What does an oil spill have in common with a squid broth served at a small French seafood restaurant? Everything, as it happens.

On December 12, 1999, the oil tanker Erika shipwrecked off the coast of Brittany. The outcome was devastating: Approximately 19,000 tons of oil it had been freighting (of its total cargo of 30,000 tons) spilled into the ocean waters. As noted in an advisory report carried out by the Permanent Commission of Enquiry into Accidents at Sea, “It was very difficult to contain this pollution because of the type of cargo being carried and because of the severe weather conditions and it eventually soiled several hundred kilometres of coastline from Brittany down to the Ile de Ré” (CPEM 1999: 7). In the aftermath of the spill, during cleaning efforts in 2000 and 2001, between 240,000 and 280,000 tons of polluted material was removed (Laubier...

You do not currently have access to this content.