Environmental Impact of Amoco Cadiz wreck -- 1.6 Million barrels spilled, about 10% recovered

[FarCenter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoco_Cadiz

Environmental impact

Oiled beach in Brittany.The isolated location of the grounding and rough seas hampered cleanup efforts for the two weeks following the incident.

As mandated in the "Polmar Plan", the French Navy was responsible for all offshore operations while the Civil Safety Service was responsible for shore cleanup activities. Although the total quantity of collected oil and water reached 100,000 tons, less than 20,000 tons of oil were recovered from this liquid after treatment in refining plants.

The nature of the oil and rough seas contributed to the rapid formation of a "chocolate mousse" emulsification of oil and water. This viscous emulsification greatly complicated the cleanup efforts. French authorities decided not to use dispersants in sensitive areas or the coastal fringe where water depth was less than 50 meters. Had dispersant been applied from the air in the vicinity of the spill source, the formation of mousse might have been prevented.

At the time, the Amoco Cadiz incident resulted in the largest loss of marine life ever recorded from an oil spill. Mortalities of most animals occurred over the two months following the spill. Two weeks following the accident, millions of dead mollusks, sea urchins, and other bottom dwelling organisms washed ashore.

Diving birds constituted the majority of the nearly 20,000 dead birds that were recovered. The oyster mortality from the spill was estimated at 9,000 tons. Fishermen in the area caught fish with skin ulcerations and tumors.

Some of the fish caught in the area reportedly had a strong taste of petroleum. Although echinoderm and small crustacean populations almost completely disappeared, the populations of many species recovered within a year. Cleanup activities on rocky shores, such as pressure-washing, also caused habitat impacts.

The Amoco Cadiz spill was one of the most studied oil spills in history. Many studies remain in progress. This was the largest recorded spill in history and was the first spill in which estuarine tidal rivers were oiled. No follow-up mitigation existed to deal with asphalt formation and problems that resulted after the initial aggressive cleanup.

Additional erosion of beaches occurred in several places where no attempt was made to restore the gravel that was removed to lower the beach face. Many of the affected marshes, mudflats, and sandy beaches, were low-energy areas. Evidence of oiled beach sediments can still be seen in some of these sheltered areas. Layers of sub-surface oil still remain buried in many of the impacted beaches.

The ship and spill features in one of Steve Forbert's songs about oil pollution.<5>

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This was about 6 times bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

1. BP bought Amoco.

BP owns Amoco

[kenny blankenship]

2. So an oil spill constitutes a public health threat thru contamination of ecosystem & food supply

But what about one that slowly fills up the whole fucking Gulf of Mexico?

Maybe it merits a declaration of emergency from the federal government just on the basis of the regional scale of the disaster?