Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: Building the Capacity to Protect Public Welfare and Support Community Resilience

Abstract

Abstract Some oil spills become disastrous for communities who live and work in proximity of the spill, even when a disaster is not formally declared. For decades, social science researchers have reported the negative impacts of such oil spills on communities, but their findings remain in the literature and have not resulted in improvements to oil spill preparedness and response practice. Effective response to an oil spill which has the potential to become a social disaster requires leaders in emergency management to proactively address spill threats to public welfare in addition to stopping the release of oil and cleaning up the spill. To accomplish this, the oil spill community could proactively engage stakeholders at the grass-roots level to share information, address questions and concerns through risk communication, and include inputs for pre-spill planning. The capacity to engage with vulnerable communities and stakeholders before, during, and after an oil spill is one measure of a successful response. This paper is a collaborative effort among oil spill specialists, social science researchers, and community members on the Eastern Shore of Virginia to prepare for a serious oil spill and mitigate its potential threats. This remote area of global ecological significance is highly vulnerable to an offshore persistent oil spill that could negatively impact the way of life of many community members who depend upon the environment. Prior to this effort, community members were not engaged in oil spill preparedness. A subcommittee of the Virginia Area Committee sought community input in developing a new annex of the Area Contingency Plan. This effort engaged non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, watermen, local governmental agencies, and others on the Eastern Shore, recognizing the importance of two-way communications with stakeholders, rather than one-way outreach. In addition, social scientists who have studied major spills identify opportunities to adapt oil spill practices and help communities recover from potential psychosocial and incident-specific impacts. The community aspects of the new annex were exercised during a 4-day, full-scale Area Exercise under Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP), along with other pre-exercise activities, to support public welfare and community resiliency. Through this work, the authors demonstrate adaptations to strengthen incident management by leveraging networks of trusted relationships developed during planning with local government, elected officials, and communities.