An approach to evaluate the application of the vulnerability index for oil spills in tropical Red Sea environments

The Egyptian national marine oil pollution contingency plan was urgently initiated after the Nabila oil spill in 1982, to provide an estimate of its environmental effects on the Egyptian Red Sea coastal areas and to determine geomorphological features and cuastal processes, together with physical, chemical and biological baseline data for this tropical environment.The ‘Vulnerability Index’ (VI) was applied to evaluate and calibrate the effect of the Nabila oil spill on the Egyptian Red Sea Coastal area. A detailed in situ coastal survey was conducted during two visits in November 1982 and May 1983 to 80 shore sites from Suez to Ras Banas to monitor the oil pollution and to apply the ‘Vulnerability Index’. A comparative assessment of the index over time by comparing it with a quick ground inspection in November 1993 to some sites to evaluate the applicability of this index for oil spills in such environments. In addition, the physical effects of fresh and weathered crude oil and/with dispersant on water filtration by different beaches were preliminary studied.The geomorphological/Vulnerability Index results show that most of the Egyptian Red Sea coastal environments have medium to high vulnerability to immediate and medium term oil spill damage. The oil pollution spread estimated to be 250 km south of the oil spill and about 200 km north of it. The quantity of oil along the shoreline was reduced by about 60% due to natural and authorities clean up. The third survey after 11 years showed that the VI could be used as a predictive tool for assessment of oil spill effects on such tropical environments.     

Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) Analysis in Support of Environmental Impact Assessment Offshore Namibia

The work reported here encompasses analyses of specific potential spill scenarios for oil exploration activity planned offshore of Namibia. The analyses are carried out with the SINTEF Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) 3-dimensional model system. A spill scenario using 150 m³ of marine diesel demonstrates the rapidity with which such a spill will dissipate naturally, even in light winds. Vertical and horizontal mixing bring subsurface hydrocarbon concentrations to background levels within a few days. A hypothetical 10 day blowout scenario releasing 11,000 bbl per day of light crude oil is investigated in terms of the potential for delivering oil to selected bird and marine mammal areas along the Namibian coast. Worst case scenarios are selected to investigate the potential mitigating effects of planned oil spill response actions. Mechanical recovery significantly reduces, and in some cases eliminates, potential environmental consequences of these worst case scenarios. Dispersant application from fixed wing aircraft further reduces the potential surface effects. The analysis supplies an objective basis for net environmental analysis of the planned response strategies.     

Maersk Navigator oil spill in the great channel (Andaman Sea) in January 1993 and its environmental impact

Observations on oil slicks, tar residues and dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons (DPH) shortly after the oil spill resulting from the tanker accident in January 1993 showed negligible impact on the Indian EEZ of the Great Channel (Andaman Sea). DPH were between 0.31 and 1.85 μg l⁻¹ in the area examined. Tar residues were absent throughout the study area. Prevailing NE wind with resultant SW surface current appears to have pushed the oil patches out towards the open Indian Ocean.A follow-up survey of the same area was carried out in September-October 1993 and observations similar to those made during the earlier survey were recorded. The zooplankton biomass had increased considerably during the interval between the two surveys, but this was probably due to seasonal changes and natural variability.The spill did not cause any perceptible impact on the environment.     

Assessing the impact of land-applied biosolids from a thermomechanical (TMP) pulp mill to a suite of terrestrial and aquatic bioassay organisms under laboratory conditions

The potential impact on a variety of bioassay organisms when pulp-mill biosolids from a thermomechanical pulp mill (western Canada) were applied to a reference soil has been investigated in a laboratory setup. The current research assessed acute, chronic, and reproductive impacts using a battery of terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Terrestrial organisms were exposed to soil amended with different concentrations of biosolids, while aquatic organisms were used to assess the impact of biosolids' runoff into receiving waters. The former bioassays showed that an application rate of 20 tonneshectare(-1) (tha(-1)) "bone-dry" biosolids applied to reference soil produced no observable adverse impact on the terrestrial organisms. In the latter assays, undiluted (100%) and 50% diluted biosolids' runoff into receiving water had a detrimental impact on the aquatic organisms. However, concentrations not exceeding 25% (environmentally relevant concentrations) had neither an acute nor chronic impact compared to reference populations. The organisms' abilities to reproduce were also unaltered. While this study only examined the biosolids from one mill, there is the potential that land-application of characteristically well-defined pulp mill biosolids may constitute an acceptable way of disposing of pulp and paper mill biosolid residues. However, the biosolids coming from different mills, with differing processes, must be dealt with on a case-by-case situation. Each series of biosolids must be rigorously tested for toxicological impact in the laboratory under tightly controlled conditions. Subsequently, field experimentation must be conducted before definitive conclusions can be made.     

