Lesson from Recent Oil Spills I Abstracts
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Pipeline P00547: Wildlife Branch Design and Implementation for a Large Scale Response
Greg McGowan Wendy Massey Duane Tom Danene Birtell California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response Full Abstract
On the morning of 2 October 2021, a 13-square mile oil sheen was reported 3 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach in Southern California, causing a rapid response by the US Coast Guard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife – Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR), and local authorities. As part of standing up the Wildlife Branch, CDFW-OSPR quickly activated the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), a UC Davis-managed program composed of more than 40 Member Organizations and greater than 1600 trained responders to enact its mission of providing “the best achievable capture and care of oil-affected wildlife.” This presentation will examine various aspects of the Wildlife Branch for this incident, including the sequencing, structure and functional organization, and the distribution of roles and responsibilities. In addition, we will present an examination of how functional groups interacted to support the extensive reconnaissance, recovery, field stabilization, and care/processing activities that occurred during this incident. In considering lessons learned, the value of preparedness, rapid mobilization, specialized training, and human health challenges associated with the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed. |
The Pipeline P00547 Incident in Huntington Beach, CA: Communications at the Frontlines of Oiled Wildlife Response
Eunah Preston Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) Full Abstract
A Public Information Officer (PIO) is defined as “the individual responsible for communicating with the public, media, and/or coordinating with other agencies, as necessary, with incident related information requirements.” As the frontline for information shared with the public, PIOs play key roles in controlling the messaging in any major incident response – especially in the event of an oil spill. In October 2021 the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) was quickly deployed by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife – Office of Spill Prevention & Response (CDFW-OSPR) following reports of a 13-square mile oil sheen off the coast of Huntington Beach. In addition to the veterinarians, field specialists, and care specialists from the OWCN Management Team, their PIO was also deployed to assist OSPR’s PIO in managing external communications related to any oil-affected wildlife. This presentation will describe the communications component of oiled wildlife response using the Pipeline P00547 Incident as a case study. Areas that will be explored include: role(s) of Public Information Officers, content chain-of-approval within the Joint Information Center (JIC), content collection/curation, media management, and spill-time social media protocol. In addition to the successes and protocols established via the Pipeline P00547 Incident response, this presentation will also detail lessons learned to better guide communications strategies in future spill responses. |
The use of real time oil-on-water observations and oil spill modeling to enhance wildlife response operations
Jose Rios Focus Wildlife Canada, LLC Full Abstract
In an oil spill where thousands of marine animals may be affected, the effectiveness of an international oiled wildlife response can be crucial in their rescue and treatment, through having access to professionally trained responders who can assist oiled animals arriving onshore, while more experienced resources are mobilised from abroad. Rather than having to invest nationally into preparedness for more serious scenarios, countries can collaborate so they blend their national resources to create an international system that can work on larger scales. This is the philosophy behind EUROWA, a regional European mutual assistance system for wildlife emergencies. EUROWA is based on mutual trust amongst its NGO members, who respond jointly and create guidelines and training materials which improve the group’s ability to respond and pass knowledge onto local responders. This cooperation, underpinned by the EUROWA Charter, provides a work force of trained and aligned responders, who can mobilise internationally and work alongside in-country responders educated to the same standards. Its value was demonstrated in the 2018 Bow Jubail incident in the Netherlands, where EUROWA (and GOWRS) experts were mobilised, and became heavily involved in designing and operating a temporary facility where 500 oiled swans were successfully rehabilitated. While the concept of mutual assistance has been used for many years within the wildlife response community, EUROWA was created in 2015 and has continued to develop via support from EU Civil Protection. The current round of funding supports the EUROWA-2 project, boosting the network’s capability to provide assistance in Europe and integrating this capability into existing European Commission and Regional Agreement mechanisms. EUROWA-2 is developing new educational tools for governments, incorporating sea turtle expertise and adding new courses to the EUROWA training portfolio. This paper describes how EUROWA operates, its main objectives and explains how the EUROWA-2 project will help achieve them. Collaboration between industry stakeholders has continued to evolve since then, also encouraged by the fact that “wildlife” was recognised as one of the 15 priority targets for strengthening tiered response preparedness. In 2019, industry delegates participated in an IPIECA-funded workshop facilitated by Sea Alarm and some of the GOWRS Project Partners to map the journey of implementing that target. To carry forward the recommendations from this workshop the Wildlife Preparedness and Response ‘Community of Practice’ was formed out of the IAG and has been meeting quarterly since early 2021. The group aims to share experiences and lessons learned, support and drive implementation and continue nurturing strong collaboration across the industry and beyond. In 2022, global stakeholders are coming together again at the Interspill Conference to review progress to date and discuss future priorities. One aim of this gathering is to expand participation in the Community of Practice to governmental and shipping industry stakeholders. The hope is to use this forum to keep stakeholders connected and to support collaboration on a shared future work program that strengthens wildlife response preparedness globally. This paper will explore the genesis of the Community of Practice, the journey to date and lessons learned. The authors will also provide an update on the Interspill 2022 gathering and summarise identified future priorities, which will require active participation by all stakeholder groups if they are to be achieved. |
Lesson from Recent Oil Spills II Abstracts
Publishing permission pending
Long-Term Health Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster on Wild Dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, USA Cynthia Smith National Marine Mammal Foundation Full Abstract
In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster resulted in large-scale contamination of bays, sounds, and estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM), home to multiple stocks of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) (Michel et al. 2013). Inhalation, direct aspiration, ingestion with subsequent aspiration, and dermal absorption of oil and its toxic components were all considered possible routes of exposure for dolphins living within the oil spill footprint (Takeshita et al. 2017). To determine if dolphins were adversely impacted, capture-release health assessments were performed in heavily-oiled Barataria Bay (BB), Louisiana, and in Sarasota Bay (SB), Florida, a comparison site with no DWH oil contamination. Initial studies were conducted as part of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (2011-2014), with follow-on studies supported by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (2016-2018). Adverse health impacts in dolphins living within the oil spill footprint included an increased prevalence of moderate to severe lung disease, reproductive failure, and impaired stress response (Schwacke et al. 2014, Smith et al. 2017). Results from health assessments in 2018 showed the prevalence and severity of pulmonary disease may be worsening with time and reproductive failure rates remained higher than expected (Schwacke et al. 2020, Smith et al. 2020, Smith et al. 2021). These chronic, adverse effects are expected to have lasting impacts on population health and recovery trajectories (Schwacke et al. 2021). Long-term monitoring of dolphin populations is critical to fully understand the timeline of population recovery, as well as the cost-benefit trade-offs for restoration activities. In particular, BB dolphins provide valuable insight into the long-lasting effects of oil and oil-related contaminants on animal, human, and ecosystem health. |
Publishing permission pending
The Reproductive Impacts of Oil Exposure on Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Whitney Musser National Marine Mammal Foundation Full Abstract
In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster, a high rate of reproductive failure persists in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) within the oil spill footprint. To better characterize reproductive loss following DWH, we developed diagnostic techniques with dolphins in managed care for application to free-ranging dolphins living in oil-impacted Barataria Bay, LA (BB). These methods included blood-based biomarkers, maternal oxygenation evaluation, and an expanded reproductive ultrasound protocol incorporating parameters and descriptive findings correlated with reproductive success. We then conducted evaluations with the revised ultrasound protocol on failed pregnancy cases (calf survival≤30 days) from managed care (n=22) (1996-2020) and BB dolphin pregnancy exams (n=38) performed during capture-release health assessments (2011-2018). Our longitudinal monitoring of managed care dolphins with extensive health histories allowed us to identify ultrasound parameters associated with reproductive failure. These included abnormal architecture and thickness of the uteroplacental unit (UPU), enlargement of the corpus luteum, and maternal peritoneal effusion. We built a case analysis framework synthesizing available live and deceased animal data from each failed pregnancy in managed care and used it to identify common underlying reproductive failure etiologies. Maternal illness was unequivocally the most critical etiology, followed by placental dysfunction, in-utero infection, and congenital defects. In BB, we detected ultrasound abnormalities that included parameters potentially associated with fetal hypoxia, UPU architecture and thickness changes, and abnormal umbilical cord coiling. Based on the correlation between ultrasound findings and additional health parameters, poor maternal health was likely the primary cause of persistent reproductive failure in DWH-impacted dolphins. Identifying at-risk dolphin pregnancies during capture-release health assessments is now possible using this suite of advanced diagnostic techniques. These efforts can aid in predicting population recovery timelines to support management decisions following environmental events. |
Publishing permission pending
Approaches and lessons learned from wildlife response during recent oil spills from vessels and offshore oil production platforms in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Robert Ronconi Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Full Abstract
During the past four years, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, there have been three oil spills associated with offshore oil platforms on the Grand Banks and one vessel source spill south of Placentia Bay, each of which required aspects of response that focused on wildlife. In November of 2018, a failure in a flow line associated with the SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel released an estimated 250,000 L of crude oil, and in July and August of 2019, two separate incidents at the Hibernia platform released an estimated 12,000 and 2,100 L of oil, respectively. In February of 2022, the MV Alaskaborg released an estimated 30,000 L of fuel oil while in transit along the south coast of Newfoundland. During each spill, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) acted as a resource agency supporting the Lead Agency, providing guidance and oversight of response related to migratory birds, hereafter “wildlife”. We review the role of CWS during these incidents, and provide an overview of the response actions of the responsible parties. Response activities included the development of Wildlife Response Plans (WRP), reconnaissance surveys by air, systematic vessel-based surveys by dedicated wildlife observers, beached bird surveys and release of drift blocks, approaches to wildlife deterrence in the offshore, and the recovery and rehabilitation of oiled birds. This talk reviews lessons learned with respect to wildlife response for both operators and CWS. In particular, we outline the rationale for the development of strategic WRP, which can be included as appendices to Oil Spill Response Plans required by the offshore industry. Finally, we outline an approach used to quantify the number of wildlife impacted by these incidents and highlight the relevance of wildlife survey data collected during the pollution response. |
Novel “quick clean” technology for the rapid removal of volatiles from contaminated wildlife
John D. Orbell College of Engineering and Science/ Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities Full Abstract
Crude, bunker or fuel oil contamination upon wildlife consists of a volatile and a recalcitrant fraction, the nature and relative proportions of which depend on the type of oil, the nature of the substrate (feather/fur type) and the ambient temperature. Such volatile fractions, if not removed, can persist on and within fur or plumage for up to 20 days or more. Such volatiles are usually the more toxic and/or corrosive components of the oil and it is essential for them to be removed as soon as possible. Oil spills frequently occur at remote locations, and even when this is not the case, large numbers of animals may be confined to holding bays for a long time awaiting conventional detergent-based treatment. There is an urgent need for a highly portable and effective method for removing such contamination upon first encounter or for the treatment of animals in holding bays. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that the fumes from such volatiles upon animals in holding bays may also present a health risk to the rehabilitators themselves. Here, we demonstrate that our highly portable magnetic “wand” technology, based on the judicious application of oil absorbing magnetic particle technology (“magnetic cleansing”), can effectively remove up to 100% of such volatiles in a matter of minutes for a given animal. This relatively low-cost technology is now well-developed and we recommend that such technology be introduced into existing stabilization protocols in order to optimize the survival and reproductive chances of the victim. |