Spill Prevention Research Articles

Analysis of new legislation governing the development and approval of oil and petroleum product spill prevention and response plans at trunk pipeline facilities (Russian)

Analysis of new legislation governing the development and approval of oil and petroleum product spill prevention and response plans at trunk pipeline facilities (Russian)

Legal issues of prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products

The subject of this research is a set of legal norms that regulate social relations in the area of prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products. The goal of this work consists in formulation of theoretical and practical conclusions and recommendations aimed at the improvement of legal regulation in this sphere. The relevance of the selected topic is defined by the fact that accidental spills of hydrocarbons is an urgent concern for the Russian Federation. The official data indicates over 17,000 accidents occurred at enterprises of the fuel and energy complex in 2019. The due regulation of prevention and response to spills of petroleum products is definitely one crucial elements in ensuring environmental security of the Russian Federation. The article examines the legal support issues with regards to prevention and response to accidental spills of petroleum products. Based on the analysis of the effective legislation, the author makes a number of conclusions and recommendation. It is noted that the norms regulating the relations in this sphere are for the most part dedicated to the issues of localization and elimination of the spills of petroleum products, i.e. measures taken after the spill. Such crucial problem as the prevention of spills of petroleum products and environmental damage is not given due attention in the legislation. The author also formulates the principle of advanced development of environmental legislation, according to which the legislative and technical regulation of the activity posing heightened risk to the environment and (or) associated with the use of natural resources should be proactive.

FOLLOWING THROUGH: How Industry is Continually Improving the Safety of Offshore Development Post-Horizon

Abstract The oil and natural gas industry has worked collaboratively in many areas to make great strides to improve the safety of offshore drilling and producing operations since the Horizon incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The paper will discuss these activities. Immediately following the incident, the U.S. oil and natural gas industry launched a comprehensive review of offshore safety and operations to identify potential improvements in spill prevention, intervention, and response capabilities. Four joint industry task forces were assembled to focus on the critical areas of equipment, operating procedures, subsea well control and oil spill response. In addition to their own work, the task forces fully considered the recommendations of the Presidential Oil Spill Commission in forming their recommendations to improve offshore safety and response in the respective four areas. One of the major recommendations and actions directly linked to the Presidential Commission recommendations was the formation of an industry organization fully focused on Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) and managing risk. The industry organization formed is the Center for Offshore Safety (COS). The COS is fully focused on SEMS and its continual improvement through SEMS Auditing, safety data collection and analysis, good practice development, and sharing industry information. Additionally, there has been a continuing special focus on new and enhanced Industry standards. The task force on equipment and other post-Horizon reports contained strong recommendations on the need to develop new and revised standards to enhance safety in the offshore. This work was done through the standards development process and organizations including collaboration with national and international Standards Development Organizations, the offshore oil and gas community, and the Federal government. The presentation will give an overview of the new and revised standards work to date including API Standard 53 Blowout Prevention Equipment Systems for Drilling Operations; API Standard 65-2 Isolating Potential Flow Zones During Well Construction; and API RP 96 Deepwater Well Design and Construction.

Geographic Response Plans: Preparing for Inland Oil Spills in California Waterways

ABSTRACT #1141189 Emergency regulations governing the development of oil spill contingency plans in California, along with financial responsibility for inland facilities, pipelines, refineries and railroads, became effective in 2015, with final regulations being adopted in January of 2019. With the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's (CDFW's) Office of Spill Prevention and Response's (OSPR's) authority for oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response being extended to inland waters of the State, the need to develop Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) for priority watersheds with higher risk of an oil spill became a top priority. Given the successful history with developing, implementing, and maintaining the California marine Area Contingency Plans (ACPs), OSPR has implemented a similarly effective GRP program. GRPs are driven primarily by access to sites along river systems and lakes where response activities are feasible. The process of developing GRPs for the State has consisted of: 1) developing a consistent document framework based on recently developed GRPs including the Region 10 Regional Response Team (RRT) and Northwest Area Committee (NWAC) GRPs in the Pacific Northwest, the Feather River GRP developed by Union Pacific Railroad in California, as well as previously developed GRPs by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 9 (California, Nevada, Arizona); 2) implementing a Statewide GRP Steering Committee (SGSC) consisting of State, federal and local agencies, industry, oil spill response organizations (OSROs), an environmental Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and a tribal representative; and 3) developing partnerships with industry representatives, and federal, State and local agencies, including first responders [Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) and others] to ensure critical local expertise and information is incorporated in each, individual GRP. With the emerging trend of oil by rail transportation; historical spill threats from pipelines, fixed facilities, and truck transportation; and the promulgation of emergency regulations extending OSPR's oil spill preparedness activities to inland waters, the development of GRPs for at-risk watersheds became critical.

