bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Westley Tire Fire, Stanislaus County, California
Authors: Shane Daniel M. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
This is a case study of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emergency response actions taken at one of the largest tire fires in California. The site was an illegal scrap tire dump known as the Filbin Tire Pile. There was an estimated 7 million tires in the pile. The site was located in a canyon in the rolling hills above the San Joaquin Valley near the Town of Westley, California. This tire fire was considered a major environmental disaster where large populations were affected and there was a potential for severe environmental damage. Responders with past experience recognized that the tire fire would be a unique multi-category event containing the elements of a major fire: hazardous materials release and oil spill discharge combined into one event. Shortly after the fire ignited the tires began to pyrolyze, producing a steady stream of oil that discharged to an unnamed drainage in the hills above the valley. The oil in the drainage flashed sending great plumes of thick black smoke into the valley. The oil and tire fires quickly overwhelmed the resources of the local fire departments. The EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) immediately responded using federal authority to respond to and, if necessary, remove a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance under the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(c)) as amended by the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990 (OPA 90). Some of the most difficult problems that were encountered included making decisions on fire suppression tactics; conducting safe operations in extremely hot and unstable fire conditions; maneuvering heavy equipment on steep slopes, and deep and spongy tire piles; controlling massive volumes of oil and water runoff; coordinating with local and state governmental agencies; forming a fully integrated and effective Incident Command System led by a Unified Command (ICS/UC); and recycling of pyrolytic oil under current California hazardous waste regulations.
Long-Term Biological Damage: What is Known, and How Should that Influence Decisions on Response, Assessment, and Restoration?
Authors: Carls Mark G. , Heintz Ron , Moles Adam , Rice Stanley D. , Short Jeffrey W. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Immediate damage from an oil spill is usually obvious (oiled birds, oiled shoreline), but long-term damage to either fauna or habitat is more subtle, difficult to measure, difficult to evaluate, and hence often controversial. The question is, are too many of response decisions such as dispersant use or shoreline cleanup based on short-term acute toxicity models? Have long-term damage scenarios been discounted because of the inherent difficulty in deriving definitive answers?
Experience with the Exxon Valdez oil spill is shedding new light on the potential for long-term damage. Government-funded studies demonstrated that oil persists in certain habitats for extended periods of time, such as the intertidal reaches of salmon streams, in soft sediments underlying mussel beds, and on cobble beaches armored with large boulders. Observation of long-term persistence of oil in some habitats is not new, but an increasing number of studies indicate that fauna may be chronically and significantly exposed to oil in these habitats. The toxic components in oil responsible for much of the long-term effects are believed to be the larger 3- and 4-ring polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can induce cellular and genetic effects rather than the narcotic monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) responsible for acute mortalities. Observation of long-term persistence of Exxon Valdez oil, coupled with adverse effects on sensitive life stages, leads to the conclusion that strategies based on minimizing acute mortalities immediately following a spill probably do not provide adequate protection against long-term damage.
When making environmental decisions in response to a spill (prevention measures or restoration measures), more weight should probably be given to long-term issues rather than discounting their significance. Total environmental cost is the sum of short-term damage and long-term damage, and long term-damage to habitats and sensitive life stages probably needs more consideration even though it is very difficult to evaluate and compare to the relatively obvious acute issues.
Improving the Safety of Marine Pilotage
Authors: Cameron Jean R. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force, whose members are the oil spill prevention and response agencies in the U.S. West Coast states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia initiated a study of West Coast pilotage in 1995. Following a review of national pilotage studies done in both the United States and Canada, a workgroup of representatives from West Coast pilot organizations assisted the Oil Spill Task Force in drafting a survey that was sent to 28 pilotage organizations, governing boards, and authorities on the West Coast. The survey included questions grouped under the following headings: Organizational Description, Organizational Policies and Programs, Organizational Accountability, Pilot Licensing and Qualifications, Pilot Training and Continuing Education, Pilot/Ship Interactions, and an “Other” category. In the second phase of the project, a more diverse set of stakeholders assisted the task force in reviewing the survey responses, discussing the issues raised, and drafting a report with recommendations. Although targeted at West Coast pilots, who were the focus of the study, these recommendations are appropriate for consideration by pilots operating anywhere in the world.
