GUIDELINES AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING OIL SPILL EFFECTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is becoming increasingly important that scientific studies be conducted to determine the effects of a spill (and its cleanup) on the environment. Data are needed to assess environmental injury (e.g., for Natural Resource Damage Assessment, NRDA) and to set restoration targets. Data must be scientifically valid and timely to be of value in this process. To facilitate achieving these goals the Guidelines for the Scientific Study of Oil Spill Effects was prepared. By having scientific methods in place, no time is wasted developing them during the hectic early period of spill response. The guidelines should minimize the time spent reaching a consensus on how to conduct the work, thus minimizing the amount of ephemeral data that may be missed. By employing well-designed methods at the outset, the need for modification later is minimized. This peer-reviewed, multi-author, over 1,300-page document consists of guidance and methods for a wide variety of investigations. The document is organized into fourteen study elements: overflights, photodocumentation, and shore description; water column and oil source sampling; shoreline and sediment sampling; chemical analyses; intertidal biota; subtidal biota; tissue sampling and analysis; toxicity effects; birds and marine mammals; nekton; plankton; inland spills; quality assurance/quality control; and data management. Not all elements should necessarily be employed in every spill, and individual methods may require modification depending on circumstances. Also, there are many excellent, equally valid tools and approaches that are not included in the document, but their absence should not inhibit their use. To make the guidelines readily available to the public, the American Petroleum Institute will be posting it on their Web site.