Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters
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FIELD GUIDE FOR OIL SPILL RESPONSE IN ARCTIC WATERS (SECOND EDITION, 2017) ISBN 978-82-93600-29-9 (digital, PDF) © Arctic Council Secretariat, 2017 This report is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribu- tion-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/y-nc/4.0 Suggested citation EPPR, 2017, Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters (Second Edition, 2017). 443 pp. The revised second edition was funded by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, Prince William Sound Science Center in Cordova, Alaska, as a project of EPPR. Authors E.H. Owens, Owens Coastal Consultants L.B. Solsberg, Counterspil Research Inc. D.F. Dickins, DF Dickins Associates, LLC This EPPR project was led by the United States, with contribu- tions for Arctic States, Permanent Participants, and Arctic Council Working Groups. Published by Arctic Council Secretariat This report is available as an electronic document from the Arctic Council’s open access repository: https://oaarchive.arctic-council. org/handle/11374/2100 Cover image © Xxsalguodxx – stock.adobe.com Inside cover painting “Arctic” by Christopher Walker Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters (Second Edition, 2017) DISCLAIMER Nothing in the Guide shall be understood as prejudicing the legal position that any Arctic country may have regarding the determi- nation of its maritime boundaries or the legal status of any waters. Regardless of suggested response strategies and procedures shown in this Guide, it is expected that individual Nation's will fol- low their respective national response system protocols. Legend Bullets safety concerns with respect to human life and health operational considerations that might limit or enhance a strategy or technique strategies or techniques recommended for a given scenario, usually appropriate strategies or techniques not recommended for a given scenario, rarely appropriate Seasons Environments open water (water is free of seas any ice forms) freeze-up lakes (new ice is forming) breakup rivers (mature ice is melting) frozen (ice is solid, usually shorelines continuous) Oil Locations oil on the surface in oil beneath ice open water oil submerged under oil on ice open water oil on water surface oil submerged under mixed in ice solid ice oil submerged under broken ice Oil Viscosity Ranges medium light (like heavy (like water) (like tar) molasses) ABOUT EPPR The Arctic Council was established in 1996 as a high-level forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants. The Council focuses its work on matters related to sustainable development, the environment, and scientific cooperation through six standing Working Groups with input from expert groups and ad-hoc task forces. Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (EPPR) Working Group, one of the six standing working groups, is mandated to contribute to the prevention, preparedness and response to environmental and other emergencies, accidents, and Search and Rescue (SAR). While not an operational response organization, members of the Working Group conduct projects to address gaps, prepare strategies, share information, collect data, and collaborate with relevant partners on capabilities and research needs that exist in the Arctic. Projects and activities include development of guidance and risk assessment methodologies, coordination of response exercises and training, and exchange of information on best practices with regards to the prevention, preparedness and response to accidents and threats from unintentional releases of pollutants and radionuclides, and to consequences of natural disasters. EPPR strives to be the premier international forum for collaboration on prevention, preparedness and response issues in order to advance risk mitigation and improve response capacity and capabilities in the Arctic. CONTENTS About EPPR Lexicon 1 - 1 Introduction 2 - 1 Part A Operations First Responder’s Guide 3 - 1 Shoreline Response Strategies 4 - 1 Response Methods 5 - 1 Part B Technical Support Information Spill Behaviour and Tracking 6 - 1 Notification and Spill Response Decision Process 7 - 1 Human Health and Safety in the Arctic 8 - 1 Wildlife Response in the Arctic 9 - 11 Coastal Character of the Arctic Regions 10 - 1 References and Bibliography 11 - 1 1 LEXICON CONTENTS 1 Lexicon 1-1 1.1 Bullets 1-3 1.2 Seasons 1-3 1.3 Environments 1-3 1.4 Response Methods 1-4 1.5 Response Feasibility 1-4 1.6 Oil Location 1-5 1.7 Shoreline Treatment Methods 1-5 1.8 Tidal Ranges 1-7 1.9 Oil Viscosity Ranges 1-7 1 - 2 LEXICON This section contains a list of terms and associated icons or bullets that are used throughout the Field Guide. 1.1 Bullets safety concerns with respect to human life and health operational considerations that might limit or enhance a strategy or technique strategies or techniques recommended for a given scenario that usually are appropriate and practical strategies or techniques not recommended for a given scenario; rarely appropriate or practical 1.2 Seasons open water (water is free of any ice forms) freeze-up (new ice is forming) breakup (mature ice is melting) frozen (solid, usually continuous ice is present) 1.3 Environments seas lakes rivers shorelines 1 - 3 ARCTIC WATERS FIELD GUIDE 1.4 Response Methods A mobile floating barriers B stationary barriers C subsurface barriers D berms E trenches or slots F diversion booming A advancing skimmers B stationary skimmers C vacuum systems A burning oil on water contained in booms B burning oil on ice C burning oil in broken ice A vessel dispersant application B aerial dispersant application 1.5 Response Feasibility good/recommended fair/conditionally recommended poor/not recommended 1 - 4 LEXICON 1.6 Oil Location oil on the surface in open water neutrally buoyant oil submerged under open water oil on water surface mixed in ice neutrally buoyant oil submerged under broken ice oil beneath ice oil on ice neutrally buoyant oil submerged under solid ice 1.7 Shoreline Treatment Methods natural recovery (general method) washing/recovery (general method) physical removal (general method) in-situ treatment (general method) chemical/biological (general method) 1 natural recovery 2 flooding 3 low-pressure, ambient-water wash 4 low-pressure, warm- or hot-water wash 1 - 5 ARCTIC WATERS FIELD GUIDE 5 high-pressure, ambient-water wash 6 high-pressure, warm- or hot-water wash 7 steam cleaning 8 sand blasting 9 manual removal 10 vacuum systems 11 mechanical removal 12 vegetation cutting 13 passive sorbents 14 sediment mixing 15 sediment relocation 16 burning 17 dispersants 18 shoreline cleaners 19 solidifiers and visco-elastic agents 20 nutrient enrichment/bioremediation 1 - 6 LEXICON 1.8 Tidal Ranges less than 1.0 m 1 – 3 m 3 – 10 m more than 10 m 1.9 Oil Viscosity Ranges light (flows readily like water) medium (pours slowly like molasses) heavy (barely flows like tar) 1 - 7 ARCTIC WATERS FIELD GUIDE 1 - 8 2 INTRODUCTION CONTENTS 2 Introduction 2-1 2.1 Introduction 2-3 2.2 Scope and Contents 2-5 2.3 Applications of the Guide and Use of Local Knowledge 2-7 2.4 Safety Considerations 2-8 2.5 The Decision Process and the Assessment of Feasibility, Benefits and Consequences 2-9 2.6 Organization and Format 2-11 2 - 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Purpose This Field Guide has been developed to provide circumpolar countries with operational oil spill response guidance specific to the unique climatic and physiographic features of the Arctic envi- ronment. The Field Guide is a companion to the “Guide to Oil Spill Response in Snow and Ice Conditions in the Arctic” (EPPR, 2015), which focuses on the strategic aspects of planning and opera- tions. 2.1.2 Objectives The Field Guide focuses on practical oil spill response strategies and tools for application to open water, ice and snow conditions in remote areas during cold weather. Information is provided rele- vant to the marine offshore and coastal environments, and to large rivers and lakes, where oil is transported and where spills pose a threat to the environment and public health. 2.1.3 Key Principles A first principle of this Field Guide is to present information that can be used by technical managers and decision-makers, as well as by local community first responders, the general public and the media. The Guide is not intended to duplicate existing manuals and ref- erence documents, but rather to collate available information on the behaviour of, and response to, oil spills in ice and snow. 2.1.4 Background Most oil spill response field guides focus on open-water conditions and in nearshore and shoreline environments. Yet much of the Arctic and subarctic marine areas are frozen for a large portion of 2 - 3 ARCTIC WATERS FIELD GUIDE the year. In addition, marine offshore environments are of great ecological importance in Arctic regions. Existing field guides do not address the unique physical, biological, oceanographic and atmospheric conditions of Arctic or other regions with seasonal ice cover (Table 2.1), and are, therefore, not well-suited to spill re- sponse activities, including training. Table 2.1. Key features of Arctic regions Environmental Factors ● high intensity of habitat use during summer season ● extreme seasonal ecological sensitivity variations ● unique shore types (ice shelves, glacier margins, ice foot features, tundra coasts: see Section 4) ● unique oceanographic and shoreline