Shoreline ecology program for Prince William Sound, Alaska, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Part 2: Chemistry and toxicology
- Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Bowdoin Coll., Brunswick, ME (United States)
- ENSR Consulting and Engineering, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
This paper describes chemical and toxicological results of a comprehensive shoreline ecology program that was designed to assess recovery in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 24, 1989. The program is an application of the sediment quality triad approach, combining chemical, toxicological, and biological measurements. The study was designed so that results could be extrapolated to the entire spill zone in the sound and projected forward in time. It combined one-time sampling of 64 randomly chosen study sites representing four major habitats and four oiling levels (including unoiled reference sites), with periodic sampling at 12 subjectively chosen fixed sites. Sediment samples--or when conditions required, filter-wipes from rock surfaces--were collected in each of three intertidal zones and from subtidal stations up to 30-m deep. Oil removal was generally quite rapid: by 1991 the concentration of oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez had been dramatically reduced on the majority of shorelines by both natural processes and cleanup efforts. Acute sediment toxicity from oil (as measured by standard toxicity tests) was virtually absent by 1990--91, except at a small number of isolated locations. The petroleum residues had degraded below the threshold of acute toxic effects. Measurable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels are, in general, well below those conservatively associated with adverse effects, and biological recovery has been considerably more rapid than the removal of the last chemical remnants. 55 refs., 15 figs., 4 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 382763
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930442-; ISBN 0-8031-1896-1; TRN: 96:025722
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3. symposium on environmental toxicology and risk assessment, Atlanta, GA (United States), 25-28 Apr 1993; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Exxon Valdez oil spill: Fate and effects in Alaskan waters; Wells, P.G.; Butler, J.N.; Hughes, J.S. [eds.]; PB: 961 p.; ASTM special technical publication, 1219
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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