NOAA s s Response BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Robert Haddad Ph.D. National Ocean Service National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

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1 NOAA s s Response BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Robert Haddad Ph.D. National Ocean Service National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

2 May 13 ~206 million gallons LA light crude released at a depth of ~5,000 ft Ongoing release for 3+ months Maximum extent of surface oiling ~ 31,000 mi 2 Maximum extent of surface oiling ~ 31,000 SEJ mi July 28 2

3 NOAA s Roles in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Science That Informs Keeping Seafood Safe NN Protecting Wildlife and Habitat Assessing Ecosystem Injury Restoring Habitat 3

4 Science that Informs NOAA is the lead science agency for coastal and marine oil spill response Predicts where the oil is going Identifies sensitive habitats to protect Develops shoreline assessment and cleanup strategies Provides USCG with Operational Situational awareness and Response Strategies NOAA provided daily oil spill trajectory maps and twice-daily 4 weather forecasts

5 Science that Informs Weather Support Daily Operational Support Hurricane Contingency Planning Oceanographic Support Oil Movement Hydrodynamic Information Fluorescence & DO Acoustics Media Sampling January, 2011 TRB 5

6 IOOS Gliders Sub surface Monitoring New Technologies Slocum Teledyne Webb Research SeaGlider- IRobot Spray - Scripps Operated off West Florida Shelf and in vicinity of wellhead Data posted daily at Gliders provided critical ocean state data for modeling teams and served as sentinels to evaluate cross-shelf transport of hydrocarbons - IOOS gliders (not counting Navy) collected 41,670 casts since 17 May 10. Sensors included CTD and Fluorometers; range of 1,000 meters Data made available in near real-time with UAC, to the GTS and via web 9 gliders Federal & non Federal IOOS partners MACOORA (Rutgers (2 gliders), U. Delaware); SECOORA (USF, Mote Marine Lab); GCOOS (USM/U. Washington) ; SCCOOS; US Navy (2) 6

7 Science that Informs Deep Sea PAH in Sediment OSAT Analyses All exceedances of the PAH benchmark in sediment samples consistent with MC252 oil are within ~3 km of the well head PAH benchmark normalized values are similar to background reference level within ~10 km of the well

8 Science that Informs Gulf of Mexico Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) Web-based GIS platform that provides you with nearreal time information about the response effort One-stop shop" for spill response information 8

9 Science that Informs Oil Budget Sub-Sea Monitoring Studies Hydrodynamic Modeling Well Flow Rates Academic, NGO, and intergovernmental collaboration 9

10 Keeping Seafood Safe NOAA, FDA, and EPA: Comprehensive, coordinated, multiagency program ensuring seafood safety Coast Guard and NOAA are monitoring and enforcing closed Federal areas Implement strict reopening protocols by state and federal agencies 10

11 Keeping Seafood Safe Extensive Testing to ensure seafood safe from oil and dispersant contamination Dispersant (DOSS), Hydrocarbon, and Sensory Analyses used to asses seafood safety Several thousand composited samples analyzed to date Results used to support fishery re-openings 11

12 Protecting Wildlife and Habitat NOAA is responsible for protection of sea turtles, dolphins, whales and other marine protected species. NOAA research ships study impact of the oil on marine mammals and fisheries. Implemented region-wide protocols caring for turtles in distress. Partnered with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address sea turtle nesting beaches issues. 12

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14 Protecting Wildlife and Habitat Through October 2011 Sea Turtles 535 collected live (456 visibly oiled) 609 collected dead (18 visibly oiled) 278 Nests relocated 14,676 hatchlings released Marine Mammals 99 collected live (2 visibly oiled) 100 collected dead (4 visibly oiled) 14

15 Assessing Ecosystem Injury Trustees for NRDA Federal: DOC/NOAA & DOI/FWS, Defense States: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas NRDA determines Injuries/lost use of public s natural resources & services Amount & type of restoration needed to offset losses 15

16 Significance of Ecosystem Health

17 NRDA Activities NOAA s role in NRDA began April 20, 2010 Immediate monitoring of oil s trajectory Collection of baseline environmental data NOAA and partners formed technical working groups by mid-may Working groups devoted to assessing damages to various types of natural resources e.g. birds, mammals, deepwater habitat, etc. Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning released by cotrustees September 29, 2010 Names 8 responsible parties (RPs) NRDA teams collected over 25,000 environmental samples for analysis by over 70 research cruises as of October 21, 2010 Shoreline surveys, water quality testing, underwater surveys, etc ongoing as part of injury assessment phase Public meetings in Gulf coast trustee states solicit comments and input on the restoration plan ongoing 17

18 Lessons Learned Preparedness Better capacity to respond Integrated Government and Academic Resources Managing public expectations Communication 24/7 News Culture Challenge of communicating risk and complex science Science, Research & Development Decline in R&D spending in public and private sectors 18

19 Lessons Learned spill response floundered because advances in clean-up technology had not kept pace with advances in exploration technology. - National BP Deepwater Horizon Commission Staff working paper no. 7 Expectations of Federal government Expectations of Private Industry Draft Response/Clean-up Technology Research & Development and the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Staff working paper no. 7 Need to incentivize response R&D and work collaboratively 19

20 Lessons Learned NOAA s Priority Areas Moving Forward Oil fate and behavior of deepwater releases Long-term effects on species and habitat Oil in Arctic environment NRDA techniques Human dimensions Baseline data Ocean observations and oceanographic data Applying lessons learned to the Arctic the Next Frontier 20

21 Oil Response & Restoration in the Arctic Fragile environment Remote, little infrastructure Many unknowns on how oil behaves in ice Lack of baseline data Outdated charts, limited observations and water level data 21

22 Moving Forward with Deepwater Horizon Recovery and Restoration Deep Ocean Observing Systems Coastal Marine Spatial Planning The Human Dimensions Will we be successful?? 22

23 eat swim fish SEJ 23