Approach for assessing coastal vulnerability to oil spills for prevention and readiness using GIS and the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model

Abstract

Increasing interest in offshore hydrocarbon exploration has pushed the operational fronts associated with exploration efforts further offshore into deeper waters and more uncertain subsurface settings. This has become particularly common in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In this study we develop a spatial vulnerability approach and example assessment to support future spill prevention and improve future response readiness. This effort, which is part of a larger integrated assessment modeling spill prevention effort, incorporated economic and environmental data, and utilized a novel new oil spill simulation model from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model (BLOSOM). Specifically, this study demonstrated a novel approach to evaluate potential impacts of hypothetical spill simulations at varying depths and locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The simulations are analyzed to assess spatial and temporal trends associated with the oil spill. The approach itself demonstrates how these data, tools and techniques can be used to evaluate potential spatial vulnerability of Gulf communities for various spill scenarios. Results of the hypothetical scenarios evaluated in this study suggest that under conditions like those simulated, a strong westward push by ocean currents and tides may increase the impacts of deep water spills along the Texas coastline, amplifying the vulnerability of communities on the local barrier islands. Ultimately, this approach can be used further to assess a range of conditions and scenarios to better understand potential risks and improve informed decision making for operators, responders, and a of stakeholders to support spill prevention as well as response readiness.

Cumulative spatial impact layers: A novel multivariate spatio‐temporal analytical summarization tool

“…Another critical component is the ability to assess how much damage could be caused by a potential oil spill. As such, the CSIL tool was adapted to work with the outputs of NETL's Blowout and Spill Occurrence Model (BLOSOM) (Nelson, Grubesic, Sim, Graham, & Rose, ; Romeo et al, ; Sim et al, ). This tailored version of the CSIL ArcToolbox was designed to digest and analyze vector outputs from BLOSOM representing the oil parcel location, date and time, and physical properties (Figure ).…”

Ocean currents and coastal exposure to offshore releases of passively transported material in the Gulf of Mexico

“…Very few studies tackle this issue. Among those, Nelson et al (2015) assess the exposure of the northern coastline of the GoM to 5 potential spills locations in deep offshore regions. Nelson and Grubesic (2018) simulate 10 spills in the Eastern GoM to assess the environmental exposure of the Florida coastline to a potential development of offshore activities.…”

Environmental sensitivity mapping and risk assessment for oil spill along the Chennai Coast in India

“…The geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to predict the movement and fate of spilled oil, to explore the possibility of different strategies in an interactive manner, to devise responses to oil spills, and to quantify the impacts of oil spill on resources (Kankara and Subramanian, 2007). In oil spill risk assessment, GIS is integrated with a spatial analysis that includes the biophysical characteristics and population vulnerability of a region (Nelson et al, 2015). Early understanding of the potential environmental sensitivity of different types of shoreline, and knowledge of the impact of oil spills on coastal resources, have helped reduce the extent of damage caused by oil spills substantially (Adler and Inbar, 2007).…”