bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Planning and Responding to a Petrochemical Disaster in the North American Inland Seas
Authors: Monacelli Nicholas N. 
Published: December 2021

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.
Domestication of International Regulation as a Fundamental Step to Developing Preparedness and Response
Authors: Favier Julien , Amanzholova Dinara , Lee Nai Ming 
Published: December 2021

Abstract:
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the oil and shipping industries have been supporting countries in the development of their oil spill preparedness and response capacity for decades, including through the Global Initiative (GI) programme. These efforts have provided a wealth of experience and understanding of international good practice. A key lesson learned is the importance of legislation and regulation as a fundamental step to developing a preparedness and response framework.
This paper will explain how, by contributing to the full implementation of international regulation, the Global Initiative benefits industry and governments alike. Whilst governments find their level of oil pollution preparedness enhanced, industry benefits from the strengthening of the legal and institutional framework which mitigates regulatory and associated economic risks, and eases the dialog with relevant national authorities.
IMO's International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC 90) is the bedrock on which national preparedness and response capability is built. OPRC 90, and various regional agreements that integrate with it, set out obligations with respect to a national response framework and associated contingency planning, communication plans, equipment capability and implementation through training and exercises.
Whilst the provisions of OPRC 90, and other relevant international legal instruments, are clear, their domestication has proven to be challenging. Most of the obstacles encountered by national authorities fall under three main themes. They could be: purely legal (e.g. transposition of the provisions in the international framework into national law); more institutional (e.g. definition of the competent national authority and operational contact points for oil pollution preparedness and response); or even technical, especially with regards to secondary regulations or rules to address technical aspects of preparedness and response (e.g. approval of response techniques).
The GI regional project teams are familiar with these challenges, which are regularly encountered. To overcome the difficulties, each Project has developed solutions together with governments and local business units of the industry.
This paper seeks to discuss challenges encountered by countries in meeting their obligations, within the different geographical regions covered by the GI programme. The authors will share their experience and observations from programme implementation, and recommend good practice to enable the domestication of international instruments.
The Development of New Toxicity Testing and Approval Processes for Oil Spill Treatment Products in the UK
Authors: Walton Helen E , Davison Joshua J , Uzyczak Joanna , Martin Christopher , Milliken Paula , Kirby Mark F 
Published: December 2021

ABSTRACT
Current experimental protocols for the toxicity assessment of oil spill treatment products in the UK have been established since the 1970s. To address health and safety, cost and scientific robustness issues the UK approach for dispersant testing and approval has been reviewed and updated for implementation during 2020. To provide more robust scientific advice for the risk assessments that enable effective decision making on the use of oil remediation products in the event of a spill there has been a focus on methods that already have internationally accepted protocols. Standardisation of dispersant testing will promote more effective cross-institute comparisons of toxicity data and will enable further harmonisation of approaches in the future.
It is preferable that environmentally relevant test species are used but, as the scientific literature provides little conclusive evidence of a taxa-specific trend in sensitivity, species selection based on sensitivity alone was not justified. Eight dispersants, commonly stockpiled in the UK, were tested independently and in combination with a representative crude oil (Kuwait). Testing of dispersants in combination with oil has historically provided more variable results so this study has considered the benefits of this versus product only testing. Core test species included the harpacticoid copepod, Tisbe battagliai, and the algae, Skeletonema sp., as both have cost-effective internationally standardised methods, whilst also being environmentally representative and using test species easily cultured under laboratory conditions with no seasonality. Other candidate test species, such as oyster embryos, had limitations in applicability due to seasonal issues. Fish testing was not considered as there was no ethical reasoning for vertebrate testing due to the absence of taxa-specific toxicity.
Results showed that, if oil is excluded from the assessment, Skeletonema sp. and Tisbe battagliai, can produce reliable, reproduceable and interpretable results. When running the T. battagliai test, independently on multiple occasions, without oil, dispersant 1, 2 and 3 had EC50 results that were not statistically different. This suggests that product only testing is suitable for ranking products based on toxicological hazard.
The redevelopment of the UK guideline to use standardised testing and the selection of appropriate, environmentally relevant test organisms will increase the quality and reliability of data used to underpin the UK oil spill treatment testing and approval scheme. The adoption of this approach will enable an approved list of products for use in UK waters to be maintained. However, the decision for dispersant use in any given scenario will need to be underpinned through expert advice applying a risk assessment approach taking account a range of incident-specific physical and environmental sensitivity information.
Small Scale Physical and Bio-Chemical Processes Affecting the Transport of Oil after a Spill
Authors: Katz Joseph , Beegle-Krause CJ , Boufadel Michel , Chamecki Marcelo , John Vijay , Koehler Kirsten , Prosperetti Andrea , Sheng Jian , Steve Kathleen , Yang Di 
Published: December 2021

AbstractA series of GOMRI-sponsored experimental and computational studies have discovered, elucidated and quantified the impact of small-scale processes on the dispersion, transport and weathering of crude oil slicks and subsurface plumes. Physical interfacial phenomena occurring at micron-scales include the formation of particle-stabilized emulsions, penetration of particles into oil droplets, formation of compound water-containing oil droplets during plume breakup, and the mechanisms affecting the breakup of oil into micro-droplet by tip streaming resulting from the drastic reduction in interfacial tension upon introduction of dispersant. Efforts aimed at development targeted delivery of surfactants have introduced solvent-free halloysite nanotubes that can be filled with surfactants, and preferentially released at oil-water interface. Buoyant surfactant-based gels, which enhance their encounter rates with oil slicks and adhere to weathered oil have also been developed. Studies of oil-bacteria interactions during early phases of biodegradation and shown how the bacteria, some highly active, attach to the oil-water interfaces and form complex films. Clay-decorated droplets sequester these bacteria and promote the propagation of these biofilm. Long extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) streamers generated by these biofilms form connected networks involving multiple droplets and debris, as well as increase the drag on the oil droplets. At 0.01–10 m scales, the generation of subsurface and airborne crude oil droplets by breaking waves, subsurface plumes and raindrop impact have been quantified. For waves, premixing the oil with dispersant reduces the droplets sizes to micron- and submicron-scales, and changes the slope of their size distribution. Without dispersant, the droplet diameters can be predicted based on the turbulence scales. With dispersant, the droplets are much smaller than the turbulence scales owing to the abovementioned tip-streaming. Aerosolization of oil is caused both by the initial splash and by subsequent bubble bursting, as entrained bubbles rise to the surface. Introduction of dispersant increases the airborne nano-droplet concentration by orders of magnitude, raising health questions. Dispersant injection also reduces the size of droplets in subsurface plumes, affecting the subsequent dispersion of these plume by currents and turbulence. Advancements have also been made in modeling of dissolution of oil in plumes, as well as in applications of Large Eddy Simulations (LES) to model plumes containing oil droplets and gas bubbles. The new multiscale framework, which accounts for the droplet size distribution and mass diffusion, can simulate the near- and far-fields of plumes, and predict the effect of vertical mixing promoted by turbulence on the transport of dispersed oil.
The Impact of Media on Spill Response Effectiveness
Authors: Nicolas-Kopec Annabelle 
Published: December 2021

