Freshwater Oil Spills Freshwater bodies are not just the main source of drinking water, they also

serve as nesting grounds and food sources for various organisms. Oil spills could pose a serious threat to freshwater ecosystems as the fresh water organisms are exposed to high risk. Fresh water ecosystem includes two habitats, standing water, and the flowing water. Oil spills affect standing water more severely than flowing water as the currents offer a natural cleaning mechanism. When an oil spill occurs, not only is the aquatic creatures smothered to death, the aquatic vegetation is also susceptible to deadly effects of oil spills. Oil spilled into the rivers clings to plants and grasses. Animals that feed on these plants are also affected, causing a serious damage to the food chain. In addition, birds and mammals either get killed or injured soon after they come into contact or will be slowly poisoned by long-term exposure to oil that is trapped in shallow water bodies or stream beds. Thus oil spills have a catastrophic effect on the local ecology. The Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse (FSIC) serves as a point of entry for freshwater oil spill planning and response information. It includes research data and document abstracts, geographic information system data relevant and organizational links. The effectiveness of Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse depends on how much the research community posts historic and current information electronically. But there has been a lack of information specifically related to oil spills on freshwater bodies. This has been highlighted in meetings such as the Freshwater Spills Symposium and also by groups such as the Great Lakes Spill Protection Initiative (GLPSI). FSIC also posts available environmental, economic, and cultural sensitivity data electronically and will work along with the Great Lakes Information Networks (GLINs) geographic information system (GIS). Organizations that play a major role

are also linked. Increased awareness and higher profile for FSIC will bring in more of these groups into the network.

The information on this buoy is divided into the three categories listed below.

Sources Accidents Cleanups

When it comes to mixing oil and water, oceans suffer from far more than an occasional devastating spill. Disasters make headlines, but hundreds of millions of gallons of oil quietly end up in the seas every year, mostly from non-accidental sources .
The graph below shows how many millions of gallons of oil each source puts into the oceans worldwide each year

Down the Drain: 363 Million Gallons

Used engine oil can end up in waterways. An average oil change uses five quarts; one change can contaminate a million gallons of fresh water. Much oil in runoff from land and municipal and industrial wastes ends up in the oceans. 363 million gallons Road runoff adds up Every year oily road runoff from a city of 5 million could contain as much oil as one large tanker spill .

Routine Maintenance: 137 Million Gallons

Every year, bilge cleaning and other ship operations release millions of gallons of oil into navigable waters, in thousands of discharges of just a few gallons each. 137 million gallons

Up in Smoke: 92 Million Gallons

Air pollution, mainly from cars and industry, places hundreds of tons of hydrocarbons into the oceans each year. Particles settle, and rain washes hydrocarbons from the air into the oceans .

Natural Seeps: 62 Million Gallons

Some ocean oil "pollution" is natural. Seepage from the ocean bottom and eroding sedimentary rocks releases oil.

Big Spills: 37 Million Gallons

Only about 5 percent of oil pollution in oceans is due to major tanker accidents, but one big spill can disrupt sea and shore life for miles . 37 million gallons

Crude oil from a tanker that ran aground Kill Van Kull Channel, between Staten Island and New Jersey, 1991 photo Michael Baytoff/Black Star

Offshore Drilling: 15 Million Gallons

Offshore oil production can cause ocean oil pollution, from spills and operational discharges .

Accidents
Spills and slicks sicken and kill Large spills--even though a relatively minor source of ocean oil pollution--can be devastating. The same amount of oil can do more damage in some areas than others. Coral reefs and mangroves are more sensitive to oil than sandy beaches or sea-grass beds; intertidal zones are the most sensitive. Crude oil is most likely to cause problems .

Dead oiled otter a victim of the Exxon Valdez spill Prince William Sound, 1989 Oil-covered fur or feathers can't insulate marine mammals and diving birds from cold water, and when an animal cleans itself, it also swallows oil. photo Gary Braasch/Wheeler Pictures, Woodfin Camp & Associates

NOAA scientist collects samples from a rock sole after an oil spill, 1989 Even if oil exposure isn't immediately lethal, it can cause long-term harm. Bottom-dwelling fish exposed to compounds released after oil spills may develop liver disease and reproductive and growth problems. photo Northwest Fisheries Science Center/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Mangroves stand in oil from a ruptured refinery tank, Panama, 1986 Smithsonian Institution scientists monitored effects of this 1986 spill, one of the largest in tropical North America. Five years later, mangrove sediments still held fairly fresh, toxic oil. It may take the mangroves fifty years to recover fully. photo Carl C. Hansen

Cleanups
Treaty treats pollution problems International cooperation has greatly reduced accidental and operational oil discharges from tankers. MARPOL (for MARine POLlution) is shorthand for a United Nations treaty (the Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) that became effective in 1983.

MARPOL is largely credited for reducing oil pollution from shipping by about 60 percent worldwide during the 1980s .

Workers install a machine for cleaning waste oil off the sides of the ship's cargo tanks MARPOL requires installation and use of oil-pollution prevention equipment on tankers and other ships, and prohibits discharges within certain distances of land . photo International Maritime Organization More do-it-yourselfers are doing it right More than half of all Americans change their own oil, but only about one-third of the used oil from do-it-yourself oil changes is collected and recycled. Government and industrysponsored oil collection and recycling programs in many communities are increasing awareness of the hazards of dumping used oil and the benefits of reusing it.