Spill Response Plan Evaluation Using an Oil Spill Model

Aurelien Hospital, James A. Stronach, M.W. McCARTHY, Mark Johncox

Abstract:
Numerical simulation was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an oil spill response plan for the southwest coast of Canada. The plan was part of the permitting process for a proposed terminal expansion that would result in an increase in tanker traffic. The purpose of this response evaluation was to point the way to the development of a risk-informed enhanced oil spill response capacity that would be capable of managing large spills in coastal British Columbia. Mitigation inputs such as deployment time, storage capacity and speed were based on existing and proposed equipment. Results confirmed the need to reduce the time to first response due to the effects of currents on the floating oil and the close proximity of shorelines along the proposed shipping route. In addition, results validated the need to upgrade availability of early on-water storage capacity, which could be met by a large fast storage vessel, enabling the spill response to be more efficient and to obtain a much higher recovery rate.