COLD REGIONS SPILL RESPONSE1

1979 ◽  
Vol 1979 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-358
Author(s):  
Gordon D. Marsh ◽  
Lawrence A. Schultz ◽  
Frank W. DeBord
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Cold Regions ◽  
Response System ◽  
Arctic Pollution ◽  
Broken Ice ◽  
System Requirements

ABSTRACT As a part of its Arctic Pollution Response Research and Development Program, the U.S. Coast Guard in 1977 awarded a systems analysis contract to ARCTEC Incorporated to identify the pollution response system requirements for dealing with spills in ice-infested waters. A cold regions oil pollution response system was defined through an engineering and cost effectiveness analysis of six oil spill scenarios, selected to encompass the broad range of oil spill and environmental conditions likely to be encountered offshore Alaska. Also identified were modifications to the system required to extend the response capability to the seasonally ice-infested waters of the lower 48 states, including the Great Lakes, the northern rivers, and the northern coastal regions. Projections were made of the behavior of the spilled oil in ice-infested waters, and oil spill response scenarios were developed for three levels of spill response. Three distinctly different types of spill response operations were identified: (1) for a thick, stable, level shorefast ice situation; (2) for a dynamic, hum-mocky, heavily concentrated broken ice situation; (3) for the case of light broken ice and open water. The presence of ice was found to aid response efforts in some cases and to hinder or preclude response efforts in others. This paper discusses the three types of spill response required for cold regions and reviews the six Alaskan and three lower 48 scenarios used to define the system requirements.

POST-OPA 90 NATIONAL STRIKE FORCE1

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lt. Alvin M. Crickard ◽  
Donald S. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Special Forces ◽  
The Public ◽  
Response System ◽  
Marine Environmental Protection ◽  
National Response ◽  
Federal Water Pollution Control

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.

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO STATE HAS GONE BEFORE1

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 761-765
Author(s):  
William Boland ◽  
Pete Bontadelli
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Marine Safety

ABSTRACT The Marine Safety Division of the 11th Coast Guard District and the California Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response are pursuing new avenues to assure that federal, state, and local efforts in California achieve the goals of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990. Coordination of the seven California area committees, publishing detailed area contingency plans, and the implemention of a memorandum of agreement on oil spill prevention and response highlight recent cooperative successes. In 1994 a joint Coast Guard/state/industry incident command system task force drafted an ICS field operations guide and incident action plan forms that meet National Interagency Incident Management System and fire scope ICS requirements.

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD ARCTIC OIL-POLLUTION PROGRAM*

1975 ◽  
Vol 1975 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-264
Author(s):  
J.H. Getman
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Field Evaluation ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Cold Weather ◽  
United States Coast Guard ◽  
Surveillance And Response ◽  
Arctic Pollution ◽  
Arctic Conditions

ABSTRACT With the burgeoning forecasts of oil production and transportation in the cold weather regions-especially Alaska-expectations of spills in the fragile and hostile arctic environment must increase. The Coast Guard, responsible for maritime pollution control, has stepped up its arctic pollution surveillance and response research and development Field experiments on the behavior of oil-one under summer conditions in 1970, and another under winter conditions in 1972-have been run. These indicated that oil spreads at a much slower rate under arctic conditions, and that it pooled on and under the ice. Oil is quickly covered by snow, but the resulting mulch is easily handled by mechanical means. Burning was always a readily available and effective alternate means of removal. Off-the-shelf equipment was evaluated in 1973, resulting in a number of conclusions concerning barriers and moorings, oil recovery systems, and personnel. Based on this field evaluation, there will be additional oil/ice tests of recovery devices.

