Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment

211 Pages·2014·13.33 MB·English

by  Ocean Studies Board, Polar Research Board, Division of Earth and Life Studies, Committee on Responding to Oil Spills, Marine Board

Committee on Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
Ocean Studies Board
Division of Earth and Life Studies
Polar Research Board
Division of Earth and Life Studies
Marine Board
Transportation Research Board
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, NW • Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National
Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible
for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Funding for this study was provided by the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, the American Petroleum
Institute under grant number 2011-105958, the U.S. Coast Guard under cooperative agreement number
DTMA1H11001, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under purchase
order number M11PX00116 and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement under purchase order num-
ber E12PX00061, the Marine Mammal Commission under purchase order number DC-260-79EC085782, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under contract number WC133R-11-CQ-0048, the Oil
Spill Recovery Institute under grant number 12-10-02, and the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions,
fndings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not
necessarily refect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-29886-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-29886-5
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2014942825
Cover photograph provided by Richard Glenn, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.
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Printed in the United States of America
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
COMMITTEE ON RESPONDING TO OIL SPILLS IN ARCTIC MARINE
ENVIRONMENTS
MARTHA R. GRABOWSKI, Chair, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York, and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
THOMAS COOLBAUGH, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Fairfax, Virginia
DAVID F. DICKINS, DF Dickins Associates, LLC, La Jolla, California
RICHARD GLENN, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Barrow, Alaska
KENNETH LEE, Commonwealth Scientifc and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia
WILLIAM (LEE) MAJORS, Alaska Clean Seas, Prudhoe Bay
MARK D. MYERS, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
BRENDA L. NORCROSS, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
MARK REED, SINTEF, Norway
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BRIAN SALERNO, BIMCO, Washington, D.C.
ROBERT SUYDAM, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska
JAMES M. TIEDJE (NAS), Michigan State University, East Lansing
MARY LOUISE TIMMERMANS, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
PETER WADHAMS, Cambridge University, United Kingdom
Polar research Board liaisons
MOLLY McCAMMON, Alaska Ocean Observing System, Anchorage
CARYN REA, ConocoPhillips, Anchorage, Alaska
national research council staff
DEBORAH GLICKSON, Senior Program Offcer
LAUREN BROWN, Associate Program Offcer, Polar Research Board
STACEE KARRAS, Research Associate
HEATHER CHIARELLO, Senior Program Assistant (until April 2013)
PAYTON KULINA, Program Assistant (from June 2013)
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Resigned from the committee.
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
Preface
Balance. This is an important word in the Arctic, an area that serves as an integrator of many of
the Earth’s large-scale systems and processes, and also an area where choices made have substantial
impact on the Arctic and its neighbors. Many competing forces coexist and collide in the Arctic:
harsh environmental conditions, economic drivers, science and technology capabilities, logistical
and infrastructure challenges, ecosystem protection needs, food security concerns, and the needs of
traditional cultures and societies. Balancing the needs and requirements of these forces is part of the
challenge and opportunity presented in the complex, large-scale system that is the Arctic.
Within this context, the National Research Council was asked by eight sponsors who represent
many of these drivers to consider the adequacy and suffciency of resources, technology, research,
human resources, funding, and logistics to respond to an Arctic oil spill. The committee sought
to balance in its work traditional and scientifc knowledge of the Arctic and of oil spill response
operations, engineering, technology, policies, procedures, and equipment. It considered the needs
and concerns of the committee’s sponsors; government, public, private, for-proft and not-for-proft
organizations; citizens and organizations with Arctic interests; and the needs and interests of Arctic
inhabitants. The committee also considered lessons learned from events and case studies from oil
spill response efforts around the world.
The committee’s work was enhanced by the participation and input provided by a number
of individuals, organizations, and groups, many of whom are listed elsewhere in this report. The
committee solicited input from workshop participants, speakers, and experts across the spectrum
of traditional knowledge, science, engineering, vessel and oil spill operations, and regulatory and
government affairs. The committee’s work was also enhanced by the insight, experience, and col-
legiality of its globally distributed members, as it followed the tenets of an earlier National Research
Council (1996) report, to “get the science right and get the right science; to get the participation
right and get the right participation; and to develop an inclusive and thoughtful analytic-deliberative
process.” The result is a report that considers the adequacy of and needs for oil spill response in the
U.S. Arctic, drawing on the wisdom and expertise of many in and of the Arctic, and that considers
signifcant challenges in an important ecosystem.
It was my privilege to work with our committee; our project sponsors; our study director,
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
P R E F A C E
Deb Glickson; Polar Research Board Associate Program Offcer Lauren Brown; Ocean Studies
Board Director Susan Roberts; Marine Board Directors Joedy Cambridge and Scott Brotemarkle;
and the rest of the National Academies staff during the course of this study. Thank you all for shar-
ing your wisdom and insight. May we meet again in future endeavors.
M. Grabowski, Chair
Committee on Responding to Oil Spills in the
U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
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Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment
Acknowledgments
This report was greatly enhanced by the participants of meetings held as part of this study. The
committee would like to acknowledge those who gave presentations at committee meetings: Bill
Adams (Remote Energy Security Technologies Collaborative [RESTCo]), Doug Baird (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]), Geoff Baker (Crowley Maritime Corpora-
tion), Mary Baker (NOAA), Lawson Brigham (University of Alaska, Fairbanks [UAF]), Christy
Bohl (Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement), Gene Brooks (Maersk Line, Ltd.), Harry
Brower, Jr. (North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management), Larry Dietrick (Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation), Hajo Eicken (UAF), Michael Faust (ConocoPhillips),
Jeffrey Ferguson (NOAA), Adrian Gall (ABR, Inc.), Larry Hinzman (UAF), Charles Hopson,
John Hopson, Jr. (Wainwright Public Works), Christopher Ives (RESTCo), Christopher Krenz
(Oceana), Nettie La Belle-Hamer (UAF), Joe LoSciuto (ASRC Energy Services), Joe Mello
Leavitt, Amy Merten (NOAA), Vince Mitchell (Lamor Corporation), RADM Thomas Ostebo
(U.S. Coast Guard), Ed Owens (Owens Coastal Consultants, Ltd.), Ed Page (Marine Exchange of
Alaska), Shirish Patil (UAF), Vladimir Romanovsky (UAF), Stan Senner (Ocean Conservancy), Gay
Sheffeld (UAF), Kirk Sherwood (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management), Brad Smith (NOAA),
Mark Swanson (Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council), Fran Ulmer (U.S.
Arctic Research Commission), Peter van Tuyn (World Wildlife Fund), Peter Velez (Peter Velez
Engineering LLC), Glen Watabayashi (NOAA), Thomas Weingartner (UAF), and Peter Winsor
(UAF).
The committee would also like to thank Karissa Goessl and Patrick Curtin of LeMoyne College,
who assisted at the committee’s third meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives
and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s
Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and criti-
cal comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and
to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness
to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confdential to protect the
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