Oil Spill Effects 



R. J. Barsdate, M. C. Miller, V. Alexander. 

 J. R. Vestal, and J. E. Hobbie 



INTRODUCTION 



Oil production at Prudhoe Bay stimulated interest in research on 

 effects of a possible oil spill on ponds. In fact, there are natural oil seeps at 

 Cape Simpson, not very far from Barrow, and a producing gas well is in 

 sight of the ponds. For this reason, NSF funded pond research in 1970 and 

 an experimental oil spill was carried out on Pond E. This pond was 

 sampled during the years of intensive research and then the Department of 

 Energy provided funds for an additional oil spill (Pond Omega in 1975) 

 and follow-up studies from 1975 through 1979. This research allowed 

 additional studies on chironomids, zooplankton, and algae; much of this 

 basic research is included in this book. In addition to the basic research, 

 the oil spills were experimental treatments that produced information on 

 such things as the control of phytoplankton algae by zooplankton and 

 recolonization of ponds by insects. 



Most of the research on effects of oil has been carried out on marine 

 species; there are, however, several studies of effects on arctic freshwaters. 

 In Canada, both lake and stream spills have been studied in the Mackenzie 

 Delta (Brunskill et al. 1973, Snow and Rosenberg 1975a, 1975b). In 

 Alaska, a spill was studied in an arctic lake (Jordan et al. 1978, Miller et 

 al. 1978a) and the natural seeps at Cape Simpson have been investigated 

 (Barsdate et al. 1973). 



Spill on Pond E, 1970 



On 16 July, 1970, 760 liters (4 barrels) of crude oil from Prudhoe Bay 

 (ARCO) were applied to the surface of Pond E (Figure 9-1). Pond E has a 

 surface area of 300 m\ or 490 m"^ if the surrounding marsh is included, 

 and an approximate volume of 800 m^ This amount of oil is about 16,000 

 liters ha ' or 25 times the dose used for the Mackenzie Delta study. 



Several hours after the spill on Pond E the oil covered the entire pond; 

 24 hours later the wind had moved the oil to the west side of the pond 

 where it accumulated in a band 3 to 5 m wide. Throughout August and 

 early September, about half of the applied oil moved back and forth in the 



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