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Ocean & Coastal Management 50 (2007) 872886

Mapping oil spill environmental sensitivity in

Cardoso Island State Park and surroundings areas,

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Arthur Wieczorek, Dimas Dias-Brito, Joao Carlos

Carvalho Milanelli

Grupo de Trabalho em Sensibilidade Ambiental ao Oleo. Universidade Estadual PaulistaUNESP,

Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, P.O. Box 178, ZEP. 13506-900, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

Available online 18 May 2007

Abstract

This study presents an environmental oil spill sensitivity map of Cardoso Island State Park, located

in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, including some of its surrounding areas. This map was designed followingthe procedures determined by the Brazilian Federal Environment Organ (Ministry of the

Environment), which separates coastal habitats in different littoral sensitivity indexes (LSI) to oil

spills. We have also analysed some seasonal variations in morphologic and textural parameters at the

local marine beaches that could affect their sensitivity, having found that they are more sensitive

during summer due to a wider foreshore zone during these periods. Local most sensitive habitats are

estuarine mangroves (LSI 10) and estuarine mud banks (LSI 9). Marine beaches were ranked LSI 3,

and littoral rocky shores were subdivided in exposed flat rocky shores (LSI 1), boulder rocky shores

(LSI 6) and sheltered rocky shores (LSI 8). Due to the elevated sensitivity of an estuarine system in the

area, we considered necessary the installation of an Environmental Emergency Centre and the design

of an emergency plan for the region in case of an accident resulting in oil spills within its vicinities.

r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Marine petroleum spillages generally occur in coastline structures, such as harbours, oil

refineries, oil storage units, quays or as results from accidents like vessel collision, run

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Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 1132 895455; fax: +55 1132 832878.E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Wieczorek).
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aground ships, pipeline ruptures, petroleum shafts/platforms accidents, or even during

armed conflicts (i.e., Great Gulf War).

Oil spills have been recurrent and greatly injuring to coastal ecosystems in various

regions of the globe. The spilt oil seriously affects coastal wild life and deeply impacts

habitats and socio-economic activities.The International Convention of oil spill prevention, preparedness and response

(OSPPR) was officially founded in 1995, having Brazil as one of its undersigned countries.

Among other things, this convention demands that member countries must design national

contingency plans from individual emergency plans, usually existent for terminals,

harbours and platforms.

The Brazilian Federal Law 9.966 of 22/04/2000, that legislates oil storage and

transportation, determined that the Brazilian Federal Environment Organ-Ministry of

the Environment (MMA) must unify local and regional contingency plans in a National

Contingency Plan in accordance with the OSPPR. These plans establish guidelines of

assessment measures to be employed in case of spills in terminal, harbours, cities, states or

even countries, depending on the event scale.

As examples of emergency measures it can be listed the assignment of managers for the

necessary procedures, listing of available recourses for fighting off the incident effects,

determination of most adequate clean-up procedures and definition of top priority areas

for protection. Reducing the environmental impact of the accident is one of the main goals

of response measures planning; this aim is best achieved if the most sensitive areas were

previously delimited. In this context stand the Environmental Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps,

ESI maps, IPIECA [1]. These maps are referred to in Brazil as Cartas de Sensibilidade

Ambiental a Derramamentos de O

leocartas SAO, SAO charts; we will apply thisBrazilian term throughout this manuscript in order to avoid confusion with the

terminology used in the United States studies. These maps supply resource information

critical to the design of effective response measures against oil spills, through guiding

allocation of resources for enhancing the efficiency of the task force.

One of the pioneering coastal habitat classification systems of environmental sensitivity

to petroleum spills was designed by Gundlach and Hayes [2]. These authors proposed a

classification system based on habitat physical factors that determine oil deposition and

persistence in the affected areas. In short, habitats would be more or less sensitive to oil

spills according to their degree of exposure to hydrodynamic action and substrate

characteristics. The greater the hydrodynamic influence on the habitat, a quicker naturalclean-up would be expected, hence less sensitive this habitat is to oil spills. The authors also

stated that compacted substrates are less sensitive to oil since hydrocarbon contaminations

would only occur at surface level. However, grain size in soft substrates is considered to be

of prime importance: areas with finer sediments are considered less sensitive than areas

composed of coarser sediments and gravel. Therefore, the authors designed a classification

of coastal habitats in 110 vulnerability indexes: 1exposed rocky headlands, 2eroded

wave-cut platforms, 3fine-grained sand beaches, 4coarse grained sand beaches,

5exposed compacted tidal flats, 6mixed sand and gravel beaches, 7gravel beaches,

8sheltered rocky coasts, 9sheltered tidal flats 10salt marshes and mangroves.

