Assessing the social costs of oil spills: the Amoco Cadiz case study

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5379463

Approximately 30 percent of the oil spilled from the Amoco Cadiz in March 1978 came ashore on the Brittany coast. About 400 kilometers of the coast were directly affected. The remainder of the oil was dispersed at sea or evaporated. The oil had adverse effects on marine resources, such as aquacultured oysters and various species of finfish, on the tourist industry, and on the satisfaction of those who expected to or did recreate on the Brittany coast. The economic damages or losses associated with these adverse physical and biological effects, plus the costs associated with the cleanup effort which began immediately, constitute the economic costs of the oil spill. This report presents, and describes the methods used to estimate the various costs as divided into cleanup costs; losses to marine resources, such as oyster-culturing and open-seas fisheries; losses to recreationists, both tourists and residents; losses to the tourist industry; loss of the tanker and cargo; and research and legal costs.

• Research Organization: National Ocean Service, Rockville, MD (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5379463
• Report Number(s): PB-84-100536
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
530100* -- Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies-- Social & Economic Studies-- (-1989)
ACCIDENTS
AGRICULTURE
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BIRDS
CARGO
CONTROL
DAMAGE
ECONOMIC IMPACT
EUROPE
FISHERIES
FRANCE
INDUSTRY
INVERTEBRATES
LOSSES
MOLLUSCS
OIL SPILLS
OYSTERS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL
PUBLIC HEALTH
SEAS
SHIPS
SURFACE WATERS
TANKER SHIPS
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLLUTION
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
WESTERN EUROPE