SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Municipal Environmental Research
Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA-600/S2-81-012 Jan. 1981
Project Summary
Long-Term Effects of the
Barge Florida Oil Spill
Howard L Sanders, J. Frederick Grassle, George R. Hampson, Linda S.
Morse, Susan Garner-Price, and Carol C. Jones
Intensive sampling of marine and
estuarine benthos was conducted
over a 5-year period after a spill of No.
2 fuel oil by the barge Florida off West
Falmouth, Massachusetts, on
September 16, 1969. Samples were
taken along an onshore-offshore gra-
dient of pollution, and control samples
were taken from unoiled sites.
Analyses of hydrocarbons established
that pollution was greatest and most
persistent in the intertidal and subtidal
zones of Wild Harbor River and less
severe in degree and duration at
stations farthest from shore. A variety
of concurrent analyses showed that
disturbance of the fauna was most
severe and longest lasting at the most
heavily oiled sites and less severe but
perceptible at lightly oiled stations.
Patterns of disturbance were not
related to granulometry of the sedi-
ments. Plants, crustaceans, fish, and
birds suffered both high mortality
immediately after the spill, and
physiological and behavioral
abnormalities directly related to high
concentrations of the fuel oil. Five
years after the spill, its effects on the
biota were still detectable, and partly
degraded No. 2 fuel oil was still
present in the sediments in Wild
Harbor River and estuary.
This Project Summary was devel-
oped by EPA's Municipal Envi-
ronmental Research Laboratory.
Cincinnati. Ohio, to announce key
findings of the research project that is
fully documented in a separate report
of the same title (see Project Report
ordering information at back).
Introduction
Early on the morning of September
16,1969, the barge Florida ran aground
on a rocky shoal off Fassett's Point,
West Falmouth, Massachusetts, and
spilled 650,000 to 700,000 liters of No.
2 fuel oil into Buzzards Bay (Figures 1 -
3). Strong south southwest winds,
common to this regoin, churned the oil
into an oil-water emulsion and drove it
northeastward into Wild Harbor River in
North Falmouth. The oil spread over
more than 1,000 acres, including 4
71°W
Figure 1. Map of Southeastern
Massachusetts showing
location of study area in
Eastern Buzzards Bay.
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Figure 2. Map of study area show-
ing site of grounding of
the barge Florida (star)
and major clusters of
sampling sites. Inten-
sively sampled area in
box.
miles of coastline. Mass mortality of at
least the larger marine animals quickly
supervened in the intertidal and sub-
tidal zones of the river.
Water-based emulsifiers, claimed by
the manufacturers to be nontoxic, were
initially used to clean up the oil. The
company hired to remove the oil first
applied these emulsifiers in Wild Harbor
on the evening of September 16; further
applications were made the next day.
On September 18 and 19, the company
introduced emulsifiers into the waters
from the beach south of Wild Harbor
before being restrained on the grounds
that they were toxic to shellfish. A total
of 17,072 liters of emulsifiers were
Wild
Harbor
Figure 3. Intensively sampled Wild
Harbor River area, show-
ing location of stations
and bathymetry. Contour
interval is 5 meters.
added to the water in fewer than 4 days.
These chemicals were not the chief
cause of death, however, for animals
had begun to die in large numbers at
least 4 hours before the first emulsifiers
were applied. Most spills of petroleum
distillates result in a significant kill of
marine life if they are of any magnitude.
Several observations were made
during the initial study period. Within
only 8 to 10 days at the relatively high
temperatures of 18° to 21 °C, carcasses
of most soft-bodied animals completely
decomposed. Skeletons were soon dis-
articulated and scattered. Both inter-
tidal and subtidal sediments, particular-
ly sands, became physically unstable,
probably because of disintegration of
animal secretions and tubes, and the
death of vegetation and benthic algae
that bound the sediment. Marsh
grasses reached by waterborne oil
during the first 3 weeks after the spill
died. The pollution indicator polychaete
Capitella increased explosively to
occupy the river bottom in very dense
concentrations. By late spring and early
summer of 1970, the numbers of this
polychaete crashed, and a few other
species were able to occupy thisarea. In
the spring of 1970, the gonads of blue
mussels (Mytilus edulis) surviving in the
affected area were thin and sterile,
whereas gonads of blue mussels in the
unpolluted Sippewissett Marsh were
plump and fertile. Some mortality
always attended the presence of oil in
the sediments, and the greater the con-
centration of oil, the heavier the
mortality. In sediments saturated with
oil, the extinction of life was sometimes
nearly complete.
To study spatial and temporal
changes in the concentration and
composition of the fuel oil and in the
density and character of the benthic
fauna, a long-term strategy was
developed. The strategy involved
monthly or bimonthly sampling at
stations along a gradient ranging from
the most severe effects in Wild Harbor
River to the least severe effects at off-
shore stations in Buzzards Bay. For the
intensively sampled stations, we
considered granulometry of sediments,
composition of hydrocarbons, and
quantitative and qualitative changes in
the fauna (including patterns of domi-
nance, constancy, numerical variability,
and diversity).
The report purposely emphasizes
details to avoid the error of many
pollution-related studies of benthic
ecology that draw their conclusions
based on equivocal interpretations of
insufficient and ambiguous data. Such
inadequate conclusions are often the
basis for important decisions. Our
detailed presentation and analysis of
the data aims to demonstrate more than
adequately the persistent deleterious
effects of No. 2 fuel oil on the marine
benthos.
Conclusions
1. The petroleum hydrocarbons in
the sediments of Wild Harbor
River and adjacent offshore came
from the No. 2 fuel oil spilled by
the Florida on September 16,
1969. Concentrations were
highest and degradation slowest
in the intertidal and subtidal
zones of the river. Concentrations
were lowest at stations farthest
from the shore.
2. Oil spread seaward from the
areas of highest concentrations
for at least 5 years. After this span
of time, fuel oil that was only
somewhat degraded was still de-
tectable in the peat and sedi-
ments of the river.
3. Within 12 hours after the spill,
marine animals began to die in I
great numbers. Increased mortal-
ity rates were most severe and
long lasting in the river, less so at
nearshore subtidal stations, and
least of all at the more distant off-
shore stations. This pattern was
especially evident among ampeli-
scid amphipods.
4. The opportunistic polychaete
Capitella monopolized the biolog-
ically denuded substrata at the
heavily oiled stations for the first
11 months after the spill, then
crashed. At the offshore stations,
Mediomastus ambiseta (another
capitellid polychaete), became
common nearly a year after the
spill and remained so during the
second year at intermediately
oiled stations; however, it soon
declined in numbers at lightly
oiled stations.
5. Intensity and duration of faunal
changes matched the gradient of
pollution by No. 2 fuel oil, but they
were only occasionally related to
granulometry of the sediments.
The fauna in Wild Harbor River
was unstable in density, diversity, m
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and composition. Fluctuations in
composition were successional.
After more than 5 years, the
fauna there had only slightly
recovered.
At the nearshore subtidal
stations, faunal fluctuations were
rapid and very broad in the first
year, and successively less so in
later years. After the first year,
changes in composition began to
alter in character from succes-
sional to season. Recovery had
begun, but it was not very far
advanced by the end of 21/2 years.
Faunal changes at stations
farthest from shore were rela-
tively slight and seasonal in
nature. The fauna recovered in
density, number of species, and
diversity after about a year.
At unoiled stations, faunal
changes were.slight and
seasonal.
6. Increased species richness
usually contributed more to
recovery of diversity than did
increase in the evenness with
which individuals were distri-
buted among species.
7. Even though the fauna began to
recover in diversity and density,
they continued to suffer the ill
effects of the oil. Physiological
and behavioral disorders caused
by the oil resulted in growth and
reproduction impairment, and
death.
8. Bacterial seeding in areas heavily
polluted by oil is probably inade-
quate to hasten the degradation
of petroleum hydrocarbons.
9. Faunal surveys undertaken more
than a week after an incident of
oil pollution probably will not find
any of the larger, soft-bodied
animals killed by the oil.
10. Carefully conducted, quantita-
tive, long-term studies, to detect
physiological and behavioral
effects of oil spills on all levels of
the marine trophic structure (the
apical member of which is often
man) are essential. Only through
such studies can society
appreciate the true price paid for
the undramatic, pervasive, ever-
spreading, chronic pollution that
disrupts and alters increasingly
great reaches of natural habitats.
Mathematical techniques (partic-
ularly diversity indices) must be
used with comprehension and
care.
Howard L Sanders, J. Frederick Grassle, George R. Hampson. Linda S. Morse,
Susan Garner-Price, and Carol C. Jones are with the Woods Hole Oceano-
graphic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
John S. Farlow is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Long-Term Effects of the Barge Florida Oil Spill,"
(Order No. PB 81 144-792; Cost: $17.00, subject to change) will be available
from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
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