Using Science to Help Protect and Restore Natural Resources

Transcription

1 Using Science to Help Protect and Restore Natural Resources Lisa DiPinto, Ph.D. Senior Scientist National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Response and Restoration

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3 Department of Commerce / NOAA National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center Emergency Response Division Assessment and Restoration Division Marine Debris Division 3

4 Annually, OR&R Responds to oil & chemical spills Trains more than 2000 emergency responders Supports over 40 spill drills with the U.S. Coast Guard and others Settles 4-7 natural resource damage assessment cases & works on over 200 additional cases Supports removal of hundreds of tons of marine debris Develops new tools & conducts research to address hazards on the water and prevent marine debris 4

5 What is a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)? A structured legal process defined in regulations OPA, CERCLA, CWA, NMSA, other State and Federal Acts Determine amount and type of injury to natural resources and lost services from time of incident through recovery of resources, develop and implement restoration NRDA Trustees must document: Release-Pathway-Exposure- Injury-Restoration Develop and oversee implementation of restoration plan(s) to compensate the public for injuries and lost services

6 Damages under NRDA What Are Damages? Cost of restoring the injured resources to their baseline condition, including for interim losses pending recovery Reasonable cost of the damage assessment Public input throughout the process Restoration focused Ensures polluters Pay

7 Deepwater Horizon: Setting the Scene Largest offshore oil spill in our nation s history (134 million gallons oil, 1.8 million gallons dispersants More than 1,300 miles of shoreline fouled by oil, 5 states affected Oil slicks were observed cumulatively across 43,300 square miles Largest NRDA Settlement ~ $8.8B for Natural Resource Damages

8 This is not the normal oil spill 10/30/2018 9

9 NRDA Assessment Activities Toxicity Fate and Effects

10 A Massive Spill, a Massive Response, a Massive NRDA Data Collection Efforts 20,000 trips to the field to collect data 100,000 environmental samples collected 15 million records publically available Sediment, air, water, tissue samples, carcasses, photos and videos, carcasses, telemetry, aerial imagery, GPS data, observations

11 Cumulative NRDA Analytical Samples

12 Where Can I Find the Data?

13 Oil Toxicity Program Tested 40 species including fish, invertebrates, plankton, 2 freshwater turtle species, birds, and a mammal adrenal cell line study

14 Advances in Understanding Cardiotoxic and other Developmental Deformities From: Incardona et al., (2014) Deepwater Horizon crude oil impacts the developing hearts of large predatory pelagic fish. PNAS

15 Swimming performance and aerobic scope in pelagic fish Fully-weaned 34 dph Mahi-mahi J. Stieglitz, 2012 Acute Embryonic or Juvenile Exposure to Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil Impairs the Swimming Performance of Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) Edward M. Mager, Andrew J. Esbaugh, John D. Stieglitz, Ronald Hoenig, Charlotte Bodinier, John P. Incardona, Nathaniel L. Scholz, Daniel D. Benetti, and Martin Grosell Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (12), pp Publication Date (Web): May 23, 2014 (Article) DOI: /es501628k

16 Physiological Oil Response Constellation From: Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (2016). Sensory inhibition Lung/gill damage Malabsorption /dehydration Abt Associates pg 17

17 Toxicity Program: Importance of Surface Oil and Sheens with UV Thin sheens (1 um or less) toxic to early life stages (ELS) of fish and to invertebrates UV enhanced toxicity resulted in 10x to >100x increase in toxicity under ambient UV for semi-transparent inverts, and early life stage fish Source: Abt Associates Thin oil sheen generated in a beaker using DWH oil (~ 1um thick) as used in bioassays with fish and invertebrates. Source: NOAA DWH oil sheen photographed from an airplane

18 The Role of Surface Oil Observations in Assessments Surface oil accumulates and persists in same areas as susceptible natural resources Many sensitive early life stages congregate at surface or in surface mixing layer or directly at or on surface Planktonic Neutrally or positively buoyant UV light penetrates in surface waters (15-30 m in N. Gulf of Mexico) Surface breathing animals (e.g., turtles and mammals and birds) inhale or aspirate oil

19 Cumulative Surface Oiling Footprint (using SAR) ~ 43,300 square miles oiled

20 Oil on water products used for every resource category Multiple sensors evaluated and used alone or in combination Surface oiling footprints of exposure Cumulative, daily, weekly, or other timeframes relevant to resources of interest Overlay resource distribution (e.g., turtles, mammals, birds, other, using telemetry, boats, aerial surveys etc) with surface oil Percent cover of oil, or other information about surface oil patchiness Information about surface oiling thickness (qualitative) Slick thickness estimates can be helpful to estimate oil concentrations in surface mixing zone, volumes of water exceeding toxic concentrations, etc. 21

21 DWH Lessons Learned Studies BSEE/NOAA Interagency Agreement Summer 2016: Detection of Oil Thickness and Emulsion Mixtures using Remote Sensing Platforms Phase One Phase Two Phase Three Partners: EPA, NASA, USGS, WHOI, UNT, USF, Abt Consulting, Ocean Imaging, Water Mapping, Fototerra, MDA Canada, MSRC NOAA

22 Water Column Pathways in a Deep Blowout Source: Kate Sweeney for NOAA

23 Water Column Assessment Mortality determined for early life stage fish and invertebrates in surface slick, subsurface mixing zone, rising cone, deep plume Average daily volume of water affected by surface oil slicks was 57 billion cubic meters (15 trillion gallons) The volume of contaminated water in subsurface mixing zone quantified using empirical chemistry data collected under the footprint of the floating oil. Volume equivalent to ~40x the average daily discharge of MS River at New Orleans Toxicity data for representative high and low sensitivity fish and invertebrates used to bracket range of injury in UV (surface, nearshore) and non-uv areas Number of organisms killed calculated using biological data from NRDA-specific field studies, historical collections, NRDA toxicity testing studies, and published literature Surface water injury > rising cone and deepwater plume based on number of larval fish and planktonic invertebrates killed Loss of up to 23% of Sargassum habitat (Essential Fish Habitat) covering 4,300 square miles

24 Surface Oil and Sea Floor Floc Larger quantities of floc were observed on the sea floor beneath areas experiencing persistent surface oil and application of dispersants MOSSFA (Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation & Flocculent Accumulation) Deepwater and mesophotic coral communities affected Observation May 2010: In situ formation of large mucus-rich marine snow in the presence of oil.

25 GOMRI WORKING GROUP ONGOING RESEARCH Incorporate MOSSFA into models Quantify rates and amounts Role of dispersants Factor into oil budgets Observation May 2010: In situ formation of large mucus-rich marine snow in the presence of oil.

26 Deepwater Benthic Exposure: Advances in Forensic Chemistry Inset shows location relative to the Mississippi River Delta Map showing the concentration of TPAH50 attributable to DWH oil in deep-sea surface sediment (0 1 centimeter) Forensics analyses include evaluations of conserved biomarkers, PAH distribution patterns across width and depth PAH attributable to natural seeps are excluded following forensic analysis Footprint of Macondo oil estimated to be ~400->700 sq. miles

27 Deepsea Coral Colony Injury Progression Progression of coral injury from coverage by flocculent material in 2010, through hydroid colonization in 2011 and onset of terminal branch loss in 2012 Map of locations of injured coral sites in relation to the DWH wellhead

28 Sea Turtle Assessment 4,900-7,600 large juvenile and adult turtles killed Boat based rescue efforts on transects within convergence areas NOAA veterinarian assessing condition of heavily oiled sea turtles rescued from oiled surface habitat 56, ,000 small juveniles killed 35,000 hatchlings injured by response activities Locations of turtles captured and assessed during rescue operations, overlaid upon cumulative oil-days within the oiling footprint

29 Turtles Ingest Oil

30 Mammal Routes of Exposure Vapors / VOCs/ Aerosols Liquid Oil/Droplets Oil on surface, water column Incidental from water, sediments Contaminated prey Absorption Inhalation Direct aspiration Ingestion Aspiration Dermal, ocular contact

31 Aichinger Dias, et. al ESR

32 Approaches for Marine Mammal Injury Assessment Live Dolphin Health Assessments Observational Studies & Remote Biopsy Sampling Stranded Dolphins & Dead Dolphin Tissue Evaluations Physical exams Blood panels Ultrasound Pregnancy assessment Fecal and blowhole Weight & length Tooth aging Infectious diagnostics Genetics Hormones (pregnancy) Persistent contaminants (POPs) Survival rates Reproductive outcomes Demographics Weight & length Gross observations Full histology set (tissues) Infectious & biotoxin diagnostics

33 Injury Assessment Findings Moderate-Severe Lung Disease Impaired Stress Response / Adrenal Injury Increased Mortality Rates Low Reproductive Success Rates LIVE ANIMALS Ultrasound Ultrasound DEAD ANIMALS Histopath Histopath Necropsy; LDWF Necropsy Mammal exposure to DWH oil contributed to the largest and longest lasting marine mammal Unusual Mortality Event (UME) on record in the northern Gulf of Mexico (>1,000 stranded)

34 Nearshore Ecosystem

35 Some Highlights from Nearshore Assessment Findings > 1,300 miles of shoreline oiled using combined SCAT and NRDA data, confirmed by forensic data Marsh plant cover and vegetation biomass reduced along 350 to >720 miles of shoreline Response activities such as washing, cutting, and raking of oiled shoreline vegetation, stranding of oil booms impacted marsh animals and coastal wetland habitat Erosion Areas of most heavy oiling and response actions had double yearly marsh edge erosion rates Higher erosion rates also associated with areas that lost adjacent oyster habitat billion subtidal adult oyster equivalents lost Gulf-wide from combination of oiling and river-water releases

36 Use of Remote Sensing in Nearshore Environment Use of SAR and aerial imagery to document oiling beyond SCAT for additional information on exposure

37 Lost Recreational Use Over 16 million user days of boating, fishing, and beach-going experiences lost The value of recreational losses to the public from the oil spill estimated to be $693.2 million ($ $858.9 million) Does not include losses to private businesses/individuals or lost tax revenue to municipalities, which are not compensable under NRDA regulations

38 DWH NRDA Publications >150 peer reviewed publications and counting Deepsea corals and benthos Marine Mammals Fish Toxicity Sea Turtles Oil in the environment Publications available to public: Other resources:

39 Questions? Lisa DiPinto, PhD

40 Consideration for Academic Engagement Legal constraints (CoC, lit holds, etc) Timing-deadlines-competing priorities Cost accounting issues Contracting language, including publishing Conflict of Interest Research objectives: documenting injury versus research interests Site access 10/30/

41 New research 10/30/2018 Footer Text 42