Responding to Oil Spills in Arctic Environments

Study in Progress: Upcoming Report

At any given time, dozens of studies are underway to address specific issues in Earth & Life Studies that will lead to reports. These studies range in scope and length: some rapidly address questions to meet immediate decision making needs (for example, one report on why New Orleans' levees failed in Hurricane Katrina was absolutely necessary before the next hurricane season), while others deal with broader or ongoing issues and can span a number of years (as in the case of an ongoing review of efforts to restore the Everglades).

Responding to Oil Spills in Arctic Environments

Statement of Task

The National Research Council will assess the current state of the science regarding oil spill response and environmental assessment in the Arctic region (with a specific focus on the regions north of the Bering Strait), with emphasis on potential impacts in U.S. waters. As part of its report, the NRC-appointed committee will further develop existing decision tools and approaches that utilize a variety of spill response technologies under the types of conditions and spill scenarios encountered at high latitudes. The report will also review new and ongoing research activities (in both the public and private sectors), identify opportunities and constraints for advancing oil spill research, describe promising new concepts and technologies for improving the response, including containment approaches to reduce spill volume and/or spatial extent, and recommend strategies to advance research and address information gaps. The committee will also assess the types of baselines needed in the near-term for monitoring the impacts of an oil spill and for developing plans for recovery and restoration following an oil spill in U.S or international waters where a spill could potentially impact US natural resources. For assessing the state of the science, the committee will address the following topics:

(1) Scenarios. Identify potential "hot spots" in U.S. or adjacent waters through mapping of activities that could generate an oil spill (marine transportation routes, cruise ships, fishing, pipeline locations, fuel storage facilities, oil and gas exploration and production) and preventative steps that could be taken to avoid a spill. The scenarios would include descriptions of oil type (including biofuels and diesel fuel) and possible volume and trajectories of spills, season, and geographic location, including proximity to local communities and highly valued fish, bird, and marine mammal habitats.

(2) Preparedness. Describe the anticipated operating conditions, such as ice conditions, currents, prevailing winds, weather, amount of daylight, sea state, and distance/accessibility from responders and resources. This will include an evaluation of the state of hydrographic and charting data for higher risk areas.

- Assess infrastructure (including communication networks), manpower, and training necessary to operate in these conditions.
- Identify avenues for participation of and communication with indigenous communities and regional governmental (e.g. Alaska State) entities during planning and response.
- Build on existing agreements and identify gaps for international cooperation in establishing locations for incident command management, staffing, and supplying oil spill response infrastructure, recognizing the international interests in navigation and resource exploitation in Arctic environments.

(3) Response and Clean Up. Evaluate the effectiveness and drawbacks of current methodologies used in response to a spill in Arctic conditions.

- Assess utility of existing and promising new technologies to detect, map, track and project trajectories of spills under the anticipated operating conditions (e.g., ice conditions, visibility). Evaluate the effectiveness of oil dispersal, removal and recovery technologies under the following criteria: Operation under various conditions and time frames (volatile fractions, wind, sea state, temperature, degree of emulsion, oil type and viscosity); Spatial and temporal dimensions of the spill and the response; Transportation of equipment to remote areas; Natural oil degradation rates; and Ancillary effects of response operations on the indigenous communities, environment, and marine species.

- Assess the potential for separating and recovering spilled oil from water, ice, rocks, and sediment. This assessment will include discussion of constraints in the handling, storing, and disposing of recovered oil in situ or in remote locations, the volume of material to be treated, selection of methodologies for incineration or recycling onboard ship or in a remote location, and the further disposal or transport of the recovered product. The assessment will also include discussion of fate and effects of unrecovered oil left to biodegrade and weather in Arctic environments.

(4) Strategies for Establishing Environmental Baselines for Spill Response Decisions. Characterize the types of baseline information needed in the event of an oil spill. Evaluate existing pre-spill strategies for resource protection and identify additional protection options for resources at risk. Identify sampling and monitoring priorities for establishing baseline conditions and evaluating impacts of a potential spill.

Study Progress Stage
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Call for Nominations:

At this stage in the process, staff solicit an extensive number of suggestions for potential committee members from a wide range of sources, then recommend a slate of nominees.

To nominate a committee member, please write to Deborah A Glickson, DGlickson@nas.edu no later than 07/06/12

Committee Published:

The provisional committee list is posted for public comment in the Current Projects System on the Web.

Study committees typically gather information through: 1) meetings that are open to the public and that are announced in advance through the National Academies Web site; 2) the submission of information by outside parties; 3) reviews of the scientific literature, and 4) the investigations of the committee members and staff. In all cases, efforts are made to solicit input from individuals who have been directly involved in, or who have special knowledge of, the problem under consideration.

In accordance with federal law and with few exceptions, information-gathering meetings of the committee are open to the public, and any written materials provided to the committee by individuals who are not officials, agents, or employees of the National Academies are maintained in a public access file that is available for examination.

The committee deliberates in meetings closed to the public in order to develop draft findings and recommendations free from outside influences. The public is provided with brief summaries of these meetings that include the list of committee members present. All analyses and drafts of the report remain confidential.

A citizen liaison, who reports directly to the Executive Director and who is independent of project staff, can be reached at citizen@nas.edu or (800) 842-8813.

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View this page in the Academies Current Project System

Source: http://dels.nas.edu/Study-In-Progress/Responding-Spills-Arctic/DELS-OSB-09-02

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