OIL SPILL RESPONSE GROUP AIMING FOR FULL OPERATION

Dec. 2, 1991
Patrick Crow Washington Editor In 15 months the first national oil spill cleanup organization plans to be in operation at sites around the U.S. coast. The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC), financed by major oil companies, plans to begin full operation Feb. 18, 1993. It is considering starting limited operations in selected regions before then. In 1993 it will have more than 400 employees nationwide. It plans to spend more than $900 million for equipment purchases and operating expenses in
Patrick Crow
Washington Editor

In 15 months the first national oil spill cleanup organization plans to be in operation at sites around the U.S. coast.

The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC), financed by major oil companies, plans to begin full operation Feb. 18, 1993. It is considering starting limited operations in selected regions before then.

In 1993 it will have more than 400 employees nationwide. It plans to spend more than $900 million for equipment purchases and operating expenses in its first 5 years. About $400 million of that will be for equipment.

Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, an American Petroleum Institute task force proposed creation of a private offshore oil spill response agency. Individual oil companies then began a nonprofit firm that has evolved into MSRC (OGJ, June 26, 1989, p. 18).

MSRC has a clearly defined role: It exists to sponsor oil spill research and to respond to catastrophic spills from offshore pipelines, platforms, rigs and tankers, carrying the oil of its sponsoring companies.

Its equipment is sized to respond to a 30,000 ton or about 210,000 bbl spill--about the size of the Exxon Valdez spill--in any one region. MSRC does not guarantee it will successfully control a spill of that size, only that it will make a "best effort response."

It will not respond to spills in the Great Lakes or inland rivers, only spills in offshore and tidal waters, including bays, harbors, and mouths of rivers, along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, as well as Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MPA

The Marine Protection Association (MPA), Scottsdale, Ariz., funds MSRC.

MPA has 22 members (see table) and expects several more oil companies to join before a Dec. 31, 1991, deadline. It has provided MSRC $270 million for initial expenses and has arranged for another $400 million in credit.

Although it was not the original intent, creation of MSRC will enable MPA members to comply with subsequent 1990 Oil Pollution Act requirements that oil shippers be able to respond swiftly to large oil spills.

The Coast Guard must approve the oil spill response plan or companies will not be allowed to transport oil through U.S. coastal waters after Feb. 18, 1993.

Through MSRC, shippers can prove their capability to handle major spills. It is the only private company that can respond to catastrophic spills. But shippers must demonstrate their ability to manage smaller spills separately.

MPA members pay annual dues based on the total barrels of oil they transported in U.S. waters the previous year. Those dues are given to MSRC for operating, capital and research and development costs, but MSRC remains independent of MPA control.

It an MPA member is involved in a major spill MSRC will respond and bill the member for the costs.

John D. Costello, a retired Coast Guard vice admiral, i,s MSRC president. He said it is amazing that the oil industry has been willing to invest so much money in a company over which it has no control.

"This has to be an unprecedented event in U.S. business history," he said. "I know of no other occasion in which an industry has reacted in such a massive way to help meet an urgent national need."

HOW IT WILL WORK

In the event of a major spill, an MPA member will summon MSRC. The spiller will be responsible for managing the cleanup to the satisfaction of the Coast Guard.

If dissatisfied, the Coast Guard can assume control and issue orders to MSRC. In either event, the MPA member will bear cleanup costs.

MSRC will not provide firefighting, lightering, and salvage services. The spiller will have to contract with others for those.

Costello said it is possible that if a spiller is unknown or insolvent the Coast Guard might contract directly with MSRC to clean up the spill.

MSRC's equipment is geared toward larger spills. It does not plan to become involved with small spills or compete with small spill contractors.

However, if the spill occurs in an area where local response capabilities are inadequate, it will respond to a Coast Guard request for help.

The company should have no difficulty working under Coast Guard direction. Its president and vice-president are former Coast Guard officers, as are four of the five regional managers. The fifth is a former Environmental Protection Agency employee.

The spill cleanup company does not plan to operate off Alaska. Costello said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. equipment and personnel are "equally as capable as any one of our regions."

But MSRC has conferred with Alyeska's spill response staff and "we are working on at least one area of potential mutual support."

MSRC does not plan to respond to spills off Canada, Mexico, or overseas.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Costello said it has been more difficult to build a 400 person organization in a 2-1/2 year period, complete with offices, bases, and equipment, than originally thought. And it has proved to be about four times more expensive.

Costello said, "I don't think in our wildest expectations we anticipated what was required to carry out the concept."

MSRC officials explained that to meet cleanup capability goals required more sites, response vessels, and equipment than originally thought.

Nevertheless, Costello said, MSRC will make every effort to be operational by the Feb. 18, 1993, start-up goal. "That's going to be a very severe challenge for us. But that's the target, and we're not backing away from it."

The company has established its Washington, D.C., office and has chosen sites for regional bases at Miami, Port Hueneme, Calif., Lake Charles, La., and Port Everett, Wash. It soon will select a site for its base in the New York City area.

It also will preposition equipment at 22 other coastal sites, storing things such as vessels, trucks, booms, skimmers, and dispersants, along with wildlife and shoreline rehabilitation equipment.

The Washington office will have a staff of about 55-60 persons, and each of the five regions will have 70-75.

Control of spill response is decentralized. The general manager of each region will be the person in charge of a spill cleanup effort.

MSRC plans to rely on existing oil spill cooperatives and independent response contractors as subcontractors for major spills.

REGIONAL CENTERS

Each of the five regional response areas will be capable of responding to a spill of as much as 30,000 tons and could join forces to respond to an even larger spill. Use of 22 dispersed satellite sites will ensure a quick response to spills.

Costello said, "We put the centers and equipment prestaging areas in locations that have the greatest potential for accidents. These locations reflect several critical factors, including oil transportation patterns, volumes of oil being moved, and sensitivity to the environment."

The response centers and prestaging areas for each region will be:

  • Northeast Region--Response center in the New York/New Jersey area and prestaging areas in Portland, Me., Boston, Mass., Narragansett Bay, Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, and Norfolk, Va.

  • Southeast Region--Response center in Port Everglades, Fla., and prestaging areas in Wilmington, N.C., Savannah, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., Tampa, Fla., and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

  • Gulf Coast Region--Response center in Lake Charles, La., and prestaging areas in Mobile, Ala., Venice, La., and Galveston and Corpus Christi, Tex.

  • Southwest Region-Response center in Port Hueneme north of Los Angeles and prestaging areas in San Diego, Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Francisco, and Oahu, Hawaii.

  • Northwest Region--Response center in Port Everett, Wash., and prestaging areas in Astoria, Ore., Bellingham, Wash., and Port Angeles, Wash.

EQUIPMENT ORDERED

Last September MSRC ordered more than $200 million in vessels and equipment, about half of what it eventually will need (OGJ, Sept. 9, p. 28).

Most of that--about $185 million--was for construction of sixteen 210 ft offshore response vessels, believed to be the largest private shipbuilding contract in the U.S. in several years.

Halter Marine Inc., Gulfport, Miss., will build 12 of the vessels, and Bender Shipbuilding & Repair, Mobile, Ala., will build four.

They are patterned after supply boats common in the offshore oil industry. They will have more deck space than normal to accommodate boom, boom boats, and skimming systems. Each will have oil/water separators and be able to store 4,000 bbl of recovered oil.

MSRC will station the 16 oil spill response vessels at various locations (see map) to serve as the backbone of its spill cleanup efforts.

MSRC also is buying more than $46 million of high capacity offshore containment and cleanup equipment.

For use on each of the vessels MSRC ordered a 2,200 bbl/hr "over the side" skimmers and an "oil trawl" boom system.

It also ordered 82 skimming systems, 65 pumps, 30 shallow water vacuum skimmers, and about 60 miles of various kinds of boom.

Next spring MSRC plans to order 26 barges of 20,000 bbl capacity for storage of recovered oil. The barges will have enough deck space to allow them to be used as skimming platforms and will be supplied with heaters to facilitate the flow of oil.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Costello said after start-up in 1993, even more emphasis will be placed on research and development.

"We have to come up with better tools," he said. "Long term, our R&D effort is of the greatest importance to our overall ability to deal with oil spills. The equipment now is very limited. We need to do better."

The research program is designed to complement other research by government, academia, and industry. MSRC plans to study subjects such as prevention of oil loss from damaged ships, on-water oil recovery and treatment, prevention and mitigation of shoreline effects, fate and effects of spilled crude oil and petroleum products, mitigation of harm to wildlife, and health and safety.'

It also plans to develop standards for oil spill response equipment, techniques, and training.

A priority is to develop a remote sensing system that will enable it, using airplanes, to find and track oil on the ocean surface during the night or periods of foggy or bad weather.

It hopes to merge advances in remote sensing technology in the private sector and the defense industry. It said microwave radiometry appears very promising for detecting thick areas of oil.

A contractor is developing a computer assisted spill management system MSRC believes will make a major improvement in the way major spills are fought. This system is being designed to better organize and make quickly available the huge amounts of information decision makers require.

Other goals are developing more easily deployable booms, skimming systems for thick oils, more data on bioremediation and physical environments, evaluation of dispersants, and ignition and maintenance of in situ burning.

STATE LEGISLATION

Costello said MSRC is lobbying states to adopt federal standards of limited immunity for oil spill responders.

Until recently, most coastal states did not allow spill responders immunity from removal costs or damages. The federal standard provides immunity unless the responder acts with gross negligence or willful misconduct.

MSRC said, "This standard is appropriate because an oil spill responder must act decisively in a dynamic environment.

"Moreover, responders frequently must act with less than perfect information."

State laws have varied greatly. Some states grant immunity only to volunteer organizations, while others provide immunity only for nonprofit organizations. MSRC will use subcontractors who work for profit. Other states empower a state official to grant immunity.

The MSRC push for spill responder immunity has been endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, Council of State Governments, and National Conference of State Legislatures.

Since the lobbying effort began, 17 of 24 coastal states have granted private oil spill cleanup organizations such as MSRC limited immunity.

MSRC officials predict two more states may adopt the standard before the end of the year. The rest will be lobbied in 1992.

They say if MSRC is asked to respond to a spill off a state that has not adopted the standard, it would face a very difficult decision.

TRAINING PROGRAM

A top priority in 1992 will be staff training.

Costello said MSRC won't resemble the neighborhood fire station, where men and equipment wait idly for an accident to happen.

MSRC plans to summon subcontractors and their employees in the event of a major spill and plans to train and drill constantly with employees of those firms.

He said, "We're going to have a have a very large cadre of non-MSRC people with which we will have some sort of contractual relationship who will come with us in a spill and operate our equipment under our direction.

"They have to be integrated into the operation so everybody is using the same techniques to do whatever needs to be done."

Costello also said MSRC employees will have to keep abreast of tanker and other offshore oil operations and be familiar with likely sites for spills.

"I don't think there will be many soft afternoons of checker playing in the firehouse," he said.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.