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NRC assesses offshore Arctic response Report says much is known about offshore oil behavior and spill response in icy waters but not all needed tools are available Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The National Research Council has published a report on the current status of oil spill response capabilities in the Arctic offshore. The report says that mounting a response to a spill in this challenging environment requires a full suite of proven spill response tools but that not all of these tools are currently available.
Much is known about the behavior of oil spilled in ice-laden waters and about the technologies that can be applied to dealing with a spill in this type of situation. But further research into some aspects of Arctic offshore spill response would enable more informed decisions regarding appropriate response strategies in different oil spill situations, the report says.
Sponsorship for the report came from eight organizations, including the U.S. Arctic Research Commission; the American Petroleum Institute; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; the Marine Mammal Commission; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The report, prepared by a committee of 14 experts from academia, the oil industry, North Slope communities and oil spill response organizations, drew on the knowledge of a wide variety of individuals and organizations.
Increasing risk The report says that increased commercial activity in the Arctic offshore, encouraged by the thinning and retreat of Arctic sea ice, is causing increasing concern about oil spill risks. And that is driving a need for an improved understanding of the environmental conditions in the region and the possible impacts of an oil spill on the ecosystem.
The report recommends the implementation of a system for the continuous forecasting of weather and ocean-ice conditions. And high-resolution satellite and airborne imagery needs to be coupled with high-resolution data for nearshore bathymetry and topography, providing inputs to the modeling of coastline vulnerabilities. There is also a need for a community-based observing network, the report says.
Research recommended After reviewing the current state of knowledge and experience of Arctic offshore oil spill outcomes and response techniques, the report makes recommendations for research that can better enable informed decision about appropriate response technologies to use, with the need for a flexible toolbox of techniques that can be applied individually, or in combination.
In particular the report recommends that carefully planned field experiments should be conducted using the controlled release of oil in the U.S. Arctic, to advance the understanding of oil behavior and response options.
Studies have shown that oil dispersants can be effective in low seawater temperatures, but the pre-approval of dispersant use in Alaska should be based on sound science, including research into factors such as the fate of chemically dispersed oil in the Arctic environment and the toxicity of dispersed oil at realistic concentrations, the report says.
In-situ burning In-situ burning appears to be a viable response technique in the Arctic offshore, but further research could achieve a better understanding of the limitations of this approach, evaluate improved methods for igniting an oil slick and explore the use of chemical oil herding agents with different oil types, the report says.
The mechanical recovery of oil using skimmers and mechanical oil containment can be effective for small, contained spills in pack ice, or for larger spills under fast ice. But a large spill in the Arctic offshore is unlikely to rely solely on this relatively inefficient technique, the report says.
There have been promising advances in the modeling of the behavior of oil in ice, while government and industry programs have been evaluating remote sensing technologies, including sonar, synthetic aperture radar, infrared and ground penetrating radar. And the use of unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles for oil detection and tracking has grown. Investment in these technologies needs to continue, coupled with the robust modeling of oil slick trajectories, the report says.
Challenges for Coast Guard The report comments on the Arctic challenges faced by the U.S. Coast Guard, given the rising levels of Arctic vessel traffic and what the report characterizes as a lack of effective management of vessel traffic in the Bering Strait or in the U.S. Arctic. The Coast Guard will need an enhanced presence and capability in the Arctic, including icebreaking capability and the availability of vessels for responding to oil spills. The Coast Guard should also expedite an evaluation of Bering Strait vessel traffic, to determine if a vessel monitoring system and an international agreement on vessel separation is needed, the report says.
Support infrastructure And the report says that the lack of a support infrastructure in the Arctic would prove a significant liability in the event of a large oil spill. Infrastructure to support oil spill response should be enhanced in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic Boroughs, while the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation should undertake a training program designed to develop trained response teams in Arctic villages, the report says. Regularly scheduled oil spill response exercises would test the capabilities of the organizational structures needed for an Arctic oil spill response, the report says.
On an international front, the U.S. Coast Guard should expand its existing bilateral agreement with Russia to include Arctic spill scenarios, and should build on existing agreements with Russia and Canada for a joint spill contingency plan.
Structured process And the report recommends the use of a structured process such as a process called Net Environmental Benefit Analysis for decision making in the event of an oil spill, to prioritize the protection of cultural, subsistence and ecosystem components of the environment. In addition, federal agencies responsible for wildlife protection need to work together and with local government, communities and other organizations to achieve an improved understanding of how to deter animals from entering soiled areas and how to deal with animals impacted by spilled oil.
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