ESTIMATING THE RESPONSE GAP FOR TWO OPERATING AREAS IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, ALASKA

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 615-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim L. Robertson ◽  
S. Anil Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Response System ◽  
Operating Limits ◽  
Oil Spill Response

ABSTRACT Technological advancements in oil spill response systems have contributed to more proficient oil spill response operations. Yet, there are still times when oil is being shipped but environmental conditions, such as wind, waves, temperature, and visibility, preclude effective spill response operations. The Response Gap is this window between the point of maximum mechanical response capacity and the weather-based limits of oil transportation. To quantify the Response Gap for two operating areas in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, historical datasets of the environmental factors known to affect the open-water mechanical response system were assembled. Each dataset contained observations related to four environmental factors: wind, sea state, temperature, and visibility. These datasets were used in a “hind-cast” to evaluate how often environmental conditions exceed the response operating limits. Response operating limits were determined based on a thorough review of the published literature, existing contingency plans, regulatory standards, and after-action reports, with the objective of establishing realistic limits for the existing open-water response system. Response limits were then coded using the colors red (response not possible), yellow (response possible but impaired), and green (response possible) for a particular environmental factor during each operational period. A Response Gap Index (RGI) was calculated to incorporate the interactions between environmental factors. Once the RGI was computed for each observational period, the dataset was summarized to produce an estimate of the amount of time that the Response Gap existed. The met-ocean climatology is characterized using histograms and joint-probability distribution plots, with the RGI superimposed. At Hinchinbrook Entrance, sea state exceeded the operating limits 19.2% of the time and wind exceeded the limits 2.9% of the time. When the environmental factors were considered together, the response limitations were exceeded 37.7% of the time. Not surprisingly, the response limits were exceeded more often in winter (65.4% of the time) than in summer (15.6% of the time). Results for Central PWS indicated that the response limitations were exceeded only 12.6% of the time. The paper discusses ways to improve the present subjective quantification of response limits, particularly through additional field trials and modeling of mechanical recovery systems.

Integrated Vessel Response Plan Format

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 635-638
Author(s):  
William C. Rogers ◽  
Jean R. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Response Planning ◽  
Vessel Response ◽  
Response Plan ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT Oil shipping companies operating on the West Coast of the United States are subject to international, federal, and state oil spill prevention and response planning regulations. Many companies wrote separate plans for each jurisdiction with the result that tank vessels carried several different plans on board and parent companies faced an administrative burden in keeping plans current. In June 1996, oil shipping company representatives proposed that the States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force work with them to develop a format incorporating West Coast states' and U.S. Coast Guard contingency planning requirements. A workgroup comprised of representatives of the Task Force, industry, and the U.S. Coast Guard, working cooperatively, eventually proposed a voluntary integrated plan format based on the key elements of the U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Response Plan. This format allowed correlation with state planning requirements as well as with the Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) required by international regulations. The U.S. Coast Guard, the Canadian Ministry of Transport, and all West Coast states have subsequently documented their agreement to accept vessel plans in this format, to coordinate review as needed, and to allow references to public documents such as Area Plans.

Government Initiated Unannounced Exercises (GIUEs): Developing Response Best Practices to Improve Marine Environmental Response Preparedness

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2879-2894
Author(s):  
Christopher Klarmann ◽  
LCDR Johna Rossetti
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Environmental Response ◽  
Vessel Response ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Response Plan ◽  
Marine Environmental

ABSTRACT ID: 2017-101 – GIUEs: Developing Best Practices to Improve Marine Environmental Response Preparedness The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is authorized by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 to conduct Government Initiated Unannounced Exercises (GIUE), a cornerstone of the oil spill exercise cycle. These exercises are instrumental for USCG Captains of the Port (COTP) to evaluate industry preparedness for oil spill response by specifically testing a facility or vessel on notification procedures, response time, and deployment of facility-owned or Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) equipment. Facility Response Plan holders and Vessel Response Plan holders are subject to these exercises under federal regulations 33 C.F.R. § 154 and § 155. In 2013, the USCG restructured their GIUE policy to provide better guidance for employees. This updated policy detailed how to properly plan and conduct a GIUE as well as established expectations following both satisfactory and unsatisfactory exercises. In this paper we will examine the changes that the USCG has made regarding its policy on planning and conducting GIUEs, describe how USCG field units are implementing the new policy, including how unsatisfactory GIUEs are addressed, and examine what commonalities, are being seen in GIUE unsatisfactory results. Finally, we will discuss how plan holders, OSROs, and regulatory agencies can work together to better prepare for responding to an environmental emergency when it occurs.

scholarly journals KenSea – development of an environmental sensitivity atlas for coastal areas of Kenya

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
John Tychsen ◽  
Ole Geertz-Hansen ◽  
Jesper Kofoed
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Maritime Transportation ◽  
Sensitivity Index ◽  
Environmental Sensitivity ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Kenyan Coast ◽  
The Government

The Kenya coastline extends 600 km from the border of Tanzania in the south to the border of Somalia in the north (Fig. 1). The Kenyan coast features a diverse marine environment, including estuaries, mangroves, sea grass beds and intertidal reef platforms and coral reefs, which are vital for the reproduction of marine organisms. These coastal ecosystems are regarded as some of the most valuable in Kenya but face serious threats from the ever increasing human pressure of tourism, industrial pollution, destructive fishing, mangrove logging and other unsustainable uses of marine resources. Another serious threat is the maritime transportation activities along the coast and at the ports. It is estimated that at any given time more than 50 ships operate in the major shipping lanes off the Kenyan coast, of which about nine are oil tankers with capacities ranging from 50 000 to 250 000 tonnes. Furthermore, the harbour of Mombasa serves as the major port for countries in East Africa. In recognition of the risks posed by oil pollution the government of Kenya and the commercial petroleum industry agreed to develop a National Oil Spill Response Contingency Plan (NOSRCP) with the purpose of enabling a speedy and effective response to any oil spill within the territorial waters of Kenya. An important element of this plan was the mapping of the coastal resources and the development of an environmental sensitivity atlas showing the vulnerability of the coast to marine oil spills. In 2004, the Government of Kenya approached the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kenya for financial support to develop an environmental sensitivity atlas. The project was approved and forwarded for funding by the Danish Consultancy Trust Fund administrated by United Nations Operational Program (UNOPS) in Copenhagen. The project was announced in Denmark, and the KenSea group headed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) was awarded the contract. The project comprises four phases: (1) data compilation and development of the KenSea database, (2) development of a coastal classification for Kenya, (3) development of the sensitivity index jointly with a group of stakeholders, and (4) compilation of the KenSea environmental sensitivity atlas (Tychsen 2006).

scholarly journals Improving the forecasting of oil spills from underwater sources

2021 ◽  
pp. 106-117
Author(s):  
В.С. Наумов ◽  
А.Е. Пластинин ◽  
А.Н. Каленков ◽  
Н.С. Родина
Keyword(s):  
Regression Model ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Underwater Movement ◽  
The Baltic

При прогнозировании процессов всплытия нефти от подводных источников в условиях открытой воды существует необходимость получения информации в ускоренном временном режиме для эффективного планирования защитных мероприятий в целях минимизации вреда окружающей среде, что возможно достичь совместным применением методов вычислительной гидродинамики и математической статистики. В работе приведено описание усовершенствованной математической модели всплытия нефтепродуктов от подводных источников. В целях повышения функциональности ранее созданной авторами системы уравнений связи для оценки параметров области возможного всплытия нефти увеличен диапазон изменения одного из ключевых независимых факторов – глубина водоема. В качестве факторов рассматривались: время всплытия, площадь области всплытия нефти, скорость глубинных течений, объем и тип разлитого нефтепродукта, глубина водоема. Новая регрессионная модель прогноза подводного движения разлива нефти обеспечивает прогнозирование распространения нефтяного загрязнения на морских акваториях. Представлены результаты оценки качества разработанной регрессионной модели прогноза подводного движения разлива нефти при всплытии, которая позволяет выполнять оценку параметров области всплытия нефти с одновременным учетом процессов растекания и перемещения под действием глубинных течений. Разработана методика прогноза подводного движения разлива нефти и алгоритм ее практической реализации. Определены структуры входных и выходных данных алгоритма. Приведен пример практического применения модели в Балтийском море. When predicting the processes of oil surfacing from underwater sources in open water conditions, there is a need to obtain information in an accelerated time mode for effective planning of protective measures in order to minimize environmental harm, which can be achieved by the combined application of computational fluid dynamics and mathematical statistics. The paper describes an improved mathematical model for the emergence of oil products from underwater sources. In order to increase the functionality of the system of constraint equations previously created by the authors for assessing the parameters of the area of possible oil flooding, the range of variation of one of the key independent factors, the depth of the reservoir, has been increased. The factors considered were the ascent time, the area of the oil surfacing, the speed of deep currents, the volume and type of spilled oil product, and the depth of the reservoir. The new regression model for predicting the underwater movement of an oil spill provides for predicting the spread of oil pollution in offshore areas. The paper presents the results of assessing the quality of the developed regression model for predicting the underwater movement of an oil spill during ascent, which makes it possible to assess the parameters of the area of oil ascending while taking into account the processes of spreading and movement under the influence of deep currents. A method for predicting the underwater movement of an oil spill and an algorithm for its practical implementation have been developed. The structures of the input and output data of the algorithm are determined. An example of the practical application of the model in the Baltic Sea is given.

