RESPONSE TO CATASTROPHIC MARINE POLLUTION INCIDENTS: AN ANALYTIC METHOD FOR RESOURCE PLANNING AND CONTROL

Petroleum products and chemicals are carried in large quantities by ships and barges through highly sensitive ports and waterways in the United States. A major oil spill is a relatively rare occurrence and a significant chemical cargo release is a very low probability event. However, the consequences of an oil spill in an environmentally sensitive area can be serious; the result of a chemical release in a densely populated port area could be catastrophic. Response forces in either case will have a limited period of time to initiate action if their amelioration efforts are to be successful.; The need for improved response planning and control is established by reviewing the historical development of maritime response forces, and by showing why rescue and salvage organizations are poorly equipped to deal with the problem of large scale cargo releases. A multi objective resource allocation model based on the time constrained nature of this response problem is developed. The requirement to pre-site resources and the desire to maximize potential response effectiveness make the covering model formulations used for siting fire fighting equipment an attractive methodology.; A three step process is used to adapt the covering model formulation to the maritime problem and to demonstrate its applicability. Models applied to other similar problems are reviewed and extended. The extended model is tested by applying it to the time constrained problem of response to a major oil spill in Long Island Sound. The results of this application show the utility of the algorithm both as a tactical decision support tool and as a planning model.; An analysis of the risks of chemical spills in the New York Harbor based on the best available data is used to provide the basis for a broader application of the model. The results show the inadequacy of existing resources and demonstrate that significant improvements in response capability could be attained. The quantification of potential benefits of the development and procurement of new response techniques and equipment illustrate the applicability of the model to longer range strategic decisions.