Modeling Research of Exposure to Oil Aerosols During Oil Spills
Authors: Zhou Tianhong , Liu Hongtan 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
When oil is spilled at sea, aerosols containing oil or chemical dispersants (when they are used to combat the oil spill) can be formed from wind/wave interactions, wave/ship interactions, and some other attendant cleanup operations. This may result in oil aerosol exposure to response workers or the nearby public. In this paper, a modeling approach is proposed to study the resultant aerosol concentrations around an oil spill site. This computational modeling is developed by integrating aerosol formation with aerosol transportation equations. Using this model, several hypothetical scenarios can be generated. From computational iterations, it is seen that this exposure may be negligible in most situations, but under extreme conditions, a cause for concern.
Responder Safety: Site Characterization for Oil Spill Responses
Authors: Caesar James R. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Oil spills, like hazardous chemical spills, require characterization of chemical and physical hazards. Offshore oil spill responders are faced with different tasks than land-based emergency responders when characterizing a spilled product. While firefighters could have unknown products spilling from a train or truck accident, oil spill responders hold the advantage because they are responding to a spill with a known product—oil—with a narrow range of hazards. Firefighters have the ability to confine/re strict the hot zone but oil spill responders are required to do a site characterization on a vessel in all types of sea conditions that can change with the current and wind.
Clean Seas LLC has developed and used site characterization procedures for responding to open-water oil spills. As in all success stories, proper planning and training of response personnel is the key in a real response. Oil spills can happen at midnight, in rough seas, while responders are dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE), and surrounded by oil. Under the extreme pressures of an oil spill response, checking the spilled product for dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide and benzene, the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL), and oxygen levels can be challenging. Clean Seas completes site characterization with a simple, common sense Site Characterization Form, a 1-page Site Safety Plan, and a safety tailgate meeting before beginning removal operations. Clean Seas followed this procedure in September 1997 at the Platform Irene spill. The response by Clean Seas to this 165-barrel spill was later deemed “textbook” by regulators observing the cleanup operations.
Ten Years of Research by the U.S. Oil Industry to Evaluate the Ecological Issues of Dispersant Use: An Overview of the Past Decade
Authors: Aurand Don V. , Coelho Gina M. , Steen Alexis 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) recently completed a multiyear research program on dispersants and dispersed oil consisting of four elements: information synthesis and dissemination, improved laboratory methods for toxicity evaluation, mesocosm testing, and field experiments. These research efforts contributed to the recent changes in the way dispersants are viewed in the United States. When combined with other research findings from the last 10 years, this information, now available to response planners, greatly improved and contributed to a growing interest in the use of dispersants, including the potential for the extension of preauthorization areas. The primary objectives of this paper are to summarize the objectives of the program, highlight major findings, and identify the sources where the results can be examined in detail.
Dispersant Pre-Approvals-Best Practice
Authors: Lunel Tim 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Oil spill dispersants are not the only answer in responding to oil spills, nor will they be effective in every case. However, as recent incidents such as the Sea Empress have demonstrated, when they are used immediately on a dispersible oil they can provide a very significant net environmental or economic benefit. Dispersant pre-approvals are required if dispersants are to be used effectively. However, the danger associated with pre-approvals is that dispersant could be used in every response operation without due consideration to whether the oil is likely to be dispersible under the given environmental conditions and whether dispersing some of the oil will result in a net environmental or economic benefit.
The Southern Traffic Lane Spill (T/V Command): A Case Study of Spiller Accountability1
Authors: Plourde Kristy , Harlan CAPT 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
On September 24, 1998, the T/V Command had a small spill in San Francisco Bay, California while taking on bunkers in Anchorage Nine. The cause was determined to be due to a small crack in the outer hull plating of the tank. The T/V Command departed on the evening of September 26 after completing temporary repairs required by the Captain of the Port (COTP)/Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC). The next morning, a large 10-mile by 2-mile oil slick was discovered just south of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This triggered one of the largest, most far-reaching oil spill investigations ever.
Since no one took responsibility for this spill, the U.S. Coast Guard accessed the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) and established a Unified Command with the state of California Department of Fish and Game, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to begin immediate cleanup. The Coast Guard and OSPR also began an aggressive joint investigation to track down the spiller. Hundreds of vessels had entered or departed San Francisco Bay during the 5-day window before the spill was discovered. The investigators were able to narrow the search and sample vessels. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab (MSL) and OSPR's lab were able to match the spilled oil to the T/V Command,. The Coast Guard tracked down the location of the T/V Command and began the first ever request for high seas boarding of a vessel for an environmental crime. A Coast Guard team from the USCGC Boutwell boarded the T/V Command 200 miles off Guatemala to begin the investigation. A follow-on multiagency team of investigators, led by the Coast Guard again, boarded the vessel in Panama.
