The Principles of Effective Post-spill Environmental Monitoring and their Application to Preparedness Assessment

ABSTRACT Understanding the fate and effects of spilled oil or chemicals in the marine environment is essential if the scientific and response communities are to develop best practices for the future. The timely and successful deployment of survey specialists, sampling strategy and scientific techniques to monitor the environmental consequences of an incident can be a complex challenge and, in the same way as for spill response and clean-up, requires effective planning and coordination. However, the delivery of the necessary guidance, skilled personnel and coordinated management are often not pre-identified, are rarely in the same organisation and the levels of preparedness to undertake complex monitoring programmes are often low. This paper identifies the 8 principles of effective post-spill monitoring programmes as; Scientific Guidance, Skills & Knowledge, Equipment, Funding, Responsibility & Management, Integration & Coordination, Support & Buy-in and Practice. Drawing on experience from the Premiam (Po...