Kenya's National Framework to Enhance the Response Capability to Oil Spills

ABSTRACT Investment in the oil and gas sector in the East Africa region should commingle with the incorporation of best practices in oil spill emergency response. Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream operations must focus on prevention of emergencies but always be prepared to implement response actions if all engineering and safety defenses fail. Elements of environmental stewardship, applied scientific research, and technology are among key considerations needed in contingency planning to mitigate the socioeconomic and ecological consequences of hydrocarbon releases. Kenya is in the process of realizing its oil and gas potential. The country has started injection and production testing of its oil reserves in Turkana and has initiated oil export through the Port of Mombasa. These activities, coupled with increased rate of sea borne trade and planned relocation of Kipevu Oil Terminal to an offshore platform, places the country at risk of oil spills and therefore the need to have a robust system of spill prevention, preparedness and response. The World Bank's International Development Assistance (IDA) recognized the relevance of enhancing preparedness and response capability and, through the Kenya Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, initiated the development of the national framework for onshore and offshore oil prevention, preparedness, and response capacity in Kenya. The project is divided into four phases (Identification, Development, Implementation, and Kenya's Regional (East Africa) Response Capacity Enhancement) and four primary deliverables: National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for Marine and Navigable WatersOnshore National Oil Spill Contingency PlanNational Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) Guidance ManualNational Oiled Wildlife Response and Preparedness Guidance Manual This paper provides an overview of the four phases, describes the approach used to meet the project objectives, and provides an overview of the national oil spill contingency plans and national guidance manuals.

California's Stakeholder Matrix: A Liaison Tool for the first 96 hours of Response

ABSTRACT Research on crisis and risk communication continues to illustrate the need for and benefits of early and sustained stakeholder engagement during disasters, both natural and manmade. The California citizenry is deeply committed to environmental protection and expects to “engage” with their government on policy development and environmental solutions. Stakeholders expect a high-level of government transparency, driving the need for engagement even more during emergency responses such as oil spills. Within the Incident Command System (ICS), it is the responsibility of the Liaison Officer (LOFR) to coordinate and share information with stakeholders. A review of “After Action Reports” and “lessons learned” from oil spills, both nationally and within California, point to the continued need for strong stakeholder engagement by the LOFR and has become a priority of California's lead oil spill response agency, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). Building off stakeholder engagement tools found in crises and risk communication literature and in Incident Command System job aids, OSPR crafted a stakeholder matrix that was readily scalable, easy to use, and easy to translate to Incident Commanders and other Command Staff during response. This matrix is a template of simple inputs, allowing stakeholders and engagement strategies to be identified, grouped, and prioritized. It is intended to be a planning tool for the first 24–96 hours, a precious time in a response. It is often too early to expect the LOFR to have completed a stakeholder engagement plan, yet this time is critical to initiating early stakeholder communication that will set the tone for the response. This matrix serves as the initial plan for the LOFR. This paper will describe the development of this tool, its evolution, and its use. It will also highlight feedback from exercises and response partners. It will describe the flexibility and scalability, and considerations for broader applications.

Towards Transparency in Oil Spill Management in Africa: Nigeria As A Case Study

ABSTRACT (684687) Oil spill is an inevitable occurrence in the production, transportation and processing of crude oil. Either in drilling platforms, oil tankers and interstate pipelines, oil spill incidence can occur, no matter the safeguard and precautionary practices in the oil and gas industry. Despite significant improvement over the years in oil spill prevention, preparedness, response, and restoration, oil spill management remains one of the most controversial issues across the world. In many developing countries including Nigeria, the management of oil spill is poorly coordinated, complicated and lacks transparency between the oil industry, spill contractors, regulators, environmental agencies, affected communities and other interested parties. From decision making to mobilization, post-impact assessment, spill response and mitigative approaches, there is a high level of laxity, mistrust, opacity and deliberate misinformation in dealing with oil spill issues. These practices in the oil industry is supported by a weak institutional and regulatory framework which affects the management of oil spill. Such lapses are creating a delicate system leading to the degradation of the natural environment, threatening ecological life support systems for biodiversity and indigenous people. There is a need for a comprehensive overhaul in oil spill practices and to adopt global best practices for oil spill management in developing regions of the world including Nigeria.

