Oil Spill Monitoring Handbook

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface About the editors About the authors Disclaimer Acknowledgments Introduction to Oil Spill Monitoring Stages of a spill response Scale of the oil spill and the response strategy Spilled Oil: Overview of Composition, Fate, Effects and Response Options Properties of oils Fate of oils in the environment Bioaccumulation and toxicity of oil Effects of oil in marine habitats Oil spill response options Preparing for Oil Spill Monitoring Designing a monitoring program Study design for environmental monitoring Field sampling program Laboratory analyses Data handling and management Responding to an Oil Spill: Initial Assessment Functions, roles and structures Preparedness and contingency planning The spill response process Response Option Assessment Evaluating response options: Net Environmental Benefit Analysis Decision making for shoreline cleanup and assessment Response evaluation Response Phase Monitoring Introduction Oil-spill trajectory modelling Physical monitoring Vessel-based surveillance Chemical monitoring Hazard assessment following an oil spill Habitat monitoring Recovery-phase Monitoring Monitoring designs to detect impacts and recovery Oil concentration and composition in the environment Direct laboratory toxicity assessment of environmental samples Molecular biomarkers Community structure analysis Ecosystem recovery References Appendices Appendix A. Standard operating procedure for shipboard collection of surface waters using wide-mouth jars Appendix B. Standard operating procedure for collection of waters for dissolved hydrocarbon analysis from a Niskin bottle Appendix C. Standard operating procedure for the collection of waters for volatile organic compound (BTEX) analysis Appendix D. Standard operating procedure for shipboard collection of surface oil using GO nets Appendix E. Standard operating procedure for the collection of thin sheens using slick samplers Appendix F. Use of sensors for oil spill monitoring Appendix G. Standard operating procedure for grab sample collection of sediment for PAH, biomarkers, and TOC analyses Appendix H. Standard operating procedure for collection of overlying waters plus sediment from corers for PAHs and biomarker analysis Appendix I. Taking sediment samples with a manual push corer Appendix J. Standard operating procedure for pre-cleaning of equipment prior to sampling for headspace gas and organic geochemistry Appendix K. Standard operating procedure for collection of sediments for molecular microbial analysis Appendix L. Standard operating procedure for collection of seafood samples for analysis of taint Appendix M. Standard operating procedure for the collection and archiving of tissue samples for biomarker analysis Appendix N. Standard operating procedure for sampling plankton community structure and biomass Appendix O. Collecting samples for sediment infaunal analysis Appendix P. Standard operating procedure for sampling intertidal and subtidal areas for community composition Appendix Q. Standard operating procedure for surveying the impacts of oil spills on bird populations Appendix R. Standard operating procedure for surveying the impacts of oil spills on non-avian marine wildlife Appendix S. Examples of sample data sheets Appendix T. Overview of shoreline assessment Appendix U. Standard operating procedure for determining shoreline gradient Appendix V. Standard operating procedure for requesting oil spill trajectory modelling Appendix W. Example of the activation pro-forma used for team deployment Glossary of terms and acronyms Index

About the Author :
Sharon Hook is a Senior Ecotoxicologist with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Sydney. Sharon has over 20 years of experience in aquatic ecotoxicology and oceanography. Her research interests include applying modern omics-based approaches to environmental problems, determining the impacts of low-level, long-term toxic responses, and the design and implementation of toxicity testing. She has been involved in the risk assessments following several oil spills, including the Exxon Valdez, the Selendag Ayu spills (both before joining CSIRO) and the Montara well release. She is involved in ongoing projects for BP and Chevron characterizing the Great Australian Bight. Sharon has authored over 60 scientific publications. Graeme Batley is a Chief Research Scientist with the CSIRO Land and Water Flagship and past Director of the Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research based in Sydney. He is one of Australia's leading researchers of trace contaminants in aquatic systems, actively researching this area for over 40 years. He was a lead author of the water and sediment quality guidelines for Australia and New Zealand in 2000 and of the Australian Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring and Reporting, and has recently led the updating of toxicant guidelines for both waters and sediments. Graeme is author of over 400 scientific publications. Michael Holloway is Environment and Scientific Coordinator for marine oil spill preparedness and response for the Victorian Government. He trained in marine ecology with a quantitative experimental focus, and has worked at the interface between marine science and management for much of his career. His breadth of interests has led to publications on a range of marine topics including invasive species impacts, ecosystem-based management and risk assessment methods, the national policy on aquatic biosecurity and management of environmental monitoring programs in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. He is currently interested in the application of decision analytic techniques to the complex environmental problems encountered during oil spill response. Paul Irving is Scientific Coordinator at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, responsible for marine environment protection and maritime spill response science and advice. A diverse 30-year background across many aspects of marine and coastal science, conservation and management, from tropical to Antarctic, provides a unique perspective on Australasian and Pacific marine pollution response. As a firm believer in collaboration and partnership to provide practical solutions, Paul spends much of his considerable energies looking for ways to incorporate new science and research knowledge into spill planning, so that communities (social and ecological) affected by maritime pollution get the effective response they deserve. Andrew Ross is a research scientist with CSIRO. He leads research projects focused on hydrocarbon seeps, the development of new hydrocarbon sensor devices and baseline and oil spill monitoring. He and his team were involved in the Gulf of Mexico MC252 spill response, spending 4 months monitoring surface waters in 2010 and undertaking hydrocarbon seep surveys close to the MC252 incident location in 2011. More recently he has commenced a series of research projects to characterize the baseline hydrocarbon concentrations and geology of the Great Australian Bight. Andrew joined CSIRO in 2004 and has qualifications in marine biology, oceanography and petroleum geoscience.