Industry is committed to operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Environmental and community and responder safety plans form an essential element of comprehensive and actionable oil spill preparedness and response plans. SSDI is a new concept and, to date, has been associated only with one catastrophic release from a continuous well loss-of-containment incident (e.g., blowout). SSDI involves adding dispersant directly to the production fluid releasing from the well or riser via a remotely controlled underwater vehicle or a fixed injection system associated with a capping stack. The intent is to limit the formation of a surface oil slick, to minimize the aerial release of volatile compounds at the spill response site (a threat to worker health and safety), to prevent or reduce the potential for floating oil to impact sensitive environmental resources, and to optimize the potential for microbial biodegradation. As it is a new approach, it is important that monitoring be conducted in a manner that provides actionable data for decision-makers within the ICS.
The purpose of sampling and monitoring as described in this document is to:
— determine dispersant efficacy;
— characterize the dissolved oxygen and oil droplet sizes for subsea, or near surface, dispersed oil plumes,including background samples;
— assess potential ecological effects as they relate to operational response decision-making; and
— evalute data collected in this plan supporting the Spill Impaction Mitigation Analysis for justifying the use of SSDI.
