Dr. Merv Fingas, Spill Science, Canada

Dr. Merv Fingas is a scientist working on oil spills. He was Chief of the Emergencies Science Division of Environment Canada for over 30 years and is currently working on research in Western Canada. Prof. Dr. Fingas has a Ph.D. in environmental physics from McGill University, three master's degrees; chemistry, business, and mathematics, all from the University of Ottawa. He also has a bachelor of science in Chemistry from Alberta and a bachelor of arts from Indiana. He has published more than 970 papers and publications in the field. Merv has prepared 10 books on spill topics and is working on two new ones. He is chairman of several ASTM and inter-governmental committees on spill matters. Dr. Fingas’s specialties include oil chemistry, spill dynamics and behavior, spill treating agents, remote sensing and detection, and in-situ burning. He continues to work on developing new technologies in these fields.

Dr. Jacqueline Michel

Dr. Michel is one of the founders of RPI and has been President since 2000. She has been part of the NOAA Scientific Support Team since 1978 and provides support for 50-100 spills per year. She has provided on-scene support for 50 spills. Because of her routine scientific support for spills, she has extensive knowledge of and practical experience in pollutant fate, transport, and effect issues. She has been a leader in the development of methods and the conduct of Natural Resource Damage Assessments following spills and groundings. She has taken a lead role in 33 damage assessments for Federal and State Trustees. She has written over 250 technical reports and publications, including 45 peer-reviewed journal articles and ten chapters in books.

Dr. Edward Owens

Dr. Owens is President of Owens Coastal Consults (OCC) and the Owens Response Group (ORG) International. He has over 50 years of experience in marine and inland oil spill response and training worldwide, and was the Technical Advisor to Exxon USA for the Shoreline Response to the T/V Exxon Valdez, during which he developed the Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) concept, and for BP’s shoreline response to the Deep water Horizon incident.
Dr. Owens has worked on spill-related inland , river and coastal projects throughout North and South America, the Middle East, the Black and Caspian Seas, as well as Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. He has conducted oil spill related missions for the UN, the IMO, GI-WACAF, the World Bank, EBRD, and was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science Oil Spill R&D Committee. He has provided oil spill planning and preparedness training worldwide and has authored more than 300 publications on oil spill related topics.

Dr. William J. Lehr

Dr. William J. Lehr is scientist emeritus for the U.S. National Ocean Service. Dr. Lehr is a recognized expert in the field of hazardous chemical spill modeling and has served as guest editor for leading journals in the field, published hundreds of peer reviewed articles, and led research teams who developed widely used software tools for predicting oil spill behavior. He has received several medals and awards for his scientific advice during international spill events, including two of the largest spills , the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mina Al-Ahmadi spill during the First Gulf War. Dr. Lehr served as an adjunct professor for the World Maritime University, a consultant for UNESCO on oil pollution, and is past co-chair of the International Oil Weathering Committee. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Washington State University.

Presentation

Time in PST/EST

Dr. Merv Fingas

Introduction

10.00 am/1.00 pm

Dr. Jacqueline Michel

A Response Guide for Sunken Oil Mats (SOMs): Formation, Behavior, Detection and Recovery

A 2020 response guide has been developed for detection and recovery of sunken oil mats (SOMs) in marine environments. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, SOMs (which were called submerged oil mats) formed across the Gulf Coast region but in the greatest density along the sand beaches of the Panhandle of Florida and coastal Alabama. SOMs were a constant source of reoiling of the beaches during the four years of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, and chronic reoiling has continued for years. The challenge of detecting and removing these SOMs led to more research into the formation process and persistence of SOMs. Oil-sand mixtures that can lead to the formation of SOMs are believed to occur by two distinct processes: 1) Floating oil interacts with sand suspended in the water column by waves breaking on shallow, nearshore bars, called offshore entrainment; and 2) Stranded oil on the shoreline that picks up sand and subsequently erodes from the beach during periods of high wave action, called onshore sand uptake. The guide includes: a table of case histories where SOMs formed after oil spills; a summary of the literature on SOMs; a description of conditions necessary for SOM formation and persistence, including a discussion of the formation and behavior of Oily SOMs (>40% oil) and Sandy SOMs (>60% sand); the most effective survey methods to detect SOMs; and the most effective removal methods that also minimize environmental impact. Detection and removal methods are described for SOMs in

10.10 am/1.10 pm

Q&A Session

10.30 am/1.30 pm

Dr. Edward Owens

Field Trials with Weathered and Heavy Subsurface Oils to Investigate the Ability of Detection Canines to Support Spill Response Surveys

Field trials using three trained Oil Detection Canines were conducted to evaluate their ability to detect subsurface targets of subsurface weathered and heavy oils; including weathered Macondo oils, Bunker C and tar ball material. The first component of the trials consisted of a set of thirty-eight (38) indoor tests with five oils and included three (3) blank runs, one for each canine, during which no oil targets were missed (100%). The second component involved an off-leash Wide-Area Survey (WAS) with an array of ten 5-m length vertical pipes distributed throughout a 0.5 hectare grassy field and with the five target oils each buried at the base of an inner pipe. The canines correctly located twenty (20) of the twenty-one (21) oil targets (96.3%). A commercial Photo Ionization Detector (PID) with a detection capability of 0.01 ppm did not detect Volatile Organic Carbons (VOCs) using the same indoor set up as the canine tests despite the sample port being held within 2 cm above the target container lid and only registered VOCs on five (5) of the seven (7) target pipes when the device sample port was held still inside the pipe within 2 cm of the soil surface.

Dr. William J. Lehr

Are Neural Networks the Answer to Long-Standing Scientific Challenges in Oil Spill Analysis?

An increasing fraction of spill research technical papers are using neural networks as part of their approach. This talk will briefly review what are neural networks and look at sample applications to three areas, remote sensing of spills, trajectory prediction, and emulsification. The expected benefits and limitations compared to traditional methods are presented.

Dr. Merv Fingas

Oil Spill Remote Sensing: An Update

The technical aspects of oil spill remote sensing are examined and the practical uses and drawbacks of each technology are given with a focus on unfolding technology. The use of visible techniques is common, but limited to certain observational conditions and simple applications. Infrared cameras offer some potential as oil spill sensors but have several limitations. Both techniques, although limited in capability, are widely used because of their economy. The laser fluorosensor uniquely detects oil on substrates that include shoreline, water, soil, plants, ice, and snow. Radar detects calm areas on water and thus, oil on water, because oil will reduce capillary waves on a water surface given moderate winds. Radar provides a unique option for wide area surveillance, all day or night and rainy/cloudy weather. Satellite-carried radars with their frequent overpass and high spatial resolution make these day–night and all-weather sensors essential for delineating both spills. Most strategic oil spill mapping is now being carried out using radar. Slick thickness measurements have been sought for many years. The operational sensor at this time uses passive microwave.

Q&A Session