Project Information

Title: Monitoring Lingering Oil on Boulder-Armored Beaches in the GOA 040708

Project Year and Number: 2004: 040708

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: None

Principal Investigator (PI): Gail Irvine (DOI )

Managing Agency: USGS

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Peninsula

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Designated Wilderness Areas, Intertidal Organisms, Sediments, Subtidal Organisms

Abstract: We propose to continue monitoring the persistence and degradation of oil at boulder-armored Gulf of Alaska beaches that have been studied since 1992 and investigate how stability of the boulder armors affects both persistence and weathering. These sites were re-sampled in 1994 and 1999; 2004 would be the next targeted study date. The continued contamination of these sites, arrayed along the Katmai and Kenai Fjords National Park coasts, compromises the aesthetics and wilderness values of some of the most pristine wilderness-coast parklands in the world. The lack of weathering of much of the oil means that the oil, if released, could pose a risk to biota. Subsurface oil persisted at these sites in 1999 with little change in extent or chemical weathering since 1994. Data also suggests that the boulder armors are largely stable. We propose to assess changes in surface and subsurface oiling, chemical weathering of the oil, and stability of the boulder armors. Results will be published.


Proposal: View (1,837 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY05: View (62 KB)
Final Report: View (2,162 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available