Environmental impact and recovery of the Bohai Sea following the 2011 oil spill

Yujue Wang; Kenneth Lee; Dongyan Liu; Jie Guo; Qiuying Han; Xihan Liu; Jingjing Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114343

Environmental impact and recovery of the Bohai Sea following the 2011 oil spill

Environ Pollut. 2020 Aug;263(Pt B):114343. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114343. Epub 2020 Mar 10.

Authors

Yujue Wang¹, Kenneth Lee², Dongyan Liu³, Jie Guo⁴, Qiuying Han⁵, Xihan Liu⁶, Jingjing Zhang⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
² Ecosystem Science, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E6, Canada.
³ State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China. Electronic address: dyliu@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, Shandong, 264003, PR China.
⁵ Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, Hainan, 572022, PR China.
⁶ Hebei Engineering Research Center for Geographic Information Application, Institute of Geographical Sciences, Hebei Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050011, PR China.
⁷ The Institute for Advanced Study of Coastal Ecology, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai, 264025, PR China.

PMID: 32234643
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114343

Abstract

The 2011 spill at platforms B and C of the Penglai 19-3 oil field in the Bohai Sea has been the worst oil spill accident in China. To assess long-term effects, a comprehensive monitoring program of chemical and biological variables (within a 2.2 km radius of the spill site) was conducted five years after the spill. Comparison of nutrient, Chl-a and oil concentrations in seawater, TOC, PAHs, heavy metals concentrations within the sediments, and the abundance and biomass of macrobenthic organisms to values obtained before and after the oil spill in previous studies indicate habitat recovery has occurred within the Bohai Sea following the episodic oil release. Observed elevated oil concentration in the water column and higher concentrations of two heavy metals, five PAHs, TOC, TOC/TN and lower values of δ¹³C, together with a reduction in macrobenthic biomass in near-field samples, suggest the influence of contaminants from chronic releases of oil and operational waste discharges within the vicinity of the oil platforms.

Keywords: Bohai sea; Environmental impacts; Habitat recovery; Oil spill; Penglai 19-3.

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring
Geologic Sediments
Petroleum Pollution / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical