Oil disasters and government actions in the face of social, environmental, and health-related impacts: A scoping review

Santos, Romário Correia dos; Gurgel, Aline do Monte; Silva, Lucas lago Moura da; Santos, Liliana; Rêgo, Rita de Cássia Franco; Gurgel, Idê Gomes Dantas; Santos, Mariana Olívia Santana dos

doi:10.1590/0103-11042022E815

person Romário Correia dos Santos

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolUniversidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Instituto de Saúde Coletiva CISC) -Salvador (BA), Brasil. romario.correia@outlook.com

0000-0002-4973-123X

person Aline do Monte Gurgel

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolFundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Instituto Aggeu Magalhães (IAM), Laboratório de Saúde, Ambiente e Trabalho (La sat)- Recife (PE), Brasil.

0000-0002-5981-3597

person Lucas lago Moura da Silva

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolUniversidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Instituto de Saúde Coletiva CISC) -Salvador (BA), Brasil. romario.correia@outlook.com

0000-0002-2174-6501

person Liliana Santos

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolUniversidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Instituto de Saúde Coletiva CISC) -Salvador (BA), Brasil. romario.correia@outlook.com

0000-0002-8958-4094

person Rita de Cássia Franco Rêgo

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolUniversidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Faculdade de Medicina (FM)-Salvador (BA), Brasil.

0000-0002-0632-4546

person Idê Gomes Dantas Gurgel

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolFundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Instituto Aggeu Magalhães (IAM), Laboratório de Saúde, Ambiente e Trabalho (La sat)- Recife (PE), Brasil.

0000-0002-2958-683X

person Mariana Olívia Santana dos Santos

contributed to the elaboration of the manuscript

schoolFundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Instituto Aggeu Magalhães (IAM), Laboratório de Saúde, Ambiente e Trabalho (La sat)- Recife (PE), Brasil.

0000-0002-2129-2335

*

Orcid (Open Researcher and Contributor ID).

Conflict of interests: non-existent

Country	Disaster, year	Characterization	Authors
Brazil	Unknown spill, 2019	Largest oil spill in tropical waters in the world, with 5,000 tons of oily waste dumped, 4,000 km of coastline, 1,009 beaches in 11 Brazilian states and 55 conservation units affected. More than 40 marine protected areas and two of the largest environmental protection areas in the South Atlantic and other tropical ecosystems unique for their biodiversity were affected. It has social, economic and environmental impacts that can last for a decade.	Silva et al.³¹; Ladle³²; Pena et al.³³; Soares et al.³⁴; Magalhães et al.³⁵; Zacharias et al.³⁶; Soares et al.³⁷
India	Ships collision, 2017	Spill caused by the collision of two cargo ships about 2 miles off the coast of Chennai. About 75 tons of heavy fuel oil were released into the Bay of Bengal.	Han et al.³⁸
Taiwan	Shipwreck, 2016	Grounding of the TS Taipei freighter 400 meters off the coast, causing the spill of about 417 tons of diesel oil. The incident occurred close to important and sensitive coastal environments, fishing and tourist areas and two water collection stations of a nuclear power plant.	Fan et al.³⁹
USA	Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion, 2010	Largest oil spill in US history. Oil platform explosion, releasing approximately 626,000 tons of crude oil approximately 1,500 meters below the sea surface. The disaster forced the shutdown of commercial fishing in the state of Louisiana, resulting in an estimated 11% reduction in fishermen's income, 23% in commerce, which impacted a 28% decline in employment for all sectors associated with this industry. It brought serious damage to tourism, food and fishing communities in the region.	Ylitalo et al.⁴⁰; Simon-Friedt et al.⁴¹; Lubchenco et al.⁴²; Osofsky, Osofsky⁴³; Birkland, DeYoung⁴⁴
South Korea	Hebei Spirit collision, 2007	Collision of the Hebei Spirit vessel with a crane barge off the coast of Taean County, causing the worst oil spill in Korea and the second largest in the world, with the spill of 290,000 tons of crude oil over 375 km across the south coast, polluting and affecting fishermen, restaurant owners, and residents of the region.	Hur⁴⁵
Lebanon	Jiyyeh plant oil spill, 2006	Large oil spill from coastal Jiyyeh plant caused by bombing in the Lebanese-Israeli war. Released 15,000 tons of fuel oil into the Mediterranean Sea.	Takshe et al.⁴⁶
Pakistan	Tasman Spirit grounding, 2003	Ship grounding, releasing approximately 31,000 tons of crude oil into the sea, causing extensive environmental damage along the coast of Karachi, affecting 270 km² of seabed, impacting marine ecosystems and coastal areas. Approximately 300,000 people may have been affected, with damage estimated between US$ 1.5 and US$ 2 billion.	Mian, Bennett.⁴⁷
Spain	Prestige shipwreck, 2002	Prestige shipwreck, an oil tanker carrying 77,033 tons of heavy fuel. It affected the northwest coast of Spain, 400 km off the coast, which is home to one of the main fishing communities in the European Union.	Carrasco et al.⁴⁸; Surís-Regueiro et al.⁴⁹; Salomone⁵⁰
Taiwan	Amorgos spill, 2001	Spill from the Greek freighter Amorgos off the coast of the Kenting Peninsula, with about 35,000 tons of ore. About 1,300 tons of fuel oil are estimated to have leaked, contaminating 3.5 km of coastline along the Long Kun Ecological Conservation Area.	Chiau⁵¹
Canada	Tanker grounding, 1970	Grounding of old tanker SS Arrow, carrying 14,700 tons of fuel oil, in Chedabucto Bay, on the east coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. About two-thirds of its cargo was released into the bay's waters due to weather conditions.	Lee et al.⁵²

