[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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CL cf) C) Q) J-- . .@: @' . @ I, . o a) 2) Q) -C 0 -C - (-) c) o QL< LU 205 MAY 11 1977 .21 Vroperty of CsC Library WASTE PRE ENTER It had also become the focus of a at which the spill changes physically The Argo Merchant spill major scientific study, and an and chemically Accordingly the offered these investigators a unique opportunity for scientists to test their OCSEAP studies include extensive opportunity to monitor a major understanding of the properties, work on these subjects, drawing from spill under conditions analogous to behavior, and detailed ecological both observational and modelling those found off Alaska-a spill impact of oil spills. It would become techniques for each of the nine in cold water, complicated by winter an important source of new insights Alaska outer continental shelf areas storms, high winds, and heavy seas. into such events; for, pervasive as under consideration for petroleum Within hours of the grounding, spills seem to be, they have not been development. the SOR team had been notified studied closely. The physical and The need for field verification of of the potential for a major oil spill and chemical processes that drive the the oil-spill models developed in had begun arriving at the scene, movement and evolution of spilled oil this program I-ed to the creation of setting up an operations center in ear dawn, at six a.m. Eastern are r-ot well understood. Neither are NOAA-Coast Guard Spilled Oil Hyannis. By Friday, December 17, the IStandard Time, Wednesday, the ways in which oil contamination Research (SOR) teams. Composed of SOR team members had contacted ,cember 15, 1976, the Liberian other prospective investigators from affects the crucial life forms that knit scientists from NOAA (a Commerce iker Argo Merchant went aground the intricate food web of the sea. Department agency), the Coast NOAAs National Marine Fisheries Fishing Rip, an area of treacherous The urgent need for better Guard, and the Alaska Department of Service, the Geological Survey, the oals 29 nautical miles southeast comprehension of oil spills was Environmental Conservation, the University of Rhode Island, and Nantucket. Within a few hours, the recognized long before the Argo SOR unit comprises five teams of two Woods Hole Oceanographic S. Coast Guard Atlantic and Merchant grounded on Fishing Rip. or more scientists operating out of Institution, to plan a coordinated series ilf Strike Teams were on the scene, In an ambitious study for the Interior Juneau, Fairbanks, Seattle, and of physical, chemical and biological :empting to refloat the stricken Department's Bureau of Land Washington, D.C., with a backup team studies of the spill and its ecological ip, and prevent its cargo-7.7 Management, the National Oceanic in Boulder, Colorado. They are impact. The document, The Argo Ilion gallons of number 6 fuel, oil- and Atmospheric Administration's highly mobile and specially trained to Merchant Oil Spill-A Preliminary )m spilling into the'sea. Environmental Research Laboratories obtain critical scientific information Scientific Report, describes the But the Argo Merchant remained are providing the environmental from oil spills, wherever and conduct and early- results of )round, and, buffeted by rough data required to assess the whenever they occur. these studies. as and high winds, began to leak oil consequences of offshore oil and gas Their ruling objective is to 3t afternoon. Attempts to offload development on Alaska's outer develop comprehensive information 9 ship's cargo were thwarted by continental shelf. on the physical, chemical, and @avy@weather, and the tanker A major element in this Outer trajectory processes of various classes intinued to leak. At 8:35 a.m. on Continental Shelf Environmental of oil spilled at sea, under various @cember 21, the battered vessel. Assessment Program (OCSEAP) has oceanographic and meteorological @gan to break up, spilling virtually all been a search for improved conditions. In the field, however, the (I @ S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA its oil into the rough waters understanding of the transport SOR team may also act to focus COASTAL SERVICES CENTER Massachusetts. The grounding processes of spilled oil, and the rates research elements drawn to the the Argo Merchant had become incident, effectively transforming the 2234 SOUTH HOBSON AVENUE e of the largest oil spills-in spill into a comprehensive and CHARLESTON SC 29405-2413 i4ed States history: coordinated environmental research project. 