Characteristic Coastal Habitats: Choosing Spill Response Alternatives

This is a job aid designed for anyone who needs to decide if, where, when, and how to remove oil from coastal habitats. It's especially for people participating in cleanup assessment as part of an Environmental Unit within the Incident Command System (ICS) [leaves OR&R site]. This job aid was updated in June 2010.

This guide and its companion guide, Characteristics of Response Strategies: A Guide for Spill Response Planning in Marine Environments (link below), are based on information contained in the manual, Environmental Considerations for Oil Spill Response, published by the American Petroleum Institute. That manual is available for purchase from IHS Inc. (link below).

Contents

This job aid, and its various sections, are available as PDF (Portable Document Format) files, below. If you have a fast Internet connection, you may want to download the entire job aid, which is available in English and Spanish. Alternatively, you can download the job aid in sections. You can also order a free laminated copy of the job aid by contacting our Photos and Orders Specialist by email or by phone (206.526.6400).

For each habitat, this guide provides illustrations and descriptions of the various habitats, predicted oil behavior in those habitats, and response considerations.

Related Publications

Characteristics of Response Strategies: A Guide for Spill Response Planning in Marine Environments This job aid is designed to help spill responders select appropriate response options to minimize environmental impacts when oil spills in coastal habitats.

IHS Standards Store The manual, Environmental Considerations for Oil Spill Response, published by the American Petroleum Institute, is available for purchase here (search for document number API PUBL 4706). [leaves OR&R site]

Download the entire Job Aid

Characteristic Coastal Habitats: Choosing Spill Response Alternatives (Document format: PDF, size: 5.8 M)

Download the Job Aid by section

Introduction & How to Use This Document (Document format: PDF, size: 94.6 K)

Intertidal Habitats Intertidal habitats include exposed rocky shores, sand beaches, salt to brackish marshes, sheltered tidal flats, mangroves, tundra cliffs, as well as many other habitats. (Document format: PDF, size: 3.7 M)

Subtidal Habitats Subtidal habitats include coral reefs, seagrasses, kelp, soft bottom, and mixed and hard bottom. (Document format: PDF, size: 682.0 K)

Ice Habitats Ice habitats include both accessible and inaccessible ice habitats. (Document format: PDF, size: 249.9 K)

On-Water Habitats On-water habitats include offshore regions, as well as bays and estuaries. (Document format: PDF, size: 988.3 K)

Download the entire Job aid, in Spanish This job aid is the 2001 version.

Hábitats Costeros Característicos: Selección de Alternativas para Responder a Derrames de Petróleo (Document format: PDF, size: 5.2 M)