LIFE4MEDECA A2.D2 - Some insights and open issues on the impact of Low Sulphur Oil Spills on Marine Biodiversity: properties, fate, toxicity and remediation strategies

L'Azione A2 della LIFEMEDECA, "Valutazione socio-economica supplementare", mira a realizzare le valutazioni socio-economiche supplementari (come richiesto dalla tabella di marcia concordata alla COP21) e ad affrontare le questioni tecniche e/o scientifiche emergenti che potrebbero compromettere un'adeguata valutazione dei bisogni e dei colli di bottiglia verso la creazione di una MED ECA. Di conseguenza, l'Act.A2 si concentra sui seguenti studi complementari come descritto nel documento: (i) impatto del MEDECA sulla biodiversità, (ii) valutazione preliminare dell'impatto del MEDECA sul settore della pesca MED, (iii) impatto sul turismo, (iv) ricezione dei residui dello scrubber.

The LIFEMEDECA Action A2,"Additional socio-economic assessment", aims at carrying out the additional socio-economic assessments (as mandated by the road map agreed at COP21) and at dealing with emerging relevant technical and/or scientific issues which might jeopardize an appropriate assessment of needs and bottlenecks toward the establishment of a MED ECA. Accordingly, Act.A2 is focusing on the following complementary studies as described in the document: (i) impact of MEDECA on biodiversity, (ii) preliminary assestment of the MEDECA impact on the MED fishing sector, (iii) impact on tourism, (iv) scrubber residual reception. Scope of this document is to present the results of study (a), namely the impact of MEDECA on biodiversity. Accordingly, in this report the behavior of low Sulphur oils in case of spill into the seawater is considered. Due to the rather scarce information and data available, this document presents the recent and ongoing activities that are being carried out addressing this topic and some preliminary results. Prior to this, the problem is introduced through data and statistics on oil spills in the Mediterranean, costs of remediation and on the impact on marine biodiversity. Also presented and discussed are the chemical and physical quantities that must be known and monitored for the analysis of the problem. The focus of the analysis is to assess the impact of the new generation of low-sulfur fuels on the marine environment and the effectiveness of remediation measures. New data and results are expected in the coming months as a result of the ongoing project IMAROS (www.kystverket.no/imaros) however, the analysis performed highlights the need to conduct more systematic and targeted analyses in order to provide recommendations for new regulations and be prepared to intervene promptly and effectively in case of accidental or voluntary spills of Low-Sulphur Fuels. In fact, the rapidity of response is one of the key variables in reducing impacts to marine biodiversity and cleanup costs. A detailed list of recommendations is finally provided.