Hindcast of a Japan Sea oil spill

An oil spill model was applied to the Nakhodka tanker spill accident that occurred in the Japan Sea in January 1997. The amount of oil spilled was estimated to be around 5000 kl, released over 1 day. Under a 2-m wave height condition, and a 3.5% of drift factor, the model simulated the oil slick to hit the shoreline after 6 days. This was in good agreement with the observed conditions. After drifting to the shoreline, the oil slick moved northeastward with the current. In the model, the simulation where the shoreline absorbs 100% of stranded oil failed to reproduce the actual oil slick trajectory. The simulation in which oil resuspended after stranding indicated a similar trend to the actual case. Therefore, it is likely that a considerable amount of oil that hit the shoreline may have returned to the sea and moved with the current. The effects of current pattern and wind drift angle on the oil slick trajectory were also examined. It is suggested that the wind parameters were of prime importance in reproducing a realistic distribution.     

Australia’s Tyranny of Distance in Oil Spill Response

In view of the quantity of oil spilled, smaller spills generally receive less attention than headline grabbing incidents such as the “Amoco Cadiz”, “Exxon Valdez”, “Braer” and “Sea Empress”. The latter incidents involve the loss of significant quantities of oil, the establishment of relatively complex spill response management structures and the involvement of significant numbers of personnel and equipment. As such, large spills from tankers have the potential to create problem areas, for example in establishing and maintaining effective communications, logistics and resource management systems.In general terms spill response personnel are well aware that large spills come complete with significant operational and administrative problems, however what may not be so well recognised is that smaller spills also have the potential to present response personnel with their own unique problems.One of the major problems to be overcome when responding to spills in Australia is the “tyranny of distance”. In quite a few responses, Australian oil spill response managers have had to move personnel and equipment thousands of kilometres to provide an effective outcome. This paper outlines a range of problems that have been encountered by Australian personnel over the years. These include health and safety, communications, logistics and equipment issues.For the purpose of this paper a “smaller” spill has been defined as one involving a discharge of less than 1000 tonnes of oil.     

Comparison of end-of-life tire treatment technologies: A Chinese case study

The aim of this paper is to compare different end-of-life tire (ELT) treatment technologies in China from an environmental and economic perspective. Four treatment technologies were evaluated: ambient grinding, devulcanization, pyrolysis and illegal tire oil extraction.Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to evaluate the potential environmental impact of each treatment based on the Eco-indicator 99 (Hierarchist approach) method provided by GaBi 4 software. The final result shows that pyrolysis represents the environmentally benign option while illegal tire oil extraction caused the worst damages. For the three legal treatments, although high credit was obtained when considering avoided impacts from recycled materials and energy, they have great impact as to respiratory effects (inorganic) dominantly contributed by energy production stage, which implies that the emphasis on environmental policies related to ELT treatment should shift from the control of emissions from treatment process to the reduction of energy consumption.A simplified comparison of net benefits and total impacts shows that the most eco-effective ELT treatment technology is pyrolysis, followed by dynamic devulcanization and ambient grinding. The illegal tire oil extraction, however, must be prohibited immediately because of its highest environmental pollution and lowest net benefit.     

Exposure of Fish Larvae to Hydrocarbon Concentration Fields Generated by Subsurface Blowouts

As the oil activity outside the Norwegian coast moves towards north, the potential for conflict with the fishing industry increases. Reasons for this are the presence of spawning areas for important fish stocks like herring and cod, and also the technical development of subsurface solutions for the oil exploration, increasing the risks for the occurrence of subsurface blowouts.The paper explains how this potential for conflict can be described by means of numerical modelling techniques. The Haltenbanken area outside the western coast of Norway is selected as a field case. The modelling work involves underwater plume modelling as well as 3D modelling of ocean currents. The results from these modelling works are then combined with the modelling of the far-field transport and dilution of the underwater plume, and also the modelling of the spreading and transport of larvae from spawning areas. By combining the calculation of the concentration fields with the spreading calculations of the larvae, the exposure of a total larvae population (one year stock) can be estimated.The paper concludes that under unfavourable conditions, the overlap between the hydrocarbon concentration fields and the geographical distribution of larvae at its most vulnerable stage may cause a significant impact on a population level.     

