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 IOSC 2008 Home / Short Courses / Efficacy and Effects of Dispersants in Oil Spill Response |
IOSC 2008 Short Course |
Efficacy and Effects of Dispersants in Oil Spill Response: Course Length: 7 hours Instructors: Drs. Amy Merten (NOAA) and Nancy Kinner (UNH); Co-Directors of the Coastal response Research Center. Dr. Merten has 15 years experience with environmental and spill response (recent spills include the Athos, Selendang Ayu, and spills following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita). Dr. Merten is an acknowledged expert on PAH toxicity and chemistry. Dr. Kinner has 24 years of teaching experience at the college level, including various short courses for industry, and has received two teaching excellence awards for her abilities to make difficult concepts understandable to students. Several dispersant researchers and practitioners will provide the content for the course. Objective: Present the practical implications of the latest research on the efficacy and effects of dispersant use on coastal (floating) oil spills. Level: For oil spill responders and decision-makers (e.g., incident command personnel, state environmental agency personnel). No knowledge of research methods, statistical analysis or scientific background is required to participate. Language: English Course Description: Dispersant use as a response measure during oil spills in U.S. waters, especially within 3 miles of the coast, has been very controversial for the past two decades. Two National Research Council (NRC) panels have been convened on this topic and delineated the depth of knowledge and remaining questions regarding dispersant efficacy and effects. In response to the recommendation in the May 2005 NRC dispersants report, the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), a partnership between NOAA and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), organized 14 entities that fund oil spill research into the Dispersants Working Group (DWG). The mission of the DWG is to coordinate funding for all aspects of dispersant research among its members, to address the issues outlines in the May 2005 NRC report, and to pool findings to avoid redundancy and promote synergy. The DWG has held two major meetings since its inception: (1) a Dispersants Workshop (Sept. 2005; UNH) to create an integrated research plan on dispersant efficacy and effects; and (2) a Dispersants Forum (Feb. 2007; Redbank, NJ) where researchers presented results of their recent work to the oil spill community. The purpose of the proposed IOSC short course is to provide an opportunity for the broader oil spill community to learn the practical implications of this research and how it impacts our understanding of when and how to best use dispersants and to minimize their impact on natural resources. Questions also exist about the consensus thresholds for acute toxicity used in the USCG Ecological Risk Assessments. These will be addressed in conjunction with NOAA/CRRC’s ongoing activities in this area. While research findings will be presented, co-instructors are being selected based on his/her ability to convey what the results mean to a non-scientific audience. Topics will include effects of mixing efficiency, physical and chemical state of dispersed and non-dispersed oil, and the biological impacts (short- and long-term) on sensitive species such as salmon, corals, and to organisms critical to the food web (e.g., copepods and grass shrimp). Scenarios will be presented and the pros and cons of dispersant use discussed by practitioners and scientists to demonstrate how new research findings can be used by responders. Scenarios may include tropical coral reefs and Arctic oil-in-ice spills. Topics Covered: What happens when a dispersant is released from a vessel or plane and enters the oil/water environment? What kind of mixing scenarios occur as a function of wave and other energy? What is the effect of artificial turbulence? Is this practical? Under what scenarios can natural mixing do the job? How does mixing affect the fate of oil droplets and their movement in the water column? What are the expected size distributions of oil droplets as a function of turbulence? What is the level of dissolution expected and for what compounds? How does the dispersed plume of oil move in the water column? Can we model it effectively? What is the extent of PAH and other dissolution? Can we accurately predict ambient concentrations and the time that they will persist? What is the effect of dispersed oil and dissolved components on organisms in the water column and benthic zone (short- and long-term)? What effects are triggered in which species? What is the role of exposure time and concentration on effects? How do these compare with the impacts of a non-dispersed plume? How do we adequately express and make ecological tradeoffs about the use of dispersants? Minimum/Maximum Attendance: no more than 60-80 people Contact: Nancy Kinner |
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