#20 with Steve Raaymakers

In this edition of Slick Talk we review the current status of international oil spill research and development priorities and also the International Maritime Organization's research and development database. We also provide a short update on research being conducted on oiled mangroves in the southern Great Barrier Reef region.

This is in contrast to other countries, such as the United States, Canada and some European countries, where defined and directed R&D programs form an integral component of national oil spill arrangements.

The international direction of oil spill R&D was highlighted at the Second International Oil Spill Research and Development Forum held by the International Maritime Organization in London in May 1995.

A major objective of this forum was to debate and identify R&D priorities as perceived by both suppliers (i.e. oil spill researchers) and users (i.e. oil spill responders). The approach used at the forum to achieve this was as follows:

• Speakers were asked to identify R&D priorities in their specialty areas.
• Session chairs reviewed submitted papers and consolidated R&D needs within their session specialities.
• Summaries from the session chairs were consolidated again to provide a discussion document for debate at the forum.
• Priorities identified in the discussion document were debated and additional items added.
• Session chairs then prioritised R&D needs in their session specialities in light of the debate and the top two priorities from each were entered onto a ballot sheet.
• After further debate of the topics on the ballot sheet, and addition of further topics, all delegates were asked to choose 10 priorities from the 27 listed on the ballot sheet.
• All R&D needs were prioritised according to total votes received.

• effectiveness of different response strategies
• natural recovery of shorelines
• on-site criteria for bioremediation use
• standards for dispersant toxicity/efficacy
• criteria for inshore dispersant use

It is interesting and worrying to note that despite wide-spread recognition within the oil spill `community' that prevention is better than cure, R&D of oil spill prevention technology was accorded one of the lowest priorities by the forum. One possible explanation is that the oil spill R&D community is dominated by chemists, biologists and oceanographers, while oil spill prevention is the domain of engineers, naval architects and mariners. Also, the forum was attended by many from the oil spill response community, whose focus is obviously on dealing with spills after they have occurred. This highlights the vital need to ensure that R&D priorities are management driven rather than researcher or just responder driven.

It would be interesting to hold a similar exercise in Australia, to develop a locally relevant set of R&D needs and priorities, and assess whether this differs significantly from the international scene.

Further details can be obtained from Spill Science & Technology Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 4 1995

This database was developed using FileMaker Pro 2.1 software for Windows. The contents are retrievable using a number of search fields. These include:

• research category
• keywords
• name of R&D sponsors and research organisations
• funding arrangements, and
• completion dates.

Given the current general lack of locally relevant oil spill R&D in Australia, which creates an undesirable dependence on overseas work, the database provides a useful resource for Australian oil spill researchers and responders. Australian oil spill researchers should also consider entering their projects onto the database, to ensure availability of results to overseas workers and to identify collaborative opportunities.

All queries should be directed to:

Marine Pollution Information Officer
Oil Pollution Coordination Centre
International Maritime Organization
4 Albert Embankment
London SE1 7SR
Ph. +44 171 587 3248
Fax +44 171 587 3261

DUKE'S MANGROVE OILING ON TRACK

A primary objective of Duke's research is to assess the effects of both oil and chemical dispersants on Australian mangroves. This assessment will provide much needed data on the Australian situation and help to alleviate the current dependence on overseas experience. Mangroves have been identified as one of the coastal resources most vulnerable to oil spill impacts, and this is especially the case along the Great Barrier Reef coastline where mangroves constitute a dominant part of the coastal ecology around many port areas.

An undertaking of Duke's mangrove research was to prevent harmful impacts of the experimental oiling on valuable mangrove areas. To achieve this a mangrove site consisting mainly of Rhizophora stylosa was identified at Gladstone Harbour. The vegetation had been approved for removal already as part of port development works.

Controlled and contained oiling, plus treatment with dispersed oil, was carried out in October 1996 under stringent supervision by the Queensland Departments of Primary Industries, Environment and Transport, the Gladstone Port Authority, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and others. Control sites with no treatments have also been established.

Hydrocarbon and biological sampling was commenced in July 1996 to provide a pre-treatment baseline. The sampling has been conducted regularly since the oiling and will continue until the site is no longer available as port development works proceed (about two years).

The data gathered so far is still being analysed and assessed, and will provide an extremely useful information base to assist oil spill responders once fully reported at the end of the project. The site at Gladstone will provide data of general relevance to northern Australia. However, it should be noted that Gladstone is located in the sub-tropics and caution would need to be exercised in extrapolating the data to mangrove ecosystems located in the northern tropics of Cape York Peninsula, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia.

In a complimentary project, Duke is also conducting an assessment of mangrove impacts at real-spill sites, including northern tropical sites such as the Port of Cape Flattery on Cape York Peninsula, and areas impacted by the Oceanic Grandeur spill in Torres Strait in the early 1970s.

For further details contact Norm Duke, telephone +61 77 21 5640; e-mail: nduke@aims.gov.au

(Steve Raaymakers is currently the Environment Manager with the Queensland Ports Corporation. Opinions expressed through his authorship of 'Slick Talk' are not necessarily those of the Ports Corporation nor the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.)

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Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
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