Vol. 1, No. 1
Headline
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Canada and US collaborateon strategies to address Gulf of Maine oil spills... (cont'd) Given that the threat of oil spills prevails in the North Atlantic, the US and Canada are working both collaboratively and separately to prevent and prepare for oil spills in the Gulf of Maine. Both countries have federal regulations requiring the oil industry to take certain precautions. In the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, the US Congress enacted the Oil Spill Pollution Act of 1990. The act mandates, among other measures, a phase-in of double hulls for large oil tankers by 2015. In Canada, regulations intended to prevent or mitigate oil spills include a requirement that all new tankers be built with double hulls or double bottoms. Also, individual oil cargo tanks within ships are limited in size to control the amount of oil spilled in the event of a rupture. Tankers with double hulls are more expensive to build and to maintain than single-hulled ships, but according to David Sait, Director of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's [DEP] Division of Response Services, the oil industry has come to accept such requirements as "the cost of doing business." The oil industry has become "far more dedicated to taking safety precautions than ever," agreed Green. "Fines are getting larger and cleanup costs are going up," he observed. Nevertheless, recent oil spills in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine underscore the need for local and federal agencies to be prepared for potentially disastrous incidents. Some environmentalists urge that the best way to reduce the potential problems caused by spills is to reduce oil consumption. Officials, however, continue to emphasize planning, as oil consumption is unlikely to decrease enough in the near future to eliminate the threat of spills. CANUSLANT simulates joint response Since 1974, Canada/US/Atlantic [CANUSLANT] exercises have taken place every two years with the intent of preparing US and Canadian government agencies and other relevant parties to effectively handle oil tanker spills that take place in international waters. The location of the exercises alternates between the two countries, and the programs are developed to provide as realistic a scenario as possible. Participants in CANUSLANT include the Canadian and US Coast Guards; Environment Canada, and the US Environmental Protection Agency; other federal, state, and provincial agencies with environmentally-related mandates; and industry, non-governmental, and citizens' organizations. CANUSLANT does not lobby for or pass regulations, explained Lieutenant Commander Tom Walker of the First Coast Guard District office in Boston. "It's strictly a joint response plan for dealing with cross-border incidents," he said. According to Brad Marshall, Director of Regional Services and Enforcement for the New Brunswick Department of Environment, CANUSLANT helps the two countries share resources and "get around a lot of the red tape in times of emergency." Lt. Jeff Gafkjen, Chief of Response and Planning at the Coast Guard's Portland, Maine Marine Safety Office, said participants in the most recent exercise focused on establishing a joint US/Canadian command post. "We decided to treat the Gulf of Maine as one ecosystem and forget the political border and establish one response organization throwing in the resources of both nations," he said. The two governments' procedures differ with regard to licenses, permitting, liability issues, cross border worker issues, terminology, communications, and other elements, noted Green. CANUSLANT helps work through those differences before a crisis is under way, he said. Last year, some CANUSLANT participants supplemented their exercise with real life experience. The day after the exercise ended in New Brunswick, the tanker Julie N. hit a bridge in Portland Harbor, Maine, spilling 170,000 gallons [643,518 liters] of oil. Marshall said CANUSLANT was not invoked because the spill did not threaten international waters, but he noted that some Canadian technicians who had been participating in the simulation immediately traveled to Maine to help with the spill response there. Spill's size not sole indicator of severity According to environmental agency officials, the number of gallons of oil dumped into the ocean during a spill isn't the only determining factor in assessing its harmfulness to the environment. Other important considerations are the spill's location, the type of oil spilled, time of year, weather, winds, and currents. All of these factors can influence how fast and how far the oil travels, determining how much land and water it affects, and how much of it can be recovered. Some types of oil float, while others sink. Walker said techniques for handling the latter type of oil are still being developed. The promptness with which the response begins also plays a role in determining how successfully the spill is contained. Maine DEP's Sait noted that most marine terminals are now equipped with permanent oil containment booms that are placed around a vessel as a precautionary measure as soon as it arrives. Wildlife, environment suffer harmful effects Oil that has spread through the marine environment can coat the feathers of sea birds, ruining their insulative properties so that the birds can't stay warm