NOAA Co-Director, Participates in Oil-in-Ice Workshop, Svalbard

On April 23-26, the CRRC NOAA Co-Director, Amy Merten, participated in an Oil-in-Ice Workshop to prepare for a multi-year, multi-scale research plan to better understand, predict and respond to oil spills in ice-invested waters.

The Norwegian agency SINTEF is leading a multi-national research effort to develop technologies to improve spill response when oil is released in the proximity of the ice. This $6 million effort, which will culminate in two planned spills in the marine environment off the Norwegian coast, is funded by a consortium of oil companies and governmental agencies. CRRC was invited in 2006 to serve as one of the research-focused entities on the steering committee for this effort.

The NOAA Co-Director presented details of the research plan for the CRRC-funded portion of the project to the workshop attendees and Steering Committee. The workshop program included observations of an experiment at SINTEF's field station in Svea to determine the weathering limitations for in-situ burning of oil spilled in the Arctic environment.

For more information, please contact amy.merten@noaa.gov.