Developing a regulatory framework for certifying spill management teams in California: a balancing act

ABSTRACT 1141476 Major oil spills in California have historically instigated legislation aimed at improving preparedness and response. Most recently, public concern over management of high-profile pipeline spills precipitated the 2017 passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1197, which mandated a certification program for spill management teams (SMTs). AB 1197 directs contingency plan holders to identify a certified SMT capable of managing their reasonable worst-case spill (RWCS) volumes, and tasks the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) with adopting regulations establishing criteria for certification, including personnel on-scene times, training, and response objectives. We aimed to develop regulations detailing requirements that are achievable, but effectively advance preparedness, drawing upon accepted standards while incorporating mechanisms for flexibility. As we developed the regulations, we conducted informal scoping meetings with industry to fine-tune these mechanisms. We created three tiers for certification delineated by RWCS volume. To account for phased resource mobilization, we established separate requirements for initial response and cascading SMT personnel. We applied team-based training requirements to initial responders and used pared-down National Incident Management System qualifications for cascading personnel, allowing equivalent courses and/or experience to substitute for required training courses. We composed a short objectives checklist, aiming to capture essential tasks to be completed within the first 24 hours. The final regulatory package strikes balances between flexibility and prescription, and between achievability and advancing statewide preparedness.

Fifty Years of the International Oil Spill Conference

Abstract In 2019, the International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) passed a significant milestone in turning 50 years old. Springing from the aftermath from both the Torrey Canyon and Santa Barbara oil spills, New York City hosted the first IOSC in 1969, attracting the attention and participation of a growing body of practitioners in a particular form of emergency response. Bringing together world leaders in oil spill prevention, preparedness, response, and restoration at conferences that fostered community and technological advancement between and within the industry, government, academia, and non-governmental organizations, IOSC was the conference to attend in order to share information, identify emerging issues, and develop key contacts. With the volume of oil shipments on the rise and an increasing reliance on petroleum cargoes and fuels in the latter half of the 20th century, as well as a keener focus on the protection of natural resources, the relevance and content of the IOSC continued to grow and solidify. In looking back at the history of the conference, this paper charts the development of the IOSC event and notes the growth of the positive impacts the conference has had on the spill response community and the conference features that have expanded its attractiveness and accessibility for over 50 years.

Massachusetts DEP Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program: Geographic Response Plan Development, Testing, and Training Program

ABSTRACT This program reached a milestone in 2018 which marked the tenth consecutive year of conducting training and exercises. The MassDEP GRP Field Testing and First Responder Training began in 2009 and since then, 66 field exercises have been conducted throughout coastal Massachusetts with over 1,700 first responders trained to date. Beyond the obvious enhancement of overall response capability and capacity at the local, state and federal levels, this long-term HSEEP-compliant training and exercise program has resulted in numerous improvements in both intra and inter-town operational coordination and communication, as well as enhancements to the pre-positioned equipment caches and training delivery and content.

California's Response to USCG Nationwide Standardization of Area Contingency Plans

ABSTRACT California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) - Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), working with the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and Area Committee members, made significant strides to streamline the Area Contingency Plans (ACPs) for improved efficiency and statewide consistency to adhere to new USCG guidance. Beginning with Sector San Diego's ACP, which underwent major revision in 2018, and Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach in 2019, OSPR worked closely with USCG to ensure that there is comparable information statewide, improved maps and GIS compatibility, and updated environmentally and economically sensitive site information. OSPR created a new environmental sensitive site database, including more user-friendly Geographic Response Strategy pages for those identified sites. OSPR also revised the content of Section 9800, which describes the environmental, cultural, historic, and economic sensitivities of a given ACP area, and includes the Geographic Response Strategies. This paper describes in detail the contributions and changes that OSPR has made to California ACPs since 2018. It highlights its approaches to streamlining for efficiency and statewide consistency and lessons learned from the new revision and approval processes.

