2010-05-04 Interview
Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatening to become a major environmental catastrophe
GKSS Scientist Carlo van Bernem.
CvB: “There was an oil accident in Panama in 1986. It has been examined very closely. A storage tank containing 10,000 litres of crude oil leaked and polluted the mangrove and coral reefs; it resulted in huge damage. With respect to the mangrove, the pneumatophores of the aerial roots were blocked by the overlayered oil.
“The trees of landward fringes died off almost entirely; more seawards mainly shoots were affected. With regard to the corals, some areas were very badly, damaged. Both effects may have a devastating impact on coastal protection, because the coral reefs serve to break the waves and collect and weaken forces.
“If mangrove woods and coral reefs are damaged and, for instance, a hurricane sweeps over the coast, the coastal protection function is severely affected. Also, such an accident has long-term effects; there are many densely settling organisms – fiddler crabs, land crabs, oysters, snails or worms – that build living tubes of up to one metre in depth.
“The oil can drip into these living tubes, infiltrate all sediment areas and is barely degradable at a microbiological level. Oil accidents keep occurring throughout the world, which affect coral reefs and the mangrove, but here one really gets the impression that it will develop into a very big oil accident.”
The regeneration of mangroves takes a very long time. Until the woods have regenerated, more than 20 years may pass. In the short term, the consequences will be felt in the fishing industry. Nets will be soiled and the catch no longer sellable; the organisms will die and stocks dwindle. For locally limited areas, fishing can be fully disrupted for years to come.”
Results map for an extract in the larger area of the Elb estuary.
CvB: “The grid’s main objective is to support precaution planning, i.e. for particularly sensitive areas and certain times; locally specific clean-up measures can be designed for emergencies. For the reparation or financial compensation of oil damage, it is then precisely known what used to live there.
“The attempt can be made to protect particularly sensitive zones in the grid with mechanical tools and to intensify the cleaning of certain zones. Also, particular breeding areas can be saved with chemical clean-up agents, meaning that no oil slick drifts on the surface of the water and damages birds.”
“In cooperation with the Coast Guard, all options are available to effectively combat oil. However, nobody was expecting an accident on such a scale. Added to which, there is the dependence on the weather conditions; at the time of the accident the sea was extremely choppy; this made it more difficult to contain the oil and suck it off the surface of the water. The sea was too choppy to work with sea booms.
“There is nothing one can do in this situation. One may be able to disperse, but if the oil is a couple of days old and the so-called ‘chocolate mousse’ has formed, it can no longer be cleaned up with chemicals.”
“At the Mississippi delta, the mangroves is overall indicated as sensitive, no other differences are made with the exception of natural reserves, e.g. the Mississippi estuary, port facilities or marinas.
“This cannot be done in a more detailed way with such a huge coastline. What was possible there was also done. The oil clean-up teams were well equipped, but they had terribly hard luck.”
Further informationen
Ölunfall im Wattenmeer! Welche Gebiete sind besonders bedroht? (Pressemitteilung vom 27.11.2007)
Contact
Carlo van Bernem
Phone: +49 (0)4152 87-2014
Fax: +49 (0)4152 87-1596
Mobile Phone: +49 (0)170 8953421