Owens and Robilliard [3] revisited the matter and proposed that more than indexinghabitat sensitivity based on physical parameters, other important factors should be

considered relevant, such as the vulnerability of the local biota, their nesting and feeding

sites, and local seasonal variations.

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After 1989, sensitivity maps started considering the following three main spatial

information: the original habitat sensitivity 110 classification scale, the local biotic

resources vulnerable to oil exposure and vulnerable commercial, recreational and human

subsistence resources [4].

In Brazil, the first attempt pointing to this direction was taken by Araujo et al. [5], afterwhich the Ministry of the Environment, largely based on the suggestions from NOAA [6],

issued an official standardisation guideline for the design of SAO charts Brasil [7].

Modifications were applied to the littoral sensitivity indexes (LSI) of Brazilian SAO charts

in order to fit the Brazilian habitats, although the principles of the classification employed

were the same as previously mentioned.

These maps were printed on paper until 1993, when the development of geographic

information systems (GISs) and root pruning technologies enabled the designing of digital

maps. Henceforth, environmental sensitivity maps ceased from being rather restricted

articles to multiple application tools. For example, digital maps are easily visualised on any

computer and can be made available on the web, and the most powerful GIS are capable of

correlating great data volumes in fast and more systematic ways. These GIS also made

updating SAO charts much easier, for new information that can be promptly added to the

maps upon gathering Jensen et al. [4]. Moreover, correlation of geographic data in a GIS

yields various spatial analyses, leading to deeper comprehension of spatial phenomena.

The present study has the objective of mapping environmental sensitivity oil spills in

Cardoso Island State Park (PEIC) and surrounding areas, using the classification system

proposed by Brasil [7]. We also herein critisize this classification system, analyse seasonal

(summer winter) variations influence on the sensitivity index to oil spills of beaches, and

discuss possible impacts to the region if a spill actually happens.This study is part of the official SAO mapping programme of the Sao Paulo littoral,

currently under the responsibility of the Shore Sensitivity Group (GT Sensibilidade

Costeira), which is integrated to Human Resources Program Education (Programa de

Formac- ao de Recursos Humanos-PRH 05) of UNESP University, Rio Claro, Brazil.

2. Characterisation of the study area

The PEIC is located at the south coast plain of Sao Paulo state in Brazil, in the vicinities

of the division with Parana state, having an approximate area of 151 km2. The Ararapira

channel separates Cardoso Island from the continent, flowing from the southeastern Marde Cananeia, along the lower shoreline of the island, where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Trapande Bay embraces the Cardoso Island at its upper portion, being the Canane ia

inlet the main sea-water entrance route into the estuary (Fig. 1).

The coastal ecosystems in PEIC and surrounding regions are mainly composed of long

sand beaches intermingled with rocky shores. There is also a mangrove in the marine

portion of the island, formed by the mouth of Cambriu river (Fig. 1).

The local estuarine ecosystems are mainly composed of erosion and fluviomarine/

lagoonal deposits. According to the characteristic channels, sand banks and mud banks are

formed. The mangrove is the predominant ecosystem at the estuarine areas of the island

and the continent.The climate in the southern part of Sao Paulo state is determined by tropical and polar

masses and strongly influenced by polar masses and front passages, with rainfall incidences

varying according to the topography, with characteristic steep precipitation variations

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Santanna Neto [8]. Local maximum precipitation indexes are high and occur between

January and March, with mean values around 266.9 mm, and minimum indexes of

95.3 mm in July and August. Average annual precipitation is about 2300 mm, based on to

29 years of records. The varied rainfall incidence results in rainy summers and dry winters.

Average annual temperature is 23.8 1C, reaching its peak in February (27.81C), and

minimum values in July, 19.8 1C, Silva [9].

The Sao Paulo coast is characterised by a microtidal regime (o2 m), with semidiurnaltide and diurnal inequalities. Miyao and Harari [10] analysed the tidal currents, and the

tides, in temporary series, and concluded that the Cananeia region nearshore circulation is

mainly regulated by semidiurnal tide, with oscillating 0.130.83 m width of spring and

neap tide, respectively.

