Practical Initiative by Pemsea / Earl to Promote OPRC in East Asia

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (1) ◽  
pp. 909-911
Author(s):  
Declan O'Driscoll

ABSTRACT The issue of sustainable development is critical for the future prosperity of East Asia. The Region has seen rapid economic progress in recent years but at a cost to the environment. There is significant oil tanker traffic through the seas of East Asia as oil is transported from the Middle East to North Asia. In recent years, there have been a number of significant spills in the region. The oil industry has been active in establishing resources in the region, including East Asia Response Limited, to help with the response to oil spills. A GEF/UNDP/MO initiative PEMSEA (Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia) has been developing and promoting strategies and action plans to ensure better environmental management in East Asia. This can be best achieved by building partnerships amongst all the concerned stakeholders, public and private, at local, national and regional levels. Strengthening the technical and management expertise in environmental issues, including oil spills, of local government officials within the region is a key element in ensuring long term sustainable development. The private sector can play a very useful role in helping to build this expertise. East Asia Response and PEMSEA have been collaborating closely to improve the oil spill response knowledge and expertise of local officials in the region. Delegates to jointly held training courses have come from Brunei, Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The courses have allowed us a valuable opportunity to present to the delegates the oil industry's approach to oil spill response. Topics, such as the tiered response concept, contingency planning and net environmental benefit analysis have been well received. Delegates will now be better able to promote oil spill response preparedness and response capability in their home country, thereby, contributing to the sustained development of their economy.

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 1167-1169
Author(s):  
Joseph V. Mullin

ABSTRACT The Minerals Management Service (MMS), is the principal U.S. government agency funding offshore oil spill response research. The MMS, a bureau of the Department of the Interior, maintains a comprehensive Oil Spill Response Research program in support of oil spill prevention and response. Through funding provided by MMS, scientists and engineers from the public and private sectors worldwide are working to address outstanding gaps in information and technology concerning the cleanup of oil spills. Joint research projects with Environment Canada (EC) continue to focus on determining the physical and chemical properties of crude oil, the fate and behavior of spilled oil, remote sensing and mapping of oil slicks, chemical treating agents including dispersants, and innovative shoreline cleanup strategies. In joint projects with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), MMS continues to assess the capabilities of in situ burning as an oil spill response tool. Also discussed is OHMSETT, the national Oil Spill Response Test Facility. OHMSETT is the only facility in the world where government agencies, universities, and private companies can conduct full-scale oil spill response equipment testing, research, and training with oil under controlled conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Abigail Renegar ◽  
Nicholas R. Turner

AbstractCoral reefs are keystone coastal ecosystems that are at risk of exposure to petroleum from a range of sources, and are one of the highest valued natural resources for protection in Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA) in oil spill response. Previous research evaluating dissolved hydrocarbon impacts to corals reflected no clear characterization of sensitivity, representing an important knowledge gap in oil spill preparedness related to the potential impact of oil spills to the coral animal and its photosymbiont zooxanthellae. This research addresses this gap, using a standardized toxicity protocol to evaluate effects of a dissolved reference hydrocarbon on scleractinian corals. The relative sensitivity of five Atlantic scleractinian coral species to hydrocarbon exposure was assessed with 48-h assays using the reference polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 1-methylnaphthalene, based on physical coral condition, mortality, and photosynthetic efficiency. The threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis was found to be the most sensitive to 1-methylnaphthalene exposure. Overall, the acute and subacute endpoints indicated that the tested coral species were comparatively more resilient to hydrocarbon exposure than other marine species. These results provide a framework for the prediction of oil spill impacts and impact thresholds on the coral animal and related habitats, essential for informing oil spill response in coastal tropical environments.


1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Hunter

ABSTRACT The incident command system (ICS) works for oil spills. It should be the industry standard and some will argue that it already is. But there are a number of temptations to fiddle with it. Fueling these inclinations is the fundamental difference between oil spills and natural disasters: Oil spills make the perpetrator fix the problem—under heavy oversight. Add to this difference the public outcry that attends oil spills and the dual role of government as both helper and prosecutor. From these conditions emerge adaptations of ICS which both weaken and strengthen it. The benefits of ICS are diminished by deputy incident commanders who block unified commanders from access to section chiefs, over-zealous crisis managers who displace command post decisions or its information office, separate press offices with party line slants, government law enforcement activity mixed into spill response, nonstandard operations terminology and structure involving “containment and cleanup” or “salvage,” and the commingling of public and private response funds. ICS's application to oil spill response is strengthened by the use of trained unified commanders, deputy incident commanders who operate as staff rather than line, crisis managers who support on-scene objectives, joint information centers, and heavy involvement of skilled, prepared environmental assessment teams in the planning section who generate priorities, strategies, and (operationally coordinated) tactics. Technically, not all these points constitute alterations of ICS, but most do and the others come close. This mixed bag of strengthening and weakening tweaks to oil spill ICS provides an opportunity to take a new look at this faithful friend to the crisis responder.


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.


Author(s):  
Alexander Krivichev ◽  
Alexander Krivichev

Russian Arctic shelf - rich larder of the hydrocarbons, at the same time Northern Sea Route (NSR) - a strategically important route for transporting them. The extraction and the transportation of the hydrocarbons along the NSR requires the solution of a number of ecological and economic problems in the first place to ensure environmental and technogenic safety. For the solving of these problems on the continental shelf it is required a system of comprehensive measures: - the development of the regulatory framework for environmental support oil and gas projects; - the introduction and use of integrated methods for monitoring environmental conditions at the sites of technogenic loads on the shelf of the Arctic seas, including the use of drones; - creating different models for assessing the marginal stability of ecosystems to technogenic loads during production and transportation of hydrocarbons on the continental shelf based on systems of dynamic simulations; - the development and use of sensitivity maps of coastal areas of the Arctic seas during oil spill response; - accounting of the results of the analysis of the total environmental benefit in the development of oil spill response plans; - application of the principle of "zero" resetting, due to the high fishery valuation in Barents and Kara seas and the conservation of marine biological resources.


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.


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.


1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-133
Author(s):  
Mac W. McCarthy ◽  
John McGrath

ABSTRACT On July 22, 1991, the Tuo Hai, a 46,500 ton Chinese grain carrier, collided with the Tenyo Maru, a 4,800 ton Japanese fish processing ship, off the coast of Washington State. The Tenyo Maru sank, creating an oil spill that cost upwards of $4 million (U.S.) to clean up. The incident initiated a joint response from the U.S. and Canadian governments. As part of this response, the Canadian Coast Guard mobilized an SRN-6 hovercraft. This air cushioned vehicle (ACV) provided logistical support to responders on both sides of the international boundary. The response operation along the Pacific Coast was extensive. Dense fog and the remote location of the impacted area provided formidable challenges to the cleanup effort. It was the mission scenario of the Canadian SRN-6 hovercraft to provide logistical support—as an experiment in ACV utility—to the organizations responding to this incident. Based on this experience, it can be argued that the hovercraft offers great potential value in responding to marine oil spills. Appropriate application of ACV technology can enhance oil spill response work, spill waste management, and incident surveillance. This paper discusses the contribution of the SRN-6 hovercraft to the Tenyo Maru response, briefly examines the use of another, very different hovercraft, during a response in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and reviews a new hovercraft design and discusses its potential contributions.


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