OIL SPILL RESEARCH PAPER

oil spill INTELLIGENCE REPORT

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Alaska Ocean Observing System and the Prince William Sound Observing System.

Prevention and Response Then and Now.

Animal rehabilitation during the oil spill.

Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council presentation.

Summary discussion of new resources published in light of the 20th anniversary of the oil spill.

“Black Wave,” a 60-minute film by Macumba Inter- national detailing the events of the spill and high- lighting the stories of several Cordova residents.

Trent Dodson, director of public outreach for the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, said,

“The biggest thing is to show the community how we’ve progressed since the time of the spill.” Dodson noted that, while many advancements have been made to avoid a future spill, more efforts are necessary. “It’s something that’s always on our minds,” he said. “The biggest thing is prevention.”

Dodson said the Cook Inlet Council is working with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create a sea ice monitoring network using Web cameras. “NOAA could make predictions where that ice is going,” he explained. “That will help give safety reports to mariners as they come into the inlet.”

For more information, see www.thecordovatimes. com/news/show/5298 and www.peninsulaclarion.com/ stories/032309/new_294210370.shtml.

Exxon Valdez: WWF Releases Report Just days before the 20th anniversary of the 24 March 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the WWF released a report, Lessons Not Learned, summarizing various changes (or lack thereof) since the spill and outlining suggestions for future progress. Despite the report’s title, the news is not all bad.

One lesson that was learned, according to the report, was the need for improved prevention and response measures. The US Oil Pollution Act (OPA) was enacted in 1990, creating an Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to cover a variety of spill- related costs; requiring development of contingency spill response plans; mandating the phasing-in of double hulls for tankers by 2015; and requiring that

cleanup and containment equipment be stockpiled for emergency use.

In Prince William Sound (Alaska, USA), the site of the Exxon Valdez spill, a number of improvements in the safe navigation of tankers have been made. The US Coast Guard (USCG) has expanded satellite monitoring, required that two escort vessels accompany each tanker as it leaves the Sound, and established criteria to determine whether the weather is safe for navigation. Specially trained marine pilots must board tankers at a new Bligh Reef station, and help guide the ships through the Sound. Spill response equipment is more readily available, and response drills are held annually.

oil spill INTELLIGENCE REPORT

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However, while these and similar measures have reduced oil spill rates over the last 20 years, WWF believes that Arctic regions may be even more vulnerable today than in 1989. According to the report, “Were it to happen again today, a spill the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster would likely prove equally as devastating.”

The remoteness of the Arctic and the region’s extreme weather conditions are two challenges that create a “response gap” that cannot be easily overcome by either legislation or technology. The report notes that, “The same environmental conditions that contribute to oil spill risks — lack of natural light, extreme cold, moving ice floes, high winds and low visibility — can also make spill response operations extremely difficult or totally ineffective.” Distance from USCG stations and a lack of infrastructure and safe harbors make storage and deployment of oil spill response equipment, as well as the feeding and housing of rescue crews to use the equipment, difficult. Further exacerbating the situation are a push for more oil and gas exploration, with the possibility of increased tanker traffic, and increased melting of sea ice due to climate change, providing longer periods and greater areas of open water.

To help avert future oil spill disasters and protect Arctic resources, WWF offers these recommendations:

Protect “No-Go” Zones: Areas of particular sensi- tivity and productivity should be entirely off limits to oil and gas development. Three areas identi- fied include “America’s fish basket” Bristol Bay (Alaska), the Lofoten Islands in Norway, and parts of the West Kamchatka shelf in Russia.

Institute a Time Out for New Development: A moratorium on new offshore oil development in

the Arctic should be implemented until oil spill response gaps may be closed.

Assess Spill Response Gaps: Further study of spill response gaps should be made, and integrated into feasibility studies for oil operations and contin- gency planning.

Conduct Comprehensive Risk Assessments: Arctic states (currently governed by the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden) should evaluate the risks of stressors due to industrial activities, shipping, petroleum development, and climate change. Further, they should share information, technolo- gies, and equipment to enhance rescue and spill response operations, and adopt an Arctic-wide spill response agreement.

Ensure Local Community and Stakeholder Involvement.

Implement Comprehensive Conservation Plan- ning: Spatial planning should be used to determine permanently protected areas based on the health, biodiversity, and functioning of ecosystems across Arctic states.

Adopt Internationally Binding Regulations: Rules should be developed and adopted across Arctic states governing oil extraction, development, and transportation to include impacts from oil spills and the cumulative effects on ecosystems, peoples, and climate.

Lessons Not Learned is available from the WWF Web site: www.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_ work/arctic/?159442/20-years-on-Arctic-unprepared- for-another-Exxon-Valdez.

Queensland Spill Aftermath In Queensland, Australia this week, the opposing party continues to hammer newly reelected Premier Anna Bligh, blaming her for mishandling the aftermath of the spill that oiled local beaches just days ago (see OSIR, 19 March 2009). On 11 March 2009, 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fell from the MV Pacific Adventure’s deck into the waters off Australia’s eastern seaboard, puncturing two holes in the ship’s hull as they fell. Approximately

66,000 gallons (1,571 barrels) of fuel oil spilled from the vessel, contaminating over 60 kilometers (37 miles) of coastline along Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Bribie Island, and Moreton Island. Cleanup, investigations, and politics continue to move forward.

Cleanup at badly hit Moreton Island has been slow but steady. Sand sifters donated by Swire Shipping,