2019 State-of-the-Science of Dispersants and Dispersed Oil (DDO) in U.S. Arctic Waters: Public Health and Food Safety

Chemical dispersants were employed on an unprecedented scale during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and could be a response option should a large spill occur in Arctic waters. The use of dispersants in response to that spill raised concerns regarding the need for chemical dispersants, the fate of the oil and dispersants, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. Concerns remain that would be more evident in the Arctic, where the remoteness and harsh environmental conditions would make a response to any oil spill very difficult. An outcome of a 2013 Arctic oil spill exercise for senior federal agency leadership identified the need for an evaluation of the state-of-the-science of dispersants and dispersed oil (DDO), and a clear delineation of the associated uncertainties that remain, particularly as they apply to Arctic waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), and in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) embarked on a project to seek expert review and evaluation of the state-of-the-science and the uncertainties involving DDO. The project focused on five areas and how they might be affected by Arctic conditions: dispersant effectiveness, distribution and fate, transport and chemical behavior, environmental impacts, and public health and safety. This publication (1 of 5) addresses efficacy and effectiveness

2017 State-of the Science of Dispersants and Dispersed Oil (DDO) in U.S. Arctic Waters: Degradation and Fate

Chemical dispersants were employed on an unprecedented scale during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and could be a response option should a large spill occur in Arctic waters. The use of dispersants in response to that spill raised concerns regarding the need for chemical dispersants, the fate of the oil and dispersants, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. Concerns remain that would be more evident in the Arctic, where the remoteness and harsh environmental conditions would make a response to any oil spill very difficult. An outcome of a 2013 Arctic oil spill exercise for senior federal agency leadership identified the need for an evaluation of the state-of-the-science of dispersants and dispersed oil (DDO), and a clear delineation of the associated uncertainties that remain, particularly as they apply to Arctic waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), and in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) embarked on a project to seek expert review and evaluation of the state-of-the-science and the uncertainties involving DDO. The project focused on five areas and how they might be affected by Arctic conditions: dispersant effectiveness, distribution and fate, transport and chemical behavior, environmental impacts, and public health and safety. This publication (1 of 5) addresses efficacy and effectiveness

2017 State-of the Science of Dispersants and Dispersed Oil (DDO) in U.S. Arctic Waters: Physical Transport and Chemical Behavior

Chemical dispersants were employed on an unprecedented scale during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and could be a response option should a large spill occur in Arctic waters. The use of dispersants in response to that spill raised concerns regarding the need for chemical dispersants, the fate of the oil and dispersants, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. Concerns remain that would be more evident in the Arctic, where the remoteness and harsh environmental conditions would make a response to any oil spill very difficult. An outcome of a 2013 Arctic oil spill exercise for senior federal agency leadership identified the need for an evaluation of the state-of-the-science of dispersants and dispersed oil (DDO), and a clear delineation of the associated uncertainties that remain, particularly as they apply to Arctic waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), and in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) embarked on a project to seek expert review and evaluation of the state-of-the-science and the uncertainties involving DDO. The project focused on five areas and how they might be affected by Arctic conditions: dispersant effectiveness, distribution and fate, transport and chemical behavior, environmental impacts, and public health and safety. This publication (1 of 5) addresses efficacy and effectiveness

2018 State-of the Science of Dispersants and Dispersed Oil (DDO) in U.S. Arctic Waters: Eco-Toxicity and Sublethal Impacts

Chemical dispersants were employed on an unprecedented scale during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and could be a response option should a large spill occur in Arctic waters. The use of dispersants in response to that spill raised concerns regarding the need for chemical dispersants, the fate of the oil and dispersants, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. Concerns remain that would be more evident in the Arctic, where the remoteness and harsh environmental conditions would make a response to any oil spill very difficult. An outcome of a 2013 Arctic oil spill exercise for senior federal agency leadership identified the need for an evaluation of the state-of-the-science of dispersants and dispersed oil (DDO), and a clear delineation of the associated uncertainties that remain, particularly as they apply to Arctic waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), and in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) embarked on a project to seek expert review and evaluation of the state-of-the-science and the uncertainties involving DDO. The project focused on five areas and how they might be affected by Arctic conditions: dispersant effectiveness, distribution and fate, transport and chemical behavior, environmental impacts, and public health and safety. This publication (1 of 5) addresses efficacy and effectiveness