ABSTRACT
Over recent years, there have been numerous studies and papers on media coverage and subsequent politics of oil spills. However, there has been limited focus on how media can impact the effectiveness of a spill response. Using ITOPF's case study database, spanning 50 years of incidents, it has been consistently observed that, regardless of the quality of the cleanup strategy put in place, the media may affect the response both positively and negatively on the effectiveness of the clean-up response. This paper presents a framework, supported by case studies, for assessing the media impact on three aspects of a response: (1) the strategy; (2) the logistics; and (3) the claims/damage assessment.
The media's influence on response strategy is visible throughout the preparedness, clean-up, and post spill phases of the incident. Impacts on logistics are focussed primarily on the involvement of the public in the clean-up itself, with some effects positively supporting the response, while others cause disruption; potentially impacting the safety of responders. As for claims and damage assessment aspects of a response, the impact of media can often be observed long after the initial reporting. This contrasts with the relatively immediate media effects on strategy and logistics. While it is sometimes too late to counteract perceptions of damage or claim inflation due to media coverage, numerous case studies have also demonstrated how pressure from the media increases the accountability of the stakeholders involved in the response and the level of awareness of compensation available to claimants.
The objective of this paper is to provide a framework that is useful for responders to understand and prepare for the potential media influence on the effectiveness of a response.
EVOS and the Prince William Sound Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program
Authors: Payne James R. , Driskell William B. , Janka David , Ka'aihue Lisa , Banta Joe , Love Austin , Litman Eric 
Published: December 2021

ABSTRACT
Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council began the Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP) in 1993 to track oil hydrocarbon chemistry of recovering sediments and mussel tissues along the path of the spill in Prince William Sound (PWS) and across the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGOA) region. The program also samples sites near the Alyeska Marine Terminal (AMT) within Port Valdez, primarily to monitor tanker operations and the resulting treatment and discharge of oil-contaminated tanker ballast water.
Over the last 28 years, the program has documented EVOS oil's disappearance at the spill-impacted sites (albeit buried oil still exists at a few unique sheltered locations in PWS). Within the Port, a few tanker- and diesel-spill incidents have been documented over the years, but all were minor and with recovery times of &lt; 1 yr. Of highest concern has been the permitted chronic release of weathered oil from tankers' ballast-water that is treated and discharged at the Alyeska Marine Terminal (AMT). In earlier years (1980s–90s), with discharge volumes reaching 17–18 MGD, up to a barrel of finely dispersed weathered oil would be released into the fjord daily. Over the last two decades, total petrogenic inputs (TPAH43) into the Port have declined as measured in the monitored mussels and sediments. This trend reflects a combination of decreased Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil production and thus, less tanker traffic, plus less ballast from the transition to double-hulled tankers with segregated ballast tanks, and improved treatment-facility efficiency in removing PAH. From the 2018 collections, mussel-tissue hydrocarbon concentrations from all eleven LTEMP stations (within Port Valdez as well as PWS and NGOA regions) were below method detection limits and similar to laboratory blanks (TPAH43 &lt; 44 ng/g dry wt.). At these low background levels, elevated TPAH values from a minor 2020 spill incident at the Terminal were easily detected at all three Port Valdez stations.
Outdoor Recreation Damages from Oil Spills: Why Current Assessments are Typically Wrong and What can be Done to Fix Them
Authors: Byrd Heath , Tomasi Theodore 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This study reviews methods for assessing natural resource damages to outdoor recreation resulting from oil spills, often a substantial component of total damages. The usual approach for assessing recreational damages, called value-to-cost (VTC), is deficient. It almost always provides a biased estimate of damages because it ignores the benefits of restoration projects on which damage awards must be spent. VTC is the least preferred method under the Oil Pollution Act NRDA regulations unless alternative methods are cost-prohibitive. This paper first reviews the methods available for computing damages, noting the differences among them. We provide a model for evaluating alternative methods and a decision tree for selection of VTC or alternative approaches. Next, we delve deeper into arguments pro and con VTC, and provide recommendations for improvements in the NRDA process to incorporate improved methods that recognize the benefits of restoration where appropriate. We provide evidence on the benefits of human use restoration projects, which both reveal the magnitude of potential bias of the VTC approach and provide a basis for improved assessment methods. The bias in VTC is proportional to the ratio of benefits of human use restoration projects to their costs (the BCR). A BCR of 4 implies that a VTC estimate of damages is biased upwards by 400%. We review existing evidence on the BCR and present preliminary estimates from a pilot study of BCRs for actual human use restoration projects. The paper concludes with recommendations for continued research that we believe would simultaneously improve the accuracy of future assessments while reducing transaction costs.
An Analysis of the Fate and Trajectory Simulation of Bonny Light Crude From The Dangote Single Point Mooring(SPM) Terminal Off the South Atlantic Ocean, Lagos Nigeria
Authors: Engha Isah Mohammed , Anifowose Babatunde 
Published: December 2021

ABSTRACT
Crude oil is predicted to become one of the most detrimental sources of anthropogenic pollution to the marine environment. To meet Nigeria's energy need, Dangote Industries Ltd. was granted licence to build a refinery in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in 2014. There is a significant risk of oil spill from the Single Point Mooring terminal of the refinery as it shares close proximity to the Lekki deep seaport, closeness to the shoreline, sensitive environmental receptors as well as social spots (beaches and resorts). To address this gap, this study aims to design a stochastic model for oil spill prediction for the SPM terminal in order to provide an understanding of the trajectory, fate and uncertainties of spilled oil at different environmental and hydrodynamic conditions. The GNOME software was used to model oil spill trajectory in the SPM terminal while ADIOS2 modelled Bonny light crude weathering characteristics. The best guess solution and the minimum regret analysis shows the possibility of oil beaching on the coastline of Lagos, Edo and Delta State as well as the Gulf of Guinea. The fate simulation for 5 days revealed that evaporation will account for 23% and 27% of oil loss in dry and wet season while dispersion will account for 1.3% and 1.6% in the same time period. Within the same time period, Bonny light crude will form a stable emulsion that will increase the viscosity and density of oil. Also, 66% and 59% of oil was remaining after 5 days, while airborne benzene concentration evaporated in 36 hours and 12 hours in the dry and wet season respectively. The results obtained in this research work suggest that, the window of opportunity need to be utilised by stockpiling equipment and mechanical responders for shoreline clean-up to avoid the oil possibly beaching along the Coastline of Lagos, Edo and Delta state as well as countries on the Gulf of Guinea.
Using Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Transfer to Build Marine Oil Spill Preparedness Capacity and Foster Resilience Among Indigenous Communities
Authors: DeCola Elise G. , Dumbrille Andrew , Diggon Steve 
Published: December 2021

ABSTRACT
Indigenous communities often bear disproportionate risks from marine oil spills because of their close connections to and reliance on marine ecosystems. The impacts of an oil spill on Indigenous people and communities can be far-reaching, even for incidents that might be considered “small” from the perspective of the response community. Building community capacity for oil spill preparedness and response is a critical component to creating resilience within Indigenous communities. While the fundamental elements of capacity are the same for Indigenous communities as for any other coastal community, the approach requires an understanding and respect for Traditional Knowledge, Indigenous governance structures, and existing stewardship networks. Oil spill preparedness and response traditionally follows a top-down approach within both government and industry, because marine oil spills are low frequency, high consequence, highly complex incidents where multiple organizations and jurisdictions must work together. While this reality applies regardless of whether an oil spill impacts Indigenous communities, a top-down approach can be experienced as a threat to self-governance and compromise the effectiveness of capacity-building efforts.
There is a significant body of research in support of the concept that resilience to emergencies and disasters among Indigenous people must build upon existing social, cultural, and familial structures in order to be effective. This requires a fundamentally different approach that builds from the ground up with the goal of ultimately meshing with the existing preparedness and response framework. Peer-to-peer learning and knowledge transfer is an approach that has been used in support of a range of initiatives among Indigenous communities, such as human health initiatives. The same approach may provide a mechanism to empower Indigenous communities to enhance both capacity and resilience. This paper presents a case study from ongoing work to connect Indigenous communities from Canada's High Arctic and Pacific Coast in support of marine oil spill preparedness and response.