STATUS AND FUTURE TRENDS IN OIL SPILLS AND IMPLICATIONS 

 FOR THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



April E. Fletcher 



Somebody once was discussing the population problem and pointed out that 

 in the United States today a woman gives birth to a baby every 7 sec. He 

 offered a solution to the problem: "We've got to find that woman and stop 

 her!" 



I'm not going to talk about the population problem today, although that 

 certainly is behind many of the pollution problems we face. But I think this 

 illustrates an important point--that when people are unfamiliar with a subject 

 they try to find easy answers. For example, the easy answer I have heard 

 over the last several years for the problems of oiled waterfowl is: "We've 

 got to stop oil pollution." While I agree this should be our goal, the more 

 I've learned about oil pollution in United States waters the more complicated 

 the picture looks to me. 



I don't have any easy answers to offer today. Instead, I will try to 

 give you some perspective on the nature and extent of pollution, particularly 

 oil pollution, in United States waters. Then I will focus on a few points 

 I believe the Fish and Wildlife Service should address in planning for oil 

 spill response now and in the next few years. 



Our attention is drawn by big, dramatic accidents, such as the nearly 

 million-gallon oil spill caused by the collision of two tankers at the entrance 

 to San Francisco Bay in 1971. In the shadow of the 7 -mill ion-gal Argo 

 Merchant oil spill of December 1976, we easily forget that thousands of oil 

 spill incidents occur each year totaling annually an average of twice as much 

 oil as that spilled by the Argo Merchant. Most people overlook the chronic 

 sources of pollution, such as street and agricultural runoff which, like 

 dripping faucets, appear deceivingly innocent. These chronic sources may 

 actually contribute substantially larger amounts of pollution and cause far 

 more damage to the environment than the major pollution incidents we hear 

 about in the news. 



While recognizing that chronic sources of pollution may cause serious 

 environmental damage, I am going to limit this discussion to recorded pollution 

 incidents. These are the sources with which the National Oil and Hazardous 

 Substances Pollution Contingency Plan and the Fish and Wildlife Service Pollution 

 Response Plan are primarily concerned. 



The Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 required that all pollution 

 discharges be reported to the "appropriate agency." Currently either the 

 Environmental Protection Agency or the Coast Guard receives reports of pollution 

 incidents. The Coast Guard annually compiles data from these reported incidents 

 and I have extracted much of the information for this presentation from these 

 data. 



Office of Migratory Bird Management 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Washington, D.C. 20240 



11 