scholarly journals United States and Canada Transboundary Oil Spill Liability and Compensation Regimes: An Overview

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helkei S. Hemminger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Marine Habitat ◽  
Inland Waterways ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
The Impact

Abstract # —1141278 — In 2018, the Canadian government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline, running from Alberta to British Columbia, along with the plans for expansion. The expansion could triple the transport capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of oil per day, and would increase the tanker traffic in the inland waterways of the Salish Sea, an area known for its sensitive marine habitat, and narrow, difficult to navigate passages. The anticipated increase in tanker traffic in this busy waterway continues to raise concerns about the impact of an oil spill and the financial means to address related injuries, particularly to natural resources. The transboundary nature of any spill further complicates the situation vis-à-vis the applicable liability regimes and response resources. Under the Canada-United States Joint Marine Contingency Plan (“JCP”), the United States Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard acknowledge each country's responsibility to fund their own response actions and pursue reimbursement of those costs within their respective jurisdictions. The availability of funding for a response, and to compensate injured parties, however, including the limits of liability of the responsible party, differs under each regime, and could impact the nature and scope of a response. For spills into or posing a substantial threat to the navigable waters of the United States, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 governs and a national fund, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (“OSLTF”), is immediately available to address an incident, including emergency restoration to natural resources. Canada's Marine Liability Act enables the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund (“SOPF”) to pay claimants who have incurred damages as a result of oil pollution. Both countries' funds operate under the same principal—the polluter pays—but the compensation structure, and claims processes and procedures are entirely different. This paper provides an overview of these funding sources and claims procedures, comparing and contrasting the different systems. The discussion is meant to provide an overall understanding of potential funding pools available for spill responses under each scheme in order to facilitate transboundary spill planning and discussion.

Feasibility Study and Preliminary Design of a Channel Buoy Mounted Oil Sensor System

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (01) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
Matthew William Lake
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Sensor System ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Transmitter Power ◽  
Sensing Platform ◽  
Routine Surveillance

Due to high vessel traffic and the presence of industry, oil pollution is often an overwhelming menace. Oil spills potentially may remain undetected for long periods of time, despite routine surveillance by the Coat Guard and other environmental agencies. A Channel Buoy Mounted Oil Sensor System capable of warning oil spill response units of the presence of oil immediately after a spill occurs would greatly increase the effectiveness of cleanup efforts. The Channel Buoy Mounted Oil Sensor System (CBMOSS) has been designed to detect oil spills and subsequently send an alarm via a VHF-FM transmitter. This alarm could be received by a centralized monitoring station. The CBMOSS consists of an infrared oil monitor, logic circuit, VHF transmitter, power unit, and an antenna. The system is designed to be mounted and powered by existing U.S. Coast Guard lighted buoys. The system is fairly low powered and capable of running off existing power sources aboard lighted buoys. Due to the utilization of off-the-shelf components and low cost electrical gear, this system is relatively inexpensive. Though the Channel Buoy Mounted Oil Sensor System is intended to be used on buoys throughout a body of water at locations where there is a high probability of an oil spill, the system has the potential for use as an oil spill sensing platform in other applications as well.

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