BP Oil Spill: EPA

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BP Oil Spill EPAs Response in Support of the US
Coast Guard
Mark MjonessDirector, National Planning and
Preparedness DivisionUS EPA Office of Emergency
Management (OEM)
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Overview of Key NRS Components

• Federal On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs)
• 13 Regional Response Teams (RRTs)
• National Response Team (NRT)
• National Response Center (NRC)
• Area Committees
• State/Local Governments
• Special Teams
• Joint Response Teams with neighboring countries
• Regulated Industry

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NRS Preparedness
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Response

• On April 22, the Deepwater Horizon rig capsized
  and sank 11 workers died.
• Following that human tragedy has been an
  environmental and economic disaster.
• More than 800 miles of shoreline were been
  impacted in five states, 150 miles remain
  impacted.
• More than 80,000 square miles of federal fishing
  waters have been shut down and
• 36 National Wildlife Refuges have been
  threatened.
• President Obama has called this spill the worst
  environmental disaster America has ever seen.
• This unprecedented disaster has been met by our
  unprecedented response.

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Response

• More than 45,000 responders.
• At the height of the response, EPA had more than
  40 workers dedicated to the response in our
  DC-based Emergency Operation Center each with
  reach back to their home offices and about 190
  working in our regional offices along the Gulf.
• Admiral Thad Allen (USCG Ret.) led the federal
  response as National Incident Commander.
• On April 29, Secretary Napolitano declared the
  incident a Spill of National Significance,
  allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to receive full
  government support.
• Coordinating federal agencies, include EPA, DOI,
  DOE, DHS, NOAA, SBA.
• Working closely with state and local governments.

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Response Organization - Simplified
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Organizational Response Structure NIC
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Organizational Response StructureEPA
Representation

• Venues for EPA
• HQ EOC in Washington, DC
• EPA supporting USCG IASG in Washington, DC
• Region 6 REOC in Dallas, TX
• Region 4 REOC in Atlanta, GA
• Area Command Robert, LA
• Incident Commands in Houma, LA., Mobile, AL. and
  Miami, FL.

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EPA Resources Personnel

• Incident staffing - Peak staffing levels exceeded
  200 EPA and contractor personnel supporting UAC,
  IC and field activities
• EOC/REOC staffing
• EOC staffing exceeded 45 EPA staff at peak levels
• R6 REOC fully activated
• R4 REOC fully activated
• Incident required use of back-up regions and
  national staffing efforts
• Activated and utilized Response Support Corps

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Response

• Recovered about 30 million gallons of oil at the
  source.
• More than 6,000 vessels assisted in containment
  and cleanup efforts -- in addition to dozens of
  aircraft, and remotely-operated vehicles.
• Oil capture efforts from ships like these
  recovered more than 28 million gallons of
  oil-water mix.
• Other vessels in the area worked on controlled
  burning, which removed almost 10 million gallons
  of oil from the water.
• Water skimming and deployed boom.
• More than 8 million feet of boom was deployed.

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Response Stopping the Oil Flow

• Under the direction of Thad Allen (USCG Ret.), BP
  made several attempts to stem the flow of oil
  from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
• In June, oil flow was reduced with a series of
  containment caps that allowed oil to be collected
  and natural gas to be flared.
• In July, another capping stack was installed.
  Oil flow was halted when well integrity testing
  began on July 15.
• In August, cement was successfully forced into
  the well through the capping stack in a static
  kill procedure, further sealing the well.
• On September 19, Thad Allen (USCG Ret.) announced
  that the relief well had been completed and the
  well had been cemented, declaring that the
  Macondo 252 well is effectively dead.

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Response Monitoring Efforts

• To assess any health threats or major
  environmental challenges,
• EPAs primary role is monitoring
• Air
• Water
• Sediment

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Response Monitoring Efforts - Air

• Objective Monitoring for by-products from
  controlled burns and from evaporating oil or
  dispersant.
• Results Nothing seen onshore exceeding normal
  air conditions for the time of year.

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Response Monitoring Efforts - Air
Devices Used

• AreaRae (wireless gas detectors) are used for
  investigating odor complaints and to establish
  baseline data.
• Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) vehicles
  are used to obtain Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC)
  readings and were used to monitor for EGBE
  (2-butoxyethanol) and dipropylene glycol
  monobutyl etherthe two chemicals found in the
  COREXIT dispersants that had the highest
  potential to diffuse into the air in significant
  amounts.
• The Airborne Spectral Environmental Collection
  Technology (ASPECT) plane is used for aerial
  imagery and monitoring of shoreline and
  controlled burns.
• Summa canisters are used to obtain air toxic
  information.

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Response Monitoring Efforts Water and Sediment
- Design

• Objective Establish pre-spill water and sediment
  quality conditions. Evaluate post-spill results
  against risk based thresholds.
• Locations Sampled along the coastline using both
  targeted and randomized design.
• Targeted design based on professional judgement
  of sensitive areas and oil trajectory.
• Randomized design to support estimates of
  condition and change, assess the area of impact
  and the extent of resource with increased
  contaminant concentrations.
• Sampling Collected over 1300 water and 455
  sediment samples and analyzed for oil related
  contaminants, including alkyl and parent PAHs,
  nickel, vanadium, dispersant compounds.

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Response Monitoring Efforts Water and Sediment
- Analysis

• Metals thresholds for water were based on EPA
  Clean Water Act 304(a) criteria. Sediment were
  based on NOAA Sediment Quality Guidelines.
• PAH thresholds for water and sediment were based
  on EPA Equilibrium partitioning which applies a
  sum-PAH approach.
• Human Health thresholds were based on children 90
  hour dermal exposure and accidental ingestion.
• No human health thresholds were exceeded.
• Dispersants associated chemicals were detected 2
  times in water and 6 times in sediment. They did
  not exceed thresholds.

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Response Monitoring Efforts Water and Sediment
- Results

• PAHs were detected in 11 of water samples and
  36 of sediment samples.
• When detected, they exceeded chronic aquatic life
  thresholds 12 and 8 of the samples
  respectively.
• Metals were detected in over 90 of the water and
  sediment samples.
• When detected, they exceeded chronic aquatic life
  thresholds 4 and 24 of the samples
  respectively.
• Future Analysis Water and sediment samples will
  be analyzed to compare pre-spill to post-spill
  levels. Data will also be compared to 2000-2006
  National Coastal Assessment.

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Response Waste Management

• On June 29th, the U.S. Coast Guard - with the
  agreement of the EPA and coastal states - issued
  a Waste Management Directive outlining how BP
  should manage oil and other recovered
  contaminated materials.
• Under the provisions of the Directive, BP has
  developed the following plans, which have been
  reviewed by EPA and Coastal States
• Waste Tracking/Reporting
• Community Outreach
• Waste Sampling
• Liquids Waste Materials and Management
• This Directive complements oversight and
  inspection activities in Louisiana, Alabama,
  Mississippi and Florida, while imposing
  additional requirements.

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Response Waste Management and Beach Cleanup
Oversight

• EPA has reviewed BP Waste Sampling and Analysis
  Plans and continues to review BP data to make
  sure proper waste characterization occurs.
• EPA and the states are also conducting periodic
  site visits of Waste Management facilities
  receiving waste from BP Cleanup activities.
• To make sure the waste is disposed of properly
  and according to that plan, EPA is conducting our
  own sampling and analysis to confirm BPs
  results.
• EPA also continues to follow-up on any complaints
  from local residents.
• EPA has provided personnel for beach cleanup
  oversight of BP contractors conducting work in
  the Mobile Sector area of responsibility.

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Response Dispersant Use

• Dispersants break the oil down into smaller
  droplets to speed its natural degradation
  offshore. Unlike untreated oil that can remain
  for several years, dispersed oil usually less
  toxic than oil degrades over a period of weeks.
  
• Unprecedented quantities of dispersant were being
  applied on the surface and subseawith unknown
  consequences. We initiated comprehensive
  monitoring and reduced the amount applied over
  the course of the response.
• On May 23, EPA and the Coast Guard directed BP to
  significantly reduce dispersants, setting a
  target of a 75 reduction from peak usage.
• The next day dispersant use dropped more than 50
  
• Dispersants were last applied on July 19.
• EPA limited BPs undersea dispersant application
  to 15,000 gallons per day, provided that BP
  rigorously monitored the environmental conditions
  below the surface. We also required BP to make
  their data public.
• We believe the dispersant worked to break up the
  oil comprehensive monitoring continues to
  confirm.

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Response Dispersant Use

• Of 1013 surface water samples, one sample was
  found to have a dispersant-related chemical
  (bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate) above
  the reporting limit but below the aquatic
  benchmark. Additional sampling and analysis
  conducted in this area on August 18th did not
  reveal dispersant chemicals above the reporting
  limit.
• EPA conducted independent, peer-reviewed toxicity
  tests on eight dispersants from the NCP Product
  Schedule
• The results of standard toxicity tests on
  sensitive aquatic organisms found in the Gulf
  indicate the eight dispersants are similar to one
  another.
• The results confirm that Corexit 9500A, the
  dispersant used in response to the oil spill in
  the Gulf, is generally no more or less toxic than
  the other available alternatives.

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Response Research

• The EPA Office of Research and Development has
  requested 2 million for dispersant research in
  the form of grants to universities with oil
  spill, dispersant use and ecological risk
  expertise.
• These grants focus on dispersant toxicity,
  application, surface washing and bio-remediation
  agents and other mitigation measures.
• The EPA website initially solicited solutions for
  use in response to the oil spill. We received and
  reviewed more than 1,800 suggestions, some of
  which were provided to BP.
• EPA is now participating in the Interagency
  Alternative Technology Assessment Program
  (IATAP), which is under the purview of the USCG.
• Weve also hosted an Alternative Coastal
  Protection and Cleanup Technology Forum in New
  Orleans.

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Response Berm Projects

• EPA has been actively engaged in reviewing more
  than 70 proposed emergency oil spill response
  measures to ensure that the comply with
  provisions of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
• We assisted in the review of several proposed
  berm projects. Proposed berm projects ranged in
  material from dredged sand to rock, and were
  considered to be built in both Louisiana and
  Alabama.
• The large scale and inherent environmental
  implications of many of these projects has raised
  key issues, which EPA continues to follow.
  Possible issues include potential for impact on
  fish and wildlife resources sediment transport
  and wave dynamics and contaminant concerns.

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Response Community Outreach

• EPA is committed to working with people impacted
  by this oil spill. We want to hear from them
  What more can we do to help?
• Administrator Jackson, and other members of EPAs
  leadership have attended or sponsored about 30
  outreach meetings with local residents,
  community, university and business leaders, local
  NGOs and environmentalists.
• At these meetings, local leaders have raised
  questions about some of the topics Ive discussed
  todaylike our monitoring effortsas well as
  questions on how they can help.

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Response Worker Safety

• An EPA Health and Safety Officer in the Gulf
  worked with staff from OSHA and NIOSH to ensure
  worker safety and health.
• Our Health and Safety Officer worked with the BP
  Safety Representative to conduct site visits to
  verify that safety and health requirements have
  been implemented.
• EPA employees were trained in health and safety
  before going to the Gulf.

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Ongoing Commitment

• New report released on September 28
• A Long-Term Recovery Plan after the
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• www.RestoreTheGulf.gov

• EPA Administrator Jackson to lead
• Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

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Ongoing Commitment

• We are going to stay engaged in this effort,
  doing everything we can to get the families and
  businesses of the Gulf Coast back on the path to
  recovery...Our commitment will be measured in
  years not months.
• Administrator Lisa P. Jackson

For more information and updates EPA
www.epa.gov/BPSpill JIC www.deepwaterhorizonrespo
nse.com NOAA www.response.restoration.noaa.gov ER
MA gomex.erma.noaa.gov General Federal
Government www.restorethegulf.gov
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Subsurface Activity
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UNCLASSIFIED