ABSTRACT In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a new operational, unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model within the oil spill trajectory model GNOME (the General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment) to examine the transport of surface oil from a known source approximately 10 miles offshore of the Mississippi River Delta. At this location, a cluster of wells and/or contaminated sediments have been persistently leaking small amounts of oil since they were damaged in 2004. Slicks associated with this source are frequently detected in satellite imagery analysis, which indicates they are often oriented in the along isobath direction with typical dimensions of 0.5–2 km by 10–30 km varying with wind conditions. The Northern Gulf of Mexico Operation Forecast System (NGOFS) has recently been deployed by NOAA and includes this region. The underlying hydrodynamic model is an unstructured grid finite-volume model which allows variable grid resolution ranging from 10 km offshore to ~600 m near the coastline. Unstructured grid models are ideally suited for coastal areas as they allow flexible resolution to resolve complex bathymetry and coastlines. However, large model domains combined with high grid resolution can provide a challenge for operational trajectory models as sub-setting the model grid is not as straightforward as in the structured grid case. The utility of any hydrodynamic model for emergency response depends not only on its accuracy, but on the trajectory modeler's ability to access and use the information in a timely manner. As part of this study, we have developed tools to allow the NGOFS results (in addition to other unstructured grid models) to be readily available to GNOME users. Using output from the NGOFS in GNOME, a one year modeled simulation was run in which surface particles were released continuously from the location of the damaged wells. Predicted trajectories of modeled particles less than ~24-hours in age compare qualitatively well with the satellite observations.

The Marine Pollution Program of NOAA/NESDIS's Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) consists of manual detection and mapping of oil slicks through the use of available moderate to high resolution visible imagery such as MODIS (NASA), Landsat-7 (USGS) and SPOT-5 (CNES). Prior to 2012, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from ENVISAT (ESA) was acquired in addition to visible imagery for satellite-based oil spill detection. Frequently oil spills are small in size and short in duration, but there have been times when events have continued to persist for weeks, months and even years. Located approximately 10 miles southeast of the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico resides the former location of the now destroyed Taylor Energy oil rig. This platform was damaged in 2004 during the passage of Hurricane Ivan and since then small surface oil slicks and sheens have been observed in satellite imagery originated from the site. Surface slicks or sheens associated with this source are frequently detected in satellite imagery analysis (>110 images since August 2010). Slicks are typically aligned along the isobaths (southwest to northeast) with typical dimensions of 0.5–2 km by 10–30 km varying with wind conditions (i.e. longer slicks tend to be more visible in satellite under winds generally <10 kts). The distribution of slick detection has two peaks, one in May with secondary maxima in September. This is primarily due to the advantage of having sun-glint, which enhances the ability for surface slick detection during the months from April to October in the Gulf of Mexico. On several occasions overflight reports have confirmed the presence of oil sheens at this location, matching very well with satellite analyzed maps. Geographic Information System (GIS) shapefiles and Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files depicting the location of the observed oil from satellites are disseminated to NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) Emergency Response Division (ERD), U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and several local and state agencies. NOS/ERD uses these analyses in their surface oil trajectory models in an effort to improve the model's performance.

The Texas Coastal Oil Spill Planning and Response Toolkit (the Toolkit) was first introduced to the spill response community in 1999 on CDROM. Updated annually since that time, the Toolkit is now in its 12 th edition and its contents now span Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. With 2,000 DVDs distributed annually, the Toolkit has become the most widely used vehicle for disseminating Area Contingency Plans (ACPs), Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps and almost 1,500 other spill planning and response documents in the USCG District 8 region. Navigating this extensive collection of PDF documents is managed by hyperlinks from a Master Page document which subdivides the contents into seven major categories: ACPs; ESI maps; Regional Response Team VI documents; Incident Command System (ICS) documents; software applications; internet links and additional documents. The “Additional Documents” category contains national and international response plans, oiled wildlife guidelines, as well as a wide variety of NOAA job aids, manuals and other useful reference materials. The Toolkit can be used for both planning and response activities. As a contingency plan or drill development resource, the Toolkit provides a convenient source of maps and detailed geographic response plans for use as the basis for scenario and plan development. Scenarios and plans developed from the Toolkit materials can be checked against the ACPs for compliance. During a spill event, the Toolkit also provides resources for: ICS spill management, setting protection priorities, reviewing Incident Action Plans for ACP compliance, guidance in executing pre-approval plans, and reviewing procedures for aerial reconnaissance (to name a few). Besides the obvious benefit of having these planning and response support resources in one convenient package, the Toolkit provides an additional benefit to the regional response community: a rallying point. The annual production of the Toolkit has created a schedule and framework around which state, Federal and private entities organize the annual updates to their ACPs through their Area Committees. This poster describes the Toolkit's growth over time, the manner in which it is used, the production workflow, the content selection philosophy and its impact on the spill response community.

ABSTRACT The January 2007 release of over 8,000 barrels of a condensate crude oil from a damaged well in Bayou Perot, Louisiana resulted in intermittent oiling of remote mud flats and salt marshes over a 30 square mile area. NOAA'S National Geodetic Survey collected aerial vertical digital photography 17 days after the spill to assist in locating and quantifying areas of oiling. The effective pixel size was 34 centimeters, however, the data were processed to 40 centimeter resolution. Useful products were posted to the web within two days after acquisition. Standard supervised and unsupervised image processing techniques were used in conjunction with oblique photography and field knowledge to define the oiling signatures. Time constraints required that the classification be conducted on mosaiced, non-color balanced images (ideally each image would be classified independently to account for differences in illumination and/or processing). However, the strong visible signature of the oiled areas and ground-truth data from field surveys resulted in high confidence levels for several oil types which in turn were used to enhance the identification of the remaining classes. Five oil types were identified: Black (218,000 ft 2 ), Red (81,000 ft 2 ), Orange (154,000 ft 2 ), Yellow (38,000 ft 2 ), and Light Yellow (349,000 ft 2 ) corresponding to the color and attributes of the oil. The total conservative estimate of oiled area was 840,000 ft 2 or nearly 20 acres. Based on estimated thicknesses of the different oils, the total volume of oil present at the time of imagery acquisition was 3,330 barrels. This value was close to the actual amount of oil recovered over the time period between the date of imagery acquisition and the end of cleanup.

ABSTRACT Providing rapid and humane care for distressed or threatened marine mammals is crucial to the ultimate success of such actions. Recently, in the southeast United States, marine mammals were observed in the vicinity of several oil spills. Proper coordination of marine mammal rescue or recovery actions with the Unified Command (UC) is essential for response personnel safety and increased probability of saving the affected animals. In the event of animal mortalities, effective coordination between the marine mammal resource agencies and the UC helps ensure the preservation of causal evidence. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'S (NOAA'S) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), generally through the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC), is able to assist the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) and UC in addressing the threat of spilled oil on potentially affected marine mammals. Response actions during recent spills included: documenting the animals’ type and location, notification of the marine mammal agencies and teams responsible for their recovery and care, and coordination between the spill response and the marine mammal response. The actions of responders during recent spills involving marine mammals are summarized and relevant issues discussed, including properly characterizing the threat to marine mammals from spilled oil. The recent oil spill responses involving marine mammals in the southeastern U.S. are applicable to future spills throughout the United States and potentially worldwide. These recent incidents underscore the need to fully understand and plan for high profile wildlife issues during oil spill responses.

ABSTRACT The Environmental Sensitivity Index ranks Sheltered Mud Flats as a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most sensitive of habitats). Mud flats are very soft substrates that will not support even the lightest of foot traffic by cleanup workers. Conventional wisdom suggests that oil that strands on a mud flat during low water will lift and float free during the next high water event. Afterwards, the flat will generally appear free of oil. It is very unusual for stranded oil to form a strong adhesive bond to the wet substrate such that during high water events, water flows over the oil, and the oil doesn't resurface and float away. When the water level drops, the oil remains. This unusual process was one of the problems facing responders during the Bayou Perot Oil Spill in Southern Louisiana in January, 2007. The spill was reportedly caused by a vessel striking a small platform and wellhead. The incident resulted in an uncontrolled, wild well release that lasted for nearly five days. During that time, more than 7000 bbls of crude oil and production water emulsion were thought to have been released into the environment. Several thousand of those barrels became stranded in an adjacent wetland with most of the oil stranded on mud flats and in shallow canals with little to no water. The water levels were very low at the time of the event. Subsequent tidal and wind-driven water level changes failed to significantly free the oil. Most of the emulsified oil remained adhered to the mud flats. The question and response challenge became, “How do you clean mud flats adjacent to sensitive marsh habitat without causing unacceptable collateral damage?” Field tests were conducted using several types of sorbents (snare, sweeps, and bagasse), a solidifier, squeegees, and burning. The outcome, based on these tests, was to use “Airboat-deployed Vacuum Recovery Systems. This paper provides a case study of an unusual, and challenging, oiling event that required a series of field experiments to develop a practical cleanup strategy.

ABSTRACT Every nation faces the possibility of a major natural disaster and few plans are in place to deal with the massive consequences that follow. When Hurricane Katrina reached landfall, the human toll and extent of damage made it the worst natural disaster in American history. The news headlines were filled with the images of desperation and the efforts of the thousands of heroes across the spectrum of government who worked tirelessly to help the citizens of the Gulf Coast of the United States recover. Less visible to the American public was the vast environmental impact caused by millions of gallons of oil released by hundreds of individual oil spills. The total oil volume lost to the environment is estimated at over 8.2 million gallons, making it the second largest oil spill in United States history. Moreover, this spill was the first major environmental disaster managed under the newly published National Response Plan, a plan developed following the tragic events of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This paper will describe how response managers overcame the incredible challenges of managing multiple oil spills in an enormous area devoid of the support infrastructure, human resources and the logistics network normally present in major spills within the United States. The authors will offer a first hand account of the strategies employed by the response management system assembled to combat the spills. They will describe key lessons learned in overcoming competition for critical resources; the importance of combining scientific, legal and other support in determining response options such as burning and debris removal; and the methodology employed in creating a Unified Area Command that included multiple responsible parties. Finally, this paper will provide insights to processes within the Joint Field Office, an element of the National Response Plan, and how well it performed in supporting response efforts.

ABSTRACT In addition to the loss of life and property caused by Hurricane Katrina, the powerful storm caused significant environmental injury. The destruction and failure of hundreds of oil facilities and oil storage tanks resulted in many oil spills. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received reports that more than 8 million gallons of crude oil were discharged throughout the region. The largest single incident resulted in the loss of an estimated 90,000 bbls of crude oil from two large storage tanks in a very remote location near Cox Bay, Louisiana. Other authors will describe how the initial response managers overcame the incredible challenges of managing multiple oil spills in an enormous area devoid of support infrastructure, human resources and the logistical networks normally present. By January 2006, most of the oil spills from facilities impacted by Hurricane Katrina had entered the natural recovery phase while the response had transitioned from the initial disaster response phase to a more traditional response. However, in February 2008, there are still several sites that require continued clean-up and monitoring by federal and state officials. This paper will review the final stages of the federal government'S response to the Katrina-related oil spills and include planning and prevention measures that could reduce the risk of oil spills during similar storm events. Some of the topics included are: Hurricane Planning in Southeastern Louisiana'S Coastal Zone and consideration for improving facility Hurricane and Contingency Plans.

ABSTRACT Since the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), dispersants have been used as part of a combined response to mitigate seven oil spills in United States Gulf of Mexico (GOM) waters. Of the dispersant operations reported, four utilized the Regional Response Team VI pre-approval authority to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) that requires a monitoring plan. The successful integration of dispersant pre-authorization along with a fully funded ready response delivery system maintained by industry contributed to the successful use of dispersants to aid in mitigating spilled oil. A key element to gaining the original pre-approval authority was a functional operational monitoring plan. While each response was considered a successful dispersant operation, each incident provided valuable lessons learned that have been integrated into subsequent contingency planning and modifications to existing pre-authorization requirements in the GOM. This paper provides a chronological review of oil spill responses where dispersants were applied in the GOM since OPA 90.

ABSTRACT On 22 September 2001, a collision occurred between the M/V NEW AMITY and barge, NMS No. 1486 in the Houston Ship Channel. The collision resulted in damage to a single skinned fuel tank of the NEW AMITY and created an oil spill in Upper Galveston Bay near Morgans Point, Texas. The double-hulled cargo oil tanks on the NEW AMITY were not damaged. Additionally, none of the tanks on the NMS No. 1486 were damaged. Immediately after the incident, the damaged tanker was directed by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) and Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) to proeceed to the nearest lay berth. The Port of Houston Barbours Cut container terminal was less that a mile away and the tanker arrived while still leaking oil. A reported 36,000 gallons of IFO-380 was released before the source could be controlled; much of the oil being trapped under the pier structures within Barbours Cut. The oil spill impacted some 20 miles of shoreline habitat including salt marshes, sand and shell beaches, and riprap. The decision to move the vessel into Barbours Cut set the stage for a challenging, but ultimately successful spill response and cleanup. It was uniquely characterized by the difficult task of balancing safety, environmental, and commercial concerns during spill response. Response actions were conducted with the goal of minimizing impacts to commerce without compromising the environmental response and worker safety. The Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Team (or SCAT) process was used to insure that environmental issues were addressed with participation of trustee agencies and to develop cleanup endpoints. Considering the volume of oil released into a sensitive estuarine system, the long-term impacts to the environment were relatively minor. To expedite cleanup, the entire 1.1 mile overhanging dock facility was cleared and four tugs were used to provide a unique method to flush oil out from under the dock into collection areas and open water mechanical skimming systems. Additionally, surface washing agents were used to enhance vessel and hard structure cleanup. Despite the extended response and difficult conditions, no major injuries were reported during the response. A complicating factor throughout was that the spill occurred just eleven days after the September 11th terrorist attack, as U.S. Coast Guard resources and local media were focused on maritime homeland security.

ABSTRACT On 14 March 2001, the M/V GENMAR HECTOR was oiled on both the superstructure and hull after a transfer line broke during an unexpected storm event with winds gusting to 70 mph. In addition to the tanker vessel, seven other vessels, as well as floating docks and barges, were oiled at the waterline. The crude oil rapidly weathered to the point that conventional cleanup techniques were ineffective at removing residual oil from the vessels so that they could be released from the port area. Members of the Regional Response Team were convened and the use of National Contingency Plan listed surface-washing agents that had the effect of “lifting and floating” remobilized oil was approved. Using the guidance of the Regional Response Team, a test was conducted to evaluate conventional and chemically-enhanced washing techniques. It was found that pretreatment with PES-51 followed by a high pressure, hot water wash resulted in the desired cleanup level, which was, essentially, the complete removal of oil and oil stain. PES-51 was selected for this application because of its availability and the minimal contact time required before flushing. The cleaning and demobilization of oiled vessels was greatly enhanced by using a surface-washing agent.

ABSTRACT Freshwater marshes cover 4000 square kilometers of the Louisiana coastal zone and are the most abundant marsh habitat type. Many of these marshes actually float as organic mats on underlying water. Some estimates suggest as much as 70% of Louisiana's coastal freshwater marsh are of the floating variety. The slow flow of water characteristic of these environments generally transports very little sediment. As a result, the marsh substrate is composed of primarily live and dead organic matter (peat formation) rather than mineral sediments. Since floating marshes are structurally different than intertidal marsh habitats, many traditional oil spill response options are ineffective or inappropriate. Access to the marsh is often limited since there is no open water ingress and the marsh structure cannot support the weight of equipment. Oil spill response options are further complicated when the source of the oil is a pipeline leak located below the floating marsh mat; spilled oil is free to travel at the interface of the underlying water and mat. Protection booming is impossible. Oil impacts often result in the death of all the living plants that are integral to the formation and sustainability of the habitat. This paper reports on two oil spills in a floating marsh near Paradis, Louisiana that occurred eight years apart. Both spills were spatially close to each other, which provided an excellent comparison for assessing potential long-term impact from oil spills in floating marshes. During both oil spill responses, unique response techniques were developed to recover spilled oil and enhance marsh recovery. An effective technique was to rake away and remove the dead oil-contaminated surface plant debris from the site and employ sorbent recovery. Lessons learned from these responses were used to develop mitigation guidance for future responses.

ABSTRACT On 11 April 2001, the Unified Command received permission from the Regional Response Team (RRT6) to conduct a series of in-situ burns at an oil spill site in a remote coastal marsh adjacent to Mosquito Bay, Louisiana. Approximately 12 acres of marsh were contaminated with an estimated 1000 bbl of condensate crude oil. Because the spill was largely contained in low areas of remote interior marsh, conventional oil recovery techniques and mitigation would have caused unacceptable physical marsh impact; therefore, in-situ burning was considered the most environmentally friendly approach to minimize impact from the spill. Overall, the application of in-situ burning was considered a positive environmental trade-off since any manual response in such a sensitive marsh would involve greater negative environmental trade-offs. This paper focuses on an overview of the incident and the scientific and environmental issues that were evaluated and presented to the Unified Command in making the final decision to use in-situ burning as a mitigation technique.

ABSTRACT The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working in partnership with the State of Louisiana to focus on the oil pollution threat resulting from coastal land loss. With land loss, oil production and transportation infrastructure in coastal Louisiana is at increasing risk of damage from natural hazards and human activities. In response, a demonstration project was developed for contingency planning that assesses these concerns. The project identifies structures at risk, ranks them according to weighted considerations, and provides a trajectory analysis for released oil should an incident occur.

ABSTRACT During the night of 16 January 2001, the 260-foot tanker, Jessica , grounded on a reef at the entrance to Wreak Bay on the island of San Cristobal. Ironically, the site of the grounding was very near where Darwin first stepped ashore in 1835. Ecuador, realizing the threat posed by spilling more than 240,000 gallons of diesel and intermediate fuel oil, declared a state of emergency and made a request for assistance. NOAA immediately sent spill response and environmental experts as part of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) response effort to the remote islands. The Galapagos Islands are composed of shorelines not atypical of those NOAA has responded to in the past, but the unique wildlife, including many species found only in the Galapagos Islands, made this response different. This paper documents the USCG-NOAA mission, provides and overview of the incident response, an estimated oil mass balance, and the NOAA HAZMAT AWAY Team - HOME Team concept.

ABSTRACT The Poseidon Pipeline spill case study provides an excellent example of coordination within the Unified Command during response to an offshore oil spill where dispersants were used as the primary mitigation tool. Dispersants are an effective tool to mitigate oil spills if certain specific criteria are met, including an acceptable oil type, the application of dispersants is a preferred environmental trade-off to potential shoreline impacts, rapid approval is possible, and a dispersant delivery system is available. In the Gulf of Mexico, offshore pre-approval has been given to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) by the Regional Response Team (RRT). If the FOSC determines that the oil threatens sensitive coastal areas, he can grant approval quickly. As demonstrated in the Poseidon Pipeline spill case study, good field intelligence; accurate aerial observation information; close coordination between the responsible party (RP), state, FOSC, and their spill management teams; readily available dispersant application resources; and trained observers and monitoring teams are key elements to effective and environmentally beneficial dispersant applications.

ABSTRACT COREXIT®9500 was used to disperse 100 barrels (bbls) of Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO) 180 30 nautical miles south of Galveston, Texas. The dispersant was highly effective in dispersing this heavy fuel oil. Efficacy was based on the fact that only 1.5 barrels of oil washed up on the beach in the form of tarballs a week later. No reports of oiled birds or wildlife related to the incident were received. The pre-authorization limits of the Regional Response Team (RRT) Region VI On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) Pre-Approved Dispersant Use Manual were outdated; COREXIT®9500 was placed on the National Contingency Plan (NCP) Product Schedule list of approved dispersants after the manual was written. COREXIT®9500 enables dispersal of heavier products than those originally considered by the RRT. The specific gravity of IFO 180 is 0.988 while the OSC Pre-Approved Dispersant Use Manual considered 0.953 an upper limit. The dispersant was applied outside the 6-hour time limit because an overflight showed little to no emulsification of the oil because of calm weather conditions. Although current conditions were calm, thunderstorms were expected to develop in the area that would provide the mixing action needed to enhance dispersal. The Unified Command considered this dispersant application a “cautious success.” The small amount of oil that reached the beach and the absence of oiled birds support a statement of success but, because of time limitations, Tier II SMART (Specialized Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies) data were not obtained to substantiate this conclusion. Following this case, RRT Region VI convened a committee to review the Pre-Approved Dispersant Use Manual, to evaluate whether the pre-approved protocols were still relevant, and to develop changes to the Pre-Approved Dispersant Use Manual if needed for consideration and approval by the RRT. At its January 2000 meeting, RRT Region VI approved several short-term changes to the manual and authorized continued work on several mid- and long-term revisions. These changes not only give the OSC more flexibility in choosing the right dispersant tools, but also give greater requirements to document dispersant operations.

ABSTRACT For a 6-month period between May and September 1999, the staff and crew of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research ship R/V Ferrel augmented their activities to support a baseline fluorometry study for NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). During the study period, scientific data were collected at more than 50 stations in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The study was designed, in part, to assess the Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies (SMART) program. SMART is a joint U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and NOAA monitoring program that provides near real-time feedback to the Unified Command during dispersant applications to mitigate marine oil spills. Using fluorometers to accurately measure dispersed oil concentrations is not a trivial task. Detector response values vary because of oil composition and oil weathering; dispersed oil is not in true solution; and natural waters contribute matrix effects and background fluorescence. It was the latter two that were investigated. Because seawater is a complex mixture of dissolved chemicals, particulates, and living plants and animals, archiving samples for future analysis relative to background fluorescence is problematic. Each contributes to background fluorescence and matrix effects when dispersed oil is present in the sample. Since water samples change with storage, only near real-time analyses are valid; therefore, using an at-sea laboratory like the NOAA's Ferrel was essential to the study design. Results suggest that the adverse flouorometry effects observed for open-ocean environments were within typical quality-objective goals. Therefore, the range of seawater composition changes observed in this investigation had very little effect on the ability to detect dispersed oil and meet the SMART mission objectives.