or dry. And, as they preen their feathers, the birds ingest toxic substances in the oil. If the oil contaminates the surface of the birds' eggs during incubation, their chicks may not be able to hatch. Toxic substances in oil can contaminate several levels of the food chain, affecting species from microorganisms to mammals. Oil also damages fragile salt marsh vegetation and can be incorporated into sediments and then leach out over the years, causing chronic low-grade contamination of the marine environment. But experts note that, given time, the marine environment can recover from some of the damage caused by oil spills, though others debate how complete or successful this recovery can be. Spills carry costs for marine-related economy The fishing industry suffers following an oil spill when fin fish are either directly contaminated, making them unsaleable, or when their spawning areas are damaged. Shellfish can also be rendered worthless when a spill contaminates the areas where they are harvested. Fishermen's boats, dirtied by spills, must be cleaned so they don't spread pollutants into uncontaminated waters. Tourist economies suffer when cruise operators and other marine-related recreational outfits have to temporarily suspend their businesses following a spill, or when beaches become coated with oil. John Sowles, Director of the Maine DEP's Marine Program, noted that the government agency assigned as trustee following an oil spill determines how much damage has been caused using the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process. The party identified as responsible for the spill -- or its insurer -- is then responsible for paying for all damages. "The difficult part is coming up with the figures," said Sowles. Agencies not the only ones involved in spill response Non-governmental organizations and individual volunteers often participate in monitoring water quality following a spill, cleaning oiled birds, and other tasks. Steve Jones, Research Associate Professor of Natural Resources at University of New Hampshire's Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, in Durham, NH, oversees the six-year-old Gulfwatch program. Sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, Gulfwatch monitors 62 sites in the Gulf watershed's five jurisdictions -- Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Following an oil spill, Gulfwatch collects blue mussel samples from relevant sites and analyzes them for petroleum-related organic contaminants, Jones said. Researchers can then compare these results with information on samples taken before the oil spill, and with data collected from samples collected later to see recovery progress, he said. Sowles' agency uses data collected by Gulfwatch and said the program is "not affected by catastrophic events but it is critically valuable in enabling anyone who wants to assess those critical events in putting them into long-term perspective." Clean-up methods vary Since no two spills ever occur under identical conditions, "It's hard to have protocols in terms of time frames for removing oil from the water," said Sait. Several methods can be used to contain spilled oil -- if it is the type that floats on the water's surface -- including using floating booms to block the oil's flow; and porous, sorbent booms and barriers, which absorb the moving oil. Recovery of floating oil can also be undertaken using skimmers, which mechanically remove oil from the water's surface; or a sweep system, which collects the oil, then pumps it into storage tanks. Sorbents used to absorb trace amounts of oil include organic substances like peat moss or sawdust, and synthetic materials such as polypropylene, polyester foam, polystyrene, and polyurethane. In either case, the material is applied to the spill by hand and recovered with rakes, nets, or other tools. Chemical dispersion of the oil involves spraying detergent-like material onto the spill to break it down. This method is not used near biologically sensitive areas. Bioremediation involves applying oil-eating bacteria to the spill to break it down and disperse it. Cleaning or restoring shorelines is one of the more difficult tasks of responding to a spill. Hydraulic dispersion uses high- or low-pressure water hoses to wash oil from sediments, rock surfaces, shore vegetation, marshes, and man-made structures. Steam-cleaning can be used on rocks and man-made structures. Sand beaches can be graded and scraped free of oil, although this method doesn't usually work for pebble and cobble beaches, and can cause erosion. According to Green, recovered oil must be either disposed of or refined or recycled for future use. Oil can be burned on the surface of the water if it is thick enough, or it can be removed from the water and burned in boilers, he said. In some cases, cleanup of oil spilled in sensitive environments is left to nature. Clean-up crews walking or driving onto oil-coated salt marshes or mud flats can push the oil farther down into marsh grasses or sediments. This can cause more damage than leaving the clean-up to natural processes such as storms, waves, and seasonal changes. But natural recovery processes can take years, and are not always completely successful, making prevention the most effective means of controlling oil spill damage. |
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Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine