MOHID oils spills modelling in coastal zones: atudy case on Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina).

PIERINI, J.O.; MARCOVECCHIO, J O; CAMPUZANO, F.; PERILLO, G.M.E.

Perspectives on integrated coastal zone management in South America

IST Press

Lugar: Lisboa; Año: 2008; p. 519 - 524

Half the world’s production of crude oil is transported by sea (Clark 1992). A significant amountof oil is spilled into the sea from operational discharges, collision and grounding of tankers,well blow-outs and pipeline-breaks. Forty-eight percent of marine oil pollution is due to refinedproducts and 29% to crude oil. Tanker accidents contribute 5% of marine pollution (Fingas2001). Due to global economic growth, the demand for petroleum products is on the rise;hence one might also expect an increase in oil spills, especially along tanker routes. In Bah´ıaBlanca estuary there are two monobuoys near the coast to discharge or load oil tankers. Inrecent years the international community has become increasingly aware of the risks due tomajor accidents occurring near populated and environmentally sensitive areas (i.e. the Prestigeoil spill in 2002 (Galicia, Spain), the Hebei Spirit oil spill in 2007 (Taean, South Korea).There is also a growing need to ensure that health, environmental and safety issues are addressedas an integral part of social and financial development. Petroleum products that enterthe marine environment have distinct effects, depending on their composition, concentrationand the elements in the environment that are taken into consideration. Some effects can berelated to transformations of the chemical composition of the environment and alterations inits physical properties, the destruction of the nutritional capital of the marine biomass, dangerto human health, and changes in the environmental biological equilibrium.The Bah´ıa Blanca estuary coastal waters are noted for their heavy oil tanker traffic and, asa consequence, the risk of an oil spill occurring in these coastal waters is very real. ThePresidente ILLIA oil tanker accident, in the middle part of Bah´ıa Blanca estuary on May 19th,1992, when the vessel due to strong SE wind spilled about 700 m3 of crude oil over the seawater, is just one recent example of an accident with serious environmental consequences forthe Bah´ıa Blanca estuary coastal zone (Figure 1).