Emergency Response Management of Offshore Oil Spills Guidelines for Emergency Responders

The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe is shaping up to be the largest offshore oil spill in history and an ecological nightmare of epic proportions. Emergency Response Management of Offshore Oil Spills is intended to aid in the response of this tragic disaster by providing, in one volume, information to rapidly orient response workers. It outlines the toxic nature of crude oil, covering properties of crude oil, chemical composition, toxicity to humans and marine life, and investigates the impact of oil spills from historical case studies. The current arsenals available to address oil spills, such as dispersants, absorbing booms, skinning, and other methods are also discussed. Technologies which are rapidly being developed to address the Gulf Oil Spill are considered, alongside with extensive information on chemical protective clothing, air monitoring, respiratory protection, management of waste, and much more. The book concludes with a chapter discussing responsible care and takes a critical look at the reasons why the Deepwater Horizon Rig catastrophe happened and the failure of British Petroleum to act in a responsible manner.

Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff is a consultant to industry and governments on standard of care as it pertains to environmental management and worker protection. He has more than 35 years of international consulting, business, and applied research and development experiences, having worked throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, parts of the Middle East, Latin America, the Far East, Africa, and the U.S. He has led and participated in hundreds of pollution prevention and environmental health and safety audits of large industrial complexes including refineries, coke-chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, steel mills, pharmaceutical and pesticide manufacturing plants, wood treating facilities, and other industrial operations. He has led and assisted several foreign governments in strengthening environmental laws and trained several thousand regulators and industry personnel on environmental auditing, pollution prevention and safe chemical management through programs sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, European Union, and World Bank Organization. He is the author, co-author or editor of more than 150 technical books. Dr. Cheremisinoff earned his Ph.D., M.Sc. and B.Sc. in chemical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology.

Anton Davletshin is Senior Project Manager for N&P, Ltd, a firm specializing in standard of care assessments. Anton manages sampling programs, conducts historical literature reviews and assists in environmental impact assessments that aid N&P staff in forensic reconstruction of legacy pollution problems. His expertise extends to applications of air dispersion simulations using EPA-approved AerMod used in the evaluation of community impacts from point and area sources of emissions from within industrial complexes. A graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, he holds a degree in Construction Management.