scholarly journals Risk Analysis for Environmental Hazards. The case of oil spills in Crete

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Keyword(s):  
Early Intervention ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Prevailing Wind ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Marine Areas ◽  
Environmentally Protected Areas

In this paper a review of most recent practices in the field of Risk analysis are presented. Then the available data for oil spill incidents in the area of Crete covering the period 1995-1999 are analysed and discussed in detail. Risk analysis tables are produced in order to formulate the spatial, temporal (yearly and monthly) risk of an incident, the correlation with the prevailing wind fields in both northern and southern Crete, and the possibility of an early intervention the relevant authorities located at the major port of Heraklion. Then the possible risk of an oil spill incident is discussed in relation to various sensitive social or financial activities as well as to environmentally protected areas. Finally a formula is proposed and applied in order to combine the various risks from an oil spill incident. As it was found, northern Crete and especially the marine areas of Heraklion and Chania are most prompt for an oil spill accident and its consequences. The area of Sitia follows. Southern Crete seems to be less vulnerable to such risks.

Oil Water Separation By Centrifugal Force

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anshita Awasthi ◽  
Akansha Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Separation Efficiency ◽  
Petroleum Products ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Water Separation ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Marine Areas ◽  
Drilling Rigs

An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil. This paper deals with the problem of recovery of spilled crude oil. It has been observed that the separation efficiency is greater for high range of viscosity and oil water ratios. Separation efficiency data on tests of water versus diesel, crude oil, and IS0 460 gear oil will be presented for two sizes of separators. Oil spills can have disastrous consequences for society; both economically and environmentally. As a result of these consequences oil spill accidents can initiate intense media attention and political uproar. Despite substantial national and international policy improvements on preventing oil spills adopted in recent decades, large oil spills keep occurring.

Oil Spill Risk Analysis for Assessing Environmental Contact Probabilities in the Gulf of Mexico

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 1931-1949
Author(s):  
Zhen-Gang Ji ◽  
Walter R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Surface Current ◽  
Oil Well ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Oil And Gas Development

ABSTRACT 2017-051: The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) maintains a leasing program for commercial oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf in U.S. territorial waters. To evaluate the potential impacts of these activities, BOEM performs oil spill risk analysis (OSRA) using, in part, a statistical model for estimating the movement of hypothetical oil spills on the ocean surface based on model-generated surface wind and surface current. OSRA examines oil spill risks over long periods of time ranging from 5 years to decades. The latest OSRA analysis estimated the contact probabilities of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region by modeling over 40 million hypothetical oil spill trajectories over extended areas of the U. S. continental shelf and tabulating the frequencies with which the simulated oil spills contacted designated natural resources within a specified number of days. The modeled ocean currents and wind fields used in the GOM analysis are from 1993 to 2007 (15 years). The OSRA model was also applied to analyze the contact probabilities of the Ixtoc Oil Spill, which happened on June 3, 1979 in the Bay of Campeche of the GOM and lasted for 10 months. The Ixtoc I Oil Well suffered a blowout, resulting in one of the largest oil spills in history and 3 million barrels of oil spilled. The OSRA model was applied to simulate particle trajectories released at the Ixtoc location using the same GOM current and wind field data from 1993 through 2007. The model results for the Ixtoc simulation were consistent with the descriptions of the oil spill by Hooper (1982), which shows that the OSRA model can provide a reasonable projection of the contact probabilities of hypothetical oil spills.

scholarly journals Simulation Method - Based Oil Spill Pollution Risk Analysis for the Port of Šibenik

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran Belamarić ◽  
Željko Kurtela ◽  
Rino Bošnjak
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Pollution ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Simulation Method ◽  
Preventive Action ◽  
Pollution Risk

Statistical data, analyses and assessment of maritimepassenger traffic in sea ports in the Republic of Croatia pertaining to the traffic in the Port of Šibenik indicate that, following the expansion and reconstruction of berths for large ships in 2014, marine traffic in the waters of the Port of Šibenik and the Channel of St. Ante has been on the rise. There is therefore a need for pollution risk analysis for the Port of Šibenik. Risk assessment was made using the qualitative method of “Risk assessment-based threat ranking”, following which a scenario involving discharge of harmful substances (oil spill) and possible pollution of the Port of Šibenik and the Channel of St. Ante in difficult navigating conditions in restricted waterways and bad weather was simulated. Marine pollution itself has no direct impact on human life. There are usually no human casualties, although major disasters can affect human health. There can therefore be dire indirect consequences, with negative impact on the eco-system, and consequently on some of the most important branches of industry like tourism, sports, fishing, etc. The prevalent northerly and southerly winds have a particularly high influence on the spreading of oil spills in closedoff waters like those of the Port of Šibenik. The influence of sea currents in the Krka river basin and the Channel of St. Ante is exceptionally strong, especially during heavy rains accompanied by increased water flow. Oil spill simulation is therefore an important tool for planning preventive action and response operations in case of oil spill from ships.

