A Comprehensive Review of Canadian Marine Oil Spill Response System through the Lens of Decanting Regulations and Practices

Abstract

Marine oil spill response operations could generate a large volume of liquid oily wastes (e.g., emulsified oil, non-emulsified oil, and wastewater) that can be up to 30 to 40 times greater than the original volume of spilled oil. Oil decanting technologies are used globally for recovering spilled oil and handling liquid wastes. Canada follows the standards set out in the MARPOL 73/78 Annex 1 International regulations in most areas, with more strict discharge requirements in certain locations. For instance, inland waters discharge should not exceed 5 ppm, and in special areas, such as the Great Lakes, the discharge standard is under 0 ppm. In the event of an oil spill, decanted seawater should be barged to shore for disposal, which significantly constrains the response capacity and efficiency of oil recovery by skimmers due to limited temporary storage space in barges and the long time and high cost of transportation. This has become one of the greatest challenges the Canadian governments and oil spill response industries are facing in Canada. Moreover, when the spill response team decides that decanting is an appropriate way to handle the spilled oil, the approval process may take a long time, which negatively impacts the spill that has already occurred. Moreover, Canada uses a 10,000-tonne planning standard for oil spill preparedness, whereas the United States uses a worst-case scenario, and Europe uses a 60,000 m3 planning standard. The existing planning threshold in Canada can cause the country to be not fully prepared when it comes to responding to a very large oil spill if one should occur. This study conducted a comprehensive review of the current Canadian oil spill response system and framework, regulations, roles and responsibilities of federal and provincial governments, existing decanting capabilities, and capacities of Canadian oil spill responders. More importantly, this study identified the gaps in the current oil spill response system and regulatory and technological barriers to oil decanting. Marine oil decanting regulations and practices in the US and selected European countries have also been reviewed to support addressing the challenges and improving the Canadian experience. It is expected that this study would help the stakeholders and professionals to better understand the oil spill response system and oil decanting status quo in Canada and facilitate Canadian governments and industries to better address the challenges in oil spill regulations and practices.