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Title: Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model

Abstract

Increasing interest in offshore hydrocarbon exploration has pushed the operational fronts associated with exploration efforts further offshore into deeper waters and more uncertain subsurface settings. This has become particularly common in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In this study we develop a spatial vulnerability approach and example assessment to support future spill prevention and improve future response readiness. This effort, which is part of a larger integrated assessment modeling spill prevention effort, incorporated economic and environmental data, and utilized a novel new oil spill simulation model from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model (BLOSOM). Specifically, this study demonstrated a novel approach to evaluate potential impacts of hypothetical spill simulations at varying depths and locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The simulations are analyzed to assess spatial and temporal trends associated with the oil spill. The approach itself demonstrates how these data, tools and techniques can be used to evaluate potential spatial vulnerability of Gulf communities for various spill scenarios. Results of the hypothetical scenarios evaluated in this study suggest that under conditions like those simulated, a strong westward push by ocean currents and tides may increase the impacts of deepmore » water spills along the Texas coastline, amplifying the vulnerability of communities on the local barrier islands. Ultimately, this approach can be used further to assess a range of conditions and scenarios to better understand potential risks and improve informed decision making for operators, responders, and stakeholders to support spill prevention as well as response readiness.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
  2. Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
  3. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)
  4. Humboldt State Univ., Arcata, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
OSTI Identifier:
1240138
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1373126
Report Number(s):
NETL-PUB-1104
Journal ID: ISSN 0964-5691
Grant/Contract Number:  
FE0004000
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Ocean & Coastal Management
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 112; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0964-5691
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Oil spill; Simulation; Spatial analysis; Response; Coastal vulnerability; GIS

Citation Formats

Nelson, J. R., Grubesic, T. H., Sim, L., Rose, K., and Graham, J.. Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.04.014.
Nelson, J. R., Grubesic, T. H., Sim, L., Rose, K., & Graham, J.. Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.04.014
Nelson, J. R., Grubesic, T. H., Sim, L., Rose, K., and Graham, J.. Sat . "Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.04.014. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240138.
@article{osti_1240138,
title = {Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model},
author = {Nelson, J. R. and Grubesic, T. H. and Sim, L. and Rose, K. and Graham, J.},
abstractNote = {Increasing interest in offshore hydrocarbon exploration has pushed the operational fronts associated with exploration efforts further offshore into deeper waters and more uncertain subsurface settings. This has become particularly common in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In this study we develop a spatial vulnerability approach and example assessment to support future spill prevention and improve future response readiness. This effort, which is part of a larger integrated assessment modeling spill prevention effort, incorporated economic and environmental data, and utilized a novel new oil spill simulation model from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model (BLOSOM). Specifically, this study demonstrated a novel approach to evaluate potential impacts of hypothetical spill simulations at varying depths and locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The simulations are analyzed to assess spatial and temporal trends associated with the oil spill. The approach itself demonstrates how these data, tools and techniques can be used to evaluate potential spatial vulnerability of Gulf communities for various spill scenarios. Results of the hypothetical scenarios evaluated in this study suggest that under conditions like those simulated, a strong westward push by ocean currents and tides may increase the impacts of deep water spills along the Texas coastline, amplifying the vulnerability of communities on the local barrier islands. Ultimately, this approach can be used further to assess a range of conditions and scenarios to better understand potential risks and improve informed decision making for operators, responders, and stakeholders to support spill prevention as well as response readiness.},
doi = {10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.04.014},
journal = {Ocean & Coastal Management},
number = C,
volume = 112,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Cumulative spatial impact layers: A novel multivariate spatio‐temporal analytical summarization tool
journal, June 2019

  • Romeo, Lucy; Nelson, Jake; Wingo, Patrick
  • Transactions in GIS, Vol. 23, Issue 5
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Oil spill modeling: Mapping the knowledge domain
journal, January 2020

  • Nelson, Jake R.; Grubesic, Tony H.
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  • DOI: 10.1177/0309133319897503

Predicting the impact of future oil-spill closures on fishery-dependent communities—a spatially explicit approach
journal, July 2019

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  • ICES Journal of Marine Science
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Ocean currents and coastal exposure to offshore releases of passively transported material in the Gulf of Mexico
journal, August 2019

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Protecting Sensitive Coastal Areas with Exclusion Booms during Oil Spill Events
journal, August 2018

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