Shoreline Assessment and Environmental Impacts from the M/T Westchester Oil Spill in the Mississippi River

Abstract

The spill of 1925 tonnes of Nigerian crude oil into the Mississippi River on 28 November 2000 resulted in shoreline contamination along 35 km of one bank of the river and sheens as far as 70 km from the release site. An estimated 50% of the spilled oil was recovered during on-water operations. Impacts to fish and wildlife were minimal. Several factors contributed to the success of the response: rapid deployment of booms that diverted large volumes of oil into sheltered holding areas for recovery; the wind blew consistently from the ENE holding the oil against one bank; the ambient temperature was often below the oil’s pour point so the oil formed thick accumulations; and the river levees provided good access to the shoreline in places. Cleanup endpoints were developed for riprap, sand flats, mud flats, and sloughs.