recovery of oil spills in marine arctic regions - maritim innovasjon

Recovery of Oil Spills in Marine ArcticRegions

byJanne K. Økland

January 2000

Abstract

This report is part of the course Weathering processes of oil spills supervised byAssociate Professor Per Johan Brandvik.

Different aspects of marine arctic oil spills are investigated. We find that the po-tential for damage to the environment can be large, and that response operations aregenerally difficult to perform. This suggests that efforts should be made to developnew types of and improve the existing equipment for oil combating in cold regions.

It is seen that the time window for effective action is usually in short whenan oil spill occurs. This means that it is of utmost importance to be preparedbefore the situation arises. The consequences of this affect a wide range of areas.Personnel should be well trained and needed equipment easily available. Even ifthe preparedness is high, personnel or equipment can often be in short supply. Apre-made priority list of different geographical areas to protect is then a vital tool tomake the correct decisions when concentrating the effort.

Janne K. Økland

TrondheimJanuary 24, 2000

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CONTENTS

Contents

Abstract i

I Introductionary Part 1

1 Introduction 2

2 The Arctic Region 32.1 Temperature and Ice Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.2 Formation of Sea Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

II Oil Spill Behaviour, Impact and Response 8

3 Weathering Processes 93.1 Spreading and Drift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.2 Evaporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.3 Dissolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.4 Dispersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.5 Emulsification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.6 Photochemical Oxidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123.7 Microbial Degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123.8 Sedimentation and Adsorption onto Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4 Environmental Impact 134.1 Damage to marine life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134.2 Damage to coast line or sea bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144.3 Impact on coastal activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5 Response Methods 165.1 Mechanical Containment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

5.1.1 Mobile Floating Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165.1.2 Subsurface Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.1.3 Berms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.1.4 Excavated Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5.2 Mechanical Diversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205.3 Mechanical Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

5.3.1 Advancing Skimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215.3.2 Stationary Skimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5.4 In-Situ Burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255.4.1 Oil on Water Contained in Booms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255.4.2 Oil on Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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CONTENTS

5.4.3 Oil in Broken Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265.5 Chemical Dispersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6 Special Conditions in Cold Regions 286.1 Properties of Oil in Cold Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286.2 Practical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

III Strategies and Equipment for Recovery of Oil 31

7 Oil Spill Preparedness in Different Countries 327.1 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

7.1.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327.1.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347.1.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

7.2 Denmark, Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367.2.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367.2.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367.2.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

7.3 Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377.3.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377.3.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377.3.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

7.4 Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407.4.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407.4.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417.4.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

7.5 Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437.5.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437.5.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437.5.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

7.6 USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457.6.1 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457.6.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467.6.3 Response Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

8 International Agreements 498.1 International Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

8.1.1 MARPOL 73/78 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498.1.2 Intervention Convention, 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498.1.3 UNCLOS, 1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508.1.4 Basel Convention, 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508.1.5 OPRC, 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

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CONTENTS

8.1.6 Paris Convention, 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508.1.7 OSPAR Convention, 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

8.2 Multilateral agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528.2.1 Copenhagen Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528.2.2 Nordic Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528.2.3 Helsinki Convention, 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528.2.4 Trans-boundary Cooperation to Avert or Mitigate Disasters in Case

of Accidents towards People, Property, or Environment, 1989 . . . . 528.3 Bi-lateral Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

8.3.1 Russia-Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538.3.2 Canada-Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538.3.3 Canada-Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538.3.4 Canada-USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538.3.5 Finland-Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538.3.6 Russia-USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

IV History of Oil Spills 55

9 General trends 56

10 Case studies 5710.1 Bahia Paraiso, Antarctica 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5710.2 Arrow, Canada 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5810.3 Antonio Gramsci, Gulf of Finland 1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5810.4 Athenian Venture, Canada 1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5910.5 Nestucca, Washington 1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5910.6 Exxon Valdez, Alaska 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

V Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen 63

11 Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen 6411.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6411.2 Potential of Marine Oil Spills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6411.3 Important Conditions and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6511.4 The Most Likely Scenarios for Marine Spill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6611.5 Recomendations for Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen . . . . . . . . . . 67

11.5.1 Positioning of Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6811.6 Type of Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6811.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

A Responsible Organizations in Canada 71

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CONTENTS

B Organizations in Canada 73

Bibliography 76

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Part I

Introductionary Part

1 INTRODUCTION

1 Introduction

During the past few decades we have seen an increased level of human activities in theArctic region. Year-round navigation takes place, both for shipping goods and for tourism.Possibilities for oil and gas recovery are being considered, and in some cases recovery hasstarted. These activities imply an increased risk of marine spills of oil in the region. Shipwreckage can cause spilling of bunker fuel. In the case of an oil tanker, larger amounts ofoil can be released. Accidental blow-out at an offshore installation or rupture of pipelineswill also lead to spilling oil or gas.

This report is meant to give an introduction to marine, arctic oil spills. The differentsections cover weathering of oil, potential damage to the environment, recovery equipment,case studies of spill situations and different strategies for response. In the final part we areconcerned about oil spills in a specific area, namely Spitsbergen.

Part II describes the different processes which an marine oil spill can be subjected to.These processes change the properties of the oil, and are in sum called the weathering ofthe oil. Having these processes in mind, we discuss in section 4 what kind of harm thatcan come from an oil spill. Different means for combating oil spills are described in section5, while the the following section concerns special conditions in cold regions.

Oil recovery equipment and response strategies for oil spill actions are presented in partIII. We investigate six of the countries that are part of the arctic region in one or anotherway. The countries are: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Norway, Russia and theUSA. We also give a brief summary of the international agreements that one or more ofthese nations take part in and which are relevant for marine oil pollution.

Part IV contains a summary of some relevant spills in the past, all of them caused byshipping accidents. Section 9 concerns the general trend of oil spills during the past threedecades.

On the basis of this information we point out important parts of an oil spill responsestrategy on Spitsbergen. In part 11 we present the area of Spitsbergen. We outline whichscenarios that are most likely to occur, and describes special difficulties that can arise inthis region. Suitable oil combating equipment is suggested, and we discuss the positioningof such equipment.

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2 THE ARCTIC REGION

2 The Arctic Region

The Arctic region is often defined as the ¡¡region lying north of the Arctic Circle or of thenorthernmost limit of tree growth; the polar area north of the timber line¿¿ (Webster, 1996),but there exists no generally accepted definition. We will extend it to include the regionsin the Northern Hemisphere where there is an extensive ice covertrough out all or parts ofthe year.

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2 THE ARCTIC REGION

Fig. 1: Map of the Arctic region showing the Arctic Circle, areas of permafrost, the treeline and maximumsea ice extent (EDF, web pages).

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2 THE ARCTIC REGION

2.1 Temperature and Ice Conditions

Fig. 2: Average atmospheric temperatures for Arctic areas. Left: Summer conditions, Right: Winterconditions (EDF, web pages).

Fig. 3: Average sea ice extent for Arctic areas(EDF, web pages).

As seen from fig. 2 there is a significant differ-ence in the average temperatures summer andwinter in the area around the North Pole. Insummer there are only two areas with a meantemperature below 0◦C, an elliptical area cover-ing the North Pole and the inner parts of Green-land. During winter there is a much larger areawith subzero temperatures.

At minimum ice extent, which is in the autumn,the ice covers the areas around the northernpart of Alaska, Greenland, and islands north-west in Canada. Also the northern part ofSpitsbergen and some areas of northern Rus-sia can have ice in their coastal waters. At thistime of year there is no ice in the Finish bay.The period of maximum ice extent is springtime.

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2 THE ARCTIC REGION

2.2 Formation of Sea Ice

When ice forms under normal atmospheric conditions and in the temperature range from0◦C to −80◦C, it will be of type Ih, hexagonal ice. The oxygen atoms will form an atomicarrangement like the one shown in fig. 4. The ‘sheets’ perpendicular to the c-axis arecalled the basal planes.

Fig. 4: Molecular structure of ice, Ih (Michel, 1978).

The first layer of ice that forms on the water surface is called the primary layer. In this layerthe c-axis is usually randomly oriented. Below the primary layer, formation of secondaryice will take place, where the c-axes are horizontal. This is because ice grows fastest in thebasal plane. The parts of the ice that have their c-axis horizontally aligned will dominatethe growth and suppress other orientations of the c-axis.

When sea ice forms, salt is expelled and plates of fresh water ice is formed. When theseplates freeze together, pockets of salty water can be trapped between the layers. This iscalled brine pockets. At continued freezing the pocket will decrease in size as the freshwater is frozen to the neighboring ice. At the same time the concentration of salt in theremaining liquid will increase. These pockets of brine, and pockets of air that are formedin a similar way, will make sea ice much weaker than fresh ice. However, multi-year ice issomewhat stronger than first year ice. The reason is that brine is drained out of the iceduring melting periods when brine channels form inside the ice. At re-freezing, the brinechannels will contain less brine and more fresh ice.

Ice is an insulating material. As heat has to be released to the atmosphere for water to gofrom liquid to solid phase, formation of new ice slows down as the thickness of ice increases.It is not likely that more than perhaps 2-3 m of ice will grow in one year.

The ice cover can generally be divided into four different zones. Close to shore we havethe fast ice. It is attached to the shore and the sea floor, a situation that does not permitmuch motion. The extent of this zone depends on the sea depth and also the temperaturein the area. In the outer area there is the pack ice, which is mobile. Between these two

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2 THE ARCTIC REGION

zones there can be a transition zone, a highly ’active ’ area. By active we mean that largestresses are present.

If the pack has a border against open ocean, this is usually called the marginal ice zoneor MIZ. The MIZ is the area of the pack where waves have direct impact on the ice. It ischaracterized by large variations, both spatial and in time. Usually, brash and small floesof ice are found close to the open ocean, but the size increases in the direction of the innerpack. The extent of the MIZ can differ, but is often regarded to be around 100 km.

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Part II

Oil Spill Behaviour, Impact andResponse

3 WEATHERING PROCESSES

3 Weathering Processes

When oil is released into marine environment it will undergo changes in physical andchemical properties. This is due to different weathering processes that influence and impactthe oil. The most important of these are sketched in fig. 5 and their relative importancein fig. 6.

Fig. 5: The most important of the weathering processes for a marine oil spill (ITOPF, web pages).

3.1 Spreading and Drift

As soon as the oil is spilt, it starts spreading on the surface of the sea. The spreading can bedivided into three different phases. In each of the phases one retarding and one spreadingforce are acting. The difference between the forces will give the rate of spreading. Firstthere is the gravity/inertia phase, lasting the first 1-2 hours. After this the gravity/viscousphase begins, lasting for less than a week. The surface tension/viscous phase can last fora couple of months. Note that the speed of spreading will depend on the viscosity of thegiven oil, and the time intervals for the different phases can vary from what is given above.

In calm conditions the spill will ramain as one single slick for a long time. A spill in theocean will start to break up after a few hours, depending on weather conditions. Thebreakup is caused by wind, wave action and turbulence in the water. In general, the oilwill form bands of wind rows that are parallel to the wind direction. The wind stress andthe Coriolis effect will cause the slick to drift at approximately 3% of the wind speed, andat a angle of approximately 15◦ to the right of the wind direction.

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Fig. 6: The relative importance of the weathering processes of an oil spill (Lecture notes, 1999).

There are other conditions that are important for spreading and drift. Some of them aretemperature, currents and tidal streams.

3.2 Evaporation

Light components of the oil will usually evaporate quickly. It is found that componentswith a boiling point below 200◦C will tend to evaporate within 12-24 hours. The rate ofevaporation is highly dependent of the surface area for the spill. Rough seas, high windspeed and increased temperature increases the rate of evaporation, and also the amount ofoil that evaporates.

Evaporation causes important changes in the nature of the oil. Density will increase, asit is the lightest components that evaporate. The viscosity will also increase. The pourpoint, which is the temperature at which it is not possible to pour the oil, will rise. Theflash point is the the temperature at which the atmosphere above the oil will ignite. Thiswill also rise due to evaporation of the lighter components.

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3.3 Dissolution

Some of the compounds in the oil is water soluble, the amounts varies for different oiltypes. For dissolution to take place, there must be an interface between oil and water.

Dissolution does usually not cause a major reduction in the original spill volume. Thisis partly because the soluble compounds are the same fraction of the oil that tend toevaporate. The latter process is much faster, and will remove the components before theyhave time to dissolve.

3.4 Dispersion

Wave actions and turbulence at the surface can tear droplets of oil from the slick, and mixthem into the water column. If turbulence can overcome the buoyancy of the droplets, theycan stay subsurface and be advected away from the slick. As the droplets are transportedaway, the concentration of oil in the water column will decrease. When the oil is dispersedin water the surface between oil and water will increase. This encourages other processeslike dissolution, biodegradation and sedimentation.

The larger droplets will tend to resurface. Some of them hit the lower surface of the originalslick and coalesce with this. Others may reach the surface behind the original slick, whichis very common. One reason for this is that the impact of the wind will be greatest at thesea surface, and gradually decrease below the surface. In this way the slick will drift fasterthan the submerged particles. Also, the presence of an Ekman layer will imply that thedirection of drift is different at different depths. When droplets resurface behind the slickthey will either coalesce with each other to form a new slick, or they spread out to form avery thin film or sheen.

Sea state is a critical factor for dispersion, as it mainly takes place when breaking wavesare present. This generally means that the wind speed must be more than 5 m/s. Besideswave state, the nature of the oil is an important factor ruling the amount of oil that willdisperse. Dispersion occurs quickest for light oils with low viscosity.

3.5 Emulsification

An emulsion is formed when two liquids combine, with one ending up suspended in theother. Emulsification of oil is when droplets of sea water become suspended in the oil.(Strictly speaking, dispersion is oil-in-water-emulsification and what we here call emulsifi-cation is water-in-oil-emulsification.)

A condition for significant emulsification to occur is a sea state of breaking waves. Emul-sification will take place at a lower sea state, but the rate is considerably slower. In the

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initial phase of an oil spill, both dispersion and emulsification will take place. Generallythe emulsification will be of greater magnitude than the dispersion, but the opposite canalso happen, as in the Braer-spill at Shetland Islands in 1993. This requires very highwaves to be present, which implies that the energy available for mixing is very high.

The maximum amount of water that an oil can carry in emulsified form is determined bythe nature of the oil. The nature of the oil will also influence the rate of water uptake.

3.6 Photochemical Oxidation

Oil can react with oxygen. It will either break down to soluble products or form persistentcompounds called tars. The extent of reaction depends on the type of oil. The process ispromoted by sunlight, but is very slow even in strong sunlight. Tar is formed from thicklayers of highly viscous oil or emulsion. Tarballs, which are typically found on shorelineshave an outer crust of solid material and a softer, less weathered interior.

3.7 Microbial Degradation

Organisms in the sea can degrade oil to water soluble compounds, or eventually to carbondioxide and water. Some compounds in oil are very resistant to these attacks and may notdegrade.

The main factors affecting the biodegradation are the levels of nutrients and oxygen, andalso temperature. The degradation can only take place at the interface between oil andwater, as no oxygen is available inside the oil.

3.8 Sedimentation and Adsorption onto Particles

Very few oils have a density greater than water, even after they have been weathered fora long time. Oil or emulsion sinking is therefore very rare, but can occur in some cases.Brackish water has lower density than ordinary sea water, and makes it easier for the oilto sink. Layers of low salinity, and hence low density, water can occur in ice covered areas.

Sinking usually occurs due to adhesion of oil onto particles of sediment or organic matterthat eventually sink. If the oil is burned, intentionally or unintentionally, the remainingresidues can sometimes be dense enaugh to sink.

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4 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

4 Environmental Impact

The environmental impact of an oil spill can be very different from case to case, and isinfluenced by a large variety of factors. Oil type, area of spill, season of year and weatherconditions are some of the most important factors. An oil spill can damage the environmentin different ways. We arrange them into three groups that will be described in the followingsections: Damage to marine life, Damage to coast lines or sea bed, and Impact on coastalactivities.

4.1 Damage to marine life

By marine life, we mean all kinds of plants and animals that live in or near the sea, eitherpermanent or for periods. There are two ways in which oil can damage marine life. Oneis due to the physical nature of the oil, the other it due to the toxicity of its chemicalcomponents.

The most visible and instant damage is usually due to the physical nature of the oil.Mammals, reptiles and birds in physical contact with the oil get contaminated.

The sea bird’s feather creates an insulating layer around the body, as the outer layer is’waterproof’. when contaminated by oil, the outer layer is harmed. The bird gets wet, andsuffers a dramatically increased loss of heat. If the oil is rather fresh, the consequenceswill almost always cause the death of the bird. Whales have a smooth skin that oil doesnot easily stick on. In addition they tend to avoid oil spills. They are regarded to berelatively little threatened by a spill. Seals too tend to avoid oil. They are more likely tobee contaminated on shore than at sea. It is assumed that adult seals can withstand somedegree of contamination at non arctic conditions, but for puppies contamination will havea lethal effect. The polar bear is assumed to be vulnerable to contamination of oil, as itslong fur is excellent for oil to stick onto. There are very few observations, but the effect isassumed to be lethal.

At a longer time scale, the chemical components of oil may cause harm. The most toxicof the components usually evaporate quickly. However, one should note that evaporationis smaller if the spill is in ice covered areas.

The lethal effects caused by toxic components are usually local, and the periods in whichorganisms will be subjected to the lethal concentration is short. It is much more commonto observe sublethal effects caused by long term exposure to less toxic components. Thismeans that the organism does not die, but the ability to reproduce or other importantfunctions may be severely disturbed. Animals that filter large amount of water, like musselsor even some kind of whales, are especially exposed. It goes without saying that increaseddispersion or dissolution of oil in water will for a period increase the exposure to oil forthese animals and others living in the water column. As the toxic components enter some

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organisms, they are incorporated into the food chain, and animals further up in the foodchain may be influenced. Marine mammals can be exposed to the toxic components throughtheir food, or as they try to clean their contaminated fur by licking it.

For plants it is seen that moderate oiling of the root system is usually lethal, but even asevere coating of the leaves may not be lethal. Kelp is very robust, and can survive evenheavy coating for a period. In general, the smaller the surface compared to volume, themore oil can be tolerated.

Unless the area is completely destroyed, or a species is almost extincted, it is possible thatnature will go back to its original state. The time it takes depends to a great extent onwhat we call the restitution time. This is the time it take to bring a colony of animalsor plants back to the normal level. For plants it depends on how fast they grow and howfast they can spread. For animals it depends mainly on the usual age of the animal. If itusually reaches a high age, it will commonly have few children. In this case restitution timewill be long. Another complicating factor is that species with a shorter restitution timewill tend to take over areas they did not inhabit earlier. The species with longer restitutiontime will then have to displace these intruders before original balance is restored.

4.2 Damage to coast line or sea bed

A spill in open sea, that does not reach any shoreline, will hardly cause any major damageto the sea bed. The reason is that the oil will be diluted, and therefore incorporated in thesediments only in small concentrations. One should keep in mind that seeping of oil intothe ocean also occurs naturally from leaking sub sea reservoirs.

As oil approaches the coastal zone after a spill, it is usually weathered to some degree. Atone side of the weathering scale we have the tar balls that sometimes are washed ashore.These are the remains of old oil. The oils that easily turn into emulsion will usually havetime to undergo this change before it reaches the coast, but almost water free oil commonlyreaches the coast too. This may be because the properties of the oil does not permit muchwater uptake or the spill may be close to the coast.

Clearly, the weather conditions will be of great importance when it comes to how muchdamage the oil will cause to the shoreline. The rougher the weather, the more difficult isit to protect the shorelines, or to recover the oil before it reaches the shoreline. Also, largewaves will increase the area of contamination, as waves will wash the oil ashore. The tidescreate the same effect. In general, the area between lower and upper water levels will becontaminated as the oil comes ashore.

If the environment permits, the shorelines may be cleaned after contaminations. There is avariety of methods that can be applied, but we will not discuss them here. It is importantto know the consequences of cleaning. The negative effects should not be greater than whatis gained by cleaning. Different techniques are suitable for different areas depending on

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marine life present, type of shoreline and other factors. Generally, the ’softer’ the shorelineis, the more sensible it will be for human activities, and sometimes the best choice may beto leave the oil to natural degradation.

After relatively short time, the coast line will be washed clean by wave action. The timeit takes will depend on how sheltered the area is. The more sheltered, the longer time itwill take for cleaning. In areas with soft sea bed, oil may be incorporated in the sedimentseven when it looks like the shore is clean.

We may regard sea ice as a temporal and moving coast line. Tidal effects will not havethe same influence as above if the ice is free floating, not fast ice. Oil can be incorporatedinside the ice, much like the sediments in a beach. There is however a difference. At abeach the oil is released and washed away at a low rate, while all the oil incorporated inthe ice will be released when the ice melts.

4.3 Impact on coastal activities

The impact on coastal activities is partly covered by the above sections. As a beachgets contaminated, it will be abandoned by almost every marine activity. This goes forbathing, boating, angling, diving and more. If the coast is a tourist attraction, everybusiness connected to tourism will suffer. However, the visual presence of oil will usuallynot last very long. When oil is no longer visually observable, much of the tourist activitieswill return to normal levels. This is at least what has been seen after previous spills.

Another business that may be influenced to a maybe greater extent is the fishfarming. Thepresence of an oil spill in the area, even if it did not cause any harm to the fish or mussels,usually implies that the product can not be sold. This is due to mechanisms in the market.

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

5 Response Methods

When oil is spilled in the ocean there are different means of removing it from the surface.One strategy is to contain it by what we call booms, and then transfer the contained oilto a storage unit. Booms can also be used to divert the oil from a specific site which areof high priority not to get contaminated. By adding chemicals to the slick it is possible toincrease the rate and amount of dispersion. Another strategy is to burn the oil. Generallythe oil must be contained to achieve required thickness to be burned. Other methods exist,but they will not be mentioned here. If the oil reaches a shoreline, an important responsewill be to clean the beaches, but we will not investigate methods for this use.

The section is mainly based on chap. 5, Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters(EPPR, 1998). Only the methods that are relevant for ocean and sea ice are included.

5.1 Mechanical Containment

If an oil spill is to be recovered, it is important to contain it as soon as possible if itis not naturally contained. This is to prevent it from further spreading. The purposeof the containment is usually to achieve the thickness needed for operating any recoveryequipment or igniting the oil. It might also be used to move the slick to a position thatis more suitable for treating the oil than the original one. An example of this is to collectthe oil close to an installation, tow it to a safe distance and burn it there.

5.1.1 Mobile Floating Barriers

There exists a variety of commer-cial containment booms. Large onesare fabricated for open water condi-tions, while smaller ones are moresuitable for sheltered waters. Whatall booms have in common are askirt and a sail, see sketch in fig. 7.There is also some means of flota-tion, ballast, and a part which cansustain the tension applied on theboom. According to their construc-

skirt

sailflotation

tension member/ballast

Fig. 7: Essential parts of a boom.

tion, the booms can be divided into four groups.

Internal flotation booms are usually constructed of PVC or polyurethane-coated fabric,and with some flexible foam as mean of flotation. All of them have a tension member atthe bottom, and some also have an additional one at the top.

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

Pressure inflatable booms are constructed of PVC, neoprene, nitrile rubber-nylon orpolyurethane-coated material. The chambers are manually filled with air, and can besegmented or continuous.

Self-inflating booms are made from the same material as the internal floating booms,PVC or polyurethane-coated fabric. The chambers are compressed when the boom isstored, and are inflated trough air intake valves when deployed.

Fence booms are made of rigid or semiridgid fabric. Flotation is provided by foam blocks,bolted-on blocks or outrigger floats.

Examples of the four different categories are shown in fig. 8. All of them have ASTMconnectors which makes it possible to connect sections of booms, either the same type ordifferent types.

Fig. 8: Different booms (EPPR, 1998).

There are three well known configurations for booming, called U-, J- or V-configuration.The names reflect the geometry of the boom when seen from above, see fig. 9. A skimmer

17

5 RESPONSE METHODS

��

��

��

��

��

��

Fig. 9: U-, V- and J-booming configurations.

can be deployed at the bottom of each of the configurations. It is of highest importance toadjust the speed of the ships such that the relative velocity between booms and water is lowenough (found to be approximately 0.35 m/s for the velocity component perpendicular tothe boom) to prevent boom leakage. If the speed is too high, turbulence occurs around theskirt and collected oil can flow under the boom. To avoid this, the boats may have to driftdownstream, stay in a stationary position or move upstream toward the spill site to achievea suitable speed relative to the water. The applicability for the different configurationsand types of booms are shown in fig. 10. Booms are not suitable for ice concentrationsabove 60-70%.

Fig. 10: Applicability of different booms and configurations in different waters. The characters U,V andJ gives the configuration of the booms. (EPPR, 1998).

18

5 RESPONSE METHODS

5.1.2 Subsurface Barriers

Ordinary booms will not go deep enough to collect submerged oil. In this case nets can beused in combination with booms. One possibility is to form a V-configuration and connectthe sides of the booms with a net, a V-sweep. What we call a trawl-boom is illustrated infig. 11.

Fig. 11: Trawl boom to collect submerged oil (EPPR, 1998).

5.1.3 Berms

If oil is spilled on top of a solid ice cover, berms can be created to prevent further spreading.It is often convenient to build these out of snow, and preferably coat them with some kindof plastic fabric to prevent the snow from being soaked with oil.

5.1.4 Excavated Structures

Trenches can be excavated to collect oil spilled on solid ice cover. The trenches can alsobe supplied with booms frozen in place to create a barrier for the oil.

For oil spilled beneath ice, subsurface barriers can be made by using slots as shown onright hand side of fig. 12. During freezing periods, pockets can be created under the iceto collect and contain the oil, see left hand side of fig. 12 for illustration. This is done by

19

5 RESPONSE METHODS

placing some kind of insulating material on top of the ice. The insulation will reduce thegrowth of ice at this specific site. The oil can then be recovered from the slots.

Fig. 12: Collecting oil under ice. Left: Insulating during freezing periods to create a pocket for oil togather in. Right: Use of slots and booms combined to trap the oil under ice (EPPR, 1998).

5.2 Mechanical Diversion

Containment booms can be used for other purposes, for instance to divert the oil away fromsensitive areas. This is done as shown in fig. 13. In this case the boom is in a stationary

Fig. 13: Diversion booming (EPPR, 1998).

position, and hence the current has to be below a certain limit to prevent the oil fromdiving under the boom. By adjusting the angle of the boom, one can accept currents upto approximately 1 m/s.

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

5.3 Mechanical Recovery

When oil is contained, either by man or by nature, it can be recovered and stored. Thedifferent types of mechanical recovery units can be divided into three groups: Advancingsystems, Stationary skimmers and Vacuum units. The last one is considered not tobe suitable for recovery at sea, and will therefore not be described here.

Fig. 14: Left: Six categories of advancing skimmers, Right: Eight categories of stationary skimmers(EPPR, 1998).

5.3.1 Advancing Skimmers

The main characteristic for this kind of skimmer is simply that it is moving. Some of themhave their own engine, while others are pushed or towed by another vessel. Usually boomsare used in addition to the skimmers, to divert the oil slick into the path of the skimmer.The skimmers can be applied in light ice conditions (concentration below 30%) and floes

21

5 RESPONSE METHODS

smaller then 1 m. Six categories of advancing skimmers are shown in fig. 14. Effectivenessof the different types are shown in fig. 15.

5.3.2 Stationary Skimmers

When the oil spill is contained, a stationary skimmer may be used to collect the oil andtransfer it to some storage unit. Eight groups of stationary skimmers are shown in fig. 14.The effectiveness of the different types are shown in fig. 16.

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

Fig. 15: Effectiveness of the advancing skimmers under different conditions (EPPR, 1998).

23

5 RESPONSE METHODS

Fig. 16: Effectiveness of the stationary skimmers under different conditions (EPPR, 1998).

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

5.4 In-Situ Burning

In-Situ burning is a way to transfer the pollution into the air. When entering the atmo-sphere, the remains are quickly diluted. There will always be an amount of heavy residuesleft on the surface after the burning. The thickness of this the remaining layer will dependon the nature of the oil as well as external conditions. For this reason burning is moreefficient the thicker the oil slick is when it is ignited. Some oils, especially those that areweathered, can be very difficult or impossible to ignite.

A system for igniting the oil is required. This is usually done from helicopter or boat,preferably by remote operation. In some cases it might be more convenient to use handheld igniters.

5.4.1 Oil on Water Contained in Booms

Oil on water can generally be burned if the thickness is more than 2-3 mm. A free spreadingslick will not have this thickness, so booms must be used to contain the oil. To withstandthe heat during burning, the booms must be designed specially for this use. Such boomsare more rigid, and hence more difficult to operate than ordinary booms.

5.4.2 Oil on Ice

Contaminated snow can be burned on top of the solid ice cover if the ice has the requiredbearing capacity to carry the personnel. The best way to do it is to build a cone of theoiled snow, add a suitable combustion promoter, and ignite on top of the cone. Duringburning, melt water should be kept close to the cone since this may contain some oil. Thiscan be done by constructing compact berms of snow around the cone.

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5 RESPONSE METHODS

If oil are frozen in ice during winter, it willseep up and create pools of oil on top of theice during melting season. The ice is chang-ing fast during this period, so the pools maybe present only for a couple of days. Af-terwards the ice may break, and the oil willspread out to a thinner layer in cracks oropen areas. The oil that is kept inside theice is well conserved, which means that if issuitable for burning at the moment it wasfrozen, it still will be so. The difficult aspectof burning the oil in this situation is first thelimited time window of operation. Secondly,there may be thousands of relatively small

Fig. 17: Melt pools of oil on top of the ice cover(EPPR, 1998).

pools covering an area, which results in many moving targets when is comes to ignition.See fig. 17 for illustration.

5.4.3 Oil in Broken Ice

In broken ice, the floes may serve as natural barriers which the oil can be concentratedbetween or against. If the slick thickness is more than 2-3 mm, the oil can be burned.Again there is the situation of (perhaps many) moving targets, a difficulty when is comesto ignition.

It is easier to handle a spill further inside the ice cover where the ice configuration is lessdynamic. If cracks are present, the oil may spread in them.

5.5 Chemical Dispersion

Dispersants are ’soap’-like chemicals, that help to stabilize the surface between oil andwater. In this way, the creation of oil droplets in water can be promoted. Such oil dropletsdive into the water column if the weather conditions provide enough energy. The largestdroplets will quickly resurface, due to the buoyancy. For smaller droplets the buoyancyforce can be conquered by turbulence, and drift away from the spill. In this way dispersionserves to dilute the spill into the water column. To some extent dispersion will occurnaturally, this is closely connected to the type of oil and the weather conditions.

Dispersants have hardly any effect if the oil has viscosity above 10 000 cSt, or the pourpoint is more than 15− 20◦C above water temperature. This means that the time windowfor use of dispersants is limited. Weathering will alter the oil so that viscosity and pourpoint increase. To be able to disperse a slick, it is also necessary to have the requiredenergy present to mix oil and water. This means in practice that the wind speed must be

26

5 RESPONSE METHODS

Fig. 18: Limitations, advantages and disadvantages for different methods for applying dispersants(EPPR, 1998).

above 5 m/s.

Dispersants can be applied by boat, helicopter or plane. Fig. 18 show limitations, advan-tages and disadvantages for the different application methods.

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6 SPECIAL CONDITIONS IN COLD REGIONS

6 Special Conditions in Cold Regions

Oil spilled in ice will behave differently from oil spilled at open sea. Spreading will besmaller, due to the physical barriers of ice. This leads to a thicker layer of oil, which againwill result in lower evaporative loss. Dispersion and emulsification will usually be smallerin ice because the wave energy is lower than at open sea.

Sea ice have a specific weight of around 0.92. Most of the crude oils have a specific weightbetween 0.85-0.90 (Børresen, 1993), which means that it floats better than the ice. Atperfectly calm conditions this means that oil will flow over rather than under the ice.

6.1 Properties of Oil in Cold Regions

Pour point

The pour point of an oil is usually in the interval 35◦C to −57◦C and is partly connectedto the amount of waxes that an oil contains. If the temperature of the sea is lower thanthe pour point, the oil will generally not spread on the surface because it has turned into asemi-solid (Børresen, 1993). Still it can happen that oils remain liquid at sea temperaturesas low as 15◦ below the pour point (Lecture notes, 1999).

Viscosity

The viscosity of an oil is increasing as the temperature decreases. Some of the oils haveapproximately the same viscosity at 0◦C and 20◦C while others change by an order ofmagnitude.

Density

Due to the reduced evaporative loss when oil is spilled in ice, the density will be higherthan a corresponding spill without the presence of ice.

Flash Point

Another effect of decreased evaporation is that the flash point will rise at a lower rate.

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6.2 Practical Considerations

When a response action is taken against an oil spill in arctic areas there are several condi-tions that may be different from a conventional spill at a warmer site.

Nature of the Oil

The low temperature leads to a higher viscosity of the oil. For oils that have a pour pointin the area −20◦C − 0◦C), the oil will start to become semi-solid at water temperaturesaround 0◦C. This creates problems when the oil is to be pumped or collected in otherways.

To operate inside an oil slick, the flash point should be above certain levels for securityreasons. In case of a batch release of oil, it would hardly impose any difficulties that theflash point may be lower in the early stage of the spill. Anyway it is not likely that theequipment has arrived before it is safe to enter the spill area. If a continuous release, sayfrom an installation was the case, it could present additional difficulties.

Presence of an Ice Cover

The presence of sea ice either as a solid cover or as distinct floes has several consequences.The oil is difficult to spot when it is under the ice as well as in the open leads. Especiallyin broken or weak ice the practical operation of the equipment is complicated, due to thedynamic nature of the ice cover.

An ice cover again imposes another effect, that is damping of the waves. The attenuationhas a negative exponential form, with a damping coefficient depending on wavelength. Theshortest wavelengths have the highest damping coefficients, and are hence damped out veryquickly (Squire et. al, 1995). As a result of this, the rate of natural dispersion is low atsome distance from the edge. There is also no use in applying dispersants, because thisstill requires some energy for dispersion to take place, and this energy is not there. Onlyin case of a rough sea state outside the ice cover, the frequent collision between floes atthe outermost border might supply the energy required.

We have now focused on the negative effects of the ice, but there is also positive ones. Theice floes creates barriers for the oil, and the layer will hence be thicker than a correspondingspill in open waters. Emulsion is created at a slower rate inside the ice cover due to thedamping of the waves. Both these effects are advantageous when considering burning thespill. It requires a minimum thickness and a low water content. As evaporation is reduceddue to the increased thickness of the oil slick, larger amounts of the lightest componentsremain in the oil. This makes it easier to ignite, and also less viscous. The time windowfor action is in this way increased.

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Daylight

An incident can happen during winter season, and in this case there will be few, if any,hours of daylight far north. This is a serious complication from the operational point ofview. During summertime we have the opposite, which will ease recovery.

Infrastructure

Arctic areas are often characterized by few people, and as a consequence of this a weakinfrastructure. This means limitations on transporting equipment, people and recoveredoil. Total costs for the operation will be increased, compared to more accessible places.

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Part III

Strategies and Equipment forRecovery of Oil

7 OIL SPILL PREPAREDNESS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

7 Oil Spill Preparedness in Different Countries

In the following sections we will present for different countries the organizations that areinvolved when an oil spill occurs, the equipment that are available and what kind ofresponses that are preferred.

7.1 Canada

[Builds on (ITOPF, 1998)]

Almost the entire coastal zone of Canada belongs to the Arctic region. The only exceptionis the southermost part of the eastern coast.

7.1.1 Organizations

There is a new Canadian Environmental Protection Act, to come into force inearly 2000. This act states that pollution prevention instead of pollution control is thecornerstone of environmental protection. There is also a new Canadian Coast Guard

Marine Spills Contingency Plan to come, that will replace the National Marine

Spills Contingency Plan (MSCP) from 1994.

The prevention and control of ship source pollution is governed by the Canada Shipping

Act and the Arctic Waters Pollution Act. It is the Department of Transport

that is responsible for shipping matters. Generally it is the Rescue and Safety &

Environmental Response Directorate of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG),which is a part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, that is the lead agencyin response to spills.

It is the National MSCP that defines the role of CCG, see table 5 in appendix A for adetailed list of sites where CCG is the lead agency. The CCG is divided into five regions,and each of the regions are responsible for managing their own part of the contingencyplan. See fig. 19 for the different regions in Canada.

Canadian law demands that ship owners operating in Canadian waters or oil handlingfacilities be prepared to deal with pollution. All oil tankers of 150 tons gross tonnageand other vessels of 400 tons gross tonnage should have an agreement in place with aCanadian-based private sector Response Organization (RO) certificated by CCG.These organizations are responsible for managing the contingency plans for the vessel.The first response organizations were certificated in 1995, there are now a total of foursuch organizations, covering the entire Canada below 60◦N, see fig. 20 for names and areasof the four organizations.

During an incident, there will always be an On Scene Coordinator (OSC) to coor-

32


Fig. 19: The different regions of the Coast Guard (FO, web pages).

Fig. 20: Response area for Canadas Response Organizations (ECRC, 1999).

33


dinate the response. The polluter is expected to apoint this person, which is supposed tolead the operation according to the contingency plan that has already been made. Supportby the federal government can be given upon request. The CCG is able to support theaction both with equipment and personnel, but the polluter has to carry the costs. Thefederal government will have a Federal Monitoring Officer (FMO) at the site toensure that response is carried out in the best interest of the public. If FMO finds thatthe response action of the polluter is not sufficient or appropriate, he can demand that theCCG takes over the role as OSC. This will also be the case if the polluter is unknown, notcapable or unwilling to respond.

Region Environmental Emergencies Team (REET) have been was established asearly as 1973. They consist of representatives from federal, provincial, territorial, native,municipal, local government, specialists and other relevant people. The REETs provideenvironmental advice to CCG when they respond to a spill.

7.1.2 Equipment

Government

Large amounts of spill response equipment is located at 73 sites throughout Canada. Atmajor sites there is also dedicated, experienced personnel. CCG operates a large fleetof ships, hoovercrafts, helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft that can be used for spill re-sponse. When choosing equipment it is considered to be of importance that is can easilybe transported.

Private

Two of the four ROs have capacity of handling spills up to 10 000 tonnes of oil, the remain-ing two can by them self take care of spills up to 2 500 tonnes. Due to an agreement (inshort: help from one of first ROs) they can manage to deal with additional 7 500 tonnes.For certification it is required that they maintain equipment that can meet all environmen-tal conditions up to Beuford Force 4 (5.5-7.9 m/s), to complete on-water recovery within10 days, to treat 500 m shoreline each day, and have sufficient storage for the recoveredoil.

In addition there is equipment of two different levels in some ports or facilities. Thisequipment is suitable for spills less than 150 or 1000 tonnes.

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7.1.3 Response Policy

First priority is given to prevent or minimize spills. Containment and recovery is preferredwhen weather conditions permit this. Use of in-situ burning or dispersants is considered tobe of secondary importance. Before a dispersant is used it has to be tested and evaluated,and in some areas use of dispersants is precluded.

Protection of shorelines by use of booms is given priority over other techniques includingmechanical recovery, manual removal, water flushing, etc. Bio-remediation is consideredto be an option and recovered oil is recycled when possible.

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7.2 Denmark, Greenland

Greenland is a part of the Arctic area. In this section we will only be concerned aboutmatters that affect Greenland, not the mainland of Denmark.

7.2.1 Organizations

Greenland is an integral part of the State of Denmark, and responsibility for responseto pollution at sea lies with the Danish Ministry of Environment. Planning andoperational aspects are delegated to Danish Environmental Protection Agency

(EPS), which have prepared a contingency plan for oil spills for Greenland.

An incident should be reported to Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, and uponnotification from this center the EPA officer will decide upon the response. He can requestadvise from different specialists and assistance from different governmental organizations(ITOPF, 1998).

7.2.2 Equipment

There is no equipment for oil response stored any place at Greenland. It would be necessaryto air freight the equipment and trained personnel, either from a site in Canada, or from oneof the two main stockpiles that EPA possesses in Denmark. These sites are in Copenhagenand Korsør, and contain air transportable equipment (ITOPF, 1998).


The sea conditions, particularly at winter time, prevent most clean-up methods. However,every effort will be made to recover as much spilt oil as possible. Use of dispersants wouldbe prohibited due to sensitive marine life (ITOPF, 1998).

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7.3 Finland

Finland does not border the Arctic sea, but the Golf of Bothnia has an extensive ice coverduring the cold season. It is included in the Arctic area according to our definition.

7.3.1 Organizations

It is the Finnish Ministry of the Environment (ME) that is responsible for man-agement and supervision of the oil pollution response. The Finnish Environment In-

stitute (FEI), operating under the Ministry, is the competent government oil pollutioncombating authority. FEI is in charge of measures against pollution at open sea, and alsoon shore if the severity of the incident necessitates it. Also, the Institute is the nationallyappointed authority that can request or give international assistance in combating marinepollution. When a vessel gets into a situation which includes a pollution risk, the FEImay within the Finnish territorial waters or even outside the territorial waters, when itconsiders it necessary, give an order to undertake salvage activities with the intention ofavoiding or limiting the pollution risk.

There is a regional contingency plan made for each of five coastal areas, and one forinland waters. Different organizations are liable to assist the FEI and other oil pollutioncombating authorities on request. The most important of them are: Finnish Maritime

Administration (MA), the Coast Guard (CG), Defense Forces (especially the Navy),Institute of Marine Research and local oil pollution combating organizations.

The different municipalities are required to maintain a response capability for smaller cases.Each of them should have a contingency plan. In a major event, neighboring municipalitiesand the state will be called upon. Harbors and oil terminal are required to have a limitedresponse capability for spills.

Finland has implemented special financing arrangement for combating oil spills. The ac-quisition and maintenance of municipal oil combating equipment is subsidized through aspecial oil pollution fund. The capital for the fund is raised by a FIM 2.20 levy on eachtonne of oil imported to or transported through Finland.

7.3.2 Equipment

The FEI maintains 13 main depots which have recovery equipment like booms and shorelineclean-up equipment. There are 11 governmental owned ships and 12 boats of length 10-18m belonging to the different municipalities. All of them have an oil recovery brush systemfitted permanently inside the vessel. The smaller boats are suitable in sheltered or shallowwaters. In addition to this the municipalities have 58 boats of length 10-15 m and a coupleof hundred smaller boats without a permanent oil recovery system inside.

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Table 1: The size, tank capacity, sweeping capacity, user and home port for the 11 government ownedships.

Name Length[m] T.cap. [m3] sw.cap. [km2/12h] User Home portHalli 60 1300 1.8 Navy TurkuHylje 54 800 1.8 Navy UpinniemiMerikarhu 58 40 1.4 CG HelsinkiLetto 43 43 1.4 MA OuluLinja 35 79 1.4 MA PoriSektori 33 108 1.4 MA MaarianhaminaKummeli 28 70 1.4 MA SavonlinnaOili I 24 79 0.9 MA HelsinkiOili II 24 79 0.9 MA TurkuOili III 24 79 0.9 MA MaarianhaminaOili IV 19 30 0.9 MA VaasaTotal 2700 14

For the 11 governmental owned ships the capacity is given in table 1 (Jolma, 1999).Concerning readiness, the two ships from the Navy (technically) have 4 hours when theyare in use, the CG ship is instantly when at sea, otherwise it takes 2/3 weeks to ready theship. All ships from Maritime Administration are daytime in working days.

According to HELCOM Recommendation 11/13 (1990), see section 8.2.3, the contractioncountries should keep a readiness permitting the first response unit to start from its basewithin two hours after being alerted. It should reach within six hours from start any placeof spillage that may occur in the response region of the country. Well organized, adequateand substantial response actions on the site of the spill should be in operation as soon aspossible, normally within 12 hours.

Because of long distances, it takes three days before most of the 11 ships in table 1 arepositioned at a spill site. In general it is quite certain that one of the vessels will arrivewithin 12 hours, and within 48 hours there will be at least two vessels. After three daysmost of the vessels will be at the spill site, and the maximum sweeping rate of 14 km2 isreached. The Gulf of Finland, the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia are easier toreach and thus the first ship will arrive and start combating measures within 12 hours.


In the international HELCOM agreement, it is stated that oil combating policy in BalticSea is based on mechanical combating and recovery of oil. There are also openings for useof dispersants in some special cases.

38


The principal strategy for oil pollution combating is to skim the oil mechanically from thesurface as quickly and complete as possible. If the circumstances require it, other optionslike burning or or use of chemical dispersants can be considered. These alternatives arenot in common use. In some areas dispersants are not allowed or out of question to use.Intentional sinking is generally prohibited (Jolma, 1999).

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7.4 Norway

The Arctic Norway are the mainland north of the Arctic Circle, Spitsbergen, Jan Mayenand Bjørnøya.

7.4.1 Organizations

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) was established in 1974. Itis a subordinate agency of the Ministry of the Environment and have responsibilityfor supervising the national emergency response system for acute oil pollution in Norway.

The responsibilities, and actions that should be taken when an oil spill occur is mainlyruled by the Pollution Control Act. Below are some central parts of this law cited.

• Anyone running an activity that can cause acute pollution is obliged to have sufficientmeans to prevent, notice, stop, remove and limit the impact of the spill. The levelof contingency should be related to the probability of an accident, and also theconsequences that can be expected.

• The authorities in charge of pollution can for activities that can cause acute pollution,require a contingency plan to be made. Moreover, different parties can be orderedto cooperate over the required contingency. This means making a common plan ofcontingency and share any equipment.

• Each of the municipalities is required to have a contingency to handle smaller casesof acute pollution in their own area. They are obliged to act when an acute incidenthappens and there is no private action taking place. The government is responsiblefor the contingency for larger cases of pollution that is not covered by municipal orprivate contingency plans.

• If acute pollution occurs, steps should be taken by the responsible party to avoidand limit the damage. In cases where this does not happen, the municipalities areresponsible. They have to inform the SFT, which will assist if necessary. If the extentof pollution is great, the SFT can take full control of the operation.

On this basis there are three central actors in the Norwegian contingency against oil pol-lution: private actors, municipalities and the government through SFT. The oil companiesare required to have their own contingency plans, and be able to deal with an incident. Ifthey are not able to cope with the situation, or the incident is caused by an activity thatis not a part of the oil industry, the local municipality is responsible for acting if the spillis closer than 4 nm from shore. If it is a major incident, SFT will provide support thelocal action with equipment, vessels and personnel, or they will take control and run theresponse action.

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The oil companies operating on the Norwegian continental shelf have formed an organi-zation called Operating Companies Oil Spill Preparedness on the Norwegian

Continental Shelf (NOFO). This organization provides equipment and trained per-sonnel to act in an incident.

It is required that each of the the three parties provide assistance to any other if neccessary.

7.4.2 Equipment

[Based on (SFT, -)]

Government

The municipalities have 70 000 m light booms and 285 skimmers.

SFT has 9 000 m light booms, 22 000 m medium booms and 10 000 m heavy booms. Inaddition there are 97 skimmers. The equipment is mainly stored at 15 manned depots,but some of it is also stored on board ships. The depots are situated along the Norwegiancoast, except for one situated in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.

SFT is operating 11 vessels either permanently equipped or capable of carrying and de-ploying oil spill equipment. In addition, a number of naval defense vessels are on contractand other vessels available.

SFT also operates an aircraft equipped with SLAR (Side-Looking Airborne Radar) thatis capable of tracking an oil spill both day and night. In addition there is regular use ofradar satellites run by Tromsø Satellite Station.

Private

NOFO has organized their equipment in 14 units. Each unit consists of 400 m heavy booms,one large skimmer, one towing vessel and one recovery vessel. The units are stored at fivebases spread along the Norwegian coast (Hammerfest, Træna, Kristiansund, Mongstad,Stavanger) (NOFO, web pages). In addition there is a total of 20 000 m heavy booms and50 skimmers on offshore installations and at ports.

At four locations (Statoil Mongstad, Esso Slagen, Shell Risevika-Stavanger and HydroSture crude oil terminal) the oil industry maintain large stockpiles of equipment, includingvessels.

41



The primary objective is to contain and recover the oil as close to the source as possible.Chemical dispersion is considered to be supplementary to physical removal. Every organi-zation required to have an contingency plan for oil spills should consider dispersants to bean option. An amount of 1m3 of dispersant, if applied minimum 100 m from shore and atminimum 20 m depth, can be used without any further restriction. Approval from SFT isneeded to go outside of these limits (ITOPF, 1998).

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7.5 Russia

[Based on (ITOPF, 1998)]

The northern part of Russia borders the Arctic Ocean.

7.5.1 Organizations

It is the Marine Pollution Control and Salvage Administration (MPCSA),under the Ministry of Merchant Marine, that is the national authority responsiblefor responding to incidents. The Local Councils or municipalities are responsible forshoreline clean-up. Both recovery and cleaning is done on behalf of the polluter or arelevant insurance company.

There are three levels of contingency planning. The Russian federation is divided intoeight separate basins, which are centered in Murmansk, St. Petersburg, Novorossiyak,Vladivostok, Korsakov, Kamchtsky, Arkhangelsk and Astrakan. The plans on this levelare meant for large incidents. They are maintained by MPCSA, except for the Baltic area,where MPCSA have delegated the responsibility to the Baltic Salvage & Towage Company.

The next level is the regional plans, which is coordinated by MPCSA and Emergency

Division (ED), an organization established by shipping companies.

Lowest level is the local planing for ports, harbors and other areas. If the incident is largerthan these plans are designed for, the corresponding regional plan will come into force.

7.5.2 Equipment

Government

Ports and harbors store equipment to handle incidents according to local risk. Variousports have offshore booms, skimmers, oil trawls and portable pumps. There are special-ized vessels and suitably equipped supply vessels in the harbors of St. Petersburg andMurmansk. Similar supply vessels is also available in Vladivostok and Sakhalin.

Murmansk Emergency Division has three oil recovery vessels, each of them equipedwith booms, skimmers and emergency pumps. One of them has a dispersant system.


The general strategy for protection and cleaning of sensitive areas supports the use ofmechanical equipment. Use of dispersants require approval from the Ministry of Envi-

ronmental Protection (MEP), the Ministry of Health (MH) and the Fisheries

43


Committee. In-situ burning is applies on rare occasions, and must be approved by theMH and the MEP.

44


7.6 USA

This section contains information from a Country Profile (ITOPF, 1998) and the web pagesof National Response Center (NRC). NRC serves as a national point of contact forreporting oil spill and other kinds of discharges into the environment.

The Arctic parts of USA is the state of Alaska.

7.6.1 Organizations

Spill response arrangements within the USA are governed by the Oil Pollution Act

of 1990. The National Response System (NRS) is the mechanism for emergencyresponse to discharges of oil or chemicals. The way this system is functioning is describedin the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

(NCP), designed by U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In the event of a spill, there is a Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) to coor-dinate containment, removal, disposal efforts, and resources during an incident. In marineenvironment US Coast Guard, which is a part of U.S. Department of Transporta-

tion (DOT), plays the role of FOSC. To guide and support the FOSC, a National Re-

sponse Team (NRT) is established. This is an organization with representatives from14 federal agencies with interest and expertise in various aspects of emergency response topollution incidents. The polluter is expected to provide personnel and equipment overseenby the FOSC. If this does not work satisfactorily, the FOSC is empowered to take over theclean-up and appoint contractors at the polluter’s expense.

Next level in the NRS is the Regional Response Team (RRT). US is divided into 13regions, as shown in fig. 21. Each of the RRT’s are responsible for maintaining a RegionalContingency Plan. The team has representatives from both state and federal government,and works to guide the FOSC by the Contingency Plan they maintain, and by locating theassistance requested by the FOSC during an incident. They may also assist state or localgovernment in preparing, planning or training for emergency response.

Every vessel or facility which handle oil as a cargo in sufficient quantity to cause substantialdamage to the environment if released, is required to produce a Facility/Vessel Re-

sponse Plan. It is expected that the polluter takes care of an incident if he is capable.If he is not, he may call upon help from the RRT.

In addition to these organizations, there are four special forces to help the FOSC duringan incident of national importance. They are: Coast Guard National Strike Force

(NSF) that has specially trained personnel and equipment for responding to a major oilspill or chemical release. They also keep track of what equipment is available at differ-ent sites. The Coast Guard Public Information Assist Team (PIAT) handlesthe public information, while EPA Environmental Response Team (ERT) supplies

45


Fig. 21: The areas of the RRT’s (NRT, web pages).

sampling and analysis, hazard assessment, cleanup techniques and technical support dur-ing operation. Scientific Support Coordinators (SSCs) provide expertise in theareas of environmental chemistry, oil slick tracking, pollutant transport modeling, natu-ral resources at risk, environmental tradeoffs of countermeasures and cleanup, informationmanagement, contingency planning and liaison to the scientific community and the naturalresource trustees.

7.6.2 Equipment

Government

The US Coast Guard has established 22 sites of pre-positioned equipment. Each of thesites has a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS) and 1524 m of foamfilled booms. A VOSS unit is a combined skimmer/boom system and consists of

• Outrigger assembly with lifting davit

46


• Sweep boom to collect the oil

• Floating weir skimmer

• Submersible 6” off-loading pump

• Portable inflatable barge (98420 l) to store the oil

It is the National Strike Force (NSF) that maintains the equipment. NSF consists of foursections, the National Strike Force Coordination Center and three different Strike Teams.The areas covered by the different teams are shown in fig. 22.

Fig. 22: The areas of the Strike Teams (NSF, web pages).

In addition to the VOSS, each Strike Team has 2000 m of inflatable boom, pump/draconeoff-loading systems, command trailers, temporary storage devices, dry storage sheltersand V-sweep type boom. In addition, there are aircrafts and helicopters available fordeployment of equipment and surveillance.

Private

There are more than 130 private oil spill removal organizations that have been classifiedby USCG to handle clean-up of spills. Some of these have dedicate vessels for oil recovery,others have multi purpose boats (ITOPF, 1998).

In the Caribbean region there is a cooperative funded by oil companies that possesses alarge amount of equipment.

47


The operators of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, Alyeska, operates dedicated vessels and otherequipment. They are based in Valdez and other locations in Alaska.

Most of the harbors, ports and terminals operate some equipment for oil spill.


Mechanical containment and recovery is considered to give the best result. This becausethe spill then can be recycled or disposed in a proper way. This response may be impossibledue to weather conditions or position of spill. In some areas the NCP gives the FOSC theoption to take rapid decisions on using dispersants. Outside this area use of dispersant haveto be approved by several agencies identified in NCP (RRT, 1998a). There is a nationallist of which dispersants that are allowed. Use of in-situ burning as a response to a spill isregulated in a similar way. Combustion agents allowed are stated in a section in NCP, andthe FOSC is allowed to make rapid decisions in some areas and under special conditions.For use in other cases, approval is required prior to use (RRT, 1998b).

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8 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

8 International Agreements

The first international agreements concerning environmental protection of marine areasappeared around 1970. The increased marine activity made it clear that an incident at onesite could easily effect several countries and their coastal lines. In this section we presentin short agreements that concern oil spills in Arctic areas.

8.1 International Agreements

8.1.1 MARPOL 73/78

International Convention for the Protection of Pollution From Ships came into force Oc-tober 2, 1983. Its aim is to

• eliminate marine pollution by oil and other harmful substances, and sewage andgarbage,

• minimize the amount of oil which could be released accidentally in collisions or strand-ings by ships, also including fixed or floating platforms,

• improve further the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships, particu-larly oil-tankers.

Certain valuable areas are designated MARPOL-Special Areas. The Arctic Area has notyet been designated as such an area.

8.1.2 Intervention Convention, 1969

International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil PollutionCausalities came into force May 6, 1975. Its objective is to

• protect the interest of peoples against the grave consequences of maritime casualtiesresulting in danger of oil pollution of the sea and coastline,

• recognize that measures of an exceptional character to protect such interests mightbe necessary on the high seas, provided these do not affect the principle of freedomof the high seas.

49


8.1.3 UNCLOS, 1982

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force on November 16, 1994. Itembodies and enshrines the notion that all problems of ocean space are closely interrelatedand need to be addressed as a whole.

Part XII of the convention covers protection of the marine environment. There is no specialtreatment of the arctic areas, but general terms about contingency plans against pollution,notification of other states when an incident is discovered, pollution from vessels, etc.

8.1.4 Basel Convention, 1989

Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and theirDisposal inter alia deals with information on accidents which are likely to affect a neigh-boring state.

8.1.5 OPRC, 1990

The International Convention on Oil Pollution, Preparedness, Response and Co-operationcame into force May 13, 1995. It aims to

• prevent marine pollution incidents by oil, in accordance with the precautionary prin-ciple, in particular by strict application of the International Convention for Safety ofLife at Sea (SOLAS) and MARPOL 73/78,

• advance the adoption of adequate response measures in the event that an oil pollutionincident does occur,

• provide for mutual assistance and co-operation between States for these aims.

8.1.6 Paris Convention, 1974

Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land based Sources considersexchange of information and assistance in the prevention of accidents which might damagethe marine environment.

8.1.7 OSPAR Convention, 1992

Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic en-tered into force on March 25, 1998. It replaces the Oslo and Paris Conventions (see sec-tion 8.1.6), but decisions, recommendations and all other agreements adopted under those

50


conventions will continue to be applicable, unless they are terminated by new measuresadopted under the 1992 OSPAR Convention.

The new Convention, drafted to merge and modernize the Oslo and Paris Conventions,consists of a series of provisions and, amongst other things (OSPAR, web pages):

1. requires the application of:

• the precautionary principle

• the polluter pays principle

• best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practice (BEP), includ-ing clean technology,

2. provides for the Commission established by the OSPAR Convention to adopt bindingdecisions,

3. provides for the participation of observers, including non-governmental organizations,in the work of the Commission,

4. establishes rights of access to information about the maritime area of the Convention.

Contained within the OSPAR Convention are a series of Annexes which deal with thefollowing specific areas:

• Annex I: Prevention and elimination of pollution from land-based sources,

• Annex II: Prevention and elimination of pollution by dumping or incineration,

• Annex III: Prevention and elimination of pollution from offshore sources,

• Annex IV: Assessment of the quality of the marine environment.

Table 2: Membership in international agreements for the different countries treated in this report.

Canada Denmark Finland Norway Russia USAOPRC x x x x x xMARPOL x x x x x xParis Convention x x xOSPAR Convention x x xIntervention Convention x

51


8.2 Multilateral agreements

8.2.1 Copenhagen Agreement

Agreement between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on Information andCooperation in Response to Pollution of the Sea by Oil or other Harmful Substances alsocovers aerial surveillance issues and cooperation in research and development.

8.2.2 Nordic Agreement

Agreement between Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden regards cooperation in acci-dents in order to prevent or minimize damage to people, property, and to the environment.This agreement considers all situations which are not covered by any other agreement.

8.2.3 Helsinki Convention, 1974

Full name of this convention is: Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environmentof the Baltic Sea Area. This convention covers information and cooperation in pollutionincidents and aerial surveillance. The governing body of the convention is the HelsinkiCommission - Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - also known as HEL-COM.

8.2.4 Trans-boundary Cooperation to Avert or Mitigate Disasters in Case ofAccidents towards People, Property, or Environment, 1989

Agreement between Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The agreement covers bothpreventing and limiting damage. It concerns cross-border cooperation in research anddevelopment as well as providing assistance in the event of accidents.

Table 3: Membership in multilateral agreements for the different countries treated in this report.

Canada Denmark Finland Norway Russia USACopenhagen Agreements x x xNordic Agreement x xHelsinki Convention x x xTrans-boundary etc. x x x

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8.3 Bi-lateral Agreements

8.3.1 Russia-Norway

The Russian-Norwegian agreement on cooperation in combating emergency oil spills in theBarent Sea was started in 1993.

8.3.2 Canada-Denmark

Canada and Denmark have an agreement on pollution in the area of Buffin Bay, DavisStrait and other joint areas.

8.3.3 Canada-Russia

Agreements on environmental cooperation were signed with Russia in 1993. The authordid not succeed in finding any information on the contents of this agreement.

8.3.4 Canada-USA

Canada/US Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan provides a framework for Canada-US cooperation in response to pollution incidents that pose a significant threat to watersor coastal areas requiring joint response or assistance.

Table 4: Bi-lateral agreements between the different countries treated in this report.

Canada

Denmark x Denmark

Finland Finland

Norway Norway

Russia (x) x x RussiaUSA x x

8.3.5 Finland-Russia

There is an agreement between Finland and Russian Federation on Cooperation to AvertDisasters and to Prevent Their Consequences. The agreement is similar to the NordicAgreement.

53


8.3.6 Russia-USA

Russia and USA have a Joint Contingency Plan Against Pollution in the Bering andChuckchi Seas. This plan provides for coordinated and combined responses to pollutionincidents in the Baring and Chuckchi Seas.

54

Part IV

History of Oil Spills

9 GENERAL TRENDS

9 General trends

The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation provides the data presented in fig.23 and 24. The numbers are for oil spilled from a vessel by accident, except those resultingfrom war actions. The vessels included are tankers, combined carriers and barges.

Fig. 23: Number of oil spill from vessels. (ITOPF, web pages).

Fig. 24: Quantity of oil spilled from vessels. (ITOPF, web pages).

The spills marked in fig. 24 are the three largest of this kind in the given period. ¡¡Atlantic

56

10 CASE STUDIES

Empress¿¿ spilled 287 000 tonnes off Tobago - West Indies, ¡¡Castillo de Bellver¿¿ spilled252 000 tonnes off Saldanha Bay - South Africa and ¡¡ABT Summer¿¿ spilled 260 000tonnes 700 naut. miles off Angola.

For the largest spills (more than 700 tonnes), the main reason for the accident are ground-ings. They are responsible for 35 % of the cases. Collisions are the second most importantreason, which consist of 29 % of the cases. These results are obtained for the period1974-1998.

10 Case studies

[Material from (NOAA, 1992)]

We will investigate different oil spills that have occurred in the past. All of them are spillsfrom vessels.

10.1 Bahia Paraiso, Antarctica 1989

On January 28, 1989, the ¡¡Bahia Paraiso¿¿ ran aground off Delaca Island, 3.2 km fromthe US scientific base at Palmer Station, Antarctica. A gash was torn in the hull of theship, and 3774 barrels of diesel fuel were released along with cylinders of propane andcompressed gas.

On February 4, the area within a 3.2 km radius of the wreck had been contaminated.Ultimately, the oil formed a slick with radius 16 km. A boom was deployed at February 6,but it did not hold. By February 7 there were skimmers working, and divers inspected thehull. Two holes in the fuel tank were sealed. By February 8, 8.3 % of the oil was recovered,but the oil was emulsified and weathered and hindered the recovery efforts. Offloading offuel from the wreck was started February 11.

Not all of the oil was removed, and the wreck continued leaking. By April 1989, the leakagewas greatly reduced and only the areas nearby showed oil. As of March 12, 1992, the wreckwas still present, and still contained about 1500 barrels of oil. The remaining oil in theship was to be removed. Such a salvage operation will take about 3 years because it is onlypossible to work during summer season. As of February 1997, a Greenpeace expeditionclaim that after an extensive process of cleaning and sucking the oil remaining in that ship,small but constant drops of oil still reach the surface.

There were high losses of krill and limpets. Among penguin chicks there were observed amortality of 50 %, but no loss was recorded for the adult penguins. The inter tidal areaswere directly affected by the spill. Samples over a six-week period showed contaminationin tissues from birds, limpets, macroalae, clams, bottom feeding fish and in water and

57

10 CASE STUDIES

sediment. There was evidence of persistent contamination a year after the spill, perhapsbecause of continued leaking from the ship. Most of the oil evaporated with the remainsdispersed by the currents.

10.2 Arrow, Canada 1970

On February 1970, traveling off course at nearly full speed, the steam tanker ¡¡Arrow¿¿ran aground in Chedabucto Bay off the coast of Nova Scotia in Canada. The vessel brokeinto two pieces on February 12, spilling 77000 barrels of bunker C oil. Water temperatureswere very cold, there was ice in the bay and also high winds. For this reason the oil wasspread in the bay, and contaminated 300 km of shoreline. The main impact was betweenmid and high tide, but there were also some impacts above the high tide due to the storm.At some places there were only traces of oil, others were heavily covered.

The remaining cargo was removed from the stern section in the period 2 March - 11 April.Approximately 37000 barrels of emulsified oil and water was removed from the vessel.

Large oil slicks were dispersed by Corexit 8666 and the waves, in total ten tons of disper-sants were used. Oiled wharves and boats were cleaned with steam. Oiled fishing netswere cleaned in a large laundromat.

Experiments were conducted during the cleanup operation to test various natural sorbentsand burning operations. Peat moss was tested as a sorbent. It was spread on the beachand oil was allowed to wash over it or was forced by using booms. It was found to be avery efficient sorbent material for bunker C at sand beaches. The ability to absorb theoil decreased as it began to weather and emulsify. Steam cleaning was experimentallyperformed on some rocks. In-situ burning experiments were conducted on two inch thickpatches that had been weathered on sea for more than two weeks. Peat moss soaked withfuel was used to start the fire. The tests were negative.

The spill caused the death of a large number of birds.

Oiled high energy places were cleaned by natural processes within two or three years.Traces of oil, but no apparent damage to the ecosystem could be found by long termstudies of these areas. At low energy locations damage to the ecosystem was still visibleand the amount of oil on the shoreline was relatively unchanged more than seven yearslater.

10.3 Antonio Gramsci, Gulf of Finland 1987

On February 6, 1987, the tanker ¡¡MT Antonio Gramsci¿¿ ran aground in the vicinity ofthe Porvoo lighthouse, which is situated halfway between Helsinki and Porvoo. It wascarrying 39 000 tonnes of crude oil, of which 570 tonnes was spilt into the ice covered sea

58

10 CASE STUDIES

(Hirvi, 1990).

The ice conditions were severe which made the combating work difficult. About 100 tonneswere collected before all recovery attempts were stopped on February 27. The oil continuedto drift and spread among the ice, and covered an area of more than 3500 km2. In earlyMay the oil was released to the sea. It consisted of a thin film of oil in addition to tar ballsand emulsion drops. The film was too thin for any recovery methods to be efficient. Someof the oil was present under the surface in form of large droplets of emulsion. In mid-Maythe oil started to drift ashore and contaminated the islands in the outer coastal zone overa length of 100 km. 38 tonnes of oily waste was removed from the shoreline. The lastobservation of stranding oil was reported in late June.

Based on laboratory experiments, it is estimated that 185 tonnes were eliminated by nat-ural processes, mainly evaporation. The recovery of about 110 tonnes leaves 275 tonnesremaining in the marine environment. Research and observations show little evidence ofdamage to seals and birds, only individual cases of contaminated birds were observed. Thesea-floor fauna was locally affected by the spill. Contamination was seen on the animals,and toxic components were present in them. The oil spill probably affected the health offish. This is supported by comparing samples from the contaminated area with samplesfrom other areas. Some of the differences may be normal local differences instead of effectfrom the oil. However, odor and flavor of oil was proved in some catches of herring andsalmon.

10.4 Athenian Venture, Canada 1988

April 22, 1988, the tanker ¡¡Athenian Venture¿¿ was found by an Canadian research vessel640 km southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. It had apparently experienced a violentexplosion and it was broken in two and on fire, the pieces of the vessel had drifted somekilometers apart when the vessel was found. The bow section sank the same day, whilethe aft section drifted on fire for the next seven weeks, finally sinking on June 17, 320 kmfrom the Azores. The cargo was 250000 barrels of unleaded gasoline.

Gasoline is a very light product, and most of it burned during the fire. A slick of 800 times6400 m was discovered by overflights April 22. This slick dissipated very quick, most of itwas lost to evaporation.

10.5 Nestucca, Washington 1988

In early morning of December 23, 1988, the tug ¡¡Ocean Service¿¿ collided with its tow,the barge ¡¡Nestucca¿¿, while trying to replace a broken tow line. The collision occurred 3km off the coast of Washington, near Grays Harbour. The barge was carrying more than69000 barrels of Number 6 oil. One cargo tank was punctured and 5500 barrels of oil were

59

10 CASE STUDIES

spilled.

High seas and currents precluded the use of containment booms and for this reason noattempt was made to recover oil at open sea. The oil traveling north was not observedbefore it came ashore.

The oil hit the beaches of Grey Harbour on the same morning as the spill occurred, andit was reported to move northward. By noon the oil washed ashore at Ocean Shores,Washington. The next four days several beaches in this area were contaminated. Offshoreoil moving north was observed as a light sheen with patches and pancakes of oil. Later onit was found that substantial amounts of oil was traveling beneath the surface.

On December 31, oil came ashore in Canada on Vancouver Island. 150 km coastal line wascontaminated, of this 2.5 km heavily oiled. On January 27, the next year, oiled materialwas found in the Moore Islands area of the mainland of British Columbia.

Gray Harbour consists of marshes and tidal flats, mostly mudflats. It was recommendedthat no cleanup of the mudflats be attempted, as this would hurt the environment morethan the presence of oil. Use of helicopter in Olympic National Park was strictly monitoreddue to the presence of Bald Eagles in the area. Many areas were extremely inaccessible tovehicles and cleanup equipment.

The shoreline cleanup was mostly manual. Oiled debris and gravel were showeled intoplastic bags that were picked up by a helicopter or truck if the area was accessible by car.Cleanup of shorelines was completed by April 21, 1998.

Experimental techniques were tested for use in cleaning the shoreline. Napalm was usedto burn of oil on rocks, but this was not successful. A flame thrower was also tested onbeaches, but it moved the oil and one could risk new slicks forming on the water. Oiledlogs were experimentally burned on oiled gravel, burning to a depth of half a meter. Themethod was put into practice in some areas.

Water fowl were most affected by the spill. More than 10300 oiled birds were collected,9300 of them were dead or died at treatment centers. The Bald Eagle, fish, shell fish andsea otter communities that were considered to be at risk were determined to be unaffectedby the spill or the response to the spill. No tainting of shell fish was reported, nor were anyfisheries reported closed as a result of the spill. On January 6, 1989 two shell fish areas onVancouver Island were closed.

10.6 Exxon Valdez, Alaska 1989

The accident

On March 24, 1989, the tanker ¡¡Exxon Valdez¿¿ ran aground on Bligh Reef in PrinceWilliam Sound, Alaska. The ship was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt

60

10 CASE STUDIES

to avoid ice. Eight of the eleven tanks were damaged and 240500 barrels of Prudhoe BayCrude was spilled.

Response

A tug was immediately sent to assist in stabilizing the vessel. At the time of the incident,the Alyeska spill response barge was out of service being re-outfitted, but it still arrived onMarch 24. The next day Exxon had assumed full responsibility for the spill and cleanupefforts.

Deployment of booms around the vessel was completed within 35 hours of the ground-ing. Exxon conducted successful dispersant testing on March 25 and 26, and was grantedpermission to use this on March 26. By the evening of March 26, a large storm began,and much of the oil turned into mousse. After the storm it was no longer practical to usedispersants, due to the changes in the oil’s properties. Experiments for dispersants werealso done after the storm, and by March 29, it was decided by the RRT (Regional ResponseTeam) that dispersants were no longer feasible.

On the evening of March 25, a test of in-situ burning of oil on water was conducted.Between 55 and 110 m3 of oil were collected in a fireproof boom towed in U-configuration.The oil was ignited and burned for 75 minutes, and was reduced to approximately 1 m3 ofresidue. Again, in-situ burning was not possible after the storm on March 26.

There was not enough equipment to protect all the endangered areas. Federal, state andlocal agencies set up priorities of protection. Due to the size of the spill, it was necessaryto bring in untrained personnel, and this led to some booms being deployed incorrectly,and sometimes damaged. There were problems with connecting booms of different types.Some of them had the universal ASTM connector, but this too was difficult to operatewhen the booms were deployed.

The primary means of open water recovery was with skimmers. The oil was contained inbooms towed by two vessels. The ends of the boom were drawn together, and the oil wasleft to await collection by a skimmer. Most of the skimmers became ineffective as the oilbecame weathered. Some types of weir skimmers that had cutters for cutting debris wereable to collect oil for a longer time than the simpler models.

Sorbents were used in cases where mechanical means were less practical. The disadvantageis that the method is labor intensive and generates a lot of additional waste.

The oil remaining in the wreck was completely offloaded the first week of April, 1989. Thetanker was towed away for temporary repairs, and then brought to California for repair inlate summer 1989.

Shoreline cleanup

The spill impacted 1760 km of discontinuous coast line in Alaska. The oil that came ashoreand contaminated an area was often lifted back into the ocean by the next hight tide. In

61

10 CASE STUDIES

this manner the contaminated area became larger and larger. In addition to the storm,the spring tidal fluctuations are nearly 5.5 m.

Different means were tried for cleaning the contaminated shoreline. Spraying of sea waterwas used to flush the oil off shore. If the oil was weathered or the location was hard toreach, heated sea water was used. Manual cleanup, raking and tilling the beaches, pickupof oily debris, enhanced bioremediation and spot washing were used to clean up the oil. Ata few sites, the oil was thick enough to be picked up with shovels and buckets. Other placesbulldozers were used to relocate and remove contaminated beach surfaces. Application ofdispersants at beaches were tried at several locations.

It was considered not to be safe to perform cleanup during winter, and the operationstherefore ceased by the end of September, 1989. It continued from April to September1990, and May to July 1991.

Early in the response, storage space for recovered oil was in short supply. Due to theremote location of the spill, most of the equipment and and personnel had to be deliveredby air. Valdez Airport was not accessible by large aircrafts. For this reason, most cargoshipments went to Anchorage and were then transferred to smaller aircrafts. The affectedshorelines were mostly inaccessible by land. Besides logistical problems, most of the crewhad to be trained in operation of the equipment, and also had to receive general safetytraining.

Wild life

The grounding occurred in the beginning of the bird migration season. It is estimated thatbetween 350000 and 390000 birds, 3500 to 5500 sea otters and 200 harbor seals died asa direct consequence of the spill. In addition killer whales may have been affected. 1630birds and 357 sea otters were treated. The birds had a survival rate of 50.7 %, while forotters is was 62 % which is considered to be good results.

There were commercial fisheries closed as a result of the spill and great concern overnegative effects on hatcheries. The 1989 black cod season was canceled in Prince WilliamSound, fishing of Pacific herring was banned, and the shrimp season was cut short as aresult of the spill.

62

Part V

Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen

11 OIL SPILL PREPAREDNESS AT SPITSBERGEN

11 Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen

11.1 Introduction

Based on (MJP, 1999)

The Norwegian Pollution Control Act (see section 7.4.1), put into force on October 1,1983, is in general not valid for Spitsbergen. Instead specific rules adjusted for this areaare given in several regulations. There are also plans for management and action, aimingto protect the environment from different kinds of damage. In Report No. 22 (1994-95)to the Storting, suggestions were made to update the environmental rules for Spitsbergen.A team was put together in 1996 and their proposal for Law of Environmental Protectionat Spitsbergen was given in NOU 1999:21. The proposal is being considered, and theGovernment will make a proposal to the Storting.

The proposed § 68 states that the party running an activity that can cause acute pollutionshall have the means that are needed to prevent, detect, stop, remove and limit the effect ofsuch pollution. The Ministry can require the responsible part to submit a response plan forapproval. Criterions for approval can be set. The Ministry can state the required level ofthe preparedness, and levies for governmental preparedness. If accute pollution takes place,the responsible part shall immediately alert the governor.

11.2 Potential of Marine Oil Spills

At Spitsbergen there are no offshore structures for oil or gas production that can causeblow-outs at wells or due to pipeline rupture. Marine spills can occur due to ship collisions,groundings or other kind of wreckage. We will divide the vessels into different groups,depending on how much oil that can be spilled.

Tankers contain huge amounts of oil. In general tankers carry refined petroleum productsfor local consumption at Spitsbergen. The type of oil varies from light products to heavybunker fuel, and the main products are gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Tankers regularly dockin Longyearbyen, Svea, Ny-Alesund and Isfjord Radio. In addition the local fishing boatsdo offshore bunkering of fuel. A tanker accident will clearly impose a risk of large oil spills.

Throughout the year there are several hundred fishing vessels in the Spitsbergen area. Thepotential threat of oil spills from these vessels are due to their bunker fuel. Most of themuses marine diesel, and they have a bunker capacity of 100-500 tonnes.

During the ice free period there are 30-50 vessels carrying coal from Longyerbyen port.In Barentsburg there is a slightly lower number of vessels each year. Depending on thefuture coal mining activity in Svea, vessels will have to carry coal form this port as well.The transport must take place in Bellsund and Van Mijenfjord during the ice free period

64


(July-October). The production is planed to increase. The vessels transporting coal havea bunker capacity of 50-600 tonnes, the same range as the fishing vessels. However, mostof them carry heavy bunkers fuels.

The number of large cruise ships is increasing slightly. They have a capacity of approxi-mately 1500 tonnes of heavy bunker fuel, but will usually carry only half of this. Transportof tourists in smaller ships shows a larger growth. They carry a considerably smaller amountof fuel, and usually a light type of fuel.

11.3 Important Conditions and Limitations

The polar environment can be considered to be more sensitive to oil pollution than otherareas. There are mainly three reasons for this. First, animals and birds tend to gather insmaller areas. The probability of spilling oil in a highly populated area is hence somewhatlower than general, but if it happens large number of animals or birds will get oiled.Secondly it is observed that the restitution time is longer than it would be in a warmerclimate. If part of a population is wiped out due to a spill, it will take a long time for thepopulation to recover to a normal level. The oil degrades slower when the temperature islow, and this results in an increased time of exposure. It is also more difficult to recoveroil in ice covered seas.

The amount of daylight per day varies during the year. In winter there is no daylight, butduring summer there is 24 hour daylight. In case of a winter spill it will be very difficult tovisually spot the oil, and also to operate any equipment. Artificial light from vessels willhave to be applied, but can not fully replace the missing daylight.

Roads are present at Spitsbergen around Longyerbyen and Barentsburg. In addition thereare very short distances of roads around Pyramiden, Svea and Kapp Linea. No roads con-nect the different settlements mentioned above. This means that equipment and personnelhave to be transported by boat, helicopter or scooter.

The governor has a communication system for use in rescue operations, but this does notcover all of Spitsbergen. To achieve best possible range the transmitters are placed at highaltitude. This makes them more exposed to damage, and they may be out of function forperiods. Outside the range of this communication system or in case of failure radio can beused as an alternative.

The climatic conditions at Spitsbergen can be very rough, with low temperatures andstrong winds. This is a concern when considering safety for personnel. Presence of ice atthe sea surface limits the choice of response method and equipment.

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11.4 The Most Likely Scenarios for Marine Spill

Tankers and vessels carrying coal or other cargo operate close to the Spitsbergen coastlinein some limited areas. These are close to the different settlements, and this means that theresponse time can be low if equipment is stored at the site, and personnel for operating itis available. Cruise ships, smaller tourist boats and fishing vessels operate in a much widerrange of areas, sometimes far remote from other people. This means that all equipmentand personnel have to be transported over a distance, which will delay the response.

Tourist and coal vessels operate during summer and autumn. This means that spills fromthis kind of vessels will not occur at the period of year when daylight is absent. Fishingvessels, tankers and cargo vessels on the other hand operate throughout the year.

The smaller tourist boats have had several accident during the last years. This is partlybecause they operate close to the coast. Still, they are not considered to be a major threatbecause of the type of fuel they are using. Marine diesel is a light oil that will evaporaterelatively quickly. It will not tend to form emulsion, and this means that the time windowfor recovery is long. It can be ignited, skimmed or dispersed even when it is relatively old.The fishing vessels usually carry the same kind of fuel. However it should be kept in mindthat even a thin slick of oil has the ability to kill a huge amount of animals, especiallybirds. This can be if the slick is positioned where the birds usually feeds or stays on thesea surface for other reasons.

There are mainly three scenarios that impose a risk for an environmental catastrophe, andthey will be investigated in the sections below. Remember for all cases that an accidentis most likely to happen when weather conditions are bad, be it the presence of fog, windand/or waves.

TankerA tanker accident imposes risk of spilling both fuel and cargo. It is most likely to happenin the vicinity of Longyearbyen, Svea, Ny-Alesund, Isfjorden Radio or in the fairways to orbetween them. The worst case scenario would be a large spill of heavy oil during stormy, lowtemperature winter conditions and no daylight. In addition, the oil may spread in brokenice which imposes further complications when trying to recover the oil. It is impossibleto dimension the response system to fully cope with a situation of this type. Still, everyeffort must be made to limit the consequences if it occurs.

To prevent the situation from arising, one should ensure that the tankers in traffic are assafe as possible. They should have double hulls and be well maintained. The fairways theyare sailing must be well marked by lights and other means like radar reflectors. Also themapping for the areas should be as good as possible.

Cruise Ship13 of July, 1997 the cruise ship Hanseatic ran aground on sand and rocks off northernSpitsbergen, in the Hinlopen fjord, west of Nordaustlandet Island. It had 145 passengers

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with an average age of 70, and 115 crew. There were no injuries or damage. On 17 July,it was refloated and sailed to Longyearbyen.

When this accident happened the weather was calm and nice. Bad weather and a seriousdamage to the ship would change the scenario completely. Several hundred tonnes ofheavy oil could be spilled. From the oil-recovery point of view, the passengers and largenumber of crew are a seriously complicating factor. If evacuation is necessary, the availablehelicopters, vessels and personnel will spend hours to transport people from the ship toa safe place. In the meantime the oil will spread in the area, and when equipment andpersonnel are available the probably emulsified and heavy oil may already be on shore.

As for the tankers, it is of highest priority to prevent such accidents from happening. Goodmaps, marking of fairways, well maintained ships and experienced crews are importantfactors. In addition, the route of the ships should be reported to the authorities. Thismakes it possible to slightly adjust the level of preparedness if the circumstances makes itmore likely for an accident to happen. This can be if the ship travels in a highly sensitivearea and the weather becomes rough.

Vessel Carrying Coal or other CargoA cargo vessel has the potential of spilling several hundred tonnes of heavy bunker fuel.As for the tankers, this is most likely to happen in the vicinity of settlements or in thefairways to these places. In case the mining activity in Svea is increased, a large number ofvessels will have to carry coal trough Bellsund and Van Mijenfjord, a shallow and narrowarea. The shipping will take place during ice free periods, the same time of the year asthe animals are breading and the birds nesting. Particularly in Bellsund there are largepopulations of seals and birds. An oil spill will be a serious threat. The distance to landis small, which means that the time before the oil hits the shore will be short.

It is considered to require the use of marine diesel as bunker fuel for vessels transportingcoal in this area. This would however imply increased costs for shipping the coal.

11.5 Recomendations for Oil Spill Preparedness at Spitsbergen

There is a small stockpile of oil responce equipment in Longyerbyen. The governor isadministrating a response action. The equipment is suitable to handle smaller oil spills,and not in open waters. There is some equipment in Svea and in Ny-Alesund, but nothingin the Russian settlements of Barentsburg and Pyramiden.

The governor has two helicopters, one Super Puma and a smaller Bell 212. Depots of fuelfor the helicopters are positioned at different sites of Spitsbergen to extend the operationalrange. The Norwegian Coast Guard is patrolling the area and can take part in an oilrecovery action if necessary. Some of them have permanent oil recovery equipment fittedinside. There are also a beltwagon available and several scooters and cars.

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Helicopters and vessels are used for a wide variety of purposes. First priority should begiven to rescue of peple, and oil spill response should be next.

11.5.1 Positioning of Equipment

There is always a question to which degree an oil spill response system should be centralizedor decentralized. The most important factors are response time, which is connected todistance from spill place to depot of equipment and personnel, and costs. The best solutionwill be to have as many well equiped depots as possible for an acceptable price. Norwayscoast line is long and it is necessary to have several depots spread along the coast. Thedistance between mainland of Norway and Spitsbergen is also of such a magnitude that itis necessary to have some eqipment stored locally at Spitsbergen.

The first stage of an oil spill response operation must be done by local, trained personneland by use of local equipment. This is because of the time aspect. Reinforcements can betaken from the mainland for the later stages of the response action. This may be cleaningof beaches, recovery of oil at sea if the oil is still present at the surface, offloading of tanksand more.

11.6 Type of Equipment

Booms and SkimmersThe conventional use of booming and skimming is suitable when there is no ice. Boomscan be used for ice consentrations up to 60-70 % but the presence of ice will complicatethe operation of the booms. One can not expect to have the same efficienty as without ice.The skimmers must be robust and able to pump higly viscous oil. However, skimmers forless viscous oil shold also be availiable.

As spills are most likely to happen close to shore, it is a difficult task to collect the oilbefore it reaches the shore. It should be considered if there are certain specially sensitiveareas that can be protected by deploying booms outside them in case of a spill. Thesebooms should be stored close to the site, and trained personnel for deploying them shouldbe as close as possible. This can be relevant to the Bellsund and Van Mijenfjord if coalmining in Svea is continued and increased.

DispersionDispersion improved by chemicals can sometimes be an option. This is a method that canbe done quickly and with few people if the spill is within resonable reach of a helicopterand its depot of dispersants and fuel.

If the circulation of water is low, fish and other animals in the water column can be exposedto a high consentration of oil and dispersant for a relatively long period. To prevent this,it should be decided which areas that are accepted for use of dispersants, and how large

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amounts. One can also restrict the use to certain periods of the year. It is of utmostimportance that this is done before the spill, so that no time is lost in the decision process.

Besides the regulations above, each spill should be considered on its own. If there is icepresent, some of the dispersants will hit the floes. The vaste will be of the same order asthe consentration of ice. Note that this is not only vaste of dispersants. The chemicals willstay on the floe and may cause harm to animals by its precence. Another effect of the ice isdamping of waves. There might be too little wave energy for dispersion to be significantlyimproved by use of chemicals.

The wave energy is also a concern in ice free waters. It should be enough to mix the oiland water, and it should not be enough to wash the chemicals off the slick before theystart acting.

BurningIf the oil is naturally collected in ice, burning may be the best option. Also oil collected inbooms can be burned if the booms are fireproof. An ingniting device is needed, preferablyone that can be operated remotly from a helicopter.

OffloadingOffloading of oil from a vessel can prevent the oil from reaching the sea. If possible, thisis of cause a much better alternative then collecting the oil afterwards, especially near thecoast.

Equipment for Spotting OilOne of the governor’s helicopters should have equipment to spot oil spills. This should beof the best possible kind, as the conditions can be very difficult. Ice may disturb the view,and no daylight can be the case.

SpotlightsVessels and helicopters should have spotlights to be able to light up working area in caseof winter spills. This will not give as good conditions as daylight, but it will help.

11.7 Conclusion

To conclude, equipment, vessels and trained personnel for the first stages in an oil spillresponse operation should be available on Spitsbergen.

Due to difficult environmental conditions and economical reasons, the local response orga-nization can not be expected to handle large oil spills in an optimal way. Efforts shouldtherefore be made to prevent such a situation to arise. Dispersion and burning are meth-ods that in some cases can treat large amounts of spilled oil. This equipment should beavailable, and depots of dispersants should be placed at positions where it can be used andthe probability of spill are highest. Booms for protecting predefined sensitive areas shouldbe available at the settlements where risk of spilling is high.

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The booms, skimmers, vessels and personnel should be of sufficient capacity to recoversmaller spills from vessels, if the environmental conditions permit operation, and if thespill is at some distance from shore.

The location of the main depot should depend mainly on three factors. It should be closeto the areas that are most sensitive and close to the places where spills are most likely tohappen. One should also take into account that the governor, his vessels and helicopters arebased in Longyearbyen. Today the depot is located in Longyearbyen, and this is probablythe best placement unless the activity in Svea is highly increased. Moving some or all ofthe equipment to Svea should then be considered.

Cooperation with the Russians would increase the level of preparedness. The cooperationshould preferably consist of mutual support in the form of equipment, vessels and person-nel. Joint training of personnel can be necessary to achieve efficient operation during anincident.

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A RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA

A Responsible Organizations in Canada

Table 5: Lead and Resource Agencies for Various Pollution Incidents (CCG,1994) If Canadian CoastGuard is not the Lead Agency it will be a Resource Agency.

Pollutant Source Lead Agency

Ship in waters of Canadian interest and pub-lic ports and harbours

Canadian Coast Guard

Ship in a port administered under theCanada Ports Corporation Act: St. John’s,Halifax, Saint John, Sept-Iles, Saguenay,Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Montreal, Vancou-ver, Prince Rupert

Port/Canadian Coast Guard: inaccordance with Memorandum ofUnderstanding, July 4, 1990

Ship in Harbour Commission ports: (Os-hawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Windsor, Thun-der Bay, Fraser River, North Fraser River,Nanaimo, Port Alberni)

Port Authority

Ship controlled by the St. Lawrence Sea-way Authority within the Welland Canal andwithin the locks (end of wall to end of wall)in the Montreal-Lake Ontario section

St. Lawrence Seaway Authority

Marine traffic in the Trent-Severn or RideauWaterways

Heritage Canada

Ship-source in Canadian waters of BaffinBasin Area


Vessels operated by National Defence National Defence

Mystery spill in waters of Canadian interest Canadian Coast Guard

Spills in the Arctic Indian and Northern Affairs

Land-basedProvince(s) Environment Canadafor federal facilities

Any source originating in foreign waterswhere it crosses into Canadian waters


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A RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA

Pollutant Source Lead Agency

Offshore petroleum exploration or produc-tion installation

Natural Resources Canada.(Canadian Coast Guard if theplatform is in transit)

Ontario Ministry of Natural Re-sources for a rig on the lake bedin the Great Lakes

Canada-Newfoundland OffshorePetroleum Board for the New-foundland offshore area

Canada-Nova Scotia OffshorePetroleum Board for the NovaScotia offshore area

Offshore Mooring PointsCanadian Coast Guard if spillfrom ship or ship’s equipment

Environment Canada for a fed-eral facility

Province(s) if from the buoy,its underwater pipeline or otherequipment supplied to/fromshore

Canada-Newfoundland OffshorePetroleum Board/Energy Minesand Resources/National EnergyBoard for loading facilities con-nected to petroleum productioninstallations in the Newfoundlandoffshore area

Canada-Nova Scotia OffshorePetroleum Board/ Energy Minesand Resources/National EnergyBoard for loading facilities con-nected to petroleum productioninstallations in the Nova Scotiaoffshore area

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B ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA

B Organizations in Canada

This section is directly cited from (CCG,1994), section 2.2 Operational Liaison Rela-tionships.

Aboriginal Groups

Aboriginal Groups have jurisdiction for their lands and for responses to pollution incidentson or from their lands. Aboriginal Groups should be included in regional chapters asrequired.

Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board

The Board has the lead agency responsibility for pollution response with respect to inci-dents related to offshore Newfoundland petroleum exploration or production installation.In the event of such an incident, the Canadian Coast Guard has a memorandum of under-standing to provide a response capability as a resource agency.

Canada-Nova Offshore Petroleum Board

The Board has the lead agency responsibility for pollution response with respect to inci-dents related to offshore Nova Scotia petroleum exploration or production installation. Inthe event of such an incident, the Canadian Coast Guard has a memorandum of under-standing to provide a response capability as a resource agency.

Environment Canada

Environment Canada is recognized by the Canadian Coast Guard as the federal authorityfor environmental advice during a pollution incident. Environment Canada normally chairsthe Regional Environmental Emergency Team which is responsible for providing consoli-dated environmental advice during the course of response operations and can also provideadvice respecting weather forecasts and information on the physical operating environ-ment, spill movement and trajectory forecasts, approving the use of spill treating agentsand cleanup techniques.

Fisheries and Oceans

In addition to the roles and responsibilities of the Canadian Coast Guard, Fisheries andOceans has other responsibilities during a pollution incident. It is a participant in the Re-

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gional Environmental Emergency Team providing scientific and operational advice respect-ing the location of critical fisheries resources and their habitat, the timing and locationof fishing activities, oceanographic information, support in spill tracking and trajectorymodeling, general advice in support of clean-up operations and strategies, and prioritiesfor environmental protection related to the fisheries.

Indian Affairs and Northern Development

Indian Affairs and Northern Development will provide advice to the Canadian Coast Guardregarding pollution incidents in the Arctic and emergencies on or near Aboriginal lands.They may participate in the Regional Environmental Emergency Team and provide exper-tise in the above geographic areas.

Industries and Organizations Involved with the Production, Storage, Recovery,Transportation and/or Utilization of Oil and Other Potential Pollutants

These organizations and/or local contractors, can be considered as sources for:

• initial response to a pollution incident; facilities for the handling, transportation, andstorage of the pollutant;

• providing resources where appropriate;

• technical expertise and data on the pollutant and particular site data and information(such as water intakes or discharges).

Local Governments, Agencies or Boards

Local Governments, Agencies, or Boards that have responsibilities, resources or expertisein specific fields should be included in regional chapters as required.

National Defence

National Defence may provide persons, facilities, logistics, airborne support and otherresources during a pollution incident. The availability of these resources is dependentupon National Defence established priorities and operational requirements.

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Natural Resources Canada

Natural Resources Canada has a role to play with respect to a pollution incident relatedto offshore petroleum exploration or production platforms and may be included in theRegional Environmental Emergency Team for its expertise in the above field.

Provincial and Territorial Governments

Provincial and territorial governments, through their various agencies and departments,have legislative mandates and expertise that can contribute to the overall response andshould be included in regional chapters as required.

Response Organizations

Response Organizations can provide those resources and trained personnel identified inthe response plans for which they received certification, and provide the bulk of the pri-vate sector oil pollution incident response. See Annex H for a listing of those responseorganizations to which a certificate of designation has been issued.

Transport Canada - Marine Safety

Transport Canada is responsible for on-board investigation of ship-source pollution occur-rences and will provide technical expertise with respect to the ship and the ship’s on-boardactivities which can mitigate ship-source spills.

Volunteers and Volunteer Organizations

Trained volunteer organizations and individuals can make contributions to the response toa pollution incident. Contributions may include; awareness and education, developmentof community contingency plans, shoreline surveillance and information gathering, theresponse to oiled wildlife, providing vessels of opportunity and the self-protection of thecommunity.

In the event the polluter is managing the response, the use of trained volunteers andvolunteer groups is at the discretion of the polluter’s On-scene Commander.

In the event the Canadian Coast Guard is managing the response, volunteers and volunteergroups must be trained for the work they do prior to any consideration for the use of theirservices.

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REFERENCES

References

Brandvik, Per Johan: Weathering of oil spills at sea and use of numerical oil weatheringmodels, Lecture notes AT-303, UNIS 1999.

Børresen, Jan Aske (1993): Olje pa havet, Ad Notam Gyldendal. (In Norwegian)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Coast Guard (1994): Marine Spills ContingencyPlan, National Contingency Chapter

ECRC/WCMRC (1999): Overview Canada’s Marine OIl Spill Responce OrganizationsPrepared by Eastern Canada Responce Corporation Ltd. & Wester Canada MarineResponce Corporation, January 1999.

Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters, prepared by Qwens, Edward H.(OCC), Laurence B. Solsberg (CRI), Mark R. West (CRI) and Maureen McGrath (CRI),prepared for Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group.

Hirvi, Juha-Pekka (1990): Summary of the environmental effects of the Antonio Gramscioil spill in the Gulf of Finland in 1987, Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program TechnicalSeminar, 13th. Proceedings, pp. 179-195.

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (1998): Coun-try Profile United States of America.

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (1998): Coun-try Profile Canada.

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (1998): Coun-try Profile Russian Federation.

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (1998): Coun-try Profile Norway.

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (1998): Coun-try Profile Greenland.

Jolma, Kalervo, (1999): Oil Spill Preparedness in Finland The Finnish EnvironmentInstitute, Environmental Emergency Responce Group.

Michel, B. (1978): Ice Mechanics Les Presses De L’Universite Laval, 499 p.

Ministry of Justice and the Police. Report No. 9 (1999-2000) to the Storting: Svalbard(In Norwegian).

NOAA / Hazardous Materials Response and Assesment Division (1992): OIL SPILL -case histories, 1967-1991 Summaries of Signifficant U.S. and International Spills.

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REFERENCES

RRT - Regional Response Team: Dispersants in Oil Spill Resopnse, brochure preparedby Regions I & IV Mainland Regional Response Team.

RRT - Regional Response Team: In-Situ Burning in Oil Spill Resopnse, brochure pre-pared by Regions I & IV Mainland Regional Response Team.

SFT: Oljevernavdelingen i Horten: Vare oppgaver Brochure in Norwegian.

Squire, Vernon A., John P. Dugan, Peter Wadhams, Philip J. Rottier and Antony K.Liu (1995): Of Ocean Waves and Sea Ice, Annual Rev. Fluid Mech, vol. 27, pp. 115-168.

Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 1996 edition,Gramercy Books.

Web pages:

AC - Arctic Council, http://arctic-council.usgs.gov/

EA - Environmental Administration, http://www.vyh.fi

EDF - Environmental Defence Fund: A Circumpolar Atlas of Environmental Concerns,http://rainbow.ldgo.columbia.edu/edf

FO - Fisheries and Oceans Canada, http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

ITOPF - The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, http://www.itopf.com

NOFO, http://www.nofo.no

NRC - National Response Center, http://www.nrc.uscg.mil

NRT - National Response Team, http://www.nrt.org

NSF - National Strike Force, http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfcc/nsfweb/NSF/Command

OSPAR - webpages, http://www.ospar.org

UN - United Nations, http://www.un.org

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recovery of oil spills in marine arctic regions - maritim innovasjon

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