Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA's Scientific
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Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA’s Scientific Support, Monitoring, and Research DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service • Office of Response and Restoration • Emergency Response Division NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) is a center of expertise in preparing for, evaluating, and responding to threats to coastal environments, including oil and chemical spills, releases from hazard- ous waste sites, and marine debris. To fulfill its mission of protecting and restoring NOAA trust resources, the Office of Response and Restora- tion: • Provides scientific and technical support to prepare for and respond to oil and chemical releases. • Determines damage to natural resources from these releases. • Protects and restores marine and coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs. • Works with communities to address critical local and regional coastal challenges. OR&R is comprised of three divisions: Emergency Response, Assessment and Restoration, and Marine Debris. Collectively, the Office of Response and Restoration provides comprehensive solutions to environ- mental hazards caused by oil, chemicals, and marine debris. Cover photo credit: Charles “Bud” Ehler, NOAA. Cite as: Shigenaka, G. 2014. Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA’s Scientific Support, Moni- toring, and Research. Seattle: NOAA Office of Response and Restoration. 78 pp. Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA’s Scientific Support, Monitoring, and Research Gary Shigenaka March 2014 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and National Ocean Service Penny Pritzker Atmospheric Administration Holly A. Bamford, Ph.D. Secretary Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D. Assistant Administrator for Under Secretary of Commerce for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Oceans and Atmosphere, and NOAA Management Administrator DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration Emergency Response Division Seattle, Washington, United States of America NOTICE This report has been reviewed by the Office of Response and Restoration and approved for publication. Such approval does not signify that the contents of this report necessarily represent the official position of NOAA of the government of the United States, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use. Preface During the spring and summer of 2010, the eyes of the nation were riveted on the Gulf of Mexico. In April, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank, with a tragic loss of 11 lives. For three months, oil and gas spewed from the uncontrolled wellhead a mile below the surface of the water. Remote images of the nightmarish release were transmitted from the abyss and could be viewed around the clock and around the world. On the surface and on the shorelines of the adjacent Gulf coast states, the im- plications were painfully and frustratingly obvious: vast amounts of oil that exceeded recovery and contain- ment capacity; heavily coated wildlife icons like pelicans and sea turtles; and soiled white sand beaches that ordinarily would be crowded with swimmers and sunbathers. It would be America’s largest oil spill. Deepwater Horizon on April 21, 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo. But two decades earlier, there had been another oil spill. It was large; it involved one of the world’s largest oil companies; it fouled and killed iconic wildlife species; it was contentious and adversarial; it changed the way we do business. It was the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and it assumed and retained the title of “nation’s largest spill” until the Deepwater Horizon supplanted it in 2010. 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez. This is the story of the incident and NOAA’s involvement in the response, operational monitoring, and research. Table of Contents The Accident ................................................................................................................................................................1 The Response ...............................................................................................................................................................3 The Toll .........................................................................................................................................................................7 NOAA’s Role in Spill Response ................................................................................................................................10 NOAA Scientific Support During the Exxon Valdez ............................................................................................12 Winter Studies .................................................................................................................................................13 Net Environmental Benefits Analysis: Rock Washing Technology Evaluation .....................................14 Long-Term Intertidal Monitoring: Biology ................................................................................................17 Long-Term Intertidal Monitoring: Chemistry ..........................................................................................23 Long-Term Intertidal Monitoring: Geomorphology ................................................................................27 NOAA Experimental Studies 1999-2013 ...............................................................................................................33 Mearns Rock and Landscape-Scale Photo Monitoring .............................................................................33 Lower Herring Bay Gravel Beach Study, 2000-2012 ..................................................................................43 Littleneck Clam Studies, 1991-2007 .............................................................................................................49 The “So What?” Question .........................................................................................................................................52 A Postscript: The Twisted Fate of the Ship ............................................................................................................56 Some Final Words of Thanks ...................................................................................................................................59 Publications & Presentations Resulting from NOAA Monitoring & Research ................................................60 Peer-Reviewed Literature ..............................................................................................................................60 NOAA Technical Memoranda and Other Agency Reports ......................................................................61 Conferences/Conference Proceedings/Posters ...........................................................................................63 Books/Magazines ............................................................................................................................................66 Project Participants, 1990-2014 ...............................................................................................................................67 25 Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA’s Scientific Support, Monitoring, and Research 1 The Accident The Exxon Valdez departed the Alyeska Pipeline Terminal in Valdez, Alaska on Thursday evening, March 23, 1989. Built in 1986, the 987-foot/300 m flagship tanker was loaded with just under 1.3 million barrels (roughly 54 million gallons) of North Slope crude oil and was bound for Long Beach, California. Exxon Valdez at Outside Bay, May 1989. Photo by Gary Shigenaka, NOAA. Just after midnight on March 24—Good Friday—the vessel went hard aground on Bligh Reef, at the south- ern end of Valdez Narrows. Within a half hour of the impact, the chief mate determined that all center and starboard cargo tanks had been compromised and were discharging oil. Additionally, two starboard ballast tanks were also holed and taking on seawater. The extent of the damage caused immediate concerns about the short-term stability and structural integrity of the ship itself. The photograph at right, taken by Alaska Department of Environmental Conserva- tion District Office Supervisor Dan Lawn, indicated that by the time that he and U.S. Coast Guard investigators boarded the Exxon Valdez less than four hours after the grounding, nearly 7 million gallons had been released. The National Trans- portation Safety Board later estimated that by 6:00 a.m. on the morning of March 24, 215,000 barrels—9 million gal- lons—had been lost. Ultimately, the total amount of oil spilled was estimated to be 11 million gallons. It would be the largest oil spill into U.S. waters. Estimating the oil lost from the Exxon Valdez at 3:53 a.m., March 24, 1989— accounting performed in the cargo control room of the stricken tanker. Calculations In the days and months following the showed that of 1,286,738 barrels (bbl) total cargo, 1,126,873 bbl remained (indicating grounding, the Exxon Valdez gained that 159,865 bbl had been lost). Photo by Dan Lawn. notoriety because members of the tanker crew, including Captain Joseph Hazelwood, were known to have been drinking in several establishments in its namesake town of Valdez hours before the vessel departed. Although it has