Development of a dispersant use plan for a coastal oil terminal

Abstract

The decision of whether to use dispersants in a given oil spill situation must be made extremely rapidly. The information basis for the decision must take into account the potential environmental consequences of alternative response strategies, and the response chosen must be practical to use. The OSCAR (Oil Spill Contingency And Response) model was used to simulate a series of 24 oil spill scenarios to quantify the environmental effects of alternate spill response strategies under various environmental conditions. OSCAR was used to create color-coded maps of a coastal fjord area surrounding a Norwegian oil terminal; with these maps the expected effectiveness of a dispersant application is immediately available to the responsible decision maker. The legislative framework and development process behind the plan are described, and examples of the maps are given.