1@80 . ... ... .. ... . ..... 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The currents. A general westerly current After a week or two, thick patches of fresh and contained no entrained ivers found no oil on the sea floor near pattern previously described oil originally an inch and a half sand or other materials, suggesting ie spill site except immediately for Georges Bank was not established; to two inches thick had become that it had been floating and ,ound the Argo Merchant's bow in fact, in addition to the measured six-to-ten-inch-thick patches. weathering after a recent spill. @ction, which, in dragging the bottom, wind drift of the oil, a net surface On March 10, large tar balls Samples of the tar were iay have mechanically forced current of the order of 0.6 knot to the began coming ashore on the given to Woods Hole Oceanographic )me oil contamination of the sea floor. southeast was established. southwest coast of Nantucket Island. Institution for chemical analysis. As the oil drifted southeastward In depths of less than 150 The balls were reportedly as This work may be able to document Drn the wreck, and moved off feet (50 meters) of water, it appeared much as a foot in diameter; one, found the tar as being derived from ie continental shelf and into the that the net currents responded on the eastern shore of Nantucket, crude or refined petroleum; but it will tlantic circulation patterns, well to the wind. The pancakes of oil weighed 70 pounds. The material not be able to establish conclusively ie weather became less a forcing emanating from the wreck were was deposited in a widely scattered whether the tar originated with oil @ctor and the slick movement observed to build up in thickness as pattern around centers about spilled by the Argo Merchant or with as dominated by genera( oceanic they moved away from the wreck. 100 feet,apart. The tar was relatively another spill of Number 6 fuel oil. gily spill map prepared by Coast coordinating scientific response to Number 6 oil from the Argo Navy divers obtained unique vard Oceanographic Unit was spjJ1, Mapping missions were flown Merchant tended to form large, photographs of the oil from below, crucial tool in planning and daily until January 5. floating "pancakes" like the one showing, among other things, that shown in this view from a Coast SCUBA-exhaust bubbles tended T Guard helicopter. to break up the oil (upper photograph), which then reformed (lower photograph). 44 @7 I j SL7 -41 4a DEC. 21.1976 io _J 7 of spilled oil, a major element in a more difficult test of their ability in the sea-for example, detailed Oil Trajectory assessing the probable impact of to predict oil trajectories will measurements of the interaction petroleum development off Alaska, come in a current-dominated situation, between oil slicks and waves, and Models The oil-trajectory models under near a complicated shoreline. better knowledge of the "slippage," development for the Alaska OCS The consensus among modellers was differential motion, between the program were not tested on the Argo that the Argo Merchant spill had water and the oil. Merchant spill, which was used added much new data on which to mainly to develop detailed information build better simulations of oil for future use in this continuing effort. In general, the models tested on this spill were "off-the-shelf" items, capable of producing reasonable parallel effort compared results in wind-dominated situations Athe results of simulations obtained like the Argo Merchant spill, which with various computer models- involved a smooth coastline and I sets of mathematical equations where currents were not a decisive capable of simulating physical events factor. All of them simulated the 0 -with the day-to-day behavior movement of oil from the grounding of the real oil slick. Models from the point reasonably well, pointing Coast Guard Research and up their ability to simulate spill Development Center, the Geological trajectories in a wind-dominated 00 Survey model used in assessing regime-winds off Nantucket in this spill hazard for the North Atlantic outer period were in the 20- to 40-knot a continental shelf lease area, and range. But modellers generally felt that models developed by the University -40' N of Rhode Island and by NOANs Center for Experiment Design and Data Analysis were applied in the study These models represent slightly different approaches a to the difficult problems of diagnosing 0 130 a and predicting the trajectories Tests of how well numerical models -mainly "climatological" ones predict oil trajectory produced these runs, from left, from the -38@ N University of Rhode Island, Geological Survey and NOAA's t06- W W Center for Experiment Design and Data Analysis. 8 cl) -2. * z v cD CD cD CD 0 CL Fn UP :0 C> -6 Co (D cn :3 - CD 07 CL fb CD 0 3 ID o a- C-) co U) a) - < 0 CD -4 CD W C-) 0- 3 3 In 0 In CD _0 0 c -0 < CD Cr OL CD 0 CL _0 w F), 0 @Lj 0- CL CD CD CD 0' w w -0 5 7-r 0 CL CD cl cl (o o CL -Inw 0 CD 0- C CL CD -n 0 ,A qff, CD CL 07 CD ::E CD CL) o c ;- :3 ME D CD R CD 40pf- CD Cl 5 IV =r CD cD ?;'@ @ @ @ ,, =r< CD -Eel -jklo@5-' -T :3 CD 0 CD 0 p @vr'F@' 4@@ k C In In (D (D Z) :3 CD CD (D 0- c) 0 CD In CO: om- --l 3 3 IV CD a :3 D (D < CD 0 U) OL CD OL CD 05 CD c W 0 CD c k " Q- CD 0 @tqv (n W cn K3 0 M 00 q z 0 c cl CD :3 0 :3 Cn CD C -0 0(D -0 :;F (D0 (D =3 CD -4 CL cr CL 2) < D0 CL a (10 c c 0Cl CD CD0 CL C0 CD 0 M" co CD F cannot say, for example, at what rate a Preliminary analyses indicate that In. no water sample was the Oil Spill Chemistry number 2 fuel oil will enter the if oil from the Argo Merchant oil contamination greater than 250 water column under a given set of entered the water column in any parts per billion. Highest conditions. Such predictions significant amounts, only the light concentrations were found directly would require a much greater aromatic fractions did. The under fresh oil slicks at depths understanding of how the complex investigators found no evidence of any of six to twelve feet. These molecular systems of petroleum significant amounts of the heavy concentrations decreased to hydrocarbons are changed by multi-ring aromatic hydrocarbons background levels in a few days evaporation, emulsification, microbial entering the water column. Some of through turbulent mixing of the wat( degradation, and other processes. the scientists studying the column. Investigators at the scene samples believe the oil detected in of the Argo Merchant spill took these samples is actually the eanwhile, a special effort numerous samples of spilled oil, ''I cutter stock," a lightweight petroleum M was mounted to begin a thorough sediments, and water, and subjected compound-number 2 fuel oil- study of the chemical processes them to preliminary laboratory added to thin number 6 fuel oil operating in the oil spill. Because analyses. In addition, samples have and make it easier to handle. these processes are crucial links been 'sent to the NOAA National between spilled oil, seafloor Analytical Facility in.Seattle, sediments, the water column, Washington, for a more detailed and, to some degree, life in the sea, assessment of the amount of they are essential ingredients petroleum hydrocarbons in samples in any attempt to develop fully taken at the spill site. three-dimensional oil-spill trajectory models. They are also among the least-understood processes involved in the dynamics of an oil spill. Knowledge of the stages -42' N by which oil is degraded by the marine environment, or accommodated .into it, is extremely thin. Chemists 0 00 0 00 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Samples for chemical analysis 0 00 0 00 0 0 0 0 were taken at a number of stations 0 001 01 0 0 0 0 0 in and around the spill area. 00 00 0 0100 0 0 0 0 0 Map at left shows water-sampling 0 % 0 0 0 aD 00 stations, the center map, benthic 0 survey stations made by the 0 0 0 University of Rhode Island ship 0 Endeavor. Map at right shows where sediments were sampled, and where values of,0.1 part per 40* N' 70'W 68' W 66' W million or more were found. 10 lu -D- -T 6 6 --:r D Fn U 0 0 CD 0 0 W C: c -- - - M :D7 cn Cn (Q CD =3 C) z -owo 3 w 0 0 E O'Z o- -'Cn z -0 (D CD n Q_ :3 a - 3 - =r CD D a -- cn - _-j Q- (-D oz)_ (n B 3 (D C-D (n Uw) 3 Cl- (D (D C)- 0 CD C, w o z o 5 " m w (D cy- -0 = - :T _:) -- 3 -0 D ---0 0 li, w w -- -1 0 @o D =3 cn 0 (D 3 w &; :3 3 LD. w - cn Cl) - cn (7B 0 ; - CD CD - Zr 0-0 0 m w 0 3< cn 77 Z) FD w - 3 c 5(c (D -0 - W 0 m 0 * 0 0 8 D 0 W Cn- ::r o <M 0- 707 W c w - 3 w CL 77 D 0 :3 (n 3 D' o < CD C: a w CD =r 0 a 0- a 5. = E CD < 0 0 0 3 CT cn CD 0 -.@; cc CD (D (D CD o 0 (n as CT -0 0 0 0 (T CT 0 --j cn *A w 0 00 CD n CD CD CD - =To cn D z 3 - - CD cn CD r- C? (D CD E; -0 =T :T D @@ 0 - a =-. a CD CD a) -1 a (D D 3 m o 'Li -.-o CD Cc0 - o (T cn cn 0 C) CD r- Z o :5. c cn cn 0) - u (D -a =< - 0 - 0 CD CD CL- 6 C) 0 CT CD cn Z3- D 3 @F o m 0 CD 0- U) - 11 0-0 07 0 CD -D- 0 -@ 0 C) OL =3 zr C) Co D (FD" D ;7-- --- Sb - - (D ri) cr 0 0 M =0 W 0 0- @F 0 = 0 U) 3 F, 0 0 3 w 14 s - < w w En CL) -0 5- (D 3 -.00 -- W 0-0 CD (n D = = :3- - Co CD -0 CL 0 - C: T W c (D c: ::r 0 00- CD (D (n C, - - :3 'CD - a 0 CD D @L) 3-- o, !:@ (C) c/) a) Co CD 0 (D (D (n CO 0 CD Q @Z CD L X CD CD .< CD 0 z z V A C:) -4 v A a. 0 3 0 3 0 V- 8 tn 00 '0 'D 00 0 '0 '0 0,4 0 3 3 0 0 CD 0 m @; -C@ Z3- a) YL 3 00 o cr cr, 0) .0 -&6d-- d h-errrhg-e-m-br-y-o--s-,-a--n-d--------In--g-e--ner-al,-p@--61-i-rFi-n-a-ry --- -16-ati67n '-occurred-in -th e----- _Efi@t@____that the zooplankton food of fish of this survey showed some low major zooplankton components fish larvae suffer high mortalities levels of oil contamination for some of the food web near the Argo when exposed to crude oil. zooplanktonic species on Nantucket Merchant spill site. However, the The Delaware 11 cruises Shoals, with higher incidence impact of this contamination was occupied three types of station: of ingested particles and unclear. Observed contaminants control stations, believed to be outside contaminated mandibles on could affect feeding and reproductic the effect of the spill; stations zooplankton along the slick boundary and mandibular contamination outside the immediate area of the A transitional community between could interfere with feeding. One wreck but beneath the drifting oil slick, the shoals and channel outside difficulty in making an assessment where contamination was possible; the slick showed more than halt of here is that the toxicity of ingested Of isheries biologists from and areas where contamination some zooplanktonic species oil is not well understood, but seems I- NOAAs National Marine Fisheries was likely within about 20 miles of the to be affected, mostly by ingested oil depend on how much of the volatil Service conducted two cruises wreck. Additional samples were particles. Channel-community aromatic compounds are released I aboard the NOAA ship Delaware 11, taken by the University of Rhode sampling, where biomass is as the ingested oil ages. This will the first from December 22 to 24, Island ship Endeavor in late characteristically lower, showed low be the subject of further study by the second in early January. This effort December levels of contamination outside fisheries scientists. sought to assess the impact on The Fisheries Service is just the slick, and high numbers of life forms in and around the spill area. beginning an extensive sampling ingested pa(tic@es inside the stick. Not much research had been program aimed at assessing the full The biological survey also conducted on the effects of oil on impact of the Argo Merchant spill. This found significant contamination of northeastern continental shelf will require a year or more to copepods in and out of the slick -A species. Most studies had been complete, since it involves sorting out area, as well as partic le- ingestion by concerned with onshore and the complex interactions among some other species. Apparently, near-shore impacts. Laboratory levels of fishing mortality, natural studies indicated, however, that mortality, oil mortality, and the I crude oil can damage fish eggs and sublethal effects of oil on the cause large-scale mortalities in reproductive potential of the fish resources there. Gull with oiled breast and abdomen (at ri ht) flies with AiLsolLeds an@on. -Qmp- 12 Two specimens of phytoplankton Avera ged over call sampling metabolism, and the induction southeast with the oil. Scientists irifting plan ts) showed no stations, pollock eggs were 46 or repression of enzymes. speculated that rnurres, which @sponse to the spill, but this sample percent dead or moribund; cod-egg On first glance, the.impact spend more time on the water. than as too small to support a real moribundity ran about 20 percentage of the Argo Merchant spill on seabirds other pelagic sea birds, could 3sessment Of the spill's impact on points lower on average. The appeared to be small.. Shortly have been hard hit by the spill; but rea phytoplankton. fisheries researchers are attempting after oil began to flow from the how great the impact was will Some 98 percent of the pollock to assess, in a series of laboratory wrecked tanker, birds were seen with probably never be known for sure. ggs sampled at one station near tests, the differences in oil-adherence oil stains on breast and abdomen. Again, a major problem in assessing ie spill were dead or moribund, characteristics of different eggs, Later, birds were seen heavily the spill's impact was the dearth ,id, adjacent to the spill, oil since it appears that oil adhered to stained, and some badly oiled gulls of baseline information on bird lobules were found adhering to the pollock eggs in substantially greater began to land on the cutters and populations in the area. irface membrane (or chorion) amounts than to cod eggs. research ships, some accepting food Marine mammals in the f 93 percent of the pollock eggs. Six species of fish larvae- by hand. Kittiwakes seemed less area did not seem disturbed or injured n(y 64 percent of the cod eggs in this sand faunce, cod, po((ock, rockling, affected, probably because they were by the oil, and tended to stay clear roup were similarly contaminated. hake, and herring-were sampled. never seen feeding in oiled water, of the pancakes. But here again, i one group of pollock eggs Of these, only sand launce was or landing on the water to feed. the investigators noted the ampled inside the spill zone, 60 abundant at the control station, and In general, the density of sparseness of baseline data and ercent of the pollock embryos had this abundance decreased sharply bird life in the spill area was light, inadequate observations would ;trikingly abnormal cell patterns." within the spill area, suggesting some suggesting little impact. Nevertheless, prevent any true assessment of the connection. While not important a number of oiled birds washed impact on marine mammals. 'OAA ship Delaware 11, used by commercially, sand launce is basic ashore at Nantucket and Martha's sheries biologists to sample food of predatory fish and marine Vineyard, and as far away as Pollock eggs sampled near the tarine life in and outside the spill mammals in the area, making it an Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, suggesting spill showed signs of oil rea, and an oil-fouled important species in the northeastern that the oil affected some species contamination, and some genetic ollecting net. marine ecosystem. -principally murres-well away effects. Shown here are (top) a pollock egg with oil droplets A number of fish were taken from the spill site. There was adhering to the surface membrane, for examination. Of 305 fish stomachs no information on the extent of and (bottom) an abnormal embryo examined, only three contained damage downstream, and no way to in about the tail-bud stage, with no oil droplets on the egg. oil-like material. Studies of shellfish obtain it. But there was conjecture that showed that respiration rates stricken birds had been blown were altered in samples taken from the contaminated area. Hematofogical Oil contamination was found in ALM& measures in sampled flounder some species of zooplankton showed a disruption of the ionic sampled near the spill. Enlarged balance in blood serum ad depressed photograph of Centropages 1,wl typicus shows rounded particles Oil droplets respiration rates-that is, oxygen of oil stofed in body. consumption. Both are symptomatic of physiological stress. Other indicators being looked for include a possible drift from aerobic (oxygen based) to anaerobic (oxygen-fess) 13 Effectson ContinuedStudy Fishing Activities P roject investigators believe Selected water and fish samples that, @ while the full impact of the will be analyzed at the NOAA National Argo Merchant spill cannot be fully Analytical Facility -in Seattle to assessed in the short time since complete studies on the fate and the incident, any effects will mainly weathering of Argo Merchant oil. involve area fisheries. Maximum In addition, the Endeavor will return petroleum hydrocarbon levels to the scene of the wreckage observed were 250 parts per billion, to measure the extent of bottom and these comparatively low contamination in that area. levels were probably soon Additional MARMAP (Marine reduced to background values Resources Monitoring. Assessment, H, and Prediction) cruises are planned in a few days by turbulent mixing of '001 the water column. Thus no long-term over the next 18 months to hydrocarbon contamination of the determine the actual and potential water column occurred as a impact on'the rich spawning result of the spill. But the full impact grounds of the southeast Georges on fisheries remains to be assessed Bank. The fisheries researchers will in continuing studies by fisheries also study selected species for biologists. genetic damage, disruption of normal physiological processes, pathobiological conditions, and contamination by petroleum hydrocarbon. 14 December 15 The Argo Merchant, carrying 7.7 million December 26 Forecasting of onshore winds continued. 'ahronology gallons of No. 6 fuel oil grounds on Nantucket 3000 drift cards deployed as early warning Shoals, resulting in one of the largest oil system at 0940 between slick and shore. spills in United States history Distress call "Pancake 1" located again by USCG received by USCG at 0700. USCGC Vigilant overflight. on scene. National Weather Service starts De cember 27 Another 3000 drift cards deployed between special forecasts for Fishing Rip area. spill and Nantucket at 0912. First attempt to NOAA-USCG SOR Team sets up burn oil. Evergreen cruise ends. Oceanus headquarters in Hyannis, Massachusetts, at cruise 20 begins. 2100. December 28 USCGC Bittersweet replaces Vigilant as December 16 USCG assumes full control and responsibility on-scene vessel. Endeavor cruise EN002 for the Argo Merchant under Intervention begins. On-Scene Coordinator's status Convention at 1457. Weather conditions meeting and press conference at 1000. worsen. All personnel evacuated from the December 29 Bow section starts to move under the ctivities set in motion in tanker at 2300. influence of current. response to the grounding of the December 17 SOR Team personnel attend coordination rgo Merchant and the scientific meeting at 1600 at Woods Hole December 30 Endeavor cruise EN002 ends. ,search efforts by the NOAA-USCG Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to develop December 31 Argo Merchant bow section holed by 20-mm scientific response. cannon fire to prevent drifting and remove OR team from the time of the December IS USCG reports large amount of oil spilled and navigational -hazard. Second experiment to ccident until March 10, 1977, are geysers of oil shooting upward. Heavy oil burn oil from the'Spar. immariz led below. Hours are Eastern plume 7.5 miles long to the northwest. Ship January 3 Coordination meeting at WHOI. Bow section tandard Time, on a 24-hour clock. listing 20'. Seas building up. Oil "pancakes" observed moving again. sighted by USCG 27 miles east of ship. January 4 Coordination meeting at WHOI continued. December 19 USCG reports that 1.5 million gallons of oil Delaware // cruise DE77-01 begins. have entered the. sea and that the Argo January 9 Bow section totally underwater. Merchant is- sinking at stern. Super-tanker January 10 Delaware l/ cruise DE77-01 ends. fenders rigged along side the tanker at 1430 in preparation for offloading to barges. January 26 Endeavor cruise EN003 begins. December,20 WHOI vessel Oceanus begins cruise 19. January 29 Endeavor cruise EN003 terminated because December 21 Heavy seas. Argo Merchant splits aft of of weather. kingpost, releasing approximately 1.5 million February 8 Bow section of Argo Merchant relocated I gallons of oil. Oceanus returns to Woods Hole mile to the southeast of stern and found empty after taking water and sediment samples of oil. Endeavor cruise EN004 begins. to northeast of slick. February 11 Oil found in bottom sediments near bow December 22 Bow section of Argo Merchant splits again. section. NOAA Vessel Delaware // and USCGC February 12 Endeavor cruise EN004 ends after Evergreen depart for scientific cruises. completing initial benthic survey Scientific meeting in Boston called by EPA March 10 "Tar balls" up to a foot in diameter reported Administrator. washing ashore on Nantucket Island's December 23 U.S. Navy divers take movies of underside of southwest coast. Samples sent to WHOI to slick and botton. No visible oil on bottom, determine whether origin is crude or refined December 24 Delaware /I completes cruise DE 76-13. petroleum; analysis will not be able to December 25 Forecast of onshore wind condition. USCG establish whether the material came from the contractors notified of possible beach Argo Merchant spill. cleanup operation at 1600. Overflight on which "pancake 1" is identified. 15 Rig uj@r- 00! I z 0 Cl cn < s%STRATto& A CO c@ IVNOI