Area of Comparison 



Location of Spill 



Cargo 



Size of Spill 



Shoreline Contaminated 



Waterfowl Killed 



Total Cost of Lost 

 Waterfowl (based on 

 nnonetary value assigned 

 to lost species) 



Argo Merchant 



Atlantic Ocean 

 No. 6 Oil 

 7,500,000 gals. 

 None 

 540 



$5,535 



Barge (STC-101) 



Cfiesapeake Bay 

 No. 6 Oil 

 250,000 gals. 

 27 miles 

 31,000 



$635,325 



Source: Total Costs Resulting from Two Major Oil Spills. 1977. CED-77-71. 



What Are The 

 Effects of 

 Oil Spills? 



Each spill is a unique event, with a 

 number of factors interacting to deter- 

 mine the effects of a specific spill. For 

 example, two spills that occurred in 

 1976 have been compared by the 

 Comptroller General of the United 

 States. The Argo Merchant went 

 aground on shoals 30 miles southeast 

 of Nantucket, while the Barge 

 (STC-101) was grounded 4 miles off- 

 shore near the mouth of the Potomac 

 River. 



Even though the Argo Merchant spill 

 was more extensive, spilling thirty times 

 more oil, the impact was greater on the 

 Chesapeake Bay as waterfowl were 

 flocking in great numbers during 

 seasonal migrations. Because the bay 

 enclosed and retained the oil, the effect 

 was prolonged and magnified. These 

 effects illustrate the difficulty of predict- 

 ing, except in a general way, what the 

 exact environmental impact of a given 

 spill will be. The type and amount of 

 oil spilled, the weather and the direc- 

 tion of ocean currents, the coastal 

 areas and organisms impacted, the 

 season, and the effect of cleanup at- 

 tempts each play a role in determining 

 the impact of an oil spill. Previous ex- 

 posure of marine plants and animals, 

 and their environment to spilled oil may 

 alter the sensitivity of such an 

 ecosystem to additional spills. The 

 significant environmental effects of 

 spilled oil, which result from oil toxicity 

 and physical coating, range from direct 

 kills of fish and wildlife to more insid- 

 ious sublethal effects such as reducing 

 the ability of organisms to reproduce or 

 to follow normal behavior patterns. 



In the case of the 1969 West 

 Falmouth spill, very sensitive habitats 

 and organisms were exposed to oil. 

 The spill was of moderate size, about 

 175,000 gallons, but the highly toxic 

 No. 2 fuel oil contaminated the local 

 estuary and marshes and caused sig- 

 nificant losses to commercial fisheries 

 and serious long-term damage to the 

 marine ecosystem in the West 

 Falmouth area. 