3. Justificative

There is a constant risk of an oil spill in this region, which could occur from a collision

of one of the local oil tankers, or even from an internal accident in the Paranagua harbour

in the south, or Santos harbour in the north of the area.The local tankers transport petroleum between harbours inside Brazil and also between

the Middle East region and the north Atlantic, using the Indian Oceansouth Atlantic

route.

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Fig. 1. Map of the study areaCardoso Island State ParkPEIC and the surroundings areas.

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In November of 2004, an alcohol transporting cargo vessel named Vicunha was moored

at Paranagua Harbour, when it eventually exploded, spilling fuel oil into Paranagua Bay.

The oil spread on a vast area of the bay, reaching the northern part of Parana state, near

our study area.

4. Materials and methods

Our methods for mapping the habitat sensivity to oil spills was based on the

methodology proposed by Brasil [7] to the design of SAO charts, with some necessary

modifications due to particularities of the study area.

The study area was delimited following the criteria to ecologically vulnerable zones,

since the Canane ia Lagoon Estuarine System is defined as a highly sensitive area to oil

spills Brasil [7].

The sensivity mapping depends on the gathering of three kinds of information: habitat

physical parameters, which will determine their coastline habitats and indexes according to

the LSI; biological parameters, that depend on the determination of local main biological

groups, areas of high concentration of a given vulnerable species or group of species, their

reproduction, resting and feeding sites, and the vulnerable socio-economic resources like

fisheries zones, tourism areas, commerce, aquaculture, and others.

4.1. Mapping of coastal habitats

The mapping of coastal habitats was performed with the aid of the ArcView 9.1

software. These habitats were mapped from ortophoto [11], which enabled resolutions upto a 1: 2.500 scale, in which the mapping was performed. They were delimited according to

their physical characteristics as follows: drainage channel, beaches, estuarine beaches,

rocky shores, mangroves, wetlands, mud and sand banks, man-made structures, and

others. These habitats were delimited in isolated geographic units, which enabled a better

visualisation and analysis of each individual habitat. These habitats and their spatial

representation in the maps are presented in Table 1.

The entire coastline was visited during field expeditions. We arranged gathered data

under different categories of field table annotations (LSI, biological resources and human-

use informations).

Physical data from the habitats were obtained using methods adapted for each one ofthem, because of their inherent differences; some parameters are considered more

important to a given habitat than to others. Consequently, the applied methods and

parameters taken in account varied for each analysed habitat.

At the beaches, we recorded the geographic profile every 2 km, in perpendicular

orientation to their longitudinal disposition, whenever possible taking measures from the

lower low tide limits up to the vegetation borders (Fig. 2). The topography of these beaches

was accessed with the aid of a profile measurements device, also measuring topographic

variations perpendicularly to the beach orientation, but every 2 m, as determined in

CETESB [12]. We also collected sand samples for later measurements of grain size of every

analysed site. Surface samples were collected at intermediary areas between the foreshorezone and the below limit of foreshore zoneterminology as in Souza [13]. Those samplings

were performed during winter and summer, with the objective of analysing potential

variations in morphologic and textural parameters affecting the sensitivity to oil spills.


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Table 1

Key to the representation of habitats in the maps

Mapped habitat Description Geographical

representation

Solid man-made

structures

Concrete walls and sand-bag barricades Lines

Riverine cliffs Scarps and steep sloop in clay drainage canals Lines

Rochy shores Estuarine and marine rochy shorelines Polygons, lines and

spots

Mangroves Mangrove vegetation, apicum and adjacent sand areas Polygons and lines

Sand beaches Marine and estuarine beaches Polygons and lines

Mud banks Muddy areas in estuary, exposed during low tide Polygons

Sand banks Sandy areas in estuary, exposed during low tide Polygons

Immersed sand outlets Sand banks associated to Polygons

Dune vegetation Incipient herbaceous vegetation on beach sand surroundings Polygons

Wetland vegetarian Adapted vegetation to flooded areas Polygons

Coastal herbaceous

vegetation

Coastal vegetation, with predominance of herbaceous species Polygons

Sand-bank vegetation Coastal vegetation adapted to sandy soils Polygons

Tropical rain forest Vegetation adapted to the elevated littoral rain incidence Polygons

Urban area Areas with reasonable people concentration and predominance

of constructions

Polygons

Deforested areas Areas without prevalence of constructions or vegetation Polygons

Drainage canals Canals with wider than five meters water sheets Polygons

Fig. 2. Beach locations and sampling sites of morphologic and textural parameters in Cardoso Island State

ParkPEIC.


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Beaches were classified according to their inclination as: low inclination (up to 11)

beaches, medium inclination (151) beaches and high inclination (451) beaches. Levels of

inclination of the topographic profiles were determined through a simple linear regression,

as in CETESB [12].

In order to analyse the degree of exposition to hydrodynamism, the beaches wereclassified according to their geographic orientation and the local littoral currents direction.

Thus, perpendicularly oriented beaches are generally more exposed to hydrodynamics than

are non-perpendicularly oriented beaches. Barrier may shield the beaches from direct wave

or diminish their potency. According to the above-mentioned parameters, beaches were

classified as sheltered, semi-sheltered and exposed beaches.

Grain size measures of beach sediments were performed through the same statistical

parameters used by Folk and Ward [14] with the Sysgran 3.0 software: mean grain

diameter (values given in phi) and standard deviation (SD) (grain sorting). SD is a clue to

the sorting of the grains; low SD values indicates good sorting and high SD values

indicates bad grain sorting. Obtained morphologic and texture parameters from winter

and summer samples were compared using the t-test Zar [15]. We included mean values of

obtained parameters for all sampling sites, for, since all beaches presented similar

morphologic and textural characteristics, they could be considered a single homogenous

sample unit.

We decided to adopt a semi-qualitative classification for the rocky shorelines:

inclinations of 60901 were considered as highly inclined, 30601 were considered as

moderately inclined and low inclination was given for values o301 and intermingled

assemblies. The types of rocky shorelines were classified according to their characteristics

as follows: flat rocks, boulders and heterogeneous rocky shores. For heterogeneity wemean the amount of dissimilarities such as crevices, depressions, ponds, furrows, sea

urchin nests and cavities over the rocks surface. These parameters were visually evaluated

and qualitatively classified as high, medium or low rock heterogeneity.

4.2. Biological survey

The bulk of information on biological resources was obtained from previous studies. We

organised the extracted information from technical bulletins and scientific papers

considering the allocation data in the SAO charts. This way, animal species were grouped

as benthic marine invertebrates, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. We alsoconsidered their occurrence locations, since they must be represented in the maps in their

most common habitats. After organising these data in tables and revising, representations

were added to the SAO charts in icons as defined by Brasil [7].

4.3. Survey of human-use resources

Human-use resources were recorded with the objective of placing them in the maps,

briefly describing their nature. Among the most important activities are fisheries zones

classified as subsistence, sports or industry fishing activities. Naval structures include

wharfs, ramps, quays, etc. The diverse buildings include houses, schools, bars, restaurants,hotels, lodgings and camping areas. Historical and archaeological locations include pre-

historical anthropogenic shell-mounts, ruins and historical buildings. Additionally, we

recorded locations accessible by terrestrial vehicles or by small, medium and big vessels.


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All these resources were georeferenced, briefly described in tables and located in the maps

with distinct symbols.

4.4. Organisation of the geographic information system

The cartographic databank for the GIS (including ortophotos, topographic charts, sea

charts and thematic maps) was fully standardised. The SAO charts were designed on the

geographic coordinates system (GCS) Datum SAD 69, in order to avoid splitting the area

in two different geographic zones, since the area is located between 22 and 23 zones by the

Projection Universal Transverse Mercartor (UTM). Based on information from the map

databank, geographic relevant parameters were listed under different topics. The following

procedures were performed for organising the databank: 1data were grouped under

geographic topics, depending on their kind of information, 2most relevant parameters

were assigned and arranged in tables, 3these tables were cross correlated.

Habitats were divided in sections based on previous information and new obtained

information from the performed field expeditions i.e. beaches were divided into sections

according to the morphologic and textural sampling locations, thus between the recorded

topographic profile. Rocky shorelines were subdivided depending on their degree of

hydrodynamics exposure and their substrate nature. In the same way, this habitat was split

in different intervals according to their morphologic, granulometric and hydrodynamic

characteristics. LSI[7] were assigned to each individual section.

5. Results and discussion

The resulting SAO chart shows a remarkable occurrence of mangroves and mud flats in

the estuary, respectively, ranked LSI 10 and 9. There are also fine sand estuarine beaches

(LSI 4), riverine cliffs, rocky shores and man-made structures, all ranked LSI 8 (Fig. 3).

The marine habitats are composed of beaches and rocky shores. These beaches present

similar morphologic and textural characteristics, fine sand and low inclination topographic

morphology (Fig. 3). All these beaches are geographically exposed to wave action. Thus,

they were ranked LSI 3, following the Brasil [7] (Fig. 3).

The local rocky shores are composed of flat rocky shores, boulder rocky shores and

heterogeneous rocky shores (with surface crevices, ridges, etc.), either exposed or sheltered

from hydrodynamic action. Thus, these were each ranked LSI 1 (exposed rocky shores),LSI 6 (boulder rocky shores) and LSI 8 (sheltered rocky shores), as in [7].

Table 2 presents local coastal habitats and the parameters used for the assignment

of LSI.

The methodology for classification of coastal habitats sensitivity to oil spills currently in

use in Brasil proposes a rather broad classification of the habitats in order to standardise

the design of SAO charts. However, when area mappings are designed in finer scales, some

habitats found do not fit the suggested classification system.

Some of the habitats presented herein do not fall into any of the suggested categories.

For example there is no distinction between exposed and sheltered boulder rocky shores

and all sorts of sheltered rocky shores are ranked LSI 8, without distinction. Thus, a moreadequate classification system is needed in finer scale mappings.

The current classification of sand beaches considers sediment characteristics and degree

of exposure to hydrodynamic action as relevant parameters, whereas fine sand beaches are


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considered less sensitive (LSI 3) than are coarse sand beaches (LSI 4), when both are

equally exposed to hydrodynamic effects, since coarse sand is much more permeable to oil.Many regions of the Brazilian littoral, like the south coast of Sao Paulo, are composed

of dissipative sand beaches, with fine or very fine sand. Following the Brasil [7]

classification, all should be ranked LSI 3. However, during response measures against oil

spills, the local coast sectors must be subdivided into more sensitive and less sensitive areas,

to establishing priorities. Whenever long beach distances are assigned the same LSI value,

the classification system loses its meaning, since local differences are not considered. We

suggest the adoption of another classification system for ranking regions in which beaches

are the predominant habitats, in order to improve the classification of environmental

sensitivity to oil spills efficiency.

A useful approach to identify oil sensitivity differences in homogeneous beaches is theanalysis of sediment transportation along the beaches. Taggart and Schwartz [16] present a

method that evaluates beachs morphological (width and slope) and textural parameters

(mean grain size and sorting). Considering these parameters, it is possible to identify zones

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Fig. 3. Environmental Oil Spill Sensivity MapSAO map of Cardoso Island State ParkPEIC and

surroundings areas.

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along the beach with predominance of erosive, transport and depositional processes and

then to extrapolate the long shore currents drift (from erosive to depositional zones).

Zones predominantly erosive are the less sensitive because wave action may rapidly and

naturally clean-up the sediment allied to the lower likelihood of oil sedimentation. Zones

with sediment transport can be classified as the intermediate sensitive; erosive and

depositional processes present weaker influence. Zones with predominance of depositional

processes are the most sensitive to oil spill because long shore drift converges to these types

of environment increasing the likelihood of oil accumulation on the sediment.Seasonal differences are also important parameters to be taken into account when

considering sand beaches. Seasonal variations in morphologic and textural parameters

have been extensively documented in the literature [1719] in places with marked climatic

variations, like the south coast of Sao Paulo state. In such beaches there are accretionary

stages that generally take place during summer, when less intense hydrodynamic action

results in lower beach inclinations, broader sand extensions, and local mean grain size

becomes smaller and more assorted. During winter, when hydrodynamic effects are more

intense, beaches tend to diminish in extension and increase in slope, sand grains become

coarser and less assorted. These phenomena were analysed at the local beaches, where the

sampled morphologic and texture parameters (inclination, beach width, mean grain sizeand sorting degree) where compared for summer and winter samples (Fig. 4).

