Human Dimension Impacts of Oil Spills and Social Responsibility: Evolving Needs

Abstract

ABSTRACT Beyond the traditional ecological impacts of oil spills, oil spills can also affect people; these are the human dimensions of oil spills. Under current institutional procedures in the US, little attention is given during preparedness and response to social issues and implementing actions to mitigate the human dimension impacts of oil spills. Social responsibility is increasingly being used as a measure of the overall performance of businesses and organizations. Previous work recognized that public and stakeholder reactions to, and perceptions about, an oil spill response can influence the overall success of response. However, improvements in recent years to achieve the “best response” focus increasingly on operational aspects of oil spills. Human dimensions, representing the non-operational aspects of oil spills, generally remain unaddressed in the US regulatory framework. With the widespread use of social media, stakeholders and the global public are able to express their concerns and objections about oil spills; demand transparency and aggressive action during an incident to protect people and the environment, mitigate all impacts; and call to punish those responsible. Spills which are perceived as technological disasters are viewed as preventable by those in affected areas. Spill management teams (SMTs) in the US typically are comprised of the organization of responsible party (RP) and government responders, which is integrated in function but necessarily aligned in their respective priorities. The influence of politics and legal teams on SMTs represents both opportunities for and barriers to addressing human dimension concerns and impacts during response. This paper discusses the evolving needs for the USCG and EPA, as agency leaders in the US National Response System (NRS), to adapt existing preparedness and response practices. This paper also explores potential opportunities to incorporate social responsibility into oil spill preparedness and response strategies as ways to mitigate human dimensions impacts going forward. Research has shown that community adaptation and resilience is: at least in part related to a community having access to knowledge and resources which are possessed by oil spill experts; that transfer of knowledge takes time; and that building connections between local communities and oil spill experts helps promote community adaptation and resilience. The author suggests that within the existing regulatory framework there is conceptual space to leverage trusted networks of existing relationships and enhance our ability to carry out preparedness and response activities consistent with social responsibility.