Development of a field testing protocol for identifying Deepwater Horizon oil spill residues trapped near Gulf of Mexico beaches

Abstract

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) accident, one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history, contaminated several beaches located along the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) shoreline. The residues from the spill still continue to be deposited on some of these beaches. Methods to track and monitor the fate of these residues require approaches that can differentiate the DWH residues from other types of petroleum residues. This is because, historically, the crude oil released from sources such as natural seeps and anthropogenic discharges have also deposited other types of petroleum residues on GOM beaches. Therefore, identifying the origin of these residues is critical for developing effective management strategies for monitoring the long-term environmental impacts of the DWH oil spill. Advanced fingerprinting methods that are currently used for identifying the source of oil spill residues require detailed laboratory studies, which can be cost-prohibitive. Also, most agencies typically use untrained workers or volunteers to conduct shoreline monitoring surveys and these worker will not have access to advanced laboratory facilities. Furthermore, it is impractical to routinely fingerprint large volumes of samples that are collected after a major oil spill event, such as the DWH spill. In this study, we propose a simple field testing protocol that can identify DWH oil spill residues based on their unique physical characteristics. The robustness of the method is demonstrated by testing a variety of oil spill samples, and the results are verified by characterizing the samples using advanced chemical fingerprinting methods. The verification data show that the method yields results that are consistent with the results derived from advanced fingerprinting methods. The proposed protocol is a reliable, cost-effective, practical field approach for differentiating DWH residues from other types of petroleum residues.

Hurricane Isaac brings more than oil ashore: Characteristics of beach deposits following the Deepwater Horizon spill

“…The sand patties collected for this study at the four sampling sites in August 2012 ( Table 1 ) were visually and physically consistent with sand patties tied to the DWH spill [ 18 – 20 , 42 ]. All samples met tier-1 field testing requirements used to identify DWH-related sand patties as detailed by Han and Clement (2018)[ 43 ]. Sand patty oil residues examined by GC-FID and PAH analyses were consistent with highly weathered MW oil [ 19 , 21 , 44 ].…”

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Impacts on Organisms and Habitats

“…As of 2014, oil saturated sand aggregates were still present on Alabama beaches, leaving researchers to predict beaches will continue to have oil aggregates beyond background, pre-spill levels for the foreseeable future (Hayworth et al 2015). A new technique was developed to allow shoreline monitors to distinguish oil from the DWH spill from other anthropogenic sources and natural seeps (Han and Clement 2018).…”

Characterization of sediment microbial communities at two sites with low hydrocarbon pollution in the southeast Gulf of Mexico

“…For instance, the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion released several hundred million liters of oil into the Gulf of Mexico ( Crone & Tolstoy, 2010 ). Hydrocarbon pollution has a significant impact on coastal zones ( Bociu et al, 2019 ; Han & Prabhakar Clement, 2018 ), resulting in devastating environmental damage with serious socioeconomic implications and highly toxic risks to humans ( Chronopoulou et al, 2015 ; Crone & Tolstoy, 2010 ).…”