Advancing Oil Spill Response in Ice-Covered Waters: an R&D Agenda

The paper presents the results from a two- year project to identify areas where further research and development will improve the ability of responders to deal with an accidental oil spill into a marine environment (fresh or salt water) in the presence of ice. The subject of oil spills in ice is of concern to corporations, local residents, and government agencies participating in oil exploration, production and/or transportation in such diverse areas as: Sakhalin Island, Norwegian Barents Sea, Baltic Sea, Cook Inlet and the North Slope, Alaska and the Caspian Sea. As reserves are depleted in more readily accessible areas, exploration and production activities will increase in arctic frontier regions. It is hoped that this project will lead to the development of more capable prevention and response strategies for oil spills in ice -covered waters. Some sixty potential research and development ideas were initially derived from the proceedings of the 2000 Oil and Ice conference held in Anchorage. These ideas were screened and assessed through a process of expert reviews, public comment and a two-day workshop. Examples of priority program areas identified in this project include: detection of oil in ice, dispersants in ice, oil deflection, chemical herders in ice, oil simulants to allow more frequent field trials, and transfer of viscous oily waste under freezing conditions. The project also highlighted the need for progress on non R&D issues such as training, public education and development of realistic regulations and standards. Field spills with oil are identified as critical to improving spill response capabilities under all marine conditions (ice and open water).