Land oil spills can expose wide areas of land to contamination, particularly if they occur during periods of high floods. These open, rural areas are often used as agricultural or range land and can present difficult access issues. In terms of the overall response effort this can mean that assessment and remediation can be be difficult and costly. This presentation describes a procedure for a one step assessment, cleanup and restoration decision-making process that was developed in response to the 1995 Arroyo Pasajero pipeline oil spill in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Named the Area Remediation Assessment Team (ARAT) approach, it is similar to the Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) concept, which was developed during the Exxon Valdez incident. Like SCAT, ARAT uses a standardized nomenclature and evaluation procedures that are implemented by stakeholder assessment teams. These teams and procedures are used to evaluate the nature and extent of contamination and identify appropriate response actions. ARAT, however, combines cleanup and restoration decision making into a single process.

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