Social and ecological impacts of the Hebei Spirit oil spill on the west coast of Korea: Implications for compensation and recovery

Abstract Although several years have passed since the incidence of the 2007 Hebei Spirit Oil Spill in Korea (HSOS), but it appears that compensation and recovery efforts are far from being satisfactory and the affected communities are still suffering various adverse impacts incurred by the disaster. This study examines how the levels of compensation for damages from HSOS were determined and discusses whether compensation and recovery efforts were sufficient to resolve not only financial but also social and ecological impacts. We performed a review of compensation processes in several large oil spill cases around the world and found that most of economic losses, evaluated through multiple economic evaluation studies, were actually compensated. In the HSOS case, however, no scientific assessment of the economic costs for adequate level of compensation for the damages was conducted before compensation occurred. We found that only 11% of the HSOS claims were approved for compensation. The size of admitted claims is minimal compared to the economic value of the damage suggested by the contingent valuation literature on tidal flats in Korea. We discuss the adequate level of monetary compensation and recovery efforts necessary to resolve the social and ecological damages and to boost up the regional economy to the satisfaction of the affected populations.