“We are using the Deepwater Horizon event as a wake-up call.” |
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| Steve Rumrill, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve |
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Since April 20, when an explosion and subsequent fire damaged the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil rig, the eyes of the nation have been on the Gulf Coast. While the events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon spill are extraordinary, many coastal resource managers are using the incident as an opportunity to look at their own vulnerabilities and preparations for a technological disaster.
“We are using the Deepwater Horizon event as a wake-up call to make sure new staff members are prepared,” says Steve Rumrill, research coordinator for the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). “This is an opportunity for us to make sure that they’re up to speed for an immediate response, as well as the long-term damage assessment activities that go along with a spill.”
To help managers with their self-assessment, we asked staff members at South Slough NERR who went through the most serious oil spill in Oregon’s recent history in 1999, and officials in Alaska who dealt with the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989, as well as other oil spills, what lessons they learned that could apply in other parts of the country.
Oil Spill Impacts
While there have been several spills in Alaska that have significantly impacted coastal resources, the worst of these occurred just past midnight on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez ran aground, rupturing eight of its eleven cargo tanks and dumping at least 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound. Over the next few months, the oil spread across 1,200 miles of Alaska coastline—impacting three national parks, three national wildlife refuges, and a national forest.
According to Joe Banta, project manager for Environmental Monitoring at the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, the Exxon Valdez spill occurred just prior to the most biologically active season of the year.
“It happened right before herring season, which were at historic highs,” Banta says. “The herring fishery crashed a couple of years after the spill, basically never to return,” taking the herring fishing industry with it.
The spill also profoundly affected the social and economic fabric of coastal towns in the path of the oil slick, says Torie Baker, who works with Cordova and Prince William Sound as part of the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. Significant increases in alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, and employment problems were reported.
Identifying the Risk
A state does not need to have active offshore oil drilling for its coastal resources to be at risk of a spill, advises Rumrill.
“Any ships coming into port laden with hazardous materials are a risk,” Rumrill says. “Hazardous materials can also be found on railroad cars and in trucks that move throughout our coastal areas. We need to think beyond ships and big-scale oil rigs and think about the potential for smaller, more chronic spills, as well.”
“In reality, oil comes in a lot of different forms,” says Banta. “It can be a refined product on land in a storage facility. But it is very toxic and can have a huge impact on local resources. It really behooves us to understand the scenarios and to do what we can do to make sure facilities are well built and wisely operated. Trying to catch up after the fact is a most difficult thing to do.”
Before A Spill
While the list of recommendations from Alaska and Oregon managers was long, a number of lessons rose to the top. These include things that can be done before a spill, such as conducting broad baseline environmental assessments and getting to know the players and structure of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Incident Command System and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process.
“Incident Command is uniform throughout the U.S,” says Rumrill. “Everyone needs to be familiar with the decision-making structure of Incident Command and needs to make sure that the Incident Command folks in their area are aware of the data sets, modeling, and resource expertise that they have to offer.”
Managers also need significant baseline environmental data before an incident that cover multiple seasons and conditions, says Molly McCammon, director of the Alaska Ocean Observing System. “Trying to get things back to what they would have been like if a spill had not occurred without really having any data to back that up is very difficult.”
McCammon adds, “I cannot emphasize enough how essential it is to have a really robust ocean monitoring program.”
Other advice for coastal managers is to focus efforts on preventing a spill in the first place, says Zygmunt Plater, a professor at Boston College Law School who chaired the Alaska Sea Grant Legal Research Team after the Exxon Valdez spill, which identified legal tools the state could use to strengthen its oversight of the marine transport of hazardous substances.
“We need to make sure that there are good response systems in place,” Plater says. “Immediate response within the first 48 hours is our best chance.”
In Alaska, citizens’ advisory councils that were established after the Exxon Valdez incident are working particularly well and are recommended as models for elsewhere.
“Work with your partners to prepare now while you have the luxury of doing it in advance,” advises Baker. “Take a moment to look at some ‘what if’ scenarios given your current network of collaborators.”
After a Spill
Immediately after a spill, being able to work with and provide maps, data, and expertise to the Incident Command is cited as critical, as is quick initiation of, and involvement in, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process. Managers may even find themselves manning booms to help protect resources.
“Don’t be hesitant to get involved in the resource assessment,” Rumrill says. “You have to work within the system to be effective.”
“Communication is paramount,” adds Reid Brewer, the Unalaska agent for the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. “When these things happen, it is important that there be local input into the Incident Command structure.”
In the long term after a spill, communicating with and supporting hard-hit communities and coastal industries is critical to recovery. “The best thing you can do is be as transparent as you can be,” Brewer says. “The best thing to do is to continue to work with people and provide an open two-way communication forum.”
While each major spill is different, it is clear that coastal managers, resources, and communities all will be impacted in the event that the worst does happen. Efforts to support prevention and being prepared to respond should an event take place will go a long way to limit the long-term impacts.
For more information on Alaska’s experience, contact Joe Banta at (907) 277-7222, or banta@pwsrcac.org, Molly McCammon at (907) 644-6703, or mccammon@aoos.org, Reid Brewer at (907) 581-4589, or reid.brewer@alaska.edu, Torie Baker at (907) 424-7542, or torie@sfos.uaf.edu, or Zygmunt Plater at (617) 552-4387, or plater@bc.edu. For more information on South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve’s experience, contact Steve Rumrill at (541) 888-2581, ext. 302, or Steve.Rumrill@state.or.us.
For More Information
- Alaska’s Coping with Technological Disasters Guide
www.pwsrcac.org/projects/OSRplan/coping.html - The Coast Guard’s Incident Command System
http://pwsrcac.info/incident-command-systemunified-command/ - Prince William Sound’s Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program
http://pwsrcac.info/environmental-monitoring/
Preparing for the Worst in Oregon
On February 4, 1999, the most serious oil spill in Oregon’s recent history occurred when the 639-foot freighter called the New Carissa ran aground about 150 yards off a stretch of remote beach three miles north of Coos Bay. Over the next 106 days, as salvage operations were hindered by severe winter storms, the New Carissa would leak between 70,000 and 140,000 gallons of oil, killing about 3,100 shorebirds and seabirds.
Potential environmental risks from the grounding included impacts to the nearby South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), which is within Coos Bay near Charleston, Oregon.
“Oil released by the New Carissa provided a serious wake-up call,” says Steve Rumrill, the research coordinator for South Slough Reserve. “We were unprepared for an oil spill in the estuary.”
Over the following three months, the reserve staff provided important environmental information to and learned how to work within the Coast Guard’s Incident Command System, labored to prevent spilled oil from entering the estuary, and participated in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process.
Although the reserve escaped severe environmental damage in this instance, the spill made staff members keenly aware of the estuary’s vulnerability. The reserve is now prepared to respond immediately to an oil spill and is part of the state’s oil spill response plan.
“Coastal resource managers shouldn’t shy away from participating in emergency response,” Rumrill says. “Our role is clear, and there is a place for us.”
To read more about South Slough Reserve’s oil spill response and preparations, go to www.csc.noaa.gov/magazine/2006/02/article2.html.
