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USARC calls for more oil spill research Commission says more federal funds needed for research into Arctic oil spill prevention and response, especially in the offshore Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Citing increased shipping and oil industry activity in Arctic seas, as sea ice recedes in the face of global warming, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission has published a white paper recommending additional U.S. federal funding for research into Arctic oil spill prevention and response. The commission, formed under the terms of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 to establish federal policies for scientific research in the Arctic and to promote that research, says that the federal government is failing to meet its statutory obligations for oil spill research.
“The promise of a rigorous national research plan on oil spills, pledged by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 after the Exxon Valdez disaster, has fallen short,” the commission’s white paper says.
Continued research Although much of the funding authorized in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 has expired, some research efforts continue, most recently in conjunction with SINTEF, a joint industry Arctic oil spill response program based in Norway, the white paper says.
“Despite these recent efforts, the commission concludes that federal oil spill research efforts for Arctic conditions are fragmented, uncoordinated, under-funded and in dire, immediate need of improvement,” the white paper says.
The U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute all have current roles in federally funded Arctic oil spill research. And at least two interagency processes, coordinated by the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee and the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research, are in operation, the white paper says.
Quoting a U.S. Geological Survey 2008 assessment that 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of undiscovered natural gas lie in Arctic regions, the white paper says that all five nations with territory in the Arctic have active Arctic oil and gas exploration or production programs. At the same time, the eight-nation Arctic Council is projecting greater Arctic shipping activity to serve Arctic communities, support Arctic resource development and ultimately use trans-Arctic routes for global transportation.
Information lacking But “good scientific baseline information is lacking for living resources in much of the region and the need exists to better understand both basic biological features, as well as the special habitat of flora and fauna that might be at risk from spills,” the white paper says.
And, in the Arctic, protracted darkness, cold, ice cover and powerful storms complicate efforts to prevent oil spills and to respond to oil spill incidents, the white paper says.
Amid calls for improved Arctic oil spill response capabilities, including concerns expressed by the mayor of Alaska’s North Slope Borough about the need to demonstrate the effectiveness of cleaning up oil in the Arctic offshore, the commission has discussed oil spill issues with industry groups in the United States, Canada and Norway, the white paper says.
“While industry believes the risks of oil spills are low enough to allow offshore exploration with appropriate precautions, there is widespread agreement and support for increased research and development in spill prevention and response,” the white paper says.
Commission involvement The U.S. Arctic Research Commission has worked with the federal and state governments to encourage an oil spill assessment in the Aleutian Islands, has sponsored some oil spill response workshops and has visited the SINTEF joint industry program, the white paper says. And the commission supports a call by the North Slope Borough mayor for in-situ spill response testing and for the integration of the traditional knowledge of Arctic communities into spill prevention and response efforts.
“Improvements are needed in the ability to clean up oil spilled under ice and only minor improvements have been made in the detection of thin oil slicks trapped under the ice over the last two decades,” the white paper says. “Recovery statistics for mechanical response techniques are similarly disappointing.”
The white paper also expresses concern about safety issues for personnel responding to an offshore oil spill in the Arctic and says “data gaps exist surrounding the environmental effects of in-situ burning, chemical dispersants and (oil) herding agents.”
But the white paper praises the efforts of the SINTEF program to address the various Arctic oil spill issues.
Several actions In response to its concerns, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission recommends several actions.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research needs to meet regularly to develop justifications for appropriate national oil spill research funding and to involve state environmental agencies, industry and academic institutions in maintaining a regularly updated research plan, the white paper says. A subcommittee should focus on research directed at the Arctic and sub-Arctic, while coordinating its activities with the commission and with research programs linked to NOAA. The subcommittee should also work closely with Canadian and Norwegian oil spill programs, and it should engage with the State of Alaska and relevant local governments such as the North Slope Borough and the Northwest Arctic Borough.
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, established in 1986 as part of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, should provide research funding of $30 million to $50 million per year for national oil spill research, with $8 million to $10 million of that funding dedicated to Arctic biological research and in-situ testing of oil spill response techniques used in ice-covered water, the white paper says.
There needs to be new federal legislation for appropriations from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, as well as to provide additional funding for the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute; to support Sen. Mark Begich’s proposal for a National Academy of Science study into oil spill research needs; to expand the membership of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research; and to enable the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to waive current restrictions preventing the on-water testing of oil spill response techniques, the white paper says.
And appropriate legislation could also turn oil spill incidents into opportunities rather than just problems, by encouraging the testing of new response techniques when responding to spills and by directing oil pollution fines into oil spill research funds.
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