Spill Management Research Articles

Solutions for effective oil spill management in the south–eastern part of the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is facing exceptionally intensive marine traffic. Oil products in addition to other cargo types are being transported in this marine area. Therefore, the risk of potential oil pollution is very high. Although, the Baltic Sea has not experienced catastrophic oil spills, there have been spills causing serious environmental damage in the region. Construction of oil terminals and planned growth of Russian oil export through Baltic Sea ports along with the operation of large oil enterprises and oil drilling platforms make maritime safety a priority task for the Baltic Sea region. The publications collected in present Baltica Journal Special Issue set sights on the improvement of oil spill management in the South–Eastern Baltic Sea as well as stimulate the appearance of new transnational response agreements in the region.

Reducing the oil spill threat to the marine environment (Foreword)

Presented in this special issue studies aims to contribute in order to limit the damage from oil spills and to facilitate containment and cleanup efforts; to optimize the response to oil spills as well as facilitate the preparation of comprehensive maps of most valuable assets as well as prepare joint response plans between neighbouring Kaliningrad Oblast of Russian Federation and Lithuania. The results of common Lithuanian-Russian project “Development of solutions for effective oil spill management in the South-Eastern Baltic” takes an attempt to operationally harmonize and scientifically ground a response capacity for this commonly used area

Inter-sectoral interaction in oil spill incident: Zayande Rood case study

Five years ago, due to driver bulldozer recklessness, Isfahan-Omidiyeh Oil Pipeline was broken and the extensive oil spill was happening in ZayandehRood, and the surrounding land and the river was polluted. After the incident, the drinking water of some cities was completely cut off for 48 hours. This study was done to present a successful example of inter-sectoral cooperation and interaction for the management of an environmental disaster. This is an applied research that was carried out in five stages. First, a review of the literature was done about oil spill in water resources. Second, the incident was reviewed by existing documents. In the third stage, through interviews with those responsible or involved in incident management, information identifying the roles, responsibilities and interventions and finally content analysis was used to analyze data and design interactive models for oil spill management. Results In response to the incident, widespread acts were done by Governor, Office of Water and Waste Water, The Environmental Protection Agency, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The Fire and Safety Services, oil companies and other organizations were responsible for cleaning the area and preventing entry of crude oil, dewatering and water treatment facilities. After cleaning the river and carrying out the necessary tests, water treatment carried out in compliance with relevant standards. Also by coordination in Isfahan province, side problems of water cut were reduced to a minimum. One of the most persistent and dangerous pollution of water resources is oil pollution. This type of pollution is a threat to ground water resources and surface water resources. To reduce the risks of oil spills, prediction and identification of black spots and actions that lead to the occurrence of such events are essential. The inter-sectoral interaction and collaboration between organizations involved in the pre-disaster should be considered.

Probabilistic spill occurrence simulation for chemical spills management

Inland chemical spills pose a great threat to water quality in worldwide area. A sophisticated probabilistic spill-event model that characterizes temporal and spatial randomness and quantifies statistical uncertainty due to limited spill data is a major component in spill management and associated decision making. This paper presents a MATLAB-based Monte Carlo simulation (MMCS) model for simulating the probabilistic quantifiable occurrences of inland chemical spills by time, magnitude, and location based on North America Industry Classification System codes. The model's aleatory and epistemic uncertainties were quantified through integrated bootstrap resampling technique. Benzene spills in the St. Clair River area of concern were used as a case to demonstrate the model by simulating spill occurrences, occurrence time, and mass expected for a 10-year period. Uncertainty analysis indicates that simulated spill characteristics can be described by lognormal distributions with positive skewness. The simulated spill time series will enable a quantitative risk analysis for water quality impairments due to the spills. The MMCS model can also help governments to evaluate their priority list of spilled chemicals.

Escapement, route choice, barrier passage and entrainment of seaward migrating European eel, Anguilla anguilla, within a highly regulated lowland river

