"WASHINGTON, DC -- The warming climate is melting sea ice, opening U.S. Arctic waters to shipping and oil and gas development, but the National Research Council warned today that U.S. personnel, equipment, transportation, communication, navigation, and safety resources are not adequate for an Arctic oil spill response.
In a new report released today, 'Responding to Oil Spills in the US Arctic Marine Environment' the National Research Council calls this absence of infrastructure a 'significant liability' in the event of a large oil spill.
The Arctic poses challenges to oil spill response, such as extreme weather and environmental settings, limited operations and communications infrastructure, a vast geographic area, and vulnerable species, ecosystems, and cultures.
'There is a need to validate current and emerging oil spill response technologies under these real-world conditions,' the report finds."
Environment News Service had the story April 23, 2014.
SEE ALSO:
"Ability to respond to oil spill in the Arctic called 'sorely lacking'" (Alaska Dispatch)
"The Growing Concern About Arctic Oil Spills" (High Country News)
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