Modeling the impacts of the North Cape oil spill

The natural resource damage report and the modeling efforts for estimating marine injuries resulting from an oil spill were presented. The incident occurred in January 1996 when the barge North Cape spilled 828,000 gallons of home heating oil into the surf zone on the south coast of Rhode Island. Measurements of total hydrocarbon concentrations exceeding 1 ppm in the water column and sediments of Block Island Sound were made following the spill. The spill caused significant injury to near-shore marine organisms. Injuries to marine organisms were estimated using modeling of oil fates and their acute toxicological effects. Input data was based on existing literature. Organism mortality was estimated based on exposure to surface oil (for birds) and water column PAH concentrations (for fish and invertebrates). 67 refs., 6 tabs., 9 figs