Fluvial disconnectivity can have important impacts on fish populations, including hindering movement between habitats required for different ontogenic stages. Recruitment of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has reduced by over 90% since the early 1980's, in part due to the effect of riverine barriers on its catadromous migration. There is a legislative requirement to restore free passage, increase habitat availability, and limit anthropogenic losses at intakes to aid eel recovery and good ecological status; necessitating an improved understanding of underlying processes. Escapement, route choice, delay at structures, and entrainment at water abstraction points of downstream migrating silver eels were examined using acoustic and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) telemetry in the heavily regulated lower river Stour, UK. Downstream migrating adult eel (n=69) were trapped approximately 10km upstream of the tidal limit, surgically implanted with an acoustic transducer and PIT transponder, and released between October and December in 2009 and 2010. Movements of tagged individuals were monitored by a linear array of 19 fixed acoustic receivers extending from the release site, through the last 9.2km of the freshwater catchment. Three groups of water control structures, two water abstraction intakes and several possible routes of migration are present in the reach. Seventy six and 65% of tagged eels escaped from the study reach in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Entrainment at a single intake was the principal cause of loss and positively related to rapid increases in abstraction whilst eels were in the vicinity of the intake. Route choice into the estuary was dependent on discharge over a large intertidal weir; opening regimes of a tidal gate at the termination of the alternative channel; and abstraction rate at a nearby water intake. Long delays (up to 68.5 days) and recurrent behaviour were associated with several structures in the study reach; high variability between individuals reflected the management of spill at weirs. Potential scenarios for minimising entrainment and delay through integrated management of water level control structures and abstraction rates are discussed.

Assessment of Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Dispersion in the Near Shore Environment of Mumbai, India After a Large Scale Oil Spill

This study was carried out to generate data pertaining to spatial distribution of PAHs immediately after an oil spill event in a near shore environment. The physico-chemical characteristics of the sea water after the oil spill event indicated pH variation between 7.69 and 8.06, temperature varied between 27.0 and 29.5°C, turbidity ranged from 1.1 to 7.6NTU and salinity ranged from 17 to 26mg/L. Highest PAH concentration of 84±3.0ng/L was recorded for benzo (a) pyrene, followed by fluorine, which was 77±2.0ng/L. However, the lowest concentration of 7.0±2.0ng/L was recorded for pyrene. The concentration of PAHs was significantly (p<0.05) different at different sampling locations. Furthermore, the PAHs with less than three rings were present at all the studied locations, while those with more than four rings were recorded from six or less sampling location. Hence, it may be concluded on the basis of these results that the nature and distribution of PAHs is an important aspect, which needs to be assessed prior to delineating the oil spill management strategy.

A modeling approach toward oil spill management along the Eastern Mediterranean

This paper examines the temporal and spatial distributions of the largest oil spill along the Eastern Mediterranean and explores management options (boom deployment and fuel upgrade) to reduce potential adverse impacts on the marine environment from similar accidents. For this purpose, the trajectory and weathering of the ∼18,000 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from the Jiyeh thermal power plant were simulated along the coast of Lebanon using the 3D MEDSLIK model, supported with sea water sampling and analysis and field measurements. The base simulation of the spill under existing conditions at the time of occurrence defined the temporal distribution over 90 days of oil spilled in terms of percentage of oil on the surface or evaporated (13.1%), dispersed in the water column or landed on the coast (86.9% landed of which 30.1% were potentially releasable). The spatial distribution defined shoreline stretches with high risk of exposure (located 35 km north of the source and stretching for more than 150 km with medium to low risk exposure). Parametric analysis revealed a relatively higher sensitivity to the drift factor, the current depth, and the time of spill parameters. Deployment of booms reduced shorelines exposure by ∼95% in comparison to baseline conditions, and medium or light brands increased evaporation by ∼22–42% and reduced oil reaching the coast by ∼37–57% in comparison to heavy fuel oil.

IMPACT OF OIL EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION ON THE NIGER DELTA REGION: ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria in 1956, the country has been suffering the negative environmental consequences of oil exploration and exploitation. Between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4647 incidents resulted in the spill of approximately 2,369,470 barrels of oil into the environment. In addition, between 1997 and 2001, Nigeria also recorded a total number of 2,097 oil spill incidents. In 1998, 40,000 barrels of oil from Mobil platform off the Akwa Ibom coast were split into the environment causing severe damage to the coastal environment. Several oil spill management policy and efforts are in place to reduce the menace of oil spill incidents in the country. Some of these policies and efforts were made by the Federal Government, Non governmental agencies and oil firms in the country. The use of oil trajectory and fat e-models is also incorporated in oil spill management policy in the country. The results from a hypothetical simulation with the model from a point around OPL 250 located about 150km off the Nigerian coastline shows that the simulated oil spill for wet season reached the shore around Penington River after 104hours, about 4.5 days. Also during the dry season, the results from the model indicate that the oil spill reached the shore at the entrance of Benin River after 162 hours, 6.5days. This paper examines the impact of oil exploration and exploitation which encompasses environmental degradation, social annihilation, and economic impoverishment in the Nigeria’s Niger-Delta and the emerging socio-economic multiplier effects on the people of the region. The study employed tables and as well as percentages forms of statistical analysis. Data for the study were mainly secondary sources extracted from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Development Programmes report. The study revealed that the emerging social disorder and HIV/AIDS prevalence in the region is as a result of the social and economic multiplier effects such as unemployment and high level of poverty. The study then recommends an integrated community based approach involving commitment from all stakeholders.

UNNECESSARILY NEGLECTED IN PLANNING: ILLUSTRATION OF A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO IDENTIFY HUMAN DIMENSION IMPACTS OF MARINE OIL SPILLS

Technological hazards research, including that on oil spills and their aftermath, is giving greater attention to human dimension impacts resulting from events and response. While oil spill contingency planners recognize the importance of human dimension impacts, little systematic attention is given to them in contingency plans. We introduce an approach to identifying human dimensions impacts using concepts from hazard and vulnerability assessment and apply it to the Bouchard-120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, MA. Our assessment covers the spill, emergency response, clean-up, damage assessment, and mid-term recovery. This approach, while still exploratory, did demonstrate that the spill produced a range of positive and negative impacts on people and institutions and that these were mediated by vulnerabilities. We suggest ways in which the framework may help spill managers to learn from events and improve contingency planning by anticipating risks to social systems and identifying strategies to reduce impacts.

Characteristics of urban chemical spills in Southern Ontario

Thousands of chemical spills occur as a result of accidents or natural disasters each year worldwide and have the potential to harm human health and the environment. More than 700 recorded chemical spills involving more than 1,000 types of chemical occur every year in Southern Ontario, resulting in multiple environmental impacts. This paper presents characteristics of urban chemical spills (1988–2007) and an ArcGIS-based spatial distribution in Southern Ontario. Eleven regions involving 77 municipalities had experienced chemical spills during the study period. Industrial plants accounted for the majority of occurred spills. The St Clair River and the Humber River were the two major rivers encompassing higher spill areas owing to the high density of industry surrounding them. Pipe/hose leaks both accounted for the highest proportion of total chemical spills and resulted in a largest portion of chemical spills causing surface water impacts. The analysis results will provide information for a further study to develop a comprehensive urban chemical spill management strategy, which emphasizes spill prevention, control and emergency response. The strategy could also be used to assist both municipalities and industries to minimize the potential spill impacts to the environment and public health and to better protect water resources.

Towards the development of an operational tool for oil spills management in the Algarve coast

Portugal is strongly vulnerable to sea hazards due to intense vessel traffic and sea conditions. The southwest region off the Iberian Peninsula lies in the main route from the Mediterranean and Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Europe, causing a ship concentration in a narrow band off Cape Sao Vicente. Tankers represent a significant part of the vessel traffic and the occurrence of oil spills cannot be disregarded. Cape Sao Vicente region is part of a Natural Park with 110 Km of coastline, integrated in the European Natura 2000 network and its socio-economic context is closely related with sea resources exploitation, particularly fishing and tourism. Recognizing the importance of accurate information systems for the decision making process in an oil spill situation, this work presents the development of an integrated tool to support the process in the Algarve coast. The system relies in a regional operational mathematical model based on the MOHID modelling system. The system core is composed by three models (3D hydrodynamics, wave and Lagrangian transport) all linked in the same system and exchanging information in real time. Oil advection and weathering processes are coupled to the Lagragian transport model. The overall operational system includes external operational data products as inputs, to ensure a successful validation of the results. The system is linked to stakeholders and response authorities using a geographic referenced database based on Mapserver technology that will include relevant information for oil spill management.

A Comparative Study on Emergency Materials and Equipment for Oil Spills

With increasing import and export volumes of oil products in China, port terminals are under increased pressure to prevent water pollution. The prevention of offshore oil spill accidents, and the remedial and control measures for such accidents are one of the most important aspects of maritime management, and are also major issues for the entire shipping industry. This paper describes different emergency materials and equipment for oil spill management and describes the use of these techniques in domestic and international ports. Suggested changes to port emergency materials and equipment are also described, based on the processing capabilities for oil spills in different situations, combined with the port's environmental characteristics and ecological situation

Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff and Anton Davletshin: Emergency Response Management of Offshore Oil Spills. Guidelines for Emergency Responders

Between the end of April and September 2010 the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was never out of the news and clearly represented an opportunity for a book on the subject. From the outset the authors seem determined to stress the hazards associated with crude oil, starting with the statement that ‘‘Crude oil is toxic to humans. The industry downplays and argues that crude oil is of low toxicity to humans’’. Crude oil is not a chemical entity but a variable complex mixture ranging from low boiling (light) crudes which can almost be used as diesel fuel without processing, to heavy crudes containing high levels of sulfur, to highly degraded crudes such as Trinidad Lake Asphalt. The nature of the crude oil involved in a particular spill is important since, in general, the heavier the crude the more likely it is to have adverse environmental effects. The MV Braer went aground off Shetland in January 1993 and released 85,000 tons of oil. However, the oil was a light one and the weather was so bad with 100 mph gales that after a week little evidence of the spill remained. A small amount of detergent was used but it was negligible compared to the quantities normally used. On the other hand I am sure that traces of tarry material from the Torrey Canyon spill of 1967 can still be found at the high water mark along parts of the Cornish coast. As far as toxicity is concerned no one should handle quantities of crude under conditions of poor ventilation nor would anyone be advised to swallow crude oil but I would not classify it as toxic under most conditions likely to be encountered in real life. The remainder of this chapter consists of a table of major oil spills giving size, location and date. All of this information is readily available from the web and I fail to understand why it is necessary to use three different units of quantity—(US) gallons, barrels and ‘‘Equivalent number of Olympic size swimming pools’’, a unit that seems to be totally superfluous. Oil spills arise from two major sources—transport by tanker and pipeline and from production installations. Improvements in tanker design and operation have resulted in a gradual decline of spills from tankers and properly maintained pipelines should cause little pollution. That caused by production rigs is often unpredictable and as offshore installations move into deeper water and more hazardous locations it is not surprising that incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster will occur from time to time, although this means that safety should prevail over all other factors and regretfully this is not always the case. I have stressed the various sources of oil spills since the next chapter, entitled ‘‘Origins of Spills’’, deals exclusively with production sources. Within this remit it gives a good description of the far-from-simple task of the drilling of a new well. It does give the reader an insight into the complexities of what might seem to be a simple process of E. R. Adlard (&) Burton, South Wirral, UK e-mail: chromatographia@springer.com

The Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spills

One way to assess whether governments and industry (at any level) learn from their disaster experience is to examine two similar events at different points in time. The authors investigate and compare the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster with the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster to determine whether oil spill prevention and oil spill risk management have advanced over time. The study recounts facts, analyzes features of both incidents, and offers an intergovernmental interpretation of changes in policy and practice over four decades of oil spill management informed by theories of nested sets, distributed cognition, and socio-technical systems.

On optimal control theory in marine oil spill management: A Markovian decision approach

Most evaluations of ecological effects of petroleum contamination have related impacts to effects on the supply of products and services of importance to human cultures. In order to facilitate the decision making process in the event of crude oil spills into marine environments, this paper treats marine oil spill problem from a system-theoretic point of view using the state variable description of Markovian decision process and operational research formalism.

해상 유출유의 기계적 회수를 위한 소요 오일붐 산정프로그램(OBC Program) 개발에 관한 연구

이 연구에서는 해상에서 발생한 기름 유출 사고시 효율적이고 효과적인 방제활동을 실시하기 위해 누구나 사고초기부터 오일붐의 필요량을 신속하고 간단하게 제시해주는 프로그램의 개발하려고 한다. 해상에서 기계적회수를 위해 기본적으로 필요한 유회수기와 임시저장 탱크의 적정한 필요수량은 제시되었으나, 오일붐의 필요수량은 제시되지 못하고 있다. 이에 따라 프로그램 개발을 위해 해양선진국 및 국제해 사기구(IMO)에서 제시한 방법들을 활용해 유출규모와 유막특징을 입력함으로써 오일붐의 필요최소량과 권고량이 제시되도록 NI(National Instuments)사(社)의 LabVIEW 2010버전으로 프로그래밍 되었다. OBC Program을 통해 1.누구나 쉽게 오일붐의 필요량을 파악할 수 있고 2.신속 하게 오일붐의 필요량이 파악되어 방제활동 대응시간을 단축시켜주며 3.단축된 대응시간만큼 피해규모의 축소를 기대할 수 있다. This paper deals with development of an oil boom computation program (OBC Program) for effective response to oil spill. Currently, programs for showing required minimum quantities of oil skimmers and temporary storage tanks have been developed. However, a program for oil boom has not developed, which causes difficulties in oil spill management. The OBC program was developed using LabVIEW 2010 for solving above problems. The OBC program has following strengths: 1. Both experts and non-experts can calculate required quantities of oil booms, 2. The program can save response time, 3. It can reduce damage to properties and marine environment in proportion to reduced response time.

Environmental implications of oil exploration and exploitation in the coastal region of Ondo State, Nigeria: A regional planning appraisal

Oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria have evolved through a long history. However, they have left trail of woes in their path with so much damage to the ecosystem and problems to human life in the exploration region. In the light of this, the paper appraises the implications of oil exploration and exploitation in the coastal region of Ondo State. Data used in the paper were obtained through physical verification, regular observations, constant monitoring, documentation and records of oral history and administration of questionnaire in some selected settlements in the region. The paper highlighted several direct environmental and associated problems that emanated from oil exploration and exploitation in the region. The problems identified among others include large-scale environmental pollution and degradation of agricultural land which serves as source of income for the people coupled with social unrest arising from unpaid claims of compensation and lack of concern for the people in the exploration area. The paper advocates for oil spill management plan, control and clearance of spills; giving concessions to indigenous oil companies during biding process by granting licenses to operate in the Niger-Delta region; adoption of long-term monitoring and surveillance mechanism; continuous provision of infrastructure for the host communities by prospecting oil companies; and development of national oil spill contingency plan among others with a view to guarantee sustainable development of the environment in the region. Key words: Exploration, exploitation, coastal region, Niger-Delta, and environmental pollution.

Identification of environmentally vulnerable areas with priority for prevention and management of pipeline crude oil spills

The oil industry is one of the main productive activities in Mexico and has a huge infrastructure, including a wide pipeline network that crosses urban, industrial, agricultural and natural areas. The threat of crude oil spills is greatest in those regions with a high concentration of oil extraction and refining activities, as in the case of the Coatzacoalcos and Tonalá Rivers Low Basin. This study ranked the geosystems of the basin in terms of vulnerability to pipeline crude oil spills. Very high vulnerability (level I) was assigned to the water bodies (lakes and rivers) and their margins of influence, including surfaces that flood during normal hydraulic load. High vulnerability areas (level II) comprised surfaces that can flood during extraordinary hydraulic load related with extreme hydrometeorological events. The remaining three vulnerability levels were defined for areas with low or negligible flooding potential, these were ranked according to physical (slope, relief and permeability), biological (richness, singularity and integrity) and socio-economic (social marginalization index and economic activities index) conditions. These results are presented on a map for better visualization and interpretation. This study will be useful to establish preventive and effective emergency management actions in order to reduce remediation costs and adverse effects on wild species. It also can help local and national authorities, oil industry and civil protection corps to better protect ecosystems, natural resources and human activities and goods.

Preparing for an Integrated Response

In many cases, service providers can offer a holistic “total solution” requiring the absolute minimum of intervention from the contracting company. However, despite what an oil company may wish, it is not normally possible to fully out-source the response to an oil spill. The Responsible Party is morally and legally the “owner” of the incident, regardless of scale, however there are aspects of spill response and management which, depending on the national response framework, may be ideally suited to the expertise of an Oil Spill Response Organisation (OSRO).

Government and Industry Cooperation in Practice: Azerbaijan's Experience

ABSTRACT In recent times, Azerbaijan has seen the development of a significant modern offshore industry. The oil and shipping industries in Azerbaijan bring economic benefits but also give rise to the need for robust oil spill prevention and preparedness measures. Azerbaijan signed the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC) in 2004 and continues to develop and refine its national system of oil spill response. This paper discusses how the Azerbaijan government and key players in the oil industry have successfully worked together to achieve alignment in prevention, protection and response to major incidents. The implementation of the OPRC Convention is the responsibility of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Within the national response system a national oil spill contingency plan has been developed. The main offshore developments in the Caspian since the 1990s have been led by BP, as operator of a number of Production Sharing Agreements. BP has implemented comprehensive oil spill response plans and is working in partnership with MES to integrate this planning into the national framework. The oil spill management systems adopted by BP and the government are compatible and commensurate with guidance published by the International Maritime Organization in 2011. These aligned management systems allow for an effective Joint Command and coordination of resources in the case of a major incident. The key to building effective oil spill preparedness are a willing dialogue, integrated command structure, joint training and exercising and upgrade of hardware and information systems' software. The cooperation between government and BP relating to offshore risks strengthens the national capacity to deal with spills risks other than from offshore platforms, including the anticipated increase of oil shipments across the Caspian Sea. Furthermore, these efforts have been supported by international organizations and the regional industry initiative, OSPRI, of which BP is a member. The experience of Azerbaijan provides a model demonstrating how partnership between government and industry can achieve synergy and it confirms the importance of signing and implementing the OPRC Convention.