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Oil Spill Monitoring

National Plan Research, Development & Technology

Background Paper

The purpose of the Background Paper [ PDF: 1477Kb] is to provide guidance about the nature, justifiable scope, and scale of spill monitoring programmes. It focuses predominantly on monitoring of oil spills, although the concepts presented are generally applicable to all types of marine spills.

The Background Paper defines and discusses the rationale for classifying spill monitoring into two general “types”: Operational (Type I) and Non-Operational or Post Spill (Type II) monitoring. It explains the significance of these terms, addresses funding and cost recovery aspects, and describes the key design aspects that must be considered when establishing a monitoring programme.

It directly supports the Oil Spill Monitoring Handbook [ PDF: 1943Kb] (AMSA, 2003), which is designed to provide field guidance for the planning and execution of monitoring of oil spills for operational (response) purposes.

Handbook

The Handbook provides guidelines for undertaking monitoring for actual or potential marine spill responses. It focuses on oil spill monitoring; however the guidelines presented are also generally applicable for monitoring marine chemical spills. It is designed for use by personnel who are familiar with the field information needed during a spill response.

Copies of the Oil Spill Monitoring Background Paper [ PDF: 1477Kb] and Handbook [ PDF: 1943Kb] may be downloaded as a PDF. If you are unable to download the files for any reason, please contact Environment Protection to obtain a copy.

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last updated: August 2006