In a plea bargain agreement, the T/V Command's operator, master, and chief engineer pled guilty in federal court to criminal charges stemming from the spill on September 27, 1998, remarkably 1 year from the date of the original spill. The operator agreed to pay over $9.4 million dollars in criminal and civil penalties.
This paper and presentation discusses the complexities of this international spill response investigation and events leading up to the settlement.
Round-Robin Testing of a New EPA Dispersant Effectiveness Protocol
Authors: Venosa Albert D. , Sorial George A. , King Dennis W. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protocol for testing the effectiveness of dispersants, the Swirling Flask Test (SFT), has been found to give widely varying results in the hands of different testing laboratories. A redesign of the testing flask by eliminating the side arm, incorporating baffles in the wall of the flask, and adding a stopcock at the bottom has been adopted to improve reproducibility in the hands of different operators. The new procedure is called the Baffled Flask Test (BFT). Similar to the original SFT, the test is relatively simple, requires minimum equipment, and involves a total time span of about 2.5 hours for testing four replicates on one of the two crude oils. Before EPA can adopt the BFT as the official protocol replacing the SFT, the newly developed test must undergo independent testing in the hands of commercial laboratories. Thus, to demonstrate its repeatability and reproducibility to support its adoption as the new EPA testing protocol, a round-robin test was conducted during the spring 2000 with eight independent laboratories. The participating laboratories were provided with all the supplies needed to conduct the BFT: baffled flasks, South Louisiana and Prudhoe Bay crude oils, six dispersant products, and the artificial seawater formulation used in the protocol. The laboratories were given specific, detailed instructions on how to conduct the tests for the dispersants, including all necessary quality assurance procedures. Results were reported back to EPA and the results were analyzed statistically to quantify repeatability and reproducibility. The paper discusses the data and presents the analysis showing the method's reproducibility.
Key Parameters Affecting the Dispersion of Viscous Oil
Authors: Canevari Gerard P. , Calcavecchio Peter , Becker K. W. , Lessard R. R. , Fiocco Robert J. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Oil viscosity has been perceived as a major factor affecting the dispersibility of oil. Very high viscosity oils—20,000 centistokes (cs) or more—can readily be observed as resisting the breakup of the oil into dispersed droplets. However, there are instances where a relatively viscous oil will disperse much more readily than another oil of similar viscosity.
An extensive study has been conducted at ExxonMobil Research facilities in New Jersey to define the molecular makeup of 14 viscous heavy fuel oil products and determine the property of the viscous oils, besides viscosity, that influences dispersibility. Dispersibility was measured by a standard laboratory dispersant test using a COREXIT dispersant selected from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Contingency Plan (NCP) Product Schedule. Initially, IATROSCAN (TLC) and gas chromatography data failed to show any correlation between chemical properties, such as sulfur, aromatics, paraffins, resins, vanadium, nickel content, etc., and dispersibility. However, the analysis did identify a statistically significant relationship between a parameter based on normal paraffin content and dispersibility, which helps explain anomalies such as low viscosity oils that do not disperse. These results are expected to aid in guiding oil spill response for viscous oils.
Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse
Authors: Rayburn Thomas 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The Great Lakes Commission, in concert with the Great Lakes Spill Protection Initiative (GLSPI) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), has developed the Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse (FSIC) Web site (www.freshwaterspills.net.). The Web site serves as point of entry for users searching for freshwater planning and response information, research data and abstracts, education and outreach materials, emerging response and prevention technologies, pertinent geographic information system (GIS) data, and organizational links. In addition, the Web site has been proposed as the central repository for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) “small science” program. The FSIC initially was developed to address the freshwater planning, response, and research community's need to centralize data and resource information currently housed in fragmented locations. Its growth will depend on the interaction of the oil/freshwater community, the willingness and ability to post historic and current information electronically, and acceptance of the need to build a minimal foundation of research and data and then expand that knowledge base. It is intended that by identifying research and freshwater-specific spills processes, users of the Web site will further dialogue and hard science.
