Global Journal of Human-Social Science, B: Geography, Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Volume 22 Issue 3

Figure 6: In land Spill Cleanup Operations In most cases, oil released in inland waters is subject to the natural hydrologic flow as well as any man-made changes, of which there are many, to the hydrologic system. For example, the banks can be armored, stream flow is directed through culvert systems, or dams of all sizes and uses turn riverine systems into lakes. Another confounding and risky issue is flooding upon oil spills, where waterways leave their banks and/or change courses. The potential for surface water, vegetation and groundwater contamination is often a primary public health concern. The goal of any spill response be it coastal or inland, should be to select the response methods and endpoints that will result in the most rapid recovery of the environment (Michel and Benggio, 1999). For inland spill response, there are often two perspectives that have to be resolved: 1) Remove all of the spilled oil from the environment versus; 2) Remove as much oil as possible without damaging or slowing the overall habitat/resource recovery. Cleanup endpoints for spills in coastal and marine settings seldom have endpoints as rigorous as “No oil observed” though these can be used for amenity beaches . Most of the time, cleanup endpoints in coastal and marine settings are based on acknowledgement that any residual oil will weather or degrade over time, sped by natural removal processes in areas exposed to waves and currents. Removing oil to the extent that soil, sediment, and water meet state regulatory limits agreed as the cleanup endpoint could require additional extensive efforts. Consequently, cleanup endpoints are needed to: • Define the conditions beyond which further active treatment is likely to provide no net environmental benefit and may delay, rather than accelerate, recovery of impacted habitats and natural resources; • Define the target conditions that must be achieved before active treatment may cease. As such, these criteria signal the transition from active response- related cleanup to passive, maintenance and monitoring, or final sign-off; • Provide Operations with clear targets for when treatment activities are done; • Provide Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) Teams with criteria with which to inform their recommendations of the most appropriate treatment options and evaluate results of treatment activities; and • Provide those responsible for the follow-up remediation with guidelines that are consistent with those provided to emergency responders. There are generally four types of cleanup endpoints (Sergy and Owens, 2007, 2008; NOAA 2013): 1) Quantitative endpoints that build on the terminology of the SCAT process and use metrics related to the percent oil distribution, the oil thicknesses, the oil type, etc. (e.g., no more than 10% Stain); 2) Qualitative endpoints that describe the presence and character of oil (e.g., does not rub off on contact); 3) Analytical criteria for sediment and water quality and 4) Interpretive impact endpoints (e.g., removal to the point when further treatment will result in excessive habitat disruption). At this point, no further treatment (NFT) is recommended due to a net environmental benefit consideration. This last endpoint is applied mostly to sensitive habitats when meeting one of the first three endpoints would cause greater harm than leaving the oil to attenuate naturally. © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue III Version I 31 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 B Oil Spills Cleanup Operations on Land and Inland Waters – The Mangroves Cleanup Philosophy