Disaster/Country/Year	Author	Intersectoral actions	Economic actions	Environmental actions	Health actions
Spill with unknown source. Brazil, 2019.	Silva et al.³¹	Not Identified (NI)	Emergency aid for R$ 1,996.00 (2 minimum wages in 2019, equivalent to US$ 472), paid in two installments, to around 66,000 professional small-scale fishermen registered in the General Registry of Fishing Activity (RGP) and residing in an area affected by the environmental disaster.	NI	Fishing ban for fear of contamination; food sample analysis.
Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. USA, 2010.	Ylitalo et al.⁴⁰; Simon-Friedt et al.⁴¹; Lubchenco et al⁴²;Osofsky, Osofsky⁴³; Birkland, DeYoung⁴⁴.	Establishment of an investigative commission into the causes and damages of the spill and a scientific response committee; articulation between government, academia and private sectors; investment of US$ 11 million for immediate investigations into the spill and US$500 million over 10 years.	NI	Cleaning with chemical dispersants; analysis and monitoring of the impacts of cleaning actions on the environment; establishing protocols and safety standards for detecting contaminants in fauna and flora; provision of training to expand the workforce's capacity in cleaning up and recovering the affected areas.	Food sample analysis; fishing ban; mental health care; meeting to plan community responses to prevent health risks.
Tanker grounding. Canada, 1970.	Lee et al.⁵²	Establishment of a scientific committee for consultancy and coordination of actions; intersectoral articulation between government and universities to create responses and promote monitoring of the situation; funding research on spillage.	NI	Appointment of military agents to manage cleanup activities.	NI
Shipwreck of the Prestige. Spain, 2002.	Carrasco et al.⁴⁸; Surís-Regueiro et al.⁴⁹; Salomone⁵⁰.	NI	Financial aid for fishing industry workers, such as shellfish gatherers and fish sellers; tax benefits for companies, preferred line of credit; coverage of expenses involving material and repair of vessels that collaborated with the cleaning operation.	Cleaning by mechanical methods such as sand removal or using high pressure water jets to clean rocks.	Fishing ban; epidemiological inquiry; dissemination of information to the population about the risks of oil exposure and the need to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for cleaning activities.
Ships collision. India, 2017.	Han et al.³⁸	NI	NI	Cleaning with pumps to extract floating oil; hundreds of workers were used to scoop up the floating oil using plastic buckets	NI
Collision of the Hebei Spirit. South Korea, 2007.	Hur⁴⁵	Social mobilization of residents of the region; government support for voluntary actions; establishment of communicative strategies; interministerial and intersectoral articulation; request for international assistance.	Emergency aid	NI	NI
Amorgos spill. Taiwan, 2001.	Chiau⁵¹	Establishment of an intersectoral and intergovernmental crisis committee with universities; creation of Taiwan's national "Ocean Suffering Day" in an ongoing effort to raise public awareness of marine pollution.	NI	Environmental protection department monitoring the situation; military engaged in cleanup.	Training of the population for cleaning actions and community surveillance.
Shipwreck of a vessel. Taiwan, 2016.	Fan et al.³⁹	Interdepartmental cooperation between government agencies and the private sector.	NI	Establishment of an emergency response center to direct cleanup and coordinate follow-up actions and procedures; application of advanced technologies in the cleaning process, monitoring and assessment of the situation such as: helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems, and radar.	NI
Tasman Spirit grounding. Pakistan, 2003.	Mian, Bennett⁴⁷	Search for national and international experts to conduct the response.	NI	Use of containment barriers, oil dispersants, heavy machinery for digging and removing oil from beaches; mobilization of military agents for cleanup activities.	Fishing ban.

