OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLANNING IN THE BALTIC SEA
ABSTRACT In 1986 an oil and gas concession in the Baltic Sea was granted by the Danish Ministry of Energy to a group of oil companies with Norsk Hydro as operator. In this connection, the company initiated a three-year research project in the area, covering the following subjects:The use and development of analytical methods for biomarkers, prior to any oil spill, to identify oil in marine sedimentsBaseline evaluation at 10 sediment stations within the concession area of certain defined heavy metals and hydrocarbonsSimulation of drift, spreading, and fate of oil slicks using advanced computer models calibrated for the Baltic Sea areaCoastal vulnerability mapping of resources and development of a computerized data base system for this information. This paper is a status report on the research, describing the goals achieved midway through the program.