• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.136-136
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• 2017

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.70-79
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• 2013

Since crude oil contains various pollutants including heavy metals, the environmental impact should be assessed for heavy metals as well as oil itself. In order to estimate the extent of heavy metal contamination, surface sediments were collected at the intertidal and coastal zone around the Herbei sprit oil spill area during December 2007 and January 2008. Organic carbon, sulfur and heavy metals were determined to assess heavy metal contamination in sediments. The crude oils contained C, S, V and Ni, but little toxic metals such as As, Cd, etc. From organic carbon content, the highest contaminated site was estimated that oils contributed to sediments up to 10%, and this site showed high V concentration. Potentially contaminated sediments by crude oil could be differentiated from unaffected sediments through V/Al and Ni/Al ratios, which can be used as indicators of oil contamination even after the oils were fully degraded.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.166-173
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• 2010

Objectives: On December 7, 2007, the Hebei Spirit oil tanker spilled out 12,547 kl of crude oil on the Yