Contrasting impacts of localised versus catastrophic oil spills in coastal wetlands
- Australian Inst. of Marine Sciences, Townsville (Australia)
A localised oil spill was observed on the wetland marshes bordering a tidal creek near Cairns, Queensland in January 1994. Pollution and conservation issues are of paramount public concern in this region which boarders World Heritage Areas of coral reefs and coastal habitats. Local residents observed oil being dumped from a truck which was contracted to of oil the surface of the roads in the contiguous sugar cane farm for dust control. During this incident several truckloads of mixed waste oil were dumped onto a short section of road and into the wetlands. The oil contaminated a band of marsh 15-30 m wide along approximately 200 m of road. Impacted marsh included Melaleuca forest on the high side of the road and intertidal mangroves on the seaward side. The Queensland Department of Environment (QDE) initiated an impact assessment and directed the trucking company to clean up impacted areas. The extent of damage to wetlands from oil spills is related to the amount and type of oil spilled and the sensitivity of the habitats oiled. QDE asked the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences to assist with their study on the fate of the oil in this localised spill. The initial levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in surface sediments reached 17% of the dry weight in heavily impacted areas. Thus levels were similar to those reached after the catastrophic oil spill in Panama. Clean up efforts and natural dissipation processes reduced sediment hydrocarbon loads to nonacutely toxic levels in only 1.5 years in the intertidal mangroves. High levels remain in the Melaleuca sediments. We used internal molecular markers to detail hydrocarbon dissipation vs degradation. This study provides a contrast between impacts of localised versus catastrophic oil spills in deep mud coastal habitats.
- OSTI ID:
- 437371
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960807-; ISSN 0270-3009; TRN: 97:000878-0058
- Journal Information:
- National Meeting - American Chemical Society, Division of Environmental Chemistry, Vol. 36, Issue 2; Conference: 212. national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Orlando, FL (United States), 25-30 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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