Marine Oil Spills Environment Impact
13th National Plan Environment and Scientific Coordinators Workshop 2004
The Environmental Impact Of Marine Oil Spills
Effects, Recovery and Compensation
Dr. Brian Dicks
Technical Team Manager, International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd Paper presented at the International Seminar on Tanker Safety, Pollution Prevention, Spill Response and Compensation, 6th November 1998, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
INTRODUCTION The short-term effects of oil spills on marine species and communities are well known and predictable. However, concerns are often raised about possible longer-term ("sub-lethal") population effects through, for example, low levels of residual oil affecting the ability of certain species to breed successfully. In fact, extensive research and detailed post-spill studies have shown that many components of the marine environment are highly resilient to short-term adverse changes in the environment in which they live and that, as a consequence, a major oil spill will rarely cause permanent effects. The marine ecosystem is a highly complex environment and natural fluctuations in species abundance and distribution are a feature of the normal way it functions. These fluctuations can be large and difficult to relate to particular causes, as well as difficult to measure adequately. Against this background it is inevitably difficult to establish the precise extent and likely duration of environmental damage caused by an oil spill and to distinguish such impacts from changes brought about by a variety of other factors, both natural (e.g. climatic or hydrographic changes) and man-made (e.g. commercial fishing or other industrial pollution). Despite the scientific evidence that is available to the contrary, there is frequently a basic presumption that damage must have been caused by an oil spill, and terms such as "injury", "harm", "loss" and "impairment" are used without reference to any defined meaning or reliable evidence of a causal link. There is also a
The Environmental Impact Of Marine Oil Spills
Effects, Recovery and Compensation
Dr. Brian Dicks
Technical Team Manager, International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd Paper presented at the International Seminar on Tanker Safety, Pollution Prevention, Spill Response and Compensation, 6th November 1998, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
INTRODUCTION The short-term effects of oil spills on marine species and communities are well known and predictable. However, concerns are often raised about possible longer-term ("sub-lethal") population effects through, for example, low levels of residual oil affecting the ability of certain species to breed successfully. In fact, extensive research and detailed post-spill studies have shown that many components of the marine environment are highly resilient to short-term adverse changes in the environment in which they live and that, as a consequence, a major oil spill will rarely cause permanent effects. The marine ecosystem is a highly complex environment and natural fluctuations in species abundance and distribution are a feature of the normal way it functions. These fluctuations can be large and difficult to relate to particular causes, as well as difficult to measure adequately. Against this background it is inevitably difficult to establish the precise extent and likely duration of environmental damage caused by an oil spill and to distinguish such impacts from changes brought about by a variety of other factors, both natural (e.g. climatic or hydrographic changes) and man-made (e.g. commercial fishing or other industrial pollution). Despite the scientific evidence that is available to the contrary, there is frequently a basic presumption that damage must have been caused by an oil spill, and terms such as "injury", "harm", "loss" and "impairment" are used without reference to any defined meaning or reliable evidence of a causal link. There is also a