Response Benefit Analysis: A New Method for Measuring Response Effectiveness1
Authors: Gautier Peter , Satra Kara , Tarpley John , Parker-Hall Heather , Henderson Harlan , Ueber Ed 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Traditionally, spill response effectiveness has been measured by cost per volume of oil spilled. However, this measurement is misleading and arbitrary. Measuring the cost of response per gallon (or barrel) spilled does not adequately account for the value of environmental and economic injuries that were minimized or prevented through appropriate response actions. The authors discuss the principles underlying an evaluation of spill response benefit and present the results of their work in progress to compare the economic and environmental benefits gained by minimizing injuries through response against the cost of conducting that response. This process, which we call response benefit analysis (RBA), uses a quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation of resources protected and rehabilitated as a result of spill response actions. As a pilot study, the authors examined the South Traffic Lane Spill (T/V Command) off the San Francisco peninsula in September 1998. This spill involved an approximate 6,000 gallons of oil, discharged 12 miles offshore, with response costs of $1.03 million. The analysis concluded that significant environmental and economic benefits were realized by conducting a proactive response that would not normally be considered by reporting cost per barrel spilled alone. This methodology presents a conceptual framework and needs to be further developed and tested to enable the spill response community to conduct response benefit analysis locally.
A Practical Answer to OPRC in the United Kingdom1
Authors: Neilson David E. , Tallack Robert 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
The Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention (OPRC 90) came into effect in 1990. Since this date, 52 of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states have signed to the convention, and recently the United Kingdom has developed legislation to implement the intent of the convention in that country. The convention requires a number of steps to enhance the preparedness of a country for an oil spill incident. The primary requirements are a focal point within the country, a national contingency plan, cooperation—notification between countries and response resources in-country. The United Kingdom developed legislation, the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation Convention) Regulations, which became effective on August 15, 1998, although there was a grace period of 1 year before becoming effective on August 15, 1999. This placed a requirement on ports, harbors, and oil-handling facilities to prepare and submit a oil spill response contingency plan to the U.K. government. Within the plan, there is a requirement for the port, harbor, or oil-handling facility to either have in-house or contracted “Tier II” resources.
A number of lessons can be drawn from the experience of OPRC 90 implementation in the United Kingdom, and there are lessons for the ports, the Tier II provider, and also for the regulator. The ports themselves had additional requirements placed on their already stretched resources. Industry needed to understand the potential market and plan their investment accordingly. The government agencies, again with limited resources, were tasked with the development of compliance guidelines and administering their internal review. The consultation process with statutory consultees proved a bottleneck in the planning process.
Studies of Emissions From Oil Fires
Authors: Fingas Mervin F. , Lambert Patrick , Li Ken , Wang Zhendi , Ackerman Francine , Whiticar Steve , Goldthorp Mike , Schutz Steve , Morganti Mike , Nadeau Royal , Campagna Phil , Hiltabrand Robert 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Over 45 mesoscale burns were conducted to study various aspects of diesel and crude oil burning in situ,. Extensive sampling and monitoring of these burns were conducted at downwind stations, upwind stations, and in the smoke plume. Particulate samples were taken in air and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs were found to be lower in the soot than in the starting oil, although higher concentrations of the larger molecular PAHs were found in the soot and residue, especially for diesel burns. Overall, the amount of PAHs in the soot and residue were about 2 to 8% of that in the starting oil. This implies a destruction of PAHS by 92 to 98%. Particulates in the air were measured by several means and were found to be greater than recommended exposure levels up to 500 meters downwind at ground level, depending on the size and type of fire. Diesel fires emit much more particulate matter and have longer exposure zones. Combustion gases including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are below exposure level maximums. Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions are extensive from fires, but the levels were less than from an evaporating crude oil spill. Over 140 compounds were identified and quantified. Carbonyls, including aldehydes and ketones, were found to below human health concern levels.
Emission data from over 45 experimental burns have been used to develop prediction equations for over 150 specific compounds or emission categories. These are used to calculate safe distances and levels of concern for a standard burn size of 500 square meters, an amount that would typically be contained in a boom. The safe distance for a crude oil burn of this size is about 500 m and for a diesel burn, much further.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region V Unannounced Drill Program
Authors: Calovich Sheila M. , Whelan Ann E. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT
Rather than conduct site inspections at oil facilities where response times and response activities are not tested, government-initiated unannounced exercises allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate these important activities. The facility response plan (FRP) is tested, industry interfaces with the government, and more effective environmental programs are the result. EPA Region V initiated, developed, and conducted government-initiated unannounced exercises during Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 and 2000. The goal was to heighten the awareness of pollution prevention in the oil industry.