DECLINE LISTED FOR SPILLS OFF THE U.S.

Oil spills from tankers operating off the U.S. are becoming significantly smaller and less frequent.

There was less oil spilled from tankers in U.S. waters in 1991 than in any year since 1978. In addition, the first 6 months of this year were free of major tanker oil spills off the U.S.

Those are the key findings of a new report by Golob's Oil Pollution Bulletin, a newsletter published by environmental consulting firm World Information Systems (WIS), Cambridge, Mass. The findings suggest the start of a long term trend of reduced oil spills, said WIS Pres. Richard Golob.

If that is the case, Golob contends, the U.S. Coast Guard must take the improving trend into consideration as it develops regulations required under OPA. Otherwise, the agency risks devising costly new rules and standards that may not be necessary, with the added cost burden threatening that improving trend in the long term.

1991 RECORD

The amount of oil lost in major - more than 10,000 gal -tanker spills in U.S. waters in 1991 totaled only 55, 000 gal, Golob data show.

That total represents only 2% of the 14 year average volume of oil lost of 3.4 million gal/year and less than 0.5% of the total volume lost in 1989, when the 10.9 million gal Exxon Valdez spill and four other spills resulted in the combined loss of 11.6 million gal.

The number of major tanker spills in 1991 was about half the 14 year average of 6.3 spills/year and the fewest since 1985. Those three 1991 spills were each among the smallest in the WIS database of major tanker spills.

The biggest of the 1991 spills involved the 14,534 dwt Spanish tanker Mar Caterina. It rammed into a wall of the Snell Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway near Massena, N.Y., spilling about 21,000 gal of asphalt.

TRACK RECORD

In contrast, 7 of the previous 13 years had at least one spill of more than 1 million gal.

Although only eight of 86 spills of known volume during 1978-91 involved losses of 1 million gal or more, that 9% accounted almost three fourths of the 47 million gal of oil lost in major tanker incidents since 1978.

The two biggest spills of the period, the Burmah Agate explosion, fire, and spill in 1979 and the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, together account for almost of the total tanker oil losses during 1978-91. The Burmah Agate spill accounted for about 85% of the total volume of oil lost in U.S. tanker incidents in 1979.

In 1990, the 4.3 million gal Mega Borg explosion, fire, and spill accounted for almost 74% of the total volume of oil lost in tanker incidents that year.

In 1982, the loss of 1.47 million gal of crude from the Arkas tanker accounted for 98% of the total volume spilled that year.

Two major tanker spills involving loss of more than 1 million gal each occurred in 1984.

The biggest involved the Alvenus, which lost almost 2.8 million gal of crude oil.

The other massive spill that year involved the Puerto Rican tanker, which lost more than 2 million gal of bunker fuel and lube oil. Together the two accounted for 79% of the year's total volume spilled.

Three vessels each experienced two accidents during the study period. The Amazon Venture had two spills involving valve failure in 1986. The Stuyvesant had hull damage twice in 1987, each time spilling about 600,000 gal. The Concho spilled 75,000 gal in 1981 and 25,000 gal in 1988.

Tanker spills during 1978-91 most commonly involved tankers registered in the U.S. 29, Liberia 23, Greece 8, or the U.K. 5. Twenty vessels registered in 16 other countries also had spills in the period, and four spills involved vessels of unknown registry.

1992 HOLDING UP

The industry's improved record is holding up well in 1992.

The lack of major spills off the U.S. in the first half compares with an average for the same period of 3.4 spills during the past 14 years.

Only one major tanker spill has been recorded in U.S. waters this year. It involved the 87,366 dwt Japanese tanker Shoko Maru that spilled a least 96,000 gal of crude into the Texas City Channel at Texas City, Tex., July 17.

Golob noted the reduction in spillage appears consistent with data from the Tanker Advisory Center, New York, that shows the average quality rating of tankers serving U.S. waters increased slightly from early 1989 to early 1992.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Golob cites enactment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) as the likely main reason for reduced size and frequency of major tanker oil spills in U.S. waters.

That law has created an atmosphere of increased vigilance in the oil industry against oil pollution, Golob said. Vessel owners, operators, and charterers have intensified their efforts to prevent spills.

Golob also contends the "rustbucket" scenario feared under OPA liability provisions failed to materialize.

"In addition," he said, "our findings would seem to dispel the concerns that the liability provisions of OPA and the subsequent state oil spill laws would drive away responsible vessel owners, operators, and charterers from transporting oil in U.S. waters, leaving the oil to be carried by inferior ships and unscrupulous companies.

"In fact, it seems as if the opposite may be taking place."

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The apparent trend has striking implications for OPA implementation, Golob warns.

"For example, the U.S. Coast Guard recently proposed regulations that would require vessel owners to prepare plans for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to worst case discharges," he said. "Compliance with the proposed regulations probably will involve a total undiscounted cash outlay of $6.3 billion through 2015.

"However, in developing these proposed regulations, the Coast Guard did not account for any future reduction in oil spills due to the cumulative effect of OPA regulations, including those that deal with double hulls, drug and alcohol controls, vessel traffic systems, and vessel maintenance and repair.

"As a result, the Coast Guard's regulatory impact analysis tended to overstate the benefits of the vessel response plans. If the Coast Guard had accounted for a possible reduction in oil spills, the proposed regulations probably would not have included such stringent and costly requirements."

Noting that implementing the more stringent OPA standards for massive spill response will push the cost of industry compliance higher and higher even as the long term trend is for fewer and smaller tanker oil spills, Golob contends the real question is: How will the Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC) maintain itself?

MSRC-the first national oil spill cleanup organization, set up and financed by major oil companies-is scheduled for full operational start-up Feb. 18, 1993 (OGJ, Dec. 2, 1991, p. 19).

"MSRC is dedicated to respond to massive spills, so I wonder about its future," Golob said. "Congress may want to amend the statutes."

The big concern, Golob contends, is that increasingly stringent rules may require industry to stockpile equipment far beyond what is needed and at the same time add a crushing cost burden for major oil companies that otherwise would wish to stay in the U.S. petroleum tankering business.

Thus, the soaring costs of such an effort may in the end recreate the rustbucket scenario that unlimited liability had raised.