Charles B. Henry

An Assessment of Potential Oil Spill Damage to Salt Marsh Habitats and Fishery Resources in Galveston Bay, Texas

We sampled nekton, benthic infauna, and sediments in salt marshes of upper Galveston Bay, Texas to examine relationships between habitat use and sediment hydrocarbon concentration. Most marsh sediment samples were contaminated with relatively low concentrations of weathered petroleum hydrocarbons. We found few statistically significant negative relationships between animal density and hydrocarbon concentration (6 of 63 taxa examined using simple linear regression). Hydrocarbon concentration did not contribute significantly to Stepwise Multiple Regression models we used to explore potential relationships between animal densities and environmental parameters; in most cases where hydrocarbon concentration was an important variable in the models, the relationship was positive (i.e., animal densities increased with hydrocarbon concentration). Low hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments of upper Galveston Bay marshes could have contributed to our results either because levels were too low to be toxic or levels were toxic but too low to be detected by most organisms.

Shoreline Assessment and Environmental Impacts from the M/T Westchester Oil Spill in the Mississippi River

Abstract The spill of 1925 tonnes of Nigerian crude oil into the Mississippi River on 28 November 2000 resulted in shoreline contamination along 35 km of one bank of the river and sheens as far as 70 km from the release site. An estimated 50% of the spilled oil was recovered during on-water operations. Impacts to fish and wildlife were minimal. Several factors contributed to the success of the response: rapid deployment of booms that diverted large volumes of oil into sheltered holding areas for recovery; the wind blew consistently from the ENE holding the oil against one bank; the ambient temperature was often below the oil’s pour point so the oil formed thick accumulations; and the river levees provided good access to the shoreline in places. Cleanup endpoints were developed for riprap, sand flats, mud flats, and sloughs.

Trends in Natural Removal of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound from September 1989 to May 1990

ABSTRACT As part of NOAAs scientific support of the federal on-scene coordinator, a program was conducted to monitor the changes in the distribution and character of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez along the various shoreline types of Prince William Sound between September 1989 (when treatment was terminated) and May 1990 (when treatment was to be resumed). The primary objective of the program was to determine the extent of natural removal over the winter and identify the types of treatment problems to be addressed in 1990. Eighteen stations were established in Prince William Sound, including four set-aside sites, where no treatment was conducted. At monthly intervals, the stations were surveyed for changes in the topographic profile, sediment distribution patterns, surface oil coverage, and the concentration and distribution of subsurface oil. Weatherstations were installed at three locations in Prince William Sound to record localized patterns in wind speed and direction for correlation with shoreline ...

Effect of Oil Cleanup Methods on Ecological Recovery and Oil Degradation of Phragmites Marshes

ABSTRACT Oil spill cleanup operations in wetlands remain a critical issue. Oil spills in four Phragmites marshes provided an excellent opportunity to document the effect of spilled oil and differen...

A Primer on in Situ Fluorometry to Monitor Dispersed Oil

ABSTRACT A flow-through fluorometry system is a valuable tool for measuring dispersed oil concentrations real-time in freshwater and marine environments. As part of the new Scientific Monitoring of...

THE ROCKEFELLER REFUGE OIL SPILL: A TEAM APPROACH TO INCIDENT RESPONSE

ABSTRACT Rockefeller Refuge staff identified a potential petroleum pipeline leak on the evening of March 13, 1995. Approximately 40 barrels of condensate oil (API Gravity 40-42) and minimal produce...

BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS MONITORING DURING AN OPERATIONAL APPLICATION OF COREXIT 95801

ABSTRACT Following the grounding of the barge Morris J. Berman on the northern coast of Puerto Rico in January 1994, conditional approval for the use of the shoreline cleaner Corexit 9580 was grant...

GROUP V FUEL OILS: SOURCE, BEHAVIOR, AND RESPONSE ISSUES

ABSTRACT Electric utilities have been increasing their use of Group V fuel oils (known in the industry as low-API gravity fuel oils or LAPIO), because of their relatively low cost and high btu values. Group V fuel oils are defined as having an API gravity less than 10 at 60° F (thus a specific gravity ≤1.00 g/cm3). These oils have a wide range of densities and properties and thus cannot be characterized as a single product with a given set of properties and behavior. Group V fuel oils can float, be neutrally buoyant, sink, or all three, depending on their composition and the physical nature of the receiving waters (salinity, temperature, suspended sediment content). They can physically separate into fractions with different behavior. Three models are proposed for predicting the behavior of Group V fuel oil spills, based on observations at previous spills. If spilled directly into the water, heavier-than-water oil will form into drops and remain in suspension if there is any current. In no-current areas, s...

ADVANCING FORENSIC CHEMISTRY OF SPILLED OIL: SELF-NORMALIZING FINGERPRINT INDEXES

ABSTRACT Forensic approaches for differentiating spilled oils, tar balls, and oil-contaminated sediments by source can be enhanced by converting qualitative GC/MS data to quantitative values and ap...

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND SOURCE FINGERPRINTING OF DEPOSITIONAL OIL FROM THE KUWAIT OIL FIRES

ABSTRACT Depositional oil and soot derived from the 1991 Kuwait oil field fires produced huge tar mats in the desert. The concentration of oil in the upper 5 cm of the desert surface ranged from 1....