OIL SPILL PREPAREDNESS: THE OIL INDUSTRY AND THE NATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
D.J. Blackmore

It is vital that there is a credible and well organised arrangement to deal with oil spills in Australia.The National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil, the umbrella oil spill response plan for Australia, is a combined effort by the Commonwealth and State Governments, the oil industry and the shipping industry.The Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC), formed in 1991, is an industry centre set up for rapid response with equipment and resources, together with a training and industry coordination role.A review of the National Plan in 1992, identified, amongst a number of issues, that the National Plan needed to be re-focussed, to ensure full integration of all government and industry activities for the first time. This has led to greatly improved understanding between government and industry and significant improvements to Australia's oil spill response preparedness. The National Plan review has also resulted in a clearer definition of the responsibilities for operational control, together with the organisational structure to deliver a successful response.The current state of Australia's National Plan is such that it does provide confidence that there is the capacity to deliver an effective response to oil spills in the marine environment. Nevertheless, there is more to be done, particularly in the areas of planning and exercises.

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 1097-1099
Author(s):  
Richard Santner ◽  
David White ◽  
Bernie Bennett ◽  
Jim Clark ◽  
Yvette Osikilo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The profile of global oil spill risk is continually changing; as exploration/production activities expand, ship and pipeline transportation patterns alter and new fields are developed that encompass different political, economic and environmental challenges. The Tiered Response Concept was first developed by the oil industry in the 1980s as a means to ensure that appropriate response capabilities were available to deal with oil spills. Recognised since then by government and industry as international best practice, the tiered approach ensures a rapid and effective response can be mounted to events ranging from small operational spillages to worse case scenarios. Building response capabilities calls for careful consideration of the specific risks (probable events and their consequences at specific sites) that prevail in each case. The arrangements and resources that are determined appropriate for the risks faced in one case, may thus be deemed excessive, or inadequate, to deal with those prevailing in another. What a particular tier comprises, and the boundaries between the tiers of preparedness, will be different in each case under consideration. These differences may be slight, or very substantial, depending on what circumstances prevail and the tier level under scrutiny. Over the years, operators and government regulators have sought prescriptive rules to define what constitutes a Tier 1, 2 or Tier 3 capability. To address this, the IPIECA Guide to Tiered Preparedness and Response, originally published in the late 1990s, has recently been substantially updated. Whilst retaining the very same core principles, the new Report provides more guidance and illustration of the way in which tiered preparedness and response may be interpreted and implemented in practice. The scope of application, across marine operations in all sectors of the oil industry, has been embraced, and the issues are set out so that they may apply also to land-based scenarios. This Paper introduces the new IPIECA Report, provides clarity on the key features to be considered in assessing the risks of oil spills, and discusses the factors that may influence how preparedness and response capabilities may be built. It has relevance to all organisations involved in building or regulating oil spill response arrangements.


1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Ken Matsumoto

ABSTRACT There are many ways to evaluate the overall performance of an oil spill response operation. There is, or there should be, however, a common standpoint for looking at such operations, irrespective of the size of the spill. Lessons learned through an incident, however trivial, can provide valuable clues to the future improvement of the operation in refineries and oil terminals. But the number of incidents at one location is too few to stand the test of analysis. Evaluation by a variety of methods is now possible based on information and data available through the worldwide news and reporting networks. This paper presents a guideline, which is widely accepted by the Japanese oil industry, for evaluating responses to oil spills, and introduces a concise equation based on the rating of many response elements.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 755-758
Author(s):  
Patrick Ooi ◽  
Declan O'Driscoll ◽  
Sean Ng

ABSTRACT In recent years, the Bohai Bay region has seen increasing activities in the areas of offshore oil exploration and production. This paper looks at the multi-layered approach taken by the oil industry members and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Government Authorities, to address oil spill response (OSR) preparedness and response capabilities in the region. It documents the OSR activities conducted by EARL and the setting up of OSR equipment Centres. A good and strong approach has been given to OSR preparedness and response capability for the Bohai Bay region, by both the Government and oil industry members. This paper identifies, and suggest further steps needed to ensure preparedness and the capability to deliver an effective response to an oil spill incident in the region.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 681
Author(s):  
Nick Quinn

In the post-Montara/Macondo world, the Australian petroleum industry has been actively represented on various working groups focused on the prevention, preparedness and response to significant oil spill incidents. Through the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC) based in Geelong, Victoria, cooperation and coordination with other international associations has been occurring to ensure ‘reasonable steps’ are taken to develop preparedness and response arrangements commensurate with the risks associated with industry activities.Concurrently and here in Australia, a thorough review of the National Plan has allowed industry to work with government to develop or amend a range of initiatives aimed at ensuring that industry and government strategies are integrated for maximum efficiency in all circumstances. The scene has been set by a reviewed national risk assessment focusing on all activities of hydrocarbon movement around the Australian coastline. So what has Australian industry actually achieved post-Montara in prevention, preparedness and response to oil spills? This extended abstract shares and explains the practical outcomes of the industry initiatives of oil spills in Australia. The outcomes are planning requirements, equipment location, mutual aid arrangements, training programs and the extended services of industry oil spill response organisations in Australia and overseas.


