Page 26: of Marine News Magazine (November 2018)

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COLUMN OP/ED

Spill Response Capabilities:

Important Then, Still Important Today

A greener, post-OPA 90 maritime industry has a markedly improved environmental signature, but still needs protection. SCAA members are there to help, when they do.

By Justin Thomas Russell

Not long after Col. Edwin Drake of 1990 (OPA 90). This codi? ed set of rules regulates opera- struck the ? rst oil well in Titusville, tions and sets standards for the transportation of petroleum

Pennsylvania in August of 1859, logic products. It also gave the world many now familiar terms would say that the ? rst oil spill was not such as Quali? ed Individual (QI) and Average Most Prob- too far behind. Since that fateful time able Discharge. It set standards that identify professional in western Pennsylvania, the world has responders as Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSRO). It seen changes in the size and scope of gave us the National Contingency Plan, Area Contingency oil spills. And, as the global seaborne Plans ... and their committees ... as well as Facility and Vessel trade of crude oil continues to increase, Response Plans. But as we look at the impact this spill had on

Russell with over 72,000 miles of pipelines our future, some might say “it was only 11 million gallons.” transporting petroleum products in the What many outside our industry, and even some inside

United States alone, the need for comprehensive planning our industry, do not realize is that Exxon Valdez incident and professional response to incidents of a product dis- does not even rank in the top 10 biggest spills in our indus- charge has never been greater. try’s history. As an example, the Ixtoc 1 spill in Mexico in

It should also be noted that with the continuous explora- 1979 involved 140 million gallons of spilled oil. The 1978 tion and development of offshore oil production associated Cadiz spill in France was responsible for 69 million gallons with American energy independence and that over 90% of discharged into the environment. The Desert Storm Oil global trade is conducted utilizing the Maritime Transpor- Spill(s) in 1991 involved 380 million gallons. tation System, the risk of an oil spill in constant. And with The point is that for generations, trained and dedicated that risk, the oil spill industry is an integral part of the safety professionals have been responding to some of the largest and security of the maritime industry and the environment. oil spills in the world; long before the advent of OPA ‘90.

Maritime stakeholders, of course, are aware that the tragic And as a result of this long-standing tradition, our indus- 1989 spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska was a corner- try has set high standards for all organizations to deal with stone for our industry. It was the catalyst that gave the pe- crisis management and emergency response.

troleum and transportation industries the Oil Pollution Act Those involved with emergency response are aware that

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