SPILL RESPONSE STRATEGIES FOR RIVERS IN A REMOTE DELTAIC ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A development project in Alaska is in progress that will connect a remote producing oil field in the Colville River delta to the North Slope gathering line system and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.The delta has a complex distributary channel system and a short (threemonth) open-water season.During winter months the region is frozen and access is not a constraint for spill response operations.By contrast in the open-water season,east-west access between sites is made difficult by the north-south trending channel system and by the shallow water depths in many of the channels during non-flood stages.The generation of a summer spill response strategy for this production project initially identified the potential sources from which oil could enter this delta system and then upon the likely pathways for the spreading of spilled oil during the open-water season.A series of individual response strategies associated with each scenario was developed.The objectives of the summer response strategies are either to (a) minimize the spread of spilled oil downstream and towards the Arctic Ocean,or (b) protect sensitive habitats,such as tapped lakes that connect to the delta channels.Effective spill response actions in this remote environment are possible by adopting strategies based upon pre-deployed or pre-staged equipment.With this concept,seasonal controls for containing the spread of oil would be in place at a number of locations,and,for other sites,the initial response would require only the deployment of personnel to effect control of the spilled oil,as equipment would be already located and ready for onsite deployment.