The Svalbard shoreline oilspill field trials

The 1997 Svalbard shoreline oil spill field experiment was conducted to quantify the effectiveness of different in situ shoreline treatment options that are commonly used to accelerate natural oil removal processes on mixed coarse sediment beaches. Three experimental sites were chosen near the mining town of Sveagruva on Spitsbergen, the largest island in Svalbard, Norway. 5,500 litres of an intermediate fuel oil, was applied directly to a 3 m wide area of the upper intertidal zone sediment surface in a controlled and uniform manner. Full scale treatments began one week after oiling to allow for wave and tidal washing and stabilization of the oiled zone. Five treatment options were used: (1) sediment relocation, (2) tilling (or aeration); (3) bioremediation, (4) tilling combined with bioremediation, and (5) natural recovery. The sediment was treated in the same way as in an actual response operation. The trials were successful from both an operational and experimental point of view. 14 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs