Habitat equivalency analysis for oil spill damage assessment in the Bohai Sea, China

Abstract

Oil spill damage assessment is a complex process that requires local specialized institutions. However, such studies are scare in the Bohai Sea of China. This study presents a Habitat Equivalency Analysis Framework for oil spill damage assessment. The equations of the framework are derived based on oil spill modeling and a case-specific Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) approach, using data from the Penglai 19–3 oil spill accident. The framework considers both the pollution scale (Extent of Damage) and ecological effect (Degree of Damage) to assess the ecological impacts of the oil spill. The Euler-Lagrange Particle Tracing Equation is used to simulate the oil movement trajectory, while the combination of oil weathering model and ERA is used to evaluate the ecological effects of benzene, a toxic component of oil, on aquatic species. The study finds that the loss of habitat service level in the event increases in a quadratic trend, and the accumulated compensation at the initial phase (the first four days) is quantified concretely, i.e., ∼Int.$ 82,191, ∼Int.$ 657,528, ∼Int.$ 2,219,159, and ∼Int.$ 5,260,229, respectively, for the first to fourth days. It is showed that the early-stage damage process of the habitat service value, which plays a crucial role in the decision of the final compensation, is significant and could not be neglected.