The Svalbard Intertidal Zone: A Concept for the Use of GIS in Applied Oil Sensitivity,Vulnerability and Impact Analyses

Historical oil spills have shown that environmental damage on the seashore can be measured by acute mortality of single species and destabilisation of the communities. The biota, however, has the potential to recover over some period of time. Applied to the understanding of the fate of oil and population and community dynamics, the impact can be described by the function of the following two factors: the immediate extent and the duration of damage. A simple and robust mathematical model is developed to describe this process in the Svalbard intertidal. Based on the integral of key biological and physical factors, i.e., community specific sensitivity, oil accumulation and retention capacity of the substrate, ice-cover and wave exposure, the model is implemented by a Geographical Information System (GIS) for characterisation of the habitat’s sensitivity and vulnerability. Geomorphologic maps and georeferenced biological data are used as input. Digital maps of intertidal zone are compiled, indicating the shoreline sensitivity and vulnerability in terms of coastal segments and grid aggregations. Selected results have been used in the national assessment programme of oil development in the Barents Sea for priorities in environmental impact assessments and risk analyses as well as oil spill contingency planning.     

Experience with the use of LCA-modelling (EASEWASTE) in waste management.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) models are becoming the principal decision support tools of waste management systems. This paper describes our experience with the use of EASEWASTE (Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Systems and Technologies), a new computerized LCA-based model for integrated waste management. Our findings provide a quantitative understanding of waste management systems and may reveal consistent approaches to improve their environmental performances. EASEWASTE provides a versatile system modelling facility combined with a complete life-cycle impact assessment and in addition to the traditional impact categories addresses toxicity-related categories. New categories dealing with stored ecotoxicity and spoiled groundwater resources have been introduced. EASEWASTE has been applied in several studies, including full-scale assessments of waste management in Danish municipalities. These studies led to numerous modelling issues: the need of combining process-specific and input-specific emissions, the choice of a meaningful time horizon, the way of accounting for biological carbon emissions, the problem of stored ecotoxicity and aspects of crediting the waste management system with the savings inherent in avoided production of energy and materials. Interpretation of results showed that waste management systems can be designed in an environmentally sustainable manner where energy recovery processes lead to substantial avoidance of emissions and savings of resources.     

Weathering of Oils at Sea: Model/Field Data Comparisons

The SINTEF Oil Weathering Model (OWM) has been extensively tested with results from full-scale field trials with experimental oil slicks in the Norwegian NOFO Sea trials in 1994 and 1995 and the AEA 1997 trials in UK. The comparisons between oil weathering values predicted by the model and ground-truth obtained from the field trials are presented and discussed. Good laboratory weathering data of the specific oil as input to the model is essential for obtaining reliable weathering predictions. Predictions provided by the SINTEF-OWM enable oil spill personnel to estimate the most appropriate “window of opportunity” for use of chemical dispersants under various spill situations. Pre-spill scenario analysis with the SINTEF Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) model system, in which the SINTEF-OWM is one of several components, has become an important part of contingency plans as well as contingency training of oil spill personnel at refineries, oil terminals and offshore installations in Norway.     

Relative values of damage assessed for the Gulf of Mexico,the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

The objective of the present work is to obtain a dollar value as a measure of the relative economic impact of an oil spill at various sites along the coasts of the contiguous United States of America. The model to be used is the NRDAM/CME of the U.S. Department of Interior. The test spills used were 10,000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil, and of medium crude oil. Both background and tidal currents were suppressed. A wind speed of 10 knots was used; wind direction was chosen to ensure landfall of the oil. Other input variables were taken to be the default values to minimize the number of variables. The locations for the highs and lows of damages assessed are found to be different for the two oils studied. This method may be used as a measure of the relative economic importance of the various natural resources along the maritime coasts of the contiguous United States with respect to oil spills.     

Prediction of the Dispersal of Oil Transport in the Caspian Sea Resulting from a Continuous Release

A 3-D hybrid flow/transport model has been developed to predict the dispersal of oil pollution in coastal waters. The transport module of the model takes predetermined current and turbulent diffusivities and uses Lagrangian tracking to predict the motion of individual particles (droplets), the sum of which constitute a hypothetical oil spill. Currents and turbulent diffusivities used in the model have been generated by a numerical ocean circulation model (Princeton ocean model) implemented for the Caspian Sea. The basic processes affecting the fate of the oil spill are taken into account and parameterized in the transport model.The hybrid model is implemented for a simulated continuous release in the coastal waters of the Caspian Sea. The potential of the model for the prediction of the advective and turbulent transport and dispersal of oil spills is demonstrated.     

Bioremediation of Stranded Oil on an Arctic Shoreline

The application of slow-release and soluble fertilizers proved to be an effective and environmentally benign way of stimulating oil biodegradation on an Arctic shoreline. Fertilizer application to the surface of the beach delivered nutrients to the oiled sediment beneath the beach surface. There was no significant run-off of this fertilizer to either the nearshore water or to unfertilized plots, and there were no adverse toxicological effects of the fertilizer application. The fertilizer application was followed by an increase in oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide evolution from the beach, increased microbial biomass, and significantly greater biodegradation of oil on the plots that had received fertilizer. The rate of oil biodegradation was approximately doubled over the course of a year by fertilizer applications in the first two months after the spill.Simple test kits proved adequate to monitor the fertilizer-application process in the field in a time frame that would allow the application process to be fine-tuned during treatment on a real spill. Simple test kits and portable instrumentation were useful in demonstrating the initial success of the bioremediation strategy.     

Summary of Development and Field Testing of the Transrec Oil Recovery System

This paper summarizes the development, field testing and performance evaluation of the Transrec oil recovery system including the Framo NOFO Transrec 350 skimmer and multi-functional oil spill prevention and response equipment and presents performance data, not published before, from full-scale experimental oil spills in the North Sea from 1981 to 1990. The rare data provides useful information for evaluation of mechanical clean-up capabilities and efficiency, in particular, for responders who are using this equipment in many countries around the world.The development of the Transrec oil recovery system represents one of the most comprehensive efforts funded to date by the oil industry in Norway to improve marine and open ocean oil spill response capabilities. The need for improvements was based upon early practical user experience with different oil recovery systems, and test results from experimental oil spills in the North Sea.The result of the development efforts increased: (1) skimmer efficiency from approximately 15–75% (it reached 100% under favorable environmental conditions); (2) oil emulsion recovery rate from approximately 20–300 m³/h; (3) recovery system efficiency from approximately 15–85% in 1.5 m significant wave height; (4) oil emulsion thickness from approximately 15–35 cm; (5) weather-window for mechanical recovery operations from 1.5 to 3.0 m significant wave height; (6) capability for transfer of recovered oil residue to shuttle tankers in up to 4 m significant wave height and 45 knot winds; (7) capability for operations at night.The new Transrec oil recovery system with the special J-configuration virtually eliminated skimming operation downtime, and damage to booms and equipment failures that had been caused by oil spill response vessel (OSRV) problems with maintaining skimming position in the previous three-vessel oil recovery system with the boom towed in U-configuration. The time required to outfit OSRVs dropped from approximately 30–<1 h, reducing time from notification to operation on site by more than 24 h.Improvement in oil recovery resulted in the acceptance of a new oil spill preparedness and response plan. The new plan reduced the need for oil recovery systems from 21 to 14, towing vessels in preparedness from 42 to 18, and personnel on stand-by from 135 to 70, which subsequently reduced the total contingency and operational costs by almost 50%. These cost reductions resulted from lower contingency fees for personnel, fewer towing vessels on stand-by, less expensive open ocean training and exercises, less equipment and reduced storage space to lease, and simplified equipment maintenance.     

Current predictions for oil spill models

Baroclinic currents for flow along the North Coast of British Columbia were modelled using a finite element approach. Observational data from Loran-C drifters were used to get surface truth data. Least squares fit was applied to both the wind-driven current and baroclinic current compared with the drifter velocities in Dixon Entrance and Hecate Straits. The current data achieved was found to be useful for oil spill modelling.     

