Unmanned Air Systems: Technology and Regulatory Advances for the Oil Spill Response Community

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2017120
Author(s):  
Jeff Williams ◽  
Kevin Hand ◽  
Christian Haselwimmer
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Exercise Tests ◽  
Commercial Use ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Common Operating Picture

Field testing small unmanned air systems (UAS) in marine oil spill response exercises began in 2006. Soon afterward there were multiple credible examples where uas's could complement the traditional roles which manned aircraft filled for oil spill observation. Testing stopped abruptly in 2007 when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration changed rules for the commercial use of uas's. Testing resumed in 2013 after the U.S. Congress mandated that the FAA finalize operating rules for uas commercial use. Exercise tests validated oil spill observation by uas's when an experienced aerial oil spill observer confirmed that properly equipped uas platforms and cameras could offer results equal to manned aircraft flights. Today there are a much wider variety of uas's and increasingly more capable sensors which can be utilized for creating highly detailed maps or data collection for geographic information system applications such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA). Radio technology advances have also improved the ability to transfer video/data over greater distance and faster speeds than initial tests. Mobile ad hoc networks of multiple radios can transfer uas data streams beyond line of sight and connect with the internet for even broader distribution. This same network can also be used by responders in the field to exchange video, voice and location data and be linked real time with command post map displays and data feeds creating a true common operating picture across the entire response effort. From an organizational perspective, uas's are not discussed in the 2014 USCG Incident Management Handbook. Despite this however, their activities need coordinated with manned aircraft through Air Operations for regulations and safety. Staging them at airports serves little purpose given their flexibility and small size. Better utilization would be achieved placing the uas and operators near the command posts or at staging sites alongside the boats or vehicles they would work from. Their unique differences would also support creating a UAS Group Supervisor in Air Operations to clarify their requirements and tasking. The Situation Unit would typically be the best central receiving point for incoming data and from there aerial observers and data specialists can route video / data to operations, gis users and display operators managing the common operating picture. Additional topics for final presentation:*See and avoid capabilities*Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) transmitters/receivers*Night flights approval*New operator regulations not requiring pilot's license

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTION RESPONSE EFFORT—BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE SPILL

1989 ◽  
Vol 1989 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-191
Author(s):  
Darryle M. Waldron
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Contingency Planning ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Business Philosophy

ABSTRACT Oil spill response has evolved tremendously over the past 20 years in technology and technique, as well as in the social demand for a clean environment. The cost of response to a pollution incident has likewise grown at a time in which both federal and private funds are less available. Although the spiller may publicly claim he will clean up the spill no matter what the cost, cost becomes an issue as the bills start coming in. The purpose of this paper is to provoke consideration of the financial management of an oil spill response, not only to reduce costs, but to reduce confusion during the early days of a response. As in any type of emergency response, contingency planning is essential for success. Having designated, but flexible, procedures and plans in place before the spill will allow the experts to concentrate on mitigation instead of future litigation. The ideas presented here are based on experience in federal responses, common sense, basic financial management principles, and a business philosophy of integrity and efficiency.

EFFECTIVELY MANAGING LEVEL OF EFFORT IN OIL SPILL CLEANUP: RESOLVING THE “HOW CLEAN IS CLEAN” ISSUE

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 663-666
Author(s):  
Peter A. Tebeau
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Oil Spill Cleanup ◽  
Level Of Effort

ABSTRACT Successful oil spill response requires effectively managing the level of effort devoted to response operations. This includes choosing appropriate technologies and implementing them to achieve optimal environmental benefit, while controlling costs. At the end of the response, effective management requires resolving the “how clean is clean” issue to ensure a smooth termination of the response effort. Various approaches to making these management decisions are reviewed, based on experience in the Exxon Valdez, American Trader, and Morris J. Berman spills. The advantages and constraints of these approaches are summarized, along with suggestions about how the process might be facilitated.

The Refugio Oil Spill Response: Case Study and Lessons’ Learned/Best Practices for the Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Yvonne Najah Addassi ◽  
Julie Yamamoto ◽  
Thomas M. Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
California Department ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Santa Barbara County ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT The Refugio Oil Spill occurred on May 19, 2015, due to the failure of an underground pipeline, owned and operated by a subsidiary of Plains All-American Pipeline near Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County. The Responsible Party initially estimated the amount of crude oil released at about 104,000 gallons, with 21,000 gallons reaching the ocean. A Unified Command (UC) was established consisting of Incident Commanders from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), Santa Barbara County, and Plains Pipeline with additional participation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California State Parks. Within hours, the CDFW closed fisheries and the following day Governor Brown declared a state of emergency for Santa Barbara County. The released oil caused heavy oiling of both on and offshore areas at Refugio State Beach and impacted other areas of Santa Barbara and Ventura. A number of factors created unique challenges for the management of this response. In addition to direct natural resource impacts, the closure of beaches and fisheries occurred days before the Memorial Day weekend resulting in losses for local businesses and lost opportunities for the public. The Santa Barbara community, with its history with oil spills and environmental activism, was extremely concerned and interested in involvement, including the use of volunteers on beaches. Also this area of the coast has significant tribal and archeologic resources that required sensitive handling and coordination. Finally, this area of California’s coast is a known natural seep area which created the need to distinguish spilled from ‘naturally occurring’ oil. Most emergency responses, including oil spills, follow a similar pattern of command establishment, response and cleanup phases, followed by non-response phase monitoring, cleanup and restoration. This paper will analyze the Refugio oil spill response in three primary focus areas: 1) identify the ways in which this spill response was unique and required innovative and novel solutions; 2) identify the ways in which this response benefited from the ‘lessons’ learned from both the Deepwater Horizon and Cosco Busan oil spills; and 3) provide a summary of OSPR’s response evaluation report for Refugio, with specific focus on how the lessons learned and best practices will inform future planning efforts within California.

BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY PROCESSES IN ARCTIC OIL SPILL RESPONSE

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 703-705
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Hall ◽  
Walter J. Henry
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Safety Plan ◽  
The Face ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Behavior Based ◽  
Field Workers

ABSTRACT The Alaska North Slope region is a challenging operating environment. During spill response operations, worksite hazards are magnified and ensuring safety of response personnel becomes more difficult. In the Incident Management Team, the Safety Officer develops a Site Safety Plan to identify hazards and establish guidelines for safe operations. This information is typically communicated to the field workers when they check-in at the Staging Area or other assigned location. The Site Safety Plan alone, however, fails to address specific behaviors of the personnel that lead to unsafe activities. Behavior-Based Safety Processes fill in this missing piece. The PIRATE Process is an example of behavior-based safety at work. PIRATE - Personal Involvement Reduces Accidents to Everyone - is a fundamental part of the safety culture in the Greater Prudhoe Bay operating area. The March 2006 Gathering Center 2 (GC-2) Transit Line oil spill response presented significant challenges to all involved: extreme weather conditions, congested work areas, spilled oil on frozen lake and tundra environments, and complex field operations competing for personnel and resources. Daily involvement with PIRATE (and similar North Slope Behavior-Based Safety Processes) has made the workforce acutely aware of each individuar'S role in workplace safety, enhancing the overall safety performance of the organization. This poster shows some of the difficulties of a complex arctic oil spill response, and the application of Behavior-Based Safety Processes to enable safe and efficient operations in the face of these challenges.

ESA Section 7: Time for a Refresh in the Pre-Spill Planning Consultation Process

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-192
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Crecy ◽  
Melissa E. Perera ◽  
Elizabeth J. Petras ◽  
John A. Tarpley
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Service Agency ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT #2017-373 Federal agencies involved in oil spill response in the U.S. are required to comply with several environmental compliance laws. Where a Federal agency is operating in a way that may affect endangered species in the area, Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the agency to “consult” with the two Federal agencies responsible for protecting those species and habitats – the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, nonprofit organizations filed several lawsuits against the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (the “Action Agencies”) for failure to comply with the ESA during oil spill contingency planning. In one case, a settlement required the Action Agencies to consult with the NMFS and USFWS (together, called the “Services”) on the plan to use oil spill dispersants in California waters. Perhaps responding to these developments, several Regional Response Teams across the country initiated or made plans to review the status of their ESA Section 7 consultations. These efforts have varied in cost, scope, composition of agency representatives involved, and success in completing a consultation for a variety of reasons. There have been numerous challenges for USCG and EPA in meeting the ESA Section 7 consultation requirements for oil spill planning. First, the most recent framework for cooperation between the Action Agencies and the Services regarding consulting on oil spill planning and response activities is contained in an Interagency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed in 2001. Although the agreement is still valid, some parts have been identified as outdated or in need of clarification. Secondly, there are no direct funding mechanisms or dedicated personnel assigned to the Action Agencies to work on pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultations. Third, recommendations and consultation outcomes can vary between Service agencies as well as internally within each Service agency due to a high level of regional autonomy. In 2015, the National Response Team (NRT) formed a new, interagency subcommittee to improve the Federal Action Agencies’ ability to comply with environmental laws such as the ESA with respect to oil spill response and pre-spill planning. A workgroup of the NRT Subcommittee was formed to specifically address pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultation processes. The workgroup includes regional and national representatives from the Action Agencies and the Services. In addition to strengthening relationships and understanding among the participating agencies, the workgroup has identified gaps in the 2001 MOA and is in the process of developing tools and templates on how to conduct pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultations to help fill some of the existing gaps. The workgroup ultimately hopes to facilitate the development of updated, complete, efficient, and consistent ESA Section 7 consultations across the nation.

ICS CONTRIBUTES TO THE NORTH CAPE OIL SPILL RESPONSE1

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 737-742
Author(s):  
LT Tina M. Burke ◽  
LT John P. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Management System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Incident Command System ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
The North ◽  
Oil Spill Response

ABSTRACT In recent years, the usefulness of the incident command system (ICS) has received much attention. Much of the oil industry and several government agencies involved in all types of emergency response have been using ICS for many years. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard formally adopted the national interagency incident management system (NIIMS) ICS as the response management system of choice in February of 1996. The response to the tank barge North Cape grounding was a complex multiagency effort that brought with it many of the issues and problems responders face when dealing with crisis situations. This paper describes the ICS-based organization that was established to respond to the major North Cape oil spill, analyzes the organization compared to standard ICS, and discusses how the ICS framework and principles contributed to the success of the response. It also explains how closer conformity to standard ICS could have remedied many of the issues that later surfaced as lessons learned, resulting in improved response efficiency. The North Cape response provides a vivid example of how ICS is a helpful management tool that, if rigorously learned and applied in a widespread fashion, can greatly enhance the nation's oil spill response posture.

scholarly journals Examination of Current BSEE Oil Spill Response Research Efforts

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen N. Stone ◽  
Jay J. Cho ◽  
Kristi J. McKinney
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Naval Research ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
The U.S

Abstract No.:1141265 In the decade following the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, considerable research and development has been accomplished to address known research gaps to respond to offshore oil spills; however, opportunities to enhance spill response capabilities remain. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is the lead agency in the U.S. regulating energy production on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. BSEE's Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) program is the principal federal source of oil spill response research to improve the detection, containment, treatment/cleanup of oil spills and strives to provide the best available information, science, research, and technology development to key decision makers, industry, and the oil spill response community. The paper will highlight several key collaborative projects with federal and industry stakeholders including System and Algorithm Development to Estimate Oil Thickness and Emulsification through an UAS Platform and Methods to Enhance Mechanical Recovery in Arctic Environments. Additionally, the paper will provide an update on the Development of a Low-emission Spray Combustion Burner to Cleanly Burn Emulsions where we partnered the Naval Research Laboratory and met with industry representatives to incorporate their needs in the final phases of the development effort.

scholarly journals Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into Alaskan Oil Spill Response–Applied Case Studies and Operational Protocols

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Garron ◽  
Jereme M. Altendorf
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Federal Management

ABSTRACT> (PS1-02) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have a high potential value to support oil spill response activities due to their capabilities to provide real-time situational awareness. A variety of UAS are available to support response activities, and determining the precise aircraft, sensor payload and flight patterns will depend on the operational need for surveillance. In support of UAS integration into America's airspace, the FAA has defined general protocols for the commercial use of small UAS (less than 55 lbs. total take-off weight) in 14 CFR Part 107. However, these regulations do not address any other concerns associated with flight of these small aircraft, such as shared operational airspace within a temporary flight restriction area, or regulations for flight over animals that fall under state or federal management. To address this lack of policy, a UAS protocol for flights of small UAS during oil spill response activities was developed and integrated into a series of tabletop oil spill exercises conducted in Alaska during 2018. The UAS protocol was vetted with state and federal agencies responsible for wildlife management both on and offshore, was modified for execution in remote as well as urban locations, and has been integrated into Area Contingency Plans in Alaska. This presentation will highlight the operational components of the UAS operational protocol, as well as the challenges, both perceived and actual, to UAS integration into the incident management structure of an oil spill response.

WORKER SAFETY AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 945-946
Author(s):  
Jonathan K. Waldron
Keyword(s):  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
Safety Requirements ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Hazardous Waste Disposal ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
And Training

ABSTRACT The current worker safety requirements focus primarily on land-based hazardous waste disposal sites and emergency operations at land sites. It is often difficult to interpret the application of these requirements in the context of marine-related oil spill response operations. Overlapping governmental jurisdictions can cause problems associated with worker safety activities and suggestions relating to the application of safety requirements to persons who may become involved with a response effort are offered.

CASE STUDIES OF STANDARDIZED TECHNIQUES TO DOCUMENT SHORELINE OILING CONDITIONS

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 904-905
Author(s):  
Edward H. Owens ◽  
Gary A. Sergy ◽  
Jacqueline Michel
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Technical Support ◽  
Standardized Assessment ◽  
Environment Canada ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Standard Terms ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT The concept of standard terms and definitions, forms or checklists, and sketches is intended as the foundation for a variety of field programs or surveys designed and tailored to meet specific goals. The idea of standardized assessment procedures has developed over recent years to meet the requirements of spill response managers and planners prior to shoreline cleanup or treatment. The approach has been adopted by Environment Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a primary technical support tool for oil spill response. This paper presents eight case studies that illustrate a range of applications.

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