A field guide to oil spill response on freshwater shorelines
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Table of contents
- Acknowledgements
- Executive summary
- Acronyms
- For further information
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Health and Safety for field teams
- Chapter 3: Freshwater environments
- Chapter 4: Oil fate and behaviour in freshwater environments
- Chapter 5: Response – planning
- Chapter 6: Response – operations
- Chapter 7: Response – special topics
- Chapter 8: Response – completion and monitoring
- Chapter 9: Case studies: freshwater spills
- Chapter 10: Bibliography
- Chapter 11: Shoreline forms
List of figures
- Figure 1.1
- Spill control objectives
- Figure 1.2
- Shoreline response and decision framework (revised from ECCC 2016)
- Figure 3.1
- River-stream cross-section
- Figure 3.2
- Lake trophic states
- Figure 3.3
- Long-term annual average water levels for Lake Superior, 1918-2018 (revised from US Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District)
- Figure 3.4
- Daily average water level variations in Lake Superior with the seasonal high and low envelopes (revised from US Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District)
- Figure 3.5
- Water level data (in metres) measured at six gauging stations on the north shore of Lake Erie during a seiche event (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.6 A
- Minimum total ice concentration, March 2016 for the Great Lakes (Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.6 B
- Minimum total ice concentration, March 2016 (top panel) and maximum total ice concentration, March 2019 (bottom panel) for the Great Lakes (Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.7
- Select high gradient channel forms: clockwise from top left – pool, straight glide, riffle, rapids (from ECCC 2012)
- Figure 3.8
- Large low gradient channel forms/types
- Figure 3.9
- Observed discharge for the North Saskatchewan River near Deer Creek (AB), 2016 (Water Office, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.10
- August 2018 record for the Pitt River near Port Coquitlam (BC) illustrating diurnal changes in water level due to tidal influence (Water Office, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.11
- Two-week record for the North Saskatchewan River near Rocky Mountain House (AB) illustrating diurnal changes in water levels due to water releases from the Big Horn Dam, October 2018 (Water Office, Government of Canada)
- Figure 3.12
- Ice jam under bridge at Acadie River (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2021)
- Figure 4.1
- Main weathering processes affecting the fate and behaviour of oil on water
- Figure 4.2
- Fragmented oil on lake water surface, Lake Wabamun, AB (2005)
- Figure 4.3
- Oil drifting and spreading on river water surface, Chaudière River, QC (2013)
- Figure 4.4
- Ice and snow on freshwater shorelines: ice ‘fastened’ to shoreline (top panel); frozen wave splash (middle panel); ice ridges visible during spring thaw (bottom panel)
- Figure 4.5
- Ice limits oil movement
- Figure 4.6
- Oil and freshwater ice interaction processes
- Figure 4.7
- Oil surfacing through a lead in a lake
- Figure 5.1
- Time-space schematic for spills in different environments (from Owens 2017)
- Figure 5.2
- An example of primary segmentation for shoreline
- Figure 5.3
- Segmentation at rivers and streams
- Figure 5.4
- Single-channel stream or creek KP segmentation
- Figure 5.5
- Single-channel river segmentation with sub-segments
- Figure 5.6
- Multiple-channel river segmentation with one primary (“A”) and multiple secondary channels (“B” and “C”)
- Figure 6.1
- Natural collection areas along a channel (top panel) and accumulated woody material (bottom panel)
- Figure 6.2
- Typical waste management logistics models
- Figure 7.1
- Oil (weathered crude – left panel; unweathered heavy crude – right panel) stranded during a falling water level
- Figure 7.2
- Oil deposited on a flood plain during a flood event
- Figure 7.3
- Typical boom failures often caused by fast current speed
- Figure 7.4
- Typical river flow patterns and boom deployments
- Figure 7.5
- Example of booming strategy in a channel
- Figure 7.6
- Line of woody material stranded at former high-water level
- Figure 7.7
- Beaver activity site: feed pile
- Figure 7.8
- Oil stranding on shoreline
- Figure 7.9
- Cobble beach on which emulsified oil has penetrated > 1 m before reaching an impermeable hard sand layer
- Figure 7.10
- Oiled debris and sediments located approx. 5-10 cm below the sediment surface
- Figure 7.11
- Submerged and sunken oil
- Figure 7.12
- Sunken oil in shallow, nearshore freshwater environments
- Figure 7.13
- Shallow water/shore-based options for sunken oil detection and delineation
- Figure 7.14
- Sunken oil recovery options in shallow water with good visibility
- Figure 7.15
- Oil Detection Canine (ODC) team conducting search of wide mud flat with vegetation
- Figure 7.16
- Shoreline Oiling Aerial Reconnaissance (SOAR) Form
- Figure 8.1
- View onshore of stakes (with tape flagging) and natural marker (dead tree in backshore) for monitoring location
- Figure 8.2
- Monitoring location showing: shoreline oiling with mobile product on water surface in late July (left panel); no mobile oil on water surface in mid August (middle panel); erosion and slumping of bank with no oil observed in mid September (right panel)
List of tables
- Table 2.1
- Potential hazards/risk factors and corresponding preventative measures
- Table 3.1
- Comparative definitions of shoreline zones based on inundation times
- Table 3.2
- Swash zone shoreline types
- Table 3.3
- Active channel margin shoreline types
- Table 3.4
- Small or intermediate (high gradient) channels (revised from Petts and Calow 1996; Goudie 2014)
- Table 3.5
- Large (low gradient) channels (revised from Church 1992)
- Table 4.1
- Typical physical properties of oil types and freshwater (from Emergencies Science Division of Environmental Science and Technology Centre, Oil Properties Database; Fingas 2001; ITOPF 2011)
- Table 5.1
- Overview of methodologies for conducting a formal Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA)
- Table 5.2
- Lake shoreline segment naming hierarchy
- Table 5.3
- River system incident-specific segment naming hierarchy
- Table 5.4
- River system pre-incident segment naming hierarchy
- Table 5.5
- Broad categories of information provided for each Spill Management Points (SMP) and Tactical Control Points (TCP)
- Table 6.1
- Specialized equipment by freshwater environment
- Table 6.2
- Information sources
- Table 6.3
- Shoreline protection tactics
- Table 6.4
- Freshwater substrate types
- Table 6.5
- Relative potential effects of treatment tactics
- Table 6.6
- Shoreline treatment tactics
- Table 6.7
- Operational parameters to consider when recommending treatment techniques
- Table 6.8
- Oily waste types (percentages are indicative: revised from IPIECA 2014)
- Table 7.1
- River speed and recommended boom angle and length
- Table 7.2
- Comparison of the attributes of accepted existing and developing (or potential) technologies for detection and delineation of subsurface oil (revised from API 2014)
- Table 7.3
- Sunken oil detection and delineation options (revised from API 2016)
- Table 7.4
- Sunken oil recovery options (revised from API 2016)
- Table 7.5
- Applications of an oil detection canine team to support SCAT field surveys
- Table 7.6
- Current sUAS platforms available to support SCAT field surveys
- Table 8.1
- Shoreline treatment criteria for Lake Wabamun, AB (Section 9.1.4)
- Table 8.2
- Shoreline treatment criteria for Lemon Creek, BC (Section 9.1.8)
- Table 9.1
- Freshwater spills – key lessons learned from case studies
Acknowledgements
The Management of Emergencies Science and Technology Section would like to acknowledge the team of shoreline experts whose contributions made a Field Guide to Oil Spill Response on Freshwater Shorelines possible. The Guide was written by Edward Owens (Owens Coastal Consultants), Leanne Zrum (Triox Environmental Emergencies Inc.) and by Doug Reimer (Environmental Mapping Ltd.), with technical input from Shannon MacDonald, and Stephane Grenon (Triox Environmental Emergencies Inc.), and Mark Brown (ECRC-SIMEC). From Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Emergencies Science and Technology Section and the National Environmental Emergencies Centre were Sonia Laforest, Project Manager and Technical Authority; Natalie Jones; Patrick Lambert; Michael Goldthorp; Kevin Watson; Yuan Yao; Merlo Gauvreau and Ayumi Therrien, who provided detailed scientific reviews.
Executive summary
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has developed a series of field guides to provide technical support tools for decisions regarding the evaluation of freshwater and marine shorelines and treatment options during an oil spill response. The new freshwater shoreline response Guide is aligned with and complements the most recent editions of the ECCC Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) Manual (ECCC, 2018) and the ECCC Field Guide to Oil Spill Response on Marine Shorelines (ECCC, 2016). ECCC is engaged to provide science-based information to the spill response community and develop an expertise in spill response.
The purpose of the freshwater shoreline response Field Guide is to provide advice and guidance on the protection and treatment of freshwater shorelines threatened or affected by an oil spill. This Field Guide focuses on conventional tactics normally available to responders and appropriate for freshwater shoreline environments. The content of the Field Guide is organized to describe key elements of:
- Health and safety for field teams
- Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA) / Spill Impact Mitigation Assessment (SIMA)
- Freshwater environments
- Oil fate and behaviour in freshwater environments
- Response – planning, treatment, special topics, and completion and monitoring
This Field Guide includes stand-alone “Shoreline Information Technical Sheets” for shoreline protection tactics, different types of freshwater shoreline substrates, and shoreline treatment tactics. These information sheets have been developed as a quick reference for planners and field responders, and to provide a visual reference for the range of tactics that may be considered during an oil spill response.
Key learnings from inland oil spill responses that occurred in the last 25 years and the freshwater environment expertise of the project team were important sources of knowledge used to develop this Field Guide.
Acronyms
- ALARP
- As Low As Reasonably Practicable*
- API
- American Petroleum Institute
- ATV
- All-Terrain Vehicle
- BMP
- Best Management Practice
- BTEX
- Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes
- ECCC
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- EU
- Environmental Unit
- EUL
- Environmental Unit Leader
- FOSC
- Federal On-Scene Coordinator*
- GIS
- Geographical Information System
- GPS
- Global Positioning System
- GRP
- Geographic Response Plan
- IAP
- Incident Action Plan*
- ICP
- Incident Command Post
- ICS
- Incident Command System*
- IMS
- Incident Management System
- IMT
- Incident Management Team
- JSA
- Job Safety Analysis
- K9-SCAT
- Canine Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique
- LC50
- Lethal Concentration that will kill 50% of the test species
- NEB
- Net Environmental Benefit
- NEBA
- Net Environmental Benefit Analysis
- NFT
- No Further Treatment
- NOAA
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- NOO
- No Observed Oil
- PAH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
- PPE
- Personal Protective Equipment
- PTA
- Post Treatment Assessment
- QA/QC
- Quality Assurance / Quality Control
- RO
- Response Organization
- SCA-TS
- Shoreline Cleanup Assessment –
- SCAT
- Technical Specialist Shoreline Cleanup
- SIR
- Assessment Technique Shoreline (or Segment)
- SOS
- Inspection Report Shoreline Oiling
- SRP
- Summary Shoreline Response Plan
- SSC
- Scientific Support Coordinator
- STR
- Shoreline Treatment Recommendation
- TAG
- Technical Advisory Group
- TL
- Team Lead
- TPH
- Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons
- TWG
- Technical Working Group
- UAS
- Unmanned Aerial System
- UAV
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
- UTV
- Utility Task Vehicle
* Incident Command System terms: for further information on ICS terminology, see USCG (2014)
For additional information
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Public Inquiries Centre
12th Floor, Fontaine Building
200 Sacré-Coeur Boulevard
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-938-3860
Toll Free: 1-800-668-6767 (in Canada only)
Email: enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca
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