Introduction/Overview to In Situ Burning of Oil Spills

In situ burning is an oil spill response technique or tool that involves the controlled ignition and burning of the oil at or near the spill site on the surface of the water or in a marsh (see Lindau et al., this volume). Although controversial, burning has been shown on several recent occasions to be an appropriate oil spill countermeasure. When used early in a spill before the oil weathers and releases its volatile components, burning can remove oil from the waters surface very efficiently and at very high rates. Removal efficiencies for thick slicks can easily exceed 95% (Advanced In Situ Burn Course, Spiltec, Woodinville, WA, 1997). In situ burning offers a logistically simple, rapid, inexpensive and if controlled a relatively safe means for reducing the environmental impacts of an oil spill. Because burning rapidly changes large quantities of oil into its primary combustion products (water and carbon dioxide), the need for collection, storage, transport and disposal of recovered material is greatly reduced. The use of towed fire containment boom to capture, thicken and isolate a portion of a spill, followed by ignition, is far less complex than the operations involved in mechanical recovery, transfer, storage, treatment and disposal (The Science, Technology, and Effects of Controlled Burning of Oil Spills at Sea, Marine Spill Response Corporation, Washington, DC, 1994).However, there is a limited window-of-opportunity (or time period of effectiveness) to conduct successful burn operations. The type of oil spilled, prevailing meteorological and oceanographic (environmental) conditions and the time it takes for the oil to emulsify define the window (see Buist, this volume and Nordvik et al., this volume). Once spilled, oil begins to form a stable emulsion: when the water content exceeds 25% most slicks are unignitable. In situ burning is being viewed with renewed interest as a response tool in high latitude waters where other techniques may not be possible or advisable due to the physical environment (extreme low temperatures, ice-infested waters), or the remoteness of the impacted area. Additionally, the magnitude of the spill may quickly overwhelm the deployed equipment necessitating the consideration of other techniques in the overall response strategy (The Science, Technology, and Effects of Controlled Burning of Oil Spills at Sea, Marine Spill Response Corporation, Washington, DC, 1994; Proceedings of the In Situ Burning of Oil Spills Workshop. NIST. SP934. MMS. 1998, p. 31; Basics of Oil Spill Cleanup, Lewis Publishers, Washington, DC, 2001, p. 233). This paper brings together the current knowledge on in situ burning and is an effort to gain regulatory acceptance for this promising oil spill response tool.     

Real time oil spill forecasting during an experimental oil spill in the arctic ice

The oil spill trajectory and weathering model OILMAP was used to forecast spill trajectories for an experimental oil spill in the Barents Sea marginal ice zone. The model includes capabilities to enter graphically and display environmental data governing oil behavior: ice fields, tidal and background current fields, and wind time series, as well as geographical map information. Forecasts can also be updated from observations such as airplane overflights. The model performed well when wind was ‘off-ice’ and speeds were relatively low (3–7 m s⁻¹), with ice cover between 60 and 90%. Errors in forecasting the trajectory could be directly attributed to errors in the wind forecasts. Appropriate drift parameters for oil and ice were about 25% of the wind speed, with an Ekman veering angle of 35° to the right. Ice sheets were typically 1 m thick. When the wind became ‘on-ice’, wind speeds increased to about 10 m s⁻¹ and trajectory simulations began to diverge from the observations, with observed drift parameters being 1.5% of the wind speed, with a 60° veering angle. Although simple assumptions for the large scale movement of oil in dense ice fields appear appropriate, the importance of good wind forecasts as a basis for reliable trajectory prognoses cannot be overstated.     

Quantitative analysis of alternate oil spill response strategies using OSCAR

A three-dimensional numerical model of the physical and chemical behavior and fate of spilled oil has been coupled to a model of oil spill response actions. This coupled system of models for Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR), provides a tool for quantitative, objective assessment of alternative oil spill response strategies. Criteria for response effectiveness can be either physical (‘How much oil comes ashore?’ or ‘How much oil have we recovered?’) or biological (‘How many biologically sensitive areas were affected?’ or ‘What exposures will fish eggs and larvae experience in the water column?’). The oil spill combat module in the simulator represents individual sets of equipment, with capabilities and deployment strategies being specified explicitly by the user. The coupling to the oil spill model allows the mass balance of the spill to be affected appropriately in space and time by the cleanup operation as the simulation proceeds. An example application is described to demonstrate system capabilities, which include evaluation of the potential for both surface and subsurface environmental effects. This quantitative, objective approach to analysis of alternative response strategies provides a useful tool for designing more optimal, functional, rational, and cost-effective oil spill contingency solutions for offshore platforms, and coastal terminals and refineries.