bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Recent Results from Oil Spill Response Research
Authors: Tennyson Edward 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Recent large oil spills from tankers have reaffirmed the need for continuing technology assessment and research to improve oil-spill response capabilities. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) remains a lead agency in conducting these studies. This paper discusses MMS concerns, as reinforced by the acceleration of its research program in 1990. It briefly assesses the current state-of-the-art technology for major aspects of spill response, including remote sensing, open-ocean containment, recovery, in-situ burning, chemical treating agents, beach-line cleanup, and oil behavior.
The paper reports on specific research projects that have begun to yield information that will improve detection and at-sea equipment performance. The first detection project, for which MMS has patent pending, involves the use of shipboard navigational radar to track slicks at relatively long range. The second project involves the use of conventional containment and cleanup in a downwind mode, which is contrary to the traditional procedures.
The paper also discusses current research projects, including the development of an airborne, laser-assisted fluorosensor that can determine whether apparent slicks contain oil. Additional projects involve the development of improved strategies for responding to oil in broken-ice conditions, for gaining an improved understanding of the fate and behavior of spilled oil as it affects response strategies, and for reopening and operating the oil and hazardous materials simulated environmental test tank (OHMSETT) facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. Recent progress on the development of safe and environmentally acceptable strategies to burn spilled oil in-situ is also discussed. The OHMSETT facility is necessary for testing prospective improvements in chemical treating agents and to develop standard procedures for testing and evaluating response equipment.
Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund: 20 Years of Canada's Experience1
Authors: Troop P. M. , C. Q. , S. Capt. M. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund (SOPF) had its origins in amendments to the Canada Shipping Act passed in 1971. At that time, there was no legal right compensation available to recover the costs and expenses incurred as a result of two oil spill incidents on Canada's east coast. These amendments established the Maritime Pollution Claims Fund (MPCF), which was financed by a levy on every ton of oil imported or exported from Canada.
Operational experience dictated further legislative changes in 1987. To strengthen Canada's legal regime in pollution cases, the oil MPCF was transformed into the SOPF, and Canada acceded to the 1969 Civil Liability Convention and the 1971 International Fund Convention. An additional level of compensation over that of the conventions, to a current maximum of Can$105.5 million per incident, was provided.
The SOPF also meets claims not covered by the conventions, such as mystery spills, damage caused by ships other than laden tankers and claims beyond the territorial sea but in Canada's fishing zones. Speedy recourse is provided to fishermen so that they do not suffer undue hardship. A unique feature of the SOPF is that Canada's contributions to the International Fund are made directly by the SOPF and not by the individual oil companies. As of April 1990, the balance in the fund was some Can$164 million.
Claims for Oil Pollution Damage—Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Authors: O'Donovan Patrick 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
It is clear that there is a role for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution in the context of oil pollution, as recognized by the arbitration provisions in the TOVALOP and CRISTAL agreements (compare the International Conventions which provide for court proceedings). An example is given of an arbitration under TOVALOP.
The suitability of arbitration in the context of marine pollution disputes is analyzed and the main centers of existing maritime arbitration and conciliation are identified. Various international conventions provide for resolution of disputes by arbitration or some other form of alternative dispute resolution; these are noted and discussed.
Seaway Emergency Response Plan
Authors: Hung Stephen C. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
An Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is developed to serve as a directive for corporation personnel in the event of an oil spill in the St. Lawrence River. A computerized database for resource and personnel inventories is incorporated in the plan. A computer simulation model for oil slick transformation is developed to predict oil slick movement at any part of the river under various flow and weather conditions. Initial training for oil boom deployment, for corporation personnel and local response teams, has been provided. Annual updates of the plan and the training exercise are scheduled.
Airborne Detection of Winter Oil Spills—A Presentation of the Swedish Coast Guard's Build-Up of Response Resources and Operational Manuals
Authors: Sandkvist Jim , Forsman Björn , Thorell Dan 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
A substantial part of the total transport in Swedish waters takes place during wintertime. Ice, darkness, and rough weather increase the risk of accidental spills and reduce the possibilities of detecting deliberate spills. These factors stress the importance of forming an oil spill response organization, also effective in operations in wintertime.
The Swedish Coast Guard, which is responsible for spill recovery operations in Swedish waters, has initiated a number of projects due to the build-up of effective spill response resources for winter spills. Spill recovery operations in Swedish ice-free waters are performed effectively by airborne detection support, built up by the Swedish Space Corporation.
Airborne detection techniques of oil in ice-covered waters are now studied in order to define ice and oil spill conditions that offer opportunities for successful detection operations. Developing manuals containing spill response strategies and operational tools requires combining knowledge concerning oil properties in cold water, oil and ice behavior, and ice conditions with resources such as weather forecasting, drift models, and strike forces. A manual, primarily aimed at rescue commanders and the Coast Guard OSCs for operations in winter spills, is set up, based on these combined disciplines and the best use of available tools.
The progress of the work will be presented as well as a version of the spill detection manual for operations in ice conditions. A suggested oil properties classification code for winter spills is also included as a part of this project.
AN INLAND OIL SPILL RESPONSE MANUAL TO MINIMIZE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Authors: Owens E. H. , Taylor E. , Marty R. , Little D. I. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Inland oil spills generally have received less attention than their coastal and marine counterparts. On the average, more than 2,000 spills occur on the inland waters of the continental United States each year. Recognizing the potential effects of these spills, the American Petroleum Institute has funded several studies in recent years to address issues associated with inland spills. One product of this activity is the preparation of a set of guidelines to be published as a manual for inland oil spill response. The manual focuses on the identification of techniques that would have minimal intrinsic ecological impacts (that is, to living resources) and would also minimize the total ecological and/or environmental impacts of the oil. The guidelines are intended to help decision makers assess whether the available response options can mitigate the effects of a spill and/or accelerate recovery from the oiling. The analysis and the recommendations are presented in a set of matrices that combine four oil types, more than 20 response techniques, and 10 inland freshwater habitats.
ENHANCING CANADA'S SPILL RESPONSE CAPABILITY: OIL SPILL EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR A 10,000 TON RESPONSE CAPABILITY
Authors: Halley Wayne , Latour John 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Oil spills in the past several years have focused considerable attention and public concern on marine environmental issues. The Public Review Panel on Tanker Safety and Marine Spills Response Capability and a Government of Canada internal review, coupled with independent studies, highlighted the fact that Canada's existing spill response capability requires improvement. Among its conclusions, the panel report recommended that a figure of 10,000 tonnes (metric tons, t) be used for planning the establishment of a response capability in each Coast Guard region.
The study identified in detail the equipment needed to respond to a 10,000 t oil spill by examining four areas: the operating environment, containment and recovery equipment, the temporary storage of recovered oil and water, and the support equipment needed to provide an efficient operation.
ASSESSING THE RECOVERY OF COASTAL WETLANDS FROM OIL SPILLS
Authors: Mendelssohn Irving A. , Hester Mark W. , Hill John M. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The impact of oil spills on coastal environments and the ability of these systems to exhibit long-term recovery has received increased attention in recent years. Although oil spills can have significant short-term impacts on coastal marshes, the long-term effects and eventual recovery are not well documented. Estuarine marshes have sometimes been reported to exhibit slow recovery after oil spills, whereas in other instances they appear to have great resiliency, with complete recovery after one or two years. To document and understand this phenomenon better, we have investigated the long-term recovery of a south Louisiana estuarine marsh exposed to an accidental spill of crude oil. Although a pipeline rupture releasing Louisiana crude oil caused the near complete mortality of a brackish marsh dominated by Spartina patens and S. alterniflora, this marsh completely recovered four years after the spill with no differences in plant species cover between oiled and reference marshes. Remotely sensed imagery of the study site confirmed the relatively rapid recovery demonstrated by the ground truth data. Louisiana's coastal marshes are naturally experiencing rapid rates of deterioration. Land loss rates, determined from aerial imagery, at the spill site and adjacent reference areas before and after the spill demonstrated that the long-term loss rates were not affected by the spill event.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN A HIGH DESERT, CRUDE OIL PIPELINE SPILL1
Authors: Lowe Mark A. , Mancini Eugene R. , Chamberlain Dilworth W. , Albright Gregory R. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
A road grader punctured a high-pressure crude oil pipeline in the California high desert resulting in the release of approximately 4,200 barrels of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil. Oil sprayed over a steeply sloped hillside and flowed into an adjacent, densely vegetated ephemeral stream channel which carried secondary treatment sewage discharge.
Three underflow dams were constructed in the channel within 2.8 km of the site. To ensure containment at the first dam, the sewage discharge was diverted from the channel, eventually to an upland impulse sprinkler irrigation system. Channel water and phase-separated ANS crude oil, impounded behind the first dam, percolated through alluvial sands/gravels to a depth of about five meters. The oil percolated through the soils on the receding surface of the water, affecting soils to an equivalent depth and saturating a horizontally narrow band of stream-bank soils as much as two to four meters into the bank.
Stream channel undergrowth and a small number of mature trees were cleared to provide access for cleanup and/or to remove oiled plants. A large number of trees experienced partial leaf-drop within 25 days of the spill while two heavily oiled trees died. New vegetative growth was evident within five weeks of the spill. Site restoration included planting cuttings of five riparian tree species and hydroseeding exposed banks.
Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations ranged from not detectable to 203,000 parts per million (ppm) and averaged approximately 25,000 ppm in affected soils as sampled in place and in stockpiles. Approximately 30,000 tons of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil was excavated from the length of the stream channel (3,600 tons) as well as the area behind the first dam and spill site (26,400 tons). All soils were staged on site for waste profiling and final disposition. After treatment, the contaminated soil was beneficially reused as daily cover at a southern California landfill at a turnkey cost of approximately $57 a ton.
COLONIAL PIPELINE ENOREE RIVER OIL SPILL: A CASE HISTORY1
Authors: Smith Arthur B. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
In December 1991, a pipeline ruptured near Fountain Inn, South Carolina, resulting in the release of approximately 13,000 barrels of No. 2 fuel oil to the inland surface water system. Over 18 miles of Durbin Creek and the Enoree River were seriously impacted by the spill, one of the largest inland oil discharges in the United States in 1991. As a result of the spill, primary water supply intakes for the towns of Clinton (population 8,500) and Whitmire (population 2,000) remained closed until the appropriate level of water quality for consumption could be restored. These towns are located about 30 miles and 50 miles respectively, from the site of the pipeline rupture. The Environmental Protection Agency Region IV on-scene coordinator and the U. S. Coast Guard Strike Team responded to the scene and directed the pipeline company's cleanup efforts over a five-day period, which resulted in recovery of more than 95 percent of the spilled product.
This paper presents a case history of the spill response, highlighting significant events, findings, and decisions which were instrumental in achieving a rapid and effective cleanup, and giving particular emphasis to the role of the regional response team (RRT), which was activated during this release. The response and lessons learned from this spill were evaluated, and the resulting recommendations are offered for consideration in handling future events of this magnitude.
OIL, RATS, AND SALVAGE: THE GROUNDING OF THE HYUNDAI #12
Authors: Smith Joseph B. H. , Asaro Richard J. , Henderson Harlan 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
When a bulk grain carrier ran aground in early winter in Alaska's remote Shumagin Islands, a number of public and private organizations worked together to free the vessel and protect the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The potential for resource damage arose from the real threat of a major oil spill and the possible presence of rats, which could escape and infest nearby islands. Severe weather and logistical difficulties hampered the response effort, but the ship was freed in ten days, and most of the cargo was later salvaged. What little oil leaked from the ship dissipated within 1,000 yards of the discharge point. Nothing got ashore. No rats were sighted.
RESPONSE TO THE GROUNDING OF THE F/V El JYU MARU NO. 211
Authors: Bennett Vance , Noviello Don 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
On December 2, 1991, the Japanese fishing vessel Ei Jyu Maru No. 21 ran hard aground near a remote, sparsely populated island in the northern region of the Republic of Palau, a Trust Territory of the United States. The grounding caused fractures in the hull, through which bilge oil, diesel fuel, and lubricating oils leaked out. The spilled oil, and the fuel remaining in the vessel, threatened environmentally sensitive reefs and bird nesting sites on nearby islands.
Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Guam and the Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team sent personnel to Palau to mitigate the effects of this spill. The response team, after six weeks of effort under less than ideal conditions, removed the fuel remaining on the vessel and prevented any further pollution.
The remote location of Palau, about 7,000 miles from the west coast of the United States, and the undeveloped character of this region of Palau made this response a complex, costly, and time-consuming endeavor. These factors contributed to the problems that hindered this response—for example, long distances between the spill site and support areas, lack of infrastructure at the spill site, unreliable communications systems, and misunderstandings over the role of the Coast Guard.
POST-OPA 90 NATIONAL STRIKE FORCE1
Authors: Crickard Lt. Alvin M. , Jensen Donald S. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) has resulted in an overall restructuring and enhancement of the national strike force. The OPA 90 legislation amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (FWPCA), which first gave the Coast Guard a role in marine environmental protection. The FWPCA led to the establishment of the national response system (NRS) and the establishment of “special forces” which would be available for pollution response. These special forces included the Coast Guard manned strike teams (collectively, the national strike force, or NSF) and the public information assist team (PIAT). OPA 90 legislation affected the NSF by requiring the Coast Guard to establish a national response unit (NRU) located at Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The NRU, now renamed the National Strike Force Coordination Center (NSFCC), would provide overall management of the strike teams and PIAT and in addition, perform several new functions in consulting, exercise management, coordination of spill response, and logistics and maintenance of worldwide resource inventories.
This paper examines all OPA 90 initiatives affecting the national strike force. It concludes that the overall impact on the national response system is quite positive and should result in significant improvement in response to both major and catastrophic oil spills.
IMPACTS ON INTERTIDAL EPIBIOTA: EXXON VALDEZ SPILL AND SUBSEQUENT CLEANUP
Authors: Houghton Jonathan P. , Fukuyama Allan K. , Lees Dennis C. , Driskell William B. , Shigenaka Gary , Mearns Alan J. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Following the Exxon Valdez spill, several approaches were used to remove crude oil from the beaches of Prince William Sound. Pre- and post-treatment monitoring in 1989 documented the severe short-term impacts to intertidal epibenthos of hot water wash treatments widely used to remove stranded oil. Quantitative field surveys were conducted in 1990 and 1991 to evaluate recovery of littoral habitats from the effects of oiling and hot water washing. Stratified random sampling was used to assess epibiota at sites representing several habitats and degrees of disturbance. Effects of hot water treatments applied in 1989 remained visible in intertidal assemblages through 1991. Some hot water-treated rocky beaches that had been stripped of biota at middle and upper intertidal elevations showed little colonization by 1990. In 1990, statistically significant differences were noted between variables measured on unoiled beaches and those same variables on hot water-treated beaches. On other oiled rocky beaches that received less severe or no treatment, the majority of the community dominants, including rockweed, mussels, barnacles, limpets, drills, and littorines, survived the oiling. While these populations were still depressed below abundance levels on unoiled beaches in May 1991, by July recovery of most species had raised abundances to levels seen on unoiled beaches. In the summer of 1991, few statistically significant differences remained between the biota of unoiled rocky shores and those of hot water-washed shores, but full recovery is still several years away in many areas.
SALT MARSH RECOVERY FROM A CRUDE OIL SPILL: VEGETATION, OIL WEATHERING, AND RESPONSE
Authors: Hoff Rebecca Z. , Shigenaka Gary , Henry Charles B. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Responding to oil spills in marshes is always problematic, since inappropriate response activities can easily add to the overall damage to the marsh. When a spill of Prudhoe Bay crude oil covered a fringing Salicornia virginica marsh in Fidalgo Bay, Washington (northern Puget Sound) in February 1991, response personnel used several low-impact techniques to remove oil from the marsh, and minimized access by cleanup workers. Following the response, we established a monitoring program to track marsh recovery, and to document the effectiveness of the response techniques used and their impacts on the marsh.
Through monthly sampling over a 16-month period, we monitored vegetative growth and tracked the chemical degradation of remaining oil. Sampling was conducted along transects located in four areas affected in different ways by the spill, including an oiled, trampled section; an oiled, vacuumed section; and an oiled, washed, and vacuumed section. In addition, a control transect was established in an unoiled adjacent marsh.
The study included both biological and chemical components. Biological measurements included percent cover of live vegetation (sampled monthly) and below-ground plant biomass (sampled at the beginning of each growing season in April 1991 and April 1992). Sediment samples included surface sediment (monthly) and core samples collected at the beginning and end of the growing seasons. Sediment samples were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, and indicator compounds were tracked to determine rates of oil degradation.
Results from 16 months of post-spill monitoring show that foot trampling was most detrimental to marsh plants, while washing with vacuuming removed the most oil and minimized adverse impacts to vegetation. Dense clay substrate helped prevent oil from penetrating the sediment, thus minimizing acute toxic effects from oil exposure to marsh plant rootstock. By the second growing season post-spill, Salicornia and other marsh plants were growing in all areas except one heavily oiled patch. The monitoring program will be continued to determine if any delayed impacts occur in the marsh.
OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLANNING IN THE IVORY COAST
Authors: Bender Klavs , Jensen Svend Kåre , Østergård John , Nogbou Capt. Poul 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The administrative center in charge of handling oil spill pollution situations on the Ivory Coast, West Africa, is named Centre Ivoirien Antipollution (CIAPOL). Its organizational structure has been reshuffled recently. CIAPOL now has three divisions: a laboratory division, a division for cleaning up oil and chemical pollution at sea, and an administrative division.
The risk for oil pollution is known: within the past ten years five spills have been reported. All of these have been connected to operations relating to the refinery in Abidjan. More than 2,000 ships call at the port of Abidjan every year. Minor oil slicks are found almost permanently in the harbor and the lagoons around the harbor. Lumps of tar are rather common on the beaches all along the country's coast.
This paper focuses on the background investigation in sensitive areas and risk analysis that led to a revision of the oil spill contingency plan, Plan Pollumar, and the recent purchase of oil spill cleanup equipment. The creation of a regional oil pollution response center at CIAPOL for all of the countries in West Africa, is proposed.