oil in the sea III
Inputs, Fates, and Effects
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth St., N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report and the committee were supported by grants from the Minerals Management Service, the American Petroleum Institute, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, U.S. Coast Guard, the National Ocean Industries Association, the U.S. Navy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oil in the sea III : inputs, fates, and effects.
p. cm.
“Committee on Oil in the Sea: Inputs, Fates, and Effects, Ocean Studies Board and Marine Board, Divisions of Earth and Life Studies and Transportation Research Board, National Research Council.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-08438-5 (hardcover)
1. Oil pollution of the sea. 2. Oil pollution of the sea—Environmental aspects. I. Title: Oil in the sea three. II. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Oil in the Sea: Inputs, Fates, and Effects.
GC1085 .O435 2002
628.1′6833—dc21
2002015715
Additional copies of this report are available from:
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Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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COMMITTEE ON OIL IN THE SEA: INPUTS, FATES AND EFFECTS
JAMES COLEMAN (Chair),
Louisiana State University
JOEL BAKER,
University of Maryland
CORT COOPER,
ChevronTexaco Exploration Petroleum Technology Co.
MERV FINGAS,
Environment Canada
GEORGE HUNT,
University of California, Irvine
KEITH KVENVOLDEN,
U.S. Geological Survey
KEITH MICHEL,
Herbert Engineering Corporation
JACQUELINE MICHEL,
Research Planning, Inc.
JUDITH McDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
JONATHAN PHINNEY,
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
ROBERT POND (until October 1, 2000),
U.S. Coast Guard
NANCY RABALAIS,
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
LARRY ROESNER,
Colorado State University
ROBERT B. SPIES,
Applied Marine Sciences and Biomark
Staff
DAN WALKER, Study Director
JENNIFER MERRILL, Program Officer
JOHN DANDELSKI, Research Associate
DENISE GREENE, Senior Project Assistant
JULIE PULLEY, Project Assistant
Consultants
LAUREL SAITO,
University of Nevada-Reno
DAGMAR SCHMIDT ETKIN,
Environmental Research Consulting
ALEXANDER M. TAIT,
Equator Graphics, Inc.
JAMES MILLER,
Equator Graphics, Inc.
The work of this committee was overseen by the Ocean Studies Board and the Marine Board of the National Research Council.
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
NANCY RABALAIS (Chair),
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin
ARTHUR BAGGEROER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
JAMES COLEMAN,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
LARRY CROWDER,
Duke University, Beaufort, North Carolina
G. BRENT DALRYMPLE,
Oregon State University
(ret.),
Corvallis
RICHARD B. DERISO,
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, La Jolla, California
EARL DOYLE,
Shell Oil
(ret.),
Sugar Land, Texas
ROBERT DUCE,
Texas A&M University, College Station
WAYNE R. GEYER,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
D. JAY GRIMES,
University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs
MIRIAM KASTNER,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
CINDY LEE,
State University of New York, Stony Brook
RALPH S. LEWIS,
Connecticut Geological Survey, Hartford
BONNIE McCAY,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
JULIAN P. McCREARY, JR.,
University of Hawaii, Honolulu
JACQUELINE MICHEL,
Research Planning, Inc., Columbus, South Carolina
RAM MOHAN,
Blasland, Bouck & Lee, Inc., Annapolis, Maryland
SCOTT NIXON,
University of Rhode Island, Narragansett
JON G. SUTINEN,
University of Rhode Island, Kingston
NANCY TARGETT,
University of Delaware, Lewes
PAUL TOBIN,
Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Fairfax, Virginia
Staff
MORGAN GOPNIK, Director
SUSAN ROBERTS, Senior Program Officer
DAN WALKER, Senior Program Officer
JOANNE BINTZ, Program Officer
JENNIFER MERRILL, Program Officer
TERRY SCHAEFER, Program Officer
ROBIN MORRIS, Financial Officer
JOHN DANDELSKI, Research Associate
SHIREL SMITH, Administrative Associate
JODI BACHIM, Senior Project Assistant
NANCY CAPUTO, Senior Project Assistant
DENISE GREENE, Senior Project Assistant
SARAH CAPOTE, Project Assistant
BYRON MASON, Project Assistant
JULIE PULLEY, Project Assistant
ALISON SCHRUM, Project Assistant
MARINE BOARD
RADOJE (ROD) VULOVIC (Chair)
U.S. Ship Management, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina
R. KEITH MICHEL (Vice Chair)
Herbert Engineering Corp., Alameda, California
PETER F. BONTADELLI,
PFB and Associates, Citrus Heights, California
BILIANA CICIN-SAIN,
Marine Policy Center, Newark, Delaware
BILLY L. EDGE,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
PETER J. FINNERTY,
American Ocean Enterprises, Inc., Annapolis, Maryland
MARTHA GRABOWSKI,
LeMoyne College, Cazenovia, New York
RODNEY GREGORY,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Fairfax, Virginia
I. BERNARD JACOBSON,
IBJ Associates, Shelter Island Heights, New York
GERALDINE KNATZ,
Port of Long Beach, Long Beach, California
SALLY ANN LENTZ,
Ocean Advocates, Clarksville, Maryland
PHILIP LI-FAN LIU,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
RADM MALCOLM MACKINNON, III,
MSCL, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia
REGINALD McKAMIE,
Houston, Texas
SPYROS P. PAVLOU,
URS Corporation, Seattle, Washington
CRAIG E. PHILIP,
Ingram Barge Company, Nashville, Tennessee
EDWIN J. ROLAND,
Elmer-Roland Maritime Consultants, Houston, Texas
E. G. “SKIP” WARD,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
DAVID J. WISCH,
Exploration and Production Technology Company, Bellaire, Texas
Staff
JOEDY W. CAMBRIDGE, Director
BEVERLY HUEY, Senior Staff Officer
PETER JOHNSON, Consultant
BRIE SCHWARTZ, Staff Assistant
MARY KISSI, Staff Assistant
Acknowledgments
The committee offers thanks to the large number of individuals who provided information and insights. Their assistance was critical for the success of this report. In particular, the committee would like to thank J. Aspland, California Maritime Academy; P. Montagna, University of Texas; M.Kennicutt, Texas A&M University; M. Fry, U. of California, Davis; J. Cimato, MMS; M. Meza, U.S. Coast Guard; M. Mair and S. Harris, U.S.S. Mississinewa Reunion Group; H. Roberts, Louisiana State University; I. MacDonald, Texas A&M University; J. Everett, Earth Satellite Corporation; D.Buthman, Unocal; A. Lugo-Fernandez, MMS; J. Clark, U. of California, Santa Barbara; D. French, Applied Science Associates, Inc.; G. Rainey and D. Panzer of the MMS; D.Hale, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality; J.Neff, Battelle Laboratories; L.Young, ChevronTexaco; A.Glickman, ChevronTexaco; W. Gala, ChevronTexaco; B.Richarson, ChevronTexaco; T. Suchan; U.S. Census Bureau, J. Ray, Shell Global Solutions; S. Merritt, ChevronTexaco; O. Johansen, Sintef; W. Lehr, A. Mearns, J. Short, and S. Rice, NOAA; J. Corps, AEA Technology; E.Ranheim, International Association of Independent Tanker Operators (INTERTANKO).
The committee offers thanks the U.S. Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service for their help in obtaining spill data used in this study. Cheryl Anderson of Minerals Management Service, deserves special thanks. Without Cheryl’s ongoing efforts to maintain the Outer Continental Spills database, many of the results presented here would not be possible.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Thomas D. Barrow, Thomson-Barrow Corporation, Houston, Texas
Sue Bucheger, Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Charles Cox, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California
John Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
Bill Lehr, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington
Al Maki, Exxon Mobil, Anchorage, Alaska
Robert Pitt, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Dragos Rauta, INTERTANKO, Oslo, Norway
Jeep Rice, NOAA Auke Bay Laboratory, Juneau, Alaska
John A. Wiens, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by John Bailar, University of Chicago, (report review monitor) and Andrew Solow, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, (report review coordinator). Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
In the 1970s scientists began to realize that a significant quantity of pollutants were being discharged into marine waters worldwide, but very little quantitative data on the volume of discharges were available. Realizing the potential danger to sensitive estuarine and marine habitats, the NRC organized a workshop in 1973, bringing together scientists from a variety of backgrounds to address the problem of petroleum hydrocarbon discharge into the marine environment. This workshop culminated in a report in 1975 by the National Research Council entitled Petroleum in the Marine Environment. One of the major findings of the report was recognition that there was a significant lack of systematic data concerning petroleum hydrocarbon discharges. The report, lacking significant quantitative data, was based on estimates and in some instances, educated guesses. Even though lacking substantial quantitative data, the report generated considerable interest and was well-received by industry, government agencies, and scientists. Ten years later, the U.S. Coast Guard requested that the Ocean Sciences Board of the National Research Council update this report, using data that had been acquired in the preceding ten years. Forty-six experts were invited to prepare summary reports on all aspects of petroleum hydrocarbon discharges into the marine environment and to evaluate the fates and effects of these discharges. The resulting report, entitled Oil in the Sea: Inputs, Fates and Effects, was published in 1985. This report has served as the seminal publication documenting petroleum pollution in the world’s oceans.
Realizing that a considerable amount of data had been accumulated in the past fifteen years, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) approached the Ocean Studies Board to undertake an update of the 1985 report. Financial support was obtained from the Minerals Management Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Ocean Industries Association.
A committee of fourteen scientists and engineers, representing a wide range of technical backgrounds, was appointed by the National Research Council to prepare the requested report. In addition to simply acquiring and analyzing the data, the committee was charged to document the methodology utilized in preparing the calculated discharges and to verify the databases acquired. This report, hopefully, will serve as a baseline and guide for future studies. It is the committee’s opinion that the inputs computed are based on the latest analysis techniques and utilized the best quantitative data available from a wide-range of existing databases. Even though direct comparisons with the earlier reports are difficult to ascertain because of use of differing computational techniques, it is apparent that even though some sources of inputs have decreased in the twenty-year period, discharges from land-based sources, two-stroke engines, and tank vessel spills still represent a considerable volume of discharge of petroleum hydrocarbons into the sea. These discharges are released directly into the ecologically sensitive coastal estuarine environments and are a major concern. It is hoped that this report will help bring attention to this issue and encourage policymakers to explore a variety of options for reducing these discharges.
I wish to thank the committee members for their dedication and hard work during the preparation of the report. Their insistence on maintaining a high level of quality throughout the analysis and interpretation process has resulted in what I believe is a scientifically sound report. The Study Director, Dr. Dan Walker, did an outstanding job of steering the committee to maintain focus on the statement of tasks, insisting on staying on schedule, and providing a balanced approach to the final report. I would like to personally thank him for his professionalism. I would also like to thank Dr. Jennifer Merrill, who worked closely with and guided the committee
members that compiled the section on the ecological effects of petroleum hydrocarbon discharges. I did not have the background to evaluate this part of the report and her experience and knowledge relieved me of that burden. Also deserving much thanks and recognition are Drs. Laurel Saito, of University of Nevada-Reno, and Dagmar Schmidt Etkin, of Environmental Research, Inc., both of whom worked extensively to develop much of the raw data used to estimate the input of petroleum to the marine environment. The committee members wish to especially thank the hard-working staff, Ms. Megan Kelly, Mrs. Denise Greene, and especially Ms. Julie Pulley, whose hard work greatly helped the committee develop what I think is a high quality final report. Even though the committee and staff had widely varying scientific and working backgrounds, the compilation of the report proved to be a learning experience for all and most of all, an enjoyable experience.
The sponsors are to be commended for their vision in providing funding for this study—a study that could lead to a realization that marine pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons is still a major threat to the marine environment and that future reduction of such discharges should be made a priority of our nation.
James C. Coleman, Chair