Disaster, Country, Year	Criticism of actions	Authors
Spill with unknown source. Brazil, 2019.	Few fishermen benefited from emergency aid; lack of community and government articulation; little dissemination of information and environmental analyses to certify the quality of water and food for the population; little consensus on the dietary risks of fish in the region; health crisis office unavailable; little intersectoral articulation; lack of financial subsidy to strengthen a specialized laboratory network that could assess and monitor fish quality; lack of transparent guidelines; and inappropriate actions for the context, such as: science budget cuts and the dismantling of environmental policies. Delayed, slow, and uncoordinated response, making local governments, universities, and NGOs responsible for initial mobilization for cleanup and research.	Silva et al.³¹; Ladle³²; Pena et al.³³; Soares et al.³⁴; Magalhães et al.³⁵; Zacharias et al.³⁶; Soares et al.³⁷
Ships collision. India, 2017.	The local government did not have a contingency plan to manage large oil spills; volunteer workers received little or no training, and many of them did not have access to any PPE protection.	Han et al.³⁸
Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. USA, 2010.	Lack of dialogue with the population; little confidence of the population in the government; decentralized coordination between subnational governments insufficient, slow, confusing and bureaucratic.	Simon-Friedt et al.⁴¹; Osofsky, Osofsky⁴³; Birkland, DeYoung⁴⁴.
Collision of the Hebei Spirit. South Korea, 2007.	Disarticulation between government agencies; political conflicts between the central government and subnational entities; little articulation with academia; lack of PPE; little transparency in the disclosure of health-related information; the bureaucratization of decisions caused delays and escalated the impacts; little control of voluntary actions that exposed the population to the imminent risks of contact with crude oil chemicals and dispersants.	Hur⁴⁵
Jiyyeh plant oil spill. Lebanon, 2006.	Fragmented and poor capacity of the Lebanese government in dealing with pollution, enforcing pollution control legislation, and developing intersectoral strategies.	Takshe et al.⁴⁶
Tasman Spirit grounding. Pakistan, 2003.	Bureaucratized decision-making, delaying immediate responses; interagency conflict over cleanup accountability; lack of coordination between governments; limited resources for actions and strategies; shortage of trained personnel; lack of temporary storage facilities for oily waste; lack of PPE for cleanup workers; unclear and poorly guiding laws on the responsibilities of national entities.	Mian, Bennett⁴⁷
Amorgos spill. Taiwan, 2001.	Lack of trained personnel, technology and appropriate equipment; lack of experience and integration of Government institutions; poor articulation with non-governmental organizations.	Chiau⁵¹

[TFN4] source: Own elaboration.