Emergency Oil Spill Response: Data Collection Automation, and Dissemination

ABSTRACT The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) has employed Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for oil spill planning and response since the early 1990's, adding remote sensing tools to the mix by the turn of the Century. Discussed herein are OSPR's current smartphone and tablet-based field data collection applications. We use an off-the-shelf tool for pre-response protection strategy planning and use customized tools developed in-house for California Sea Otter Surveys, Wildlife Search and Collection and the Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT). The benefits of automated field data collection include the omission of transcription errors during manual data input and streamlined data processing. This results in accurate and timely information delivered to responders, thus enhancing their capability for informed decision making. OSPR uses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Environmental Response Management Application® (ERMA), a web-based GIS data viewer as the Common Operational Picture (COP) for data dissemination throughout the incident response community during an oil spill event, and for the post emergency response cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). OSPR also uses ERMA a planning tool by uploading significant data layers from the U.S Coast Guard's (USCG) six Area Contingency Plans (ACP) for coastal California and OSPR's Geographic Response Plans for inland waters of the state with higher risk of an oil spill. These response planning data are freely downloadable from the ERMA platform. In the Summer/Fall of 2019 at the Cymric Oil Field in Kern County, California, over 1,000,000 gallons of oil, mud and steam seeped into a dry stream bed from several “surface expressions”. Direct access to the spill site was not permitted for Health and Safety concerns. OSPR used an off-the-shelf small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS, aka drone) equipped with a standard high definition (HD) camera and a thermal infrared camera for SCAT reconnaissance, resources at risk evaluations, and regularly scheduled mapping missions for overall site situational awareness.

Planning and Responding to a Petrochemical Disaster in the North American Inland Seas

The Great Lakes represent the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world along a 1,500 mile international boundary between the United States and Canada. A source of drinking water for 35 million people and a hub of unique biodiversity, a major petrochemical spill would be devastating. With the increase in pipeline activity due to regional tar sands drilling and the navigationally challenging waterways hosting an increasing stream of petrochemical commerce, risk to the Lakes is higher than ever. Given the Lake's closed-system nature and their geographic remoteness relative to current US and Canadian government and private sector assets, the current response posture is inadequate. As the primary maritime spill response agency in the United States, the US Coast Guard retains the mantle of prevention and planning for a Great Lakes petrochemical disaster. This paper seeks to examine the historic, current, and future states of the Great Lakes' oil-spill risk, in light of increased maritime commerce and recent spill “near-misses” regarding submerged pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The US Congress and the US Coast Guard have identified that the Great Lakes are not prepared for a large scale spill. Current resourcing levels and technology are insufficient, especially given the challenge of responding while the Lakes are frozen for a substantial portion of the year. With resources focused on the prospect of disaster in salt water regions, the “inland seas” of the Great Lakes receive too little attention. After identifying the evolution of Great Lakes spill prevention and response policy, this paper will apply the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon spill as a case study into what spill response would look like on the Great Lakes. Given the authors' expansive experience as an operator during that historic spill and current commander of one of two US oil spill response assets in the Great Lakes, this paper will also identify remaining challenges to an effective spill response policy, and conclude with recommendations on how to tackle the response issues identified. The US Congress recently established the US Coast Guard's National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes and one of their primary tasks is to analyze the effect of a spill in freshwater and develop an appropriate response plan. By attempting to identify critical gaps, this paper seeks to advance government and industry's ability to posture the region swiftly in the face of a growing threat and assist in the Center's work.

Evolution of Contingency Planning in California – a Federal and State Coordinated Effort

ABSTRACT U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) agreed to the joint preparation of oil spill contingency plans following the enactment of California and federal laws in 1990. With little guidance initially, six Area Committees embarked on a new process to create the first coastal Area Contingency Plans (ACPs) in 1992. In 2015, when emergency regulations to expand OSPR's jurisdiction statewide became effective, developing inland Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) became a top priority. Over the last 30 years, the ACPs have evolved into robust, nationally recognized planning documents, and response plans have expanded into inland environments. This paper will describe in detail the contributions and advancements in California oil spill contingency planning over 30 years. It will highlight OSPR's approaches for statewide consistency and coverage, interoperability between various state and federal plans, tools (including Geographic Information System (GIS) and various databases), improved sensitive site contacts and management, and lessons learned. It will also cover goals for future improvements in both marine and inland contingency plans.

Detection of oil losses in main pipeline damage

The enterprises and companies dealing with the oil transportation and operation of oil pipeline pay special attention to the improvement of methods for spill detection and prevention of oil losses. The improvement of the methods and means of failure prevention, development of reliable ways of pipeline protection from corrosion, as well as the methods of well-timed specifiction of damage point and loss elimination are necessary for efficient control of oil losses in the failures. The paper analyzes the reasons for occurring failures in the main pipelines. The graphic-analytical method for definition of damage point within the pipeline is presented as well.

New Relations Regulation in the Field of Prevention and Liquidation of Oil and Petroleum Product Spills

New Relations Regulation in the Field of Prevention and Liquidation of Oil and Petroleum Product Spills

Oil spills deposits effect on soil physicochemical properties in Port Harcourt metropolis: Implication for agricultural planning

Examined herein are the effects of oil spills on soil physicochemical characteristics in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Experimental research design was adopted for the study. Soil samples were collected from oil imparted areas and compared with FEPA soil quality standards and control site. Using quadrat sampling technique five (5) oil impacted sites were selected for the experiment. The sites were picked purposively following the researchers’ knowledge of oil spill issues in the area hitherto. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0-15cm and 15-30cm respectively and sent to the lab, to check for the physicochemical properties. Multiple regression and ANOVA statistics were used to test the hypotheses. Analysis of soil samples showed that soils of Port Harcourt metropolis were sandy-loamy and very acidic with pH that ranged between 2-3.5. Cation Exchange Capacity, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, calcium, and organic carbon content were very low and could not support agriculture. The regression model showed that, oil spillage has significant effect on the physicochemical content of soils in Port Harcourt at p<0.05 (R-.870; r2 .757). There was statistically significant difference in the spatiality of physicochemical characteristics of soils in the area. Prevention of further spills, phytoremediation and holistic agricultural planning are among the solutions advanced in the study.

АВАРИЙНЫЕ РАЗЛИВЫ НЕФТИ: ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПРАВОВОГО РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ ИХ ПРЕДУПРЕЖДЕНИЯ И ЛИКВИДАЦИИ

Oil production, being a key source of the budget of the Russian Federation, is associated with a serious negative impact on the environment. In particular, the storage and transportation of oil and petroleum products are often accompanied by spills, as a result of which harmful substances enter the soil, water and atmosphere. These incidents are man-made disasters, and their consequences affect not only the site of the spill, but also the neighboring territories. This article analyzes the state of the Russian regulatory framework for the prevention of accidental spills of oil and petroleum products and concludes that it is imperfect.

Towards a modification of a regulatory framework aiming at bunker oil spill prevention from ships – A design aspect of bunker tanks vents location guided by CFD simulations

Although accidental bunker oil spills at seaway are relatively rare events, they can be pose real threat to the natural marine environment. One of the reasons for the bunker spill to occur is a design failure; one of the ways it can demonstrate is an improper location or height of vent heads, leading to a bunker oil discharge during heavy rolling, due to sloshing phenomenon.Design of a ship and her systems is guided by various formal conventions and ensuing requirements by classification societies, as a result of past experience and background knowledge. Nevertheless, the requirements are not always fully effective and up to date. An example of such situation is an accidental spill from a deep bunker tank, that has been arranged and designed according to the valid rules and regulations, however not accounting for dynamic physical phenomena that when occur lead to discharging the fuel through the vent. Therefore, the contemporary regulation of vent arrangement for some specific bunker tanks design options seems insufficient and requires scientific insight.To this end, we propose science-based regulatory framework modification. This is done through examining the location of the deep tank vent with regard to dynamics of the oil sloshing phenomenon, adopting CFD-based approach that is suitable for the purpose of onboard tank design. Moreover, an experimental validation of numerical simulations outcome is presented which makes the study credible.The proposed approach is both scientifically valid and practically feasible. Some CFD simulations of liquid sloshing need to be carried out for certain bunker tank design options. The additional burden at the design stage is not significantly time consuming thus remains justified, especially nowadays when CFD has become an industrial standard in some branches.The proposed solution attempts to improve the contemporary regulations in the area of bunker oil overflow prevention, reducing the negative impact of maritime transportation on the environmental safety.

Реформирование законодательства в области предотвращения и ликвидации разливов нефти

Реформирование законодательства в области предотвращения и ликвидации разливов нефти