According to a report in The Advertiser earlier this year (1992), there had been a series of three oil spills at Port Stanvac over just a few months. The second spill resulted in a large fire. The third spill came from a rusty pipe on the refinery wharf. 400 litres of diesel caused a slick several hundred metres long and extending up to 1 kilometre out to sea. The refinery said that this spill posed no threat to the shoreline or the sea. They said that the three spills had not caused any major problems.
A spill of crude oil occurred at Port Stanvac refinery in late September also. 100 litres of oil was said to have spilled from a tanker unloading fuel. This is the spill that Surfrider Foundation claimed to be more like 30,000 litres (300 times the publicised amount).
At the beginning of November, 600 litres of diesel fuel escaped from a ruptured hose on the Byford Dolphin oil rig, during the refueling of a crane. The oil rig was anchored 20 nautical miles south-west of Glenelg to take on supplies and crew. The resulting small slick was monitored closely during the day. Most of the diesel was said to have evaporated by late afternoon and the rest was expected to dissipate overnight.