RETHINKING SHORELINE RESPONSE PLANNING

ABSTRACT A Shoreline Response Programme (SRP) provides the robust means to drive the most efficient and effective integrated shoreline response. An SRP should be triggered as soon as an event occurs for which there is a likelihood that oil could reach shorelines in order to avoid implementation delays so that potential shoreline impacts can be minimized. However during the first phase of a response there are numerous challenges to this, including the competition for attention and resources as well as establishing clear communications between management decision makers and field operations. The SRP approach should be an integral part of contingency planning and training, to ensure that response planners exercise this critical component of a first response and to ensure organizational capability is in place. INTRODUCTION From time to time an event or a series of events can produce a change in strategic thinking or operating practices. Experiences over the past few years indicate that a majority of planning and operational effort is typically directed towards a multi‐faceted and intensive offshore/nearshore strategy to recover or eliminate oil on the water before it reaches the shore zone. The objective of this strategy is to minimize the potential impacts of a spill in the nearshore and coastal zones as these are the areas, with few exceptions, of greatest potential and actual short and long‐term effects of an offshore/nearshore oil spill. This emphasis on offshore/nearshore strategies is usual for many marine and coastal spill response operations even where treatment and recovery rates are relatively low.. Shoreline cleanup is arguably the most intensely scrutinized and potentially expensive, in terms of time and effort, part of any response. Planning for shoreline cleanup can be very challenging as conditions and restrictions can be complex and variable. Notwithstanding the types and volumes of oil, the range of primary factors affecting a shoreline cleanup strategy include potential oil pathways, shore types, seasonal coastal ecosystem and individual resource sensitivities, stakeholder involvements, and tactical cleanup options and restrictions. Few organizations typically provision dedicated resources for shoreline cleanup: these must be identified and mobilized for a specific scenario (shore type, oil character, volume, etc.). However, a readiness to respond rapidly and expertly to oil on shore is vital as cleanup actions typically are most effective and efficient immediately following deposition, before oil is remobilized, buried, or weathers to a state more difficult to clean.