Statistical analyses revealed no significant variations in mean grain size or sorting

degrees between winter and summer samples (40.05). But variations were found in the

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Table 2

Coastal habitats in the maps, their geographic location and considered parameters for classification and Littoral

Sensitivity Index assignment

Habitats Location Parameters LSI

Hydrodynamic Substrate Slope

Mangrove and wetlands Estuarine and

riverine

Low Mud Low 10

Mud or sand banks Estuarine and

riverine

Low Mud and sand 9

Rocky shores Estuarine and

sea coast

Low Flat rock, boulder or

heterogeneous rock

Steep,

moderate or

low

8

Man-made structures Estuarine Low Concrete walls and sand

sack walls

Steep 8

Riverine cliffs Estuarine and

riverine

Low Sand soil Steep 8

Sand banks Sea coast Elevated/

moderated

Sand 7

Rocky shores Sea coast Elevated or

Low

Boulder 6

Estuarine beachers Estuarine Low Fine sand Moderated to

Steep

4

Dissipative beachers and

coastal dunes

Sea coast Elevated Fine to very fine sand Low 3

Rocky shores Sea coast Elevated Flat rock Steep 1


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morphologic parameters of inclination and beach width (po0.05), being the average

inclination during winter (1.270.241) greater than during summer periods (0.370.111),

and average beach width was shorter (7474.61 m) during winter than during summer(8874.78 m). This results were expected, because there is great influence of cold fronts

during winters in the south littoral of Sao Paulo, with consequent intense wave action,

resulting in the observed variations; the reverse taking place during summer. There

occurred no significant mean grain size variations, probably due to a lack of coarser

sediments sources within surrounding regions, for all beaches in the south portion

(Superagui National Park beaches, and the northern Ilha Comprida beaches) are

composed of fine sediments [20,21].

To what concerns sensitivity of sand beaches to oil spills these results can be understood

as follows. The mean grain size parameter determines oil permeability in sandy sediments

(coarse sediments are more permeable), and as there was no observed variation on thisparameters between winter and summer, there was no variation in sensitivity to spills

during these periods, considering only oil permeability. However beach topographic

morphology and width determine the extension of the foreshore zone (to be affected by an

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Fig. 4. Comparison between mean morphologic and textural parameters during winter and summer. Bars

represent standard deviation.


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oil spill), so to this parameter, local beaches becomes more sensitive during summer than

during winter, for the foreshore zone becomes wider.

Hydrodynamism is another factor regulating beach sensitivity to oil spills for, the more

intense are hydrodynamic effects, natural clean-up through wave action occurs quicker.

Since during winter topographic profiles were more inclined and average widths in thebeaches were reduced, hydrodynamism is expected to be more intense during this period.

Thus, regarding this aspect, local beaches are also less sensitive during winter than during

summer periods.

Yet another relevant aspect to be considered in beaches is local biological density,

diversity and richness. Low-inclination fine dissipative beaches usually contain richer

biotic diversity and density (especially macrofauna) than do inclined coarse reflective

beaches [2225]. The mentioned authors affirm that not only differences in biotic

diversity, richness and density account for the morphodinamic variation in beaches,

but other parameters like the amount of organic matter and spatial distribution are of

even greater relevance in fine sand beaches, where these aspects must be separately

considered.

The PEIC macro fauna is currently being researched, and preliminary results indicate no

variations between general patterns of biotic density and diversity during winter and

summer. Thus, to this matter, a similar degree of sensitivity to oil spills would be expected

for these beaches during both periods.

On the whole, our study demonstrates that all sand beaches in Cardoso Island State

Park are more sensitive to oil spills during summer, because of the wider foreshore zone

and less intense wave action. However, other effects must be taken in account, such as

spatial differences between the beaches and sediment transportation along them.The resulting PEIC sensitivity to oil spills map (Fig. 3) reveals an elevated biological

diversity (birds, reptiles and mammals), and many resources of human use (fisheries zones

and archaeological sites) at the estuarine region, all highly sensitive to oil spills.

The Trapande Bay (Fig. 3) is one of the most sensitive regions in the mapped area. There

occurs great concentrations of the fresh water dolphin Sotalia fluvialis, in fact one of the

greatest populations recorded for this species inside Sao Paulo state, Rollo [26]. Moreover

there are frequent large groups of marine birds (royal terns, black skimmer and

albatrosses) and estuarine birds (cormorants, herons and others) that hunt on estuarine

fishes and invertebrates at the mud flats and mangroves. Among the most remarkable

reptile species, the following marine tortoise species are found: leatherback turtle,Dermochelys coriacea, green turtle, Chelonia mydas, loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta,

hawksbill sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricate and olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys

olivacea, that feed in this region. Moreover, Cayman latirostris a threatened caiman species

in the state of Sao Paulo, is also present in the area.

On the marine side, the importance of the islands should be stressed as important resting

and nesting sites for shorebirds (albatrosses and frigate birds), and the presence of very

sensitive groups like dolphins, whales, otters and marine turtles, frequently observed in the

area during winter times.

Eighty-five percent of the coastal habitats analysed (Fig. 5) are composed of mangroves

and mud flats, with or without sand areas association and they are all located inthe estuarine region. These are considered as highly sensitivity to spills (LSI 9 and 10).

Thus the protection of this area in the case of oil spills is indispensable, as we discuss

further.


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We have placed an atlas of the environmental sensitivity to oil spills of PEIC and

surrounding areas (in scales of 1:50.000 and 1:25.000) at /http://www.rc.unesp/biblioteca/S.

5.1. Relevance of the protection of the estuarine region against spills

As presented, the studied estuarine region is highly sensitive to oil spills. Such an

accident in the area would have consequences comparable to what happened to the ship

Exxon Valdez at Prince William Bay in Alaska. Prince William Bay is a semi-circumscribed

area, thus under low hydrodynamic influence, and with very sensitive coastal habitats,

Michel and Hayes [27]. Environmental effects following the disaster were severe. The area

used to shelter a great number of mammals and pelagic bird species, all of which were

seriously affected. [28]. Besides this, many human activities, mainly fishing, had to cease

for a long time [29,30].

An oil spill could penetrate the estuary through two places: the Canane ia inlet in its

northern portion and through the Ararapira inlet in its southern portion. As can beobserved in Fig. 3, these are two relatively narrow inlets: Canane ia is 1200 m wide and

Ararapira inlet is only 870 m wide. In this manner, oil flow could be interrupted inside

these two inlets before many estuarine habitats were affected.

For the protection of this region to be effective, the presence of trained people and

proper equipment in the area is important. But there is none of these there, and Canane ia

region actually has no structure for managing response measures against oil spills. All

available materials in the case of a spill are located at Santos and Paranagua harbours, and

at the Petrobras Environmental Defence Centre (EDC) in Guarulhos-SP. In fact, restricted

areas like beaches and mangroves should have their own local prepared people and

structures for effective measures against accidents of this nature.In order to build and maintain an Environmental Emergency Centre prepared for

dealing with spills (which would consist of a building with emergency equipments like

booms, vacuum devices, skimmer-ships etc., and trained people for the local operation and

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Fig. 5. Relative area of the mapped coastal habitats of Cardoso Island State ParkPEIC and surroundings

areas.

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maintainence would cost a yearly amount of US$ 13.3 million (considering costs

of Guarulhos EDC). If we consider sustaining it for the next 50 years, it would sum up to

US$ 139.8 million.

Costs involved in the Exxon Valdez tanker case, if habitats clean-up expenses, criminal

investigations, third party compensations, civil and criminal punishments are taken inaccount, adds to some US$ 4.2 billion, in addition to US$ 100 thousand paid every month

by Exxon to the Alaska government, until today.

Finally, our study clearly demonstrates the relevance of building an Environmental

Emergency Centre in the area, as a preventive measure against environmental and

economic risks. With it, an effective force task could prevent an oil spill inside Canane ia

and Ararapira estuarine inlets, with environmental and economic consequences without

precedence in Brazilian history.

6. Conclusions

Our evaluations placed PEIC and its surrounding areas as very sensitive regions to oil

spills, particularly the estuarine zone. This analysis may prove very useful tool during

emergency measures against oil spills in the area, as well as for the elaboration of

contingency plans.

Our beach evaluations revealed a greater sensitivity to oil spills due to the greater

intertidal area during summer periods.

The importance of building EECs inside highly sensitive areas apart from the nearby

surroundings of petroleum industry areas is claimed, for these EECs could certainly

minimise great environmental and economic losses.

Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Programa para Formac-ao de Recursos

Humanos em Geologia e Ciencias Ambientais Aplicadas ao Setor de Petro leo e Ga s, PRH-

05 (PRH-ANP/FINEP/MCT/UNESP), Sao Paulo State University, Rio Claro (SP),

Brazil.

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