The Torrey Canyon Disaster: Some Legal Aspects
![handle is hein.journals/denlr44 and id is 412 raw text is: THE ToRREY CANYoN DISASTER:
SOME LEGAL ASPECTS
BY VED P. NANDA*
The Torrey Canyon disaster in March 1967 emphasized the
need for effective preventive measures to avert such a disaster, and
for restorative measures should such a disaster occur. Professor
Nanda describes the extensiveness of the problem against the back-
ground of international and national norms that have haphazardly
developed to cope with the situation. Recognizing the deficiencies
in the present ability of nation states to combat oil pollution, Pro-
fessor Nanda urges that nation states take the initiative through
international agreements, to develop minimum standards and ef-
fective safeguards in this area.
T HE Torrey Canyon wreck in March 1967,' has posed another
challenge of modern technology for scientists and lawyers alike:
how to prevent oil pollution of the seas and how to deal with the
problem effectively. The accident occurred off southwest England.
The tanker spilled approximately 80,000 tons of crude oil into the
sea which coated English resort beaches on the Cornish coast with oil
slicks,2 threatened the French coast across the channel,' contaminated
oyster beds and fisheries,4 and caused extensive damage to bird life.5
*Assistant Professor, College of Law, University of Denver. The author wishes to
thank Charles 'Booth, second year student at the College of Law, for his research
assistance, and his colleagues William Altonin and Gary Widman for their helpful
suggestions.
1 For a report on the occurrence of the wreck and steps taken by the British Govern-
ment to deal with the situation, see SEC'Y OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEP'T, THE
ToRREY CANYON, CMND. No. 3246 (1967).
2 Winds, tides and currents washed oil onto the British beaches. For an account see
C. GILL, F. BOOKER & T. SOPER, THE WRECK OF THE TORREY CANYON 60-71
(1967) [hereinafter cited as GILL]; CHEMICAL WEEK, Apr. 8, 1967, at 59.
3 GILL, supra note 2, at 81-87.
4 [The fishing industry was virtually suffocated by the vast film of oil. LIFE, Apr.
14, 1967, at 31. But see I ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 273 (1967):
According to Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, fish in the Seven Stones reef
... were, several weeks later, untainted and seemed plentiful as ever. Close
in shore, he added, where shellfish might be affected, only very few
crabs and shore-haunting fish have been found dead. This was in areas
heavily polluted with oil and where substantial quantities of detergent have
been used.
5 It was reported that the oil or detergent ingestion or skin burns had caused the death
of 7,399 sea birds. N.Y. Times, May 27, 1967, at 51, col. 4, But see NEWSWEEK,
Apr. 10, 1967, at 51, col. 1: [A]t least 100,000 sea birds ... had been killed by
the chocolate-brown ooze. See also id., at 110, col. 2-3. For a statement by the
director of public information for the National Audubon Society before the Senate
Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution that of the 6,000 birds brought ashore
after the Torrey Canyon disaster, less than 500 were saved, see N.Y. Times, June
9, 1967, § M, at 80, col. 1. See also id., June 11, 1967, at 55, col. 1; LIFE, Apr. 14,
1967, at 34. A British observatory is said to have estimated that 40,000 sea birds
died. 1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 273 (1967). See also Rienow](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/denlr44&div=30&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Torrey Canyon Disaster: Some Legal Aspects
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