CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Half the world?s production of crude oil is transported by sea (Clark 1992). A significant amount of oil is spilled into the sea from operational discharges, collision and grounding of tankers, well blow-outs and pipeline-breaks. Forty-eight percentage of the marine oil pollution is due to fuels and 29% due to crude oil. Tanker accidents contribute 5% of marine pollution (Fingas 2001). Due to global economic growth, the demand for petroleum products is on the rise; hence it could expect future oil spills, especially along the tanker routes. In Bah´ıa Blanca estuary there are two monobuoys near the coast to discharge or load oil of tankers. Human activities are always linked to benefits and hazards. In the recent years the international community has become increasingly aware of the risks due to major accidents occurring near populated and environmentally sensitive areas (i.e. the Prestige oil spill in 2002 (Galicia, Spain), the Hebei Spirit oil spill in 2007 (Taean, South Corea). There is also a growing need to ensure that health, environmental and safety issues are addressed as an integral part of social and financial development. Petroleum products that enter the marine environment have distinct effects, according to their composition, concentration and the elements in the environment that are taken into consideration. Some effects can be related to transformations of the chemical composition of the environment and alterations in its physical properties, the destruction of the nutritional capital of the marine biomass, danger to human health, and changes in the environmental biological equilibrium. The Bah´ıa Blanca estuary coastal waters are noted for their intense oil tanker traffic and, as a consequence, the risk of an oil spill occurring in these coastal waters is possible. The Presidente ILLIA oil tanker disaster, in the middle part of Bah´ıa Blanca estuary part on May 19th, 1992, when the vessel due to strong wind SE leaked about 700 m3 of crude oil over the sea water, is just one recent example of an accident with dramatic environmental consequences for the Bah´ıa Blanca estuary coastal zone (Figure 1). Numerical models are intrinsically able to predict the evolution and behaviour of oil spilled at coastal zones, regardless of the atmospheric conditions, hence the vast interest on them. Mathematical modelling is thus a very powerful tool for management assessment after an oil spill accident, particularly for determining preventive measures and to help monitoring accident evolution. The latest information technologies have provided us with new tools and different strategies in the field of environmental management that are capable of efficiently processing the great quantity of information needed to support accidental hydrocarbon spill management. These modelling tools are now of paramount interest in the forecasting of oil slick evolution at coastal areas, as they allow measures to mitigate the negative impacts associated with hydrocarbon spills to be put in place. When integrated into other geographic information tools, the information yielded by the models? simulations results can be analysed easily and aid decision making.

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