In-situ burning is the combustion of a spill product at the site of the spill (in situ is Latin for “in place”.) In-situ burning of oil may offer a logistically simple, rapid, inexpensive, and relatively safe means for reducing the net environmental impact of an oil spill. Because a large portion of the oil is converted to gaseous combustion products, the need for collection, storage, transport...

There are a number of techniques for detecting genotoxicity in the marine environment, and many are applicable to large-scale field assessments. Certain tests can be used to evaluate responses in target organisms in situ while others utilize surrogate organisms exposed to field samples in short-term laboratory bioassays. Genotoxicity endpoints appear distinct from traditional toxicity endpoints...

The factors that affect cleanup cost are complex and interrelated. Each spill involves a unique set of circumstances that determine cleanup cost. Estimating a universal per-unit cleanup cost is essentially meaningless without taking into consideration factors such as location and oil type, which can profoundly influence costs. This paper examines the host of factors that impact cleanup cost in ...

The objective of this review was to synthesize existing information regarding the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on marsh macrophytes in a manner that will help guide research and improve spill-response efficiency. Petroleum hydrocarbons affect plants chemically and physically. Although plants sometime survive fouling by producing new leaves, even relatively non-toxic oils can stress or kill...

During a project examining the use of machine learning techniques for oil spill detection, we encountered several essential questions that we believe deserve the attention of the research community. We use our particular case study to illustrate such issues as problem formulation, selection of evaluation measures, and data preparation. We relate these issues to properties of the oil spill appli...

Studies of several different oil spill disasters have shown that the people affected by these disasters can suffer adverse mental health and behavioral effects. But does the psychological impact of this kind of event differ among subgroups of the affected population? A new study explores that question by looking at how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 specifically impacted women’s mental...

A study on the potential of space-borne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery for an improved detection and classification of oil spills is presented. An image data set consisting of five SIR-C/X-SAR acquisitions over the North Sea, English Channel, and Southern Italy is used. Results show that two land surface roughness indicators (i.e., the circular polarization coherence (CPC) ...

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during the spring spawning season of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT). Overlap between BFT spawning habitat and surface oil in the northern GOM was examined using satellite-derived estimates of oil coverage, and spawning habitat models. Results suggested that although eggs and larvae were likely impacted by oil-contamina...

This article describes the evolution of the coastal economy in Alabama and examines the driving forces of the sustainable economy in a historical context. The input-output model was applied to assess the direct and secondary effects of output and employment in the coastal region. Results suggest that state industries are heavily dependent on waterfront-related activities in this area, which hav...