A MODEL FOR THE COSTING OF OIL SPILL CLEARANCE OPERATIONS AT SEA

Analysis of published data reveals that the total costs attributable to an oil spill are made up of a number of components which include the actual costs of the cleanup operations by government and/or industry (incurred either directly or through a contractor), third party costs (compensation to fishermen, boat-owners, etc.) and miscellaneous costs, including legal expenses, administrative charges, and fines. The relative proportions of each component vary considerably depending on the particular circumstances and location of each spill. Costs generally fall into three groups defined broadly as offshore (low costs per ton oil spilled), inshore and onshore (high costs per ton oil). Considering only the costs of cleanup operations, a model has been developed for estimating the cleanup costs for various situations (offshore, inshore and on shore) and using different cleanup techniques (recovery, dispersion, absorbents, etc.). This model takes into account the spill size, makes allowance for transport time and allows for the practical effects of natural dispersion, evaporation, etc. Use is made of the model to calculate costs for typical situations using practical component costs data to show the optimum conditions for each method of treatment and to show the dependence of recovery or dispersant operations on spill size.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of the 1977 Oil Spill Conference, March 8-10, 1977, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sponsored by American Petroleum Institute, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Petroleum Institute

  1220 L Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005-4070
• Authors:
  • Holmes, P D
• Conference:
  • Proceedings of the 1977 Oil Spill Conference, March 8-10, 1977, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sponsored by American Petroleum Institute, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard.
• Publication Date: 1977-3

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 39-44

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost estimating; Economic analysis; Liability; Oil spill cleanup; Oil spills; Pollution; Pollution control; Water pollution
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pollution abatement
• Subject Areas: Economics; Environment; Law; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00152030
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Petroleum Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 27 1977 12:00AM