scholarly journals Progress of the Oil Spill Risk Analysis (OSRA) Model and Its Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Zhen-Gang Ji ◽  
Zhen Li ◽  
Walter Johnson ◽  
Guillermo Auad
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Environmental Resources ◽  
Ocean Energy ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for managing the development of US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy and mineral resources. Because oil spills may occur from offshore oil and gas activities, BOEM conducts oil spill risk analysis (OSRA) prior to oil and gas lease sales. Since the 1970s, BOEM has developed and applied the OSRA model to evaluate the risk of potential oil spills to environmental resources. This paper summarizes some of the OSRA model progress and applications in the past decade: (1) calculation of the risk of catastrophic oil spills (with a volume over one million barrels), which concludes that the return period of a catastrophic oil spill in OCS areas is estimated to be 165 years; (2) a more efficient way to estimate the probability of oil spill contact to environmental resources in the Gulf of Mexico; (3) weathering calculations in OSRA, which enhances the accuracy of the OSRA model results; and (4) application of OSRA to the Ixtoc I oil spill as an example of how the OSRA model simulates large oil spills for oil spill preparedness and response.

scholarly journals Analysis of oil spill impacts along pipelines and the fate of sensitive environments in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Mahmoud Mahmoud
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Oil Pipeline

This study shows how mapping post-oil spill incidents can provide insights into the fate of sensitive ecosystems and serve as a decision-support tool for reducing the negative socio-environmental impacts of oil spills. The incidence of oil spills along pipelines have expanded in extent into habitats of sensitive natural ecosystems and threatens biodiversity conservation in Nigeria. These oil spills, directly and indirectly, influence critical ecosystems functioning such as protected areas, wildlife, wetlands, waterbodies, marine animals and plants, natural vegetation types and arable lands for food production. The geo-visualised oil spill records overlaid on GoogleEarth images provided geo-locational insights and intelligence that aid inferences on the impacts of oil spill incidents using geospatial mapping tools and web-service to support decision-making purposes in the oil spill management cycle. Furthermore, geospatial analysis of oil spills data from 2006 to 2019 along the ~5000 km of pipelines with the 2017 World Database of Protected Areas revealed numerous perils oil spills pose to the proper functioning and sustainability of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Results showed that ~630 verified oil spills occurred in the forest reserves along the pipelines. Approximately 120 verified oil spills were recorded in game reserves and ~210 verified oil spills occurred in Ramsar site-wetlands of international importance. The oil spills that occurred along these pipelines are threats to the existence of intact tropical rain forests, savannah forests and protected areas since they intersect critical ecosystems. Numerous terrestrial and marine inhabitant were affected by oil spill events including land and underground water pollution, loss of human livelihood, heavy metal pollution, loss of farmland and damage of animal habitat. This assessment showed that the fusion of relevant environmental dataset is crucial in evaluating the fate, sensitivity and vulnerability of landscapes to oil spills using geo-mapping and geo-visualization concepts. In the context of achieving environmental sustainability and smart oil pipeline provisioning in line with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is essential to use Geo-information tools such as integrated spatial planning and land-use concepts to evaluate potential perils linked to oil infrastructure development. Outcomes from impact assessment research of this kind should be incorporated as strategic tools for developing informed conservation economy policies, industry practices and good environmental governance mechanism for robust decision-making in the oil and gas sector of Nigeria towards attaining local-scale SDGs.

scholarly journals STORM RELATED OIL SPILL MOVEMENT ON THE BEAUFORT SEA SHELF1

1977 ◽  
Vol 1977 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-460
Author(s):  
G. L. Hufford ◽  
I. M. Lissauer ◽  
B.D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Wind Drift ◽  
Oil Slick ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Alaskan Coast ◽  
Environmental Risk Analysis ◽  
Storm Model

ABSTRACT A storm model is developed and applied to the north Alaskan coast. The model is used to generate wind fields from various storms which have occurred during the past 20 years. The wind fields generated are used to study the wind drift trajectories of oil spills from five different sites along the north Alaskan coast. The probability of an oil slick impacting the shoreline from the five different sites is discussed for different storms. Environmental risk analysis is discussed for drilling sites at different distances from the shoreline.

scholarly journals Integrated Spill Modeling for Impact Analysis

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (1) ◽  
pp. 943-946
Author(s):  
James F. Bennett ◽  
Walter R. Johnson ◽  
Charles F. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Potential Use

ABSTRACT This paper examines the potential use of computer models to estimate environmental impacts from oil spills. Computer simulation models for oil spills have long been used for risk analysis and have continually improved over the past few decades. Beyond risk analysis, however, these modeling tools could contribute to the estimation of the environmental impacts such as species mortality and shoreline contact. Proposed activities such as offshore oil and gas exploration and development can be analyzed using models that integrate spill-simulation capability with environmental resource and toxicological data. To estimate the potential use and reasonableness of such models for oil-spill impact analysis, the authors have applied a commercially available state-of-the-art spill model using previously unavailable historical winds and currents data and spill events extracted from the oil-spill record for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This is one of the first efforts to bring together such complete data sets for modeling effects on so broad a geographic and temporal scale. Such information is valuable in determining the reasonableness and appropriateness of model use for impact analysis of future exploration, development, and production activities.

ECOLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE VULNERABILITY OF THE COASTS OF THE KARA SEA TO THE OIL SPILL

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Ermolov ◽  
Alexander Ermolov
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
International System ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Sensitivity Index ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Expert Assessments ◽  
International Systems

International experience of oil spill response in the sea defines the priority of coastal protection and the need to identify as most valuable in ecological terms and the most vulnerable areas. Methodological approaches to the assessing the vulnerability of Arctic coasts to oil spills based on international systems of Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) and geomorphological zoning are considered in the article. The comprehensive environmental and geomorphological approach allowed us to form the morphodynamic basis for the classification of seacoasts and try to adapt the international system of indexes to the shores of the Kara Sea taking into account the specific natural conditions. This work has improved the expert assessments of the vulnerability and resilience of the seacoasts.

An assessment of toxic metals content in the marine sediments of the Shuaiba Industrial Area, Kuwait, after the oil spill during the Gulf War

1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Al-Muzaini ◽  
P. G. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Marine Sediment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Oil Wells ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Sampling Locations ◽  
Very High

A field study was carried out involving seven fixed sampling stations. The sampling locations were selected to cover the distribution of pollutants in the Shuaiba Industrial Area (SIA), which was contaminated with oil released from oil wells and broken pipelines and with a vast amount of burnt and unburnt crude oil from the burning and gushing oil wells. The samples were collected biweekly between July 1993 and July 1994. The concentrations of V, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb were determined and compared with the previously collected baseline data to assess the degree of environmental damage caused due to the oil spills during the Gulf war. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of various elements in the marine sediment were 17.3 for V, 30.8 for Ni, 55.5 for Cr, 0.02 for Cd and 1.95 for Pb. Our results show that even after the heavy spillage of oil, associated metal concentrations were not very high compared with previously reported base line values.

scholarly journals Next-Generation Smart Response Web (NG-SRW): An Operational Spatial Decision Support System for Maritime Oil Spill Emergency Response in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6585
Author(s):  
Mihhail Fetissov ◽  
Robert Aps ◽  
Floris Goerlandt ◽  
Holger Jänes ◽  
Jonne Kotta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Spatial Decision Support System ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
The Baltic

The Baltic Sea is a unique and sensitive brackish-water ecosystem vulnerable to damage from shipping activities. Despite high levels of maritime safety in the area, there is a continued risk of oil spills and associated harmful environmental impacts. Achieving common situational awareness between oil spill response decision makers and other actors, such as merchant vessel and Vessel Traffic Service center operators, is an important step to minimizing detrimental effects. This paper presents the Next-Generation Smart Response Web (NG-SRW), a web-based application to aid decision making concerning oil spill response. This tool aims to provide, dynamically and interactively, relevant information on oil spills. By integrating the analysis and visualization of dynamic spill features with the sensitivity of environmental elements and value of human uses, the benefits of potential response actions can be compared, helping to develop an appropriate response strategy. The oil spill process simulation enables the response authorities to judge better the complexity and dynamic behavior of the systems and processes behind the potential environmental impact assessment and thereby better control the oil combat action.

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