CAMEO Stakeholders Report

Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) is a suite of software applications used to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. CAMEO was first released in 1986, and was jointly developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders. It has since undergone numerous modification and upgrades, and is a critical tool used today for chemical spills, other hazards, and emergency management. The CAMEO system integrates a chemical database and a method to manage the data, an air dispersion model, and a mapping capability. All modules work interactively to share and display critical information in a timely fashion. As a result of fatal chemical accidents in recent years, Executive Order (EO) 13650 (Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security) was signed on August 1, 2013 for: Improving Operational Coordination with State, Local and Tribal partners Enhancing Federal Coordination Enhancing Information Collection and Sharing Modernizing Regulations, Guidance, Policy and Standards Identifying Best Practices. The CAMEO team has been working to address these EO requirements and the areas of action in a manner that will best meet the needs of CAMEO users and stakeholders

Coastal tourism and local impact at Ngapali Beach: Initial Findings.

This short report summarises the initial findings of the scoping study carried out in Ngapali Beach, Rakhine State, Myanmar, during November 2014. From this scoping study, a few initial recommendations can be offered. Ngapali beach has – at present – a Unique Selling Point of its unspoilt beautiful beaches and low rise, unobtrusive hotel development with relatively small numbers of hotels and associated tourism infrastructure. At present it seems that the relatively low numbers of higher spending tourist in the area are having minimal negative social impacts, and significant positive impacts on the local host community. Instead of permitting unrestricted mass tourism at Ngapali, our initial findings suggest that lessons can be learnt from the case of the Seychelles and adapted for the context of coastal Myanmar. We suggest a model we call ‘Seychelles Plus’ be explored, that is, an emphasis on an upmarket resort offer of four/five star hotels plus boutique hotels combined with strong and effective economic linkages to the local economy to benefit the host community

Is faunal diversity on Maltese sandy beaches related to intensity of human use?

Sandy beaches are rare in the Maltese Islands where only some 2.4% of the ca 271km coastline is sedimentary; yet such beaches are much sought after for their amenity value by tourists and locals alike. Carrying capacity studies conducted by the Malta tourism authorities have shown that most beaches are under very heavy use while a study by Deidun et al. (2003) has indicated that the fauna of Maltese sandy beaches tends to be impoverished compared to other Mediterranean beaches and has hinted that this may be a result of lack of recruitment due to the relative isolation of these beaches. Therefore human use of Maltese sandy beaches may potentially be a key factor affecting faunal diversity of these beaches. We explored this hypothesis by sampling the faunal assemblages of four Maltese beaches (Gnejna and White Tower Bay on Malta, and Xatt l-Ahmar and Ramla l-Hamra on Gozo) using pitfall traps set up in the wet and dry zones of each beach during the summer, when human use is expected to be highest. Human use of these beaches was assessed by estimating human occupancy of the beaches from standardised photographs. Beach occupancy values of 2400, 5700, 6700, and 12300 persons per square km were estimated for Ramla, White Tower Bay, Xatt l-Ahmar and Gnejna, respectively, establishing a gradient of anthropogenic impact with Gnejna as the most impacted beach and Ramla the least. Three components of faunal diversity were considered: population size (number of individuals), species richness, and taxonomic composition. Faunal population size ranged from 7 individuals/trap/hour for Xatt l-Ahmar to 199 individuals/trap/hour for Ramla in the wet zone, and from 22 individuals/trap/hour for White Tower Bay to 87.33 individuals/trap/hour for Gnejna in the dry zone. The species richness ranged from 7 species (Xatt l-Ahmar) to 17 species (White Tower Bay). Between them, Amphipoda, Isopoda, Coleoptera Dermaptera and Hymenoptera accounted for the bulk of both species and individuals collected. There were no statistically significant correlations between population size, species richness and taxonomic composition. The species collected from the four beaches was categorized into psammophiles, coastal species (occurring in coastal habitats but not restricted to sandy beaches) and euryoecious (ubiquitous) species. Ramla exhibited the highest proportion of psammophiles (98.4% of all species collected at Ramla) and the lowest proportion of ubiquitous ones (1.5% of all species), whilst for Xatt L-Ahmar the equivalent figures were 31.8% and 61.8% for ubiquitous and psammophilic species respectively From the present study it results that there is no trend between any of the three components of faunal diversity analysed and the degree of human occupancy of the beaches, and the only tangible human impact was related to faunal habitat–use specificity. This suggests that human use of the beaches has no direct impact on the faunal assemblages of the mediolittoral and supralittoral zone of the beaches studied but that high levels of human disturbance result in generalists displacing specialist psammophilic species. In spite of these results, intense human use of Maltese sandy beaches is of conservation concern since previous work has indicated a high degree of ‘compartmentalisation’ with different beaches harbouring distinct faunal assemblages either due to natural inter-beach barriers to dispersal, or due to unique environmental conditions present on the different beaches, including the nature and intensity of anthropogenic pressures. In addition, the present study addresses only the direct effect of trampling by beach visitors; indirect negative impacts, such as those of beach cleaning, have been well documented in other studies.peer-reviewe

Coastal area management in South Asia: a comparative perspective (Background Paper prepared for South Asia Workshop on Fisheries and Coastal Area Management, 26 September-1 October 1996, Madras, India)

Most of the world's fisheries and fishing communities are supported by coastal areas. Consequently, the well-being and future of the fishery sector depend on the health of the coastal ecosystem. Not surprisingly, therefore, concern about coastal degradation and its impact on the fishery sector has long been expressed, notably at the first-ever conference of fishworkers and their supporters in Rome in 1984. Discussions then emphasized how the coastal environment is affected by activities within the fisheries sector as well as by other activities pursued in inland, inshore and offshore areas. It was in this context that the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) organized a workshop and symposium on Fisheries and Coastal Area Management in South Asia, in Madras, India, in 1996. To aid participants focus on the major coastal resources management issues, a background paper was prepared by ICSF. This paper explores efforts on coastal area management, more specifically in the South Asian region, and the extent to which the perspectives of actors in the fishery sector have been incorporated. It also deals with legislation of direct relevance to Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM)

Coastal Tropical Convection in a Stochastic Modeling Framework

Recent research has suggested that the overall dependence of convection near coasts on large-scale atmospheric conditions is weaker than over the open ocean or inland areas. This is due to the fact that in coastal regions convection is often supported by meso-scale land-sea interactions and the topography of coastal areas. As these effects are not resolved and not included in standard cumulus parametrization schemes, coastal convection is among the most poorly simulated phenomena in global models. To outline a possible parametrization framework for coastal convection we develop an idealized modeling approach and test its ability to capture the main characteristics of coastal convection. The new approach first develops a decision algorithm, or trigger function, for the existence of coastal convection. The function is then applied in a stochastic cloud model to increase the occurrence probability of deep convection when land-sea interactions are diagnosed to be important. The results suggest that the combination of the trigger function with a stochastic model is able to capture the occurrence of deep convection in atmospheric conditions often found for coastal convection. When coastal effects are deemed to be present the spatial and temporal organization of clouds that has been documented form observations is well captured by the model. The presented modeling approach has therefore potential to improve the representation of clouds and convection in global numerical weather forecasting and climate models.Comment: Manuscript submitted for publication in Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth System