HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 5/2
adopted 14 March 1984, having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki Convention
RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING RESTRICTION OF DISCHARGES
FROM OIL REFINERIES
THE COMMISSION,
RECALLING that according to Article 6 of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1974, (Helsinki Convention), the Contracting Parties shall take all appropriate measures to control and strictly limit pollution by noxious substances,
RECALLING ALSO that Annex II of the Helsinki Convention defines oil as a noxious substance for the purposes of Article 6 of the Convention,
RECOGNIZING that oil refineries are one of the main sources of oil pollution,
BEING MINDFUL of the pollution caused by oil refineries,
DESIRING to limit this pollution by accomplishing the treatment of oil refinery effluents corresponding to modern technology,
DESIRING ALSO to have more adequate information on the total discharges into the Baltic Sea of oil and oil products,
RECOMMENDS to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that:
a) at new oil refineries the following provisions should be applied as from the beginning of the production:
cooling waters should be separated from other waters and retained uncontaminated by oil;
stormwaters from polluted plant areas should be collected and connected to treatment plants; and
wastewaters should be subject to biological or other equally effective treatment. The oil content (measured using IR spectroscopy) of the effluent should not exceed 5 parts per million and the total discharge should not exceed 3 grammes per ton of crude oil and other feed stocks processed;
b) at existing refineries the provisions (i) and (ii) given in paragraph a) should be applied as from 15 March 1984 and 1987, respectively,
RECOMMENDS ALSO to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that corresponding TOC and/or CODCr values should be measured and submitted whenever oil discharges are reported to the Helsinki Commission,
RECOMMENDS FURTHER that programmes drawn up to reduce pollution from oil refineries and results achieved should be reported every five years to the Helsinki Commission.