5/21/2015  |   15:30 - 15:45   |  102B

APPLICATION OF A NET ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR SUBMERGED DILUTED BITUMEN RECOVERY FOLLOWING THE 2010 PIPELINE RELEASE INTO THE KALAMAZOO RIVER New science is changing how emergency personnel respond to spills of crude oil into freshwater ecosystems. For the 2010 pipeline release of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River, MI, the Environmental Protection Agency used multiple lines of evidence to determine the extent, transport and fate, and ecological effects of residual submerged oil entrained in river sediment along a 60-km reach of river with three impoundments. Submerged oil was the major focus of cleanup efforts through 2014 after conventional methods recovered the floating component. A team of experts developed a Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA) and applied it to over 200 tactical response areas in the river. After considering public health and worker safety, the NEBA offered a means for the Federal On-Scene Coordinator and staff to weigh the ecological risks associated with leaving residual submerged oil in place against those associated with removing the oil with proposed recovery actions, including dredging. As tactical areas were updated with new information, the team repeated the use of the NEBA to aid decision-making.

Faith A. Fitzpatrick (POC,Primary Presenter), U.S. Geological Survey, fafitzpa@usgs.gov;


Daniel M. Capone (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Mannik and Smith Group, dcapone@manniksmithgroup.com;


Adriana C. Bejarano (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), RPI, Inc, abejarano@researchplanning.com;


Lisa L. Williams (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Fish and Wildlife Service, lisa_williams@fws.gov;


Jacqueline Michel (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), RPI, Inc., jmichel@researchplanning.com;


Ralph H. Dollhopf (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. EPA, dollhopf.ralph@epa.gov;


Jeffrey W. Kimble (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. EPA, kimble.jeffrey@epa.gov;


Stephen K. Hamilton (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University & Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, hamilton@kbs.msu.edu;

5/21/2015  |   15:45 - 16:00   |  102B

LABORATORY EVALUATION OF MACROSCOPIC OIL-PARTICLE-AGGREGATES FORMED FROM DILUTED BITUMEN AND KALAMAZOO RIVER SEDIMENT Experimental work was undertaken with Cold Lake Blend dilbit and Kalamazoo River sediment samples to provide inputs to a numerical oiled-sediment transport model that was developed as a management tool to guide cleanup efforts associated with the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill. The sample of Cold Lake Blend maintained positive buoyancy in freshwater even after all the diluent was volatilized (specific gravity = 0.993 at 20C). The primary challenge of the experimental work was to generate oil-particle-aggregates (OPA) that were qualitatively representative of field-observed OPA: such OPA was anecdotally described as macroscopic “flecks” of tarry debris transported in suspension during initial site response; OPA that submerged to the bed continues to resurface upon bed agitation in macroscopic forms described by field personnel as “globs” of sediment-laden oil. The following laboratory results will be discussed: (1) the mixing environment found to be most advantageous to create such macroscopic OPA; (2) OPA physical characteristics based on analysis with ultraviolet light microscopy; and (3) transport-related properties based on settling column and annular flume tests.

David Waterman (Primary Presenter/Author), Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, waterma3@illinois.edu;


Marcelo Garcia (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mhgarcia@illinois.edu;

5/21/2015  |   16:00 - 16:15   |  102B

A MAJOR DILUTED BITUMEN (OIL SANDS) SPILL INTO THE KALAMAZOO RIVER (MICHIGAN): WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE NEED TO LEARN Diluted bitumen from the oil sands (tar sands) of western Canada is increasingly being transported to US markets, and would flow in the Keystone XL pipeline if approved. North America’s largest inland oil spill and the first major oil sands spill in a freshwater environment occurred in 2010, when at least 843,000 gallons leaked from a pipeline into the Kalamazoo River of southwest Michigan. Cleanup of this oil was unusually difficult and protracted, lasting through 2014 and costing over a billion dollars, largely because a substantial fraction of the oil became submersed and deposited in slack water areas over 60 km or river channel, reservoirs, and floodplain backwaters. I summarize the scientific understanding of the ecological effects of this oil in the riverine environment and highlight areas where we need better information. Toxicity of the bitumen, its eventual biodegradation above and below water, and its propensity to form surface sheen are highly uncertain. Other talks in this session will discuss the transport and fate of submerged oil in more detail.

Stephen K. Hamilton (Primary Presenter/Author), Michigan State University & Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, hamilton@kbs.msu.edu;


Micaleila Desotelle (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, desotell@msu.edu;

5/21/2015  |   16:15 - 16:30   |  102B

A MAJOR DILUTED BITUMEN (OIL SANDS) SPILL INTO THE KALAMAZOO RIVER (MICHIGAN): WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE NEED TO LEARN Diluted bitumen from the oil sands (tar sands) of western Canada is increasingly being transported to US markets, and would flow in the Keystone XL pipeline if approved. North America’s largest inland oil spill and the first major oil sands spill in a freshwater environment occurred in 2010, when at least 843,000 gallons leaked from a pipeline into the Kalamazoo River of southwest Michigan. Cleanup of this oil was unusually difficult and protracted, lasting through 2014 and costing over a billion dollars, largely because a substantial fraction of the oil became submersed and deposited in slack water areas over 60 km or river channel, reservoirs, and floodplain backwaters. I summarize the scientific understanding of the ecological effects of this oil in the riverine environment and highlight areas where we need better information. Toxicity of the bitumen, its eventual biodegradation above and below water, and its propensity to form surface sheen are highly uncertain. Other talks in this session will discuss the transport and fate of submerged oil in more detail.

Stephen K. Hamilton (Primary Presenter/Author), Michigan State University & Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, hamilton@kbs.msu.edu;


Micaleila Desotelle (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Michigan State University, desotell@msu.edu;