1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 797-800
Author(s):  
James Irvine ◽  
Alan Higgins ◽  
Dan Harcharik

ABSTRACT Clean Caribbean Cooperative (CCC), Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL), and East Asia Response Ltd. (EARL) are independent non-profit organisations established by members of the oil industry to provide 24-hour Tier 3 response resources for their members around the world. At considerable cost each maintains 24-hour access to an ADDS Pack unit, the world's largest airborne dispersant application system, as well as keeping equipment and expertise available for more conventional response techniques. Considerable experience has been gained in responding to major spills in many countries, and lessons learnt are shared among the three Centres. Their secondary activities include local Tier 2 response capability, and training and consultancy services on associated issues to members. Most of these services are also available to non-members. In this paper the chairmen of the three Centres review the common backgrounds of these activities and develop a vision of the future of this important contribution by members of the international oil industry to help minimise the impact of major oil spills around the world.


Author(s):  
Alexander Ermolov ◽  
Alexander Ermolov

International experience of oil spill response in the sea defines the priority of coastal protection and the need to identify as most valuable in ecological terms and the most vulnerable areas. Methodological approaches to the assessing the vulnerability of Arctic coasts to oil spills based on international systems of Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and geomorphological zoning are considered in the article. The comprehensive environmental and geomorphological approach allowed us to form the morphodynamic basis for the classification of seacoasts and try to adapt the international system of indexes to the shores of the Kara Sea taking into account the specific natural conditions. This work has improved the expert assessments of the vulnerability and resilience of the seacoasts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6585
Author(s):  
Mihhail Fetissov ◽  
Robert Aps ◽  
Floris Goerlandt ◽  
Holger Jänes ◽  
Jonne Kotta ◽  
...  

The Baltic Sea is a unique and sensitive brackish-water ecosystem vulnerable to damage from shipping activities. Despite high levels of maritime safety in the area, there is a continued risk of oil spills and associated harmful environmental impacts. Achieving common situational awareness between oil spill response decision makers and other actors, such as merchant vessel and Vessel Traffic Service center operators, is an important step to minimizing detrimental effects. This paper presents the Next-Generation Smart Response Web (NG-SRW), a web-based application to aid decision making concerning oil spill response. This tool aims to provide, dynamically and interactively, relevant information on oil spills. By integrating the analysis and visualization of dynamic spill features with the sensitivity of environmental elements and value of human uses, the benefits of potential response actions can be compared, helping to develop an appropriate response strategy. The oil spill process simulation enables the response authorities to judge better the complexity and dynamic behavior of the systems and processes behind the potential environmental impact assessment and thereby better control the oil combat action.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-438
Author(s):  
TERESA SABOL SPEZIO

AbstractIn the face of technology failures in preventing oil from reaching beaches and coasts after catastrophic oil spills in the 1960s and early 1970s, the oil industry and governmental officials needed to quickly reconsider their idea of prevention. Initially, prevention meant stopping spilled oil from coating beaches and coasts. Exploring the presentations at three oil-spill conferences in 1969, 1971 and 1973, this idea of prevention changed as the technological optimism of finding effective methods met the realities of oil-spill cleanup. By 1973, prevention meant stopping oil spills before they happened. This rapid policy transformation came about because the oil industry could not hide the visual evidence of the source of their technology failures. In this century, as policymakers confront invisible pollutants such as pesticides and greenhouse gases, considering ways to visually show the source of the pollution along with the effects could quicken policy decisions.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 929-931
Author(s):  
Victoria Askin

ABSTRACT Cook Inlet Spill Prevention & Response, Inc. (CISPRI) is an oil industry sponsored oil spill response cooperative with headquarters in Nikiski, Alaska. CISPRI presently provides a variety of spill response services in support of member company petroleum operations in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska. Currently, each of CISPRI's 12 member companies has one or more contingency plans (one company has seven). By utilizing a single agency-approved CISPRI Technical Manual, each member is allowed to include in their C-Plan, by reference, all common response information that is included in the CISPRI Technical Manual.


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