners in the Port of Antwerp to make up a strategic plan to become more resilient. A general assembly of more than 600 people representing the port community agreed about a vision for 10 themes eg. liquid bulk, logistics, trade facilitation, mobility, but also indicated that sustainability should be integrated into the strategic plan. It was then decided to first map performance of the port regarding people, planet and prosperity, which resulted in a first sustainability report in 2012. A list of indicators, based on the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative, were presented and used as a input for an intensive stakeholder process. The results were discussed among the different sectors in the port and new ideas for measuring and improving performance were launched.
A senior technical director within Arcadis in the UK, and Head of Capability for Environment, I lead our Global Risk Assessment of Substances in the Environment Community of Practice.
Specialties: Sediment management Integrated water management Environmental science Aquatic ecology Sustainibility reporting
Technical Manager with over 15 years experience in technical and scientific project management in different application fields of the energy industry as well as environmental and atmospheric research looking for a new challenge in energy industry operations.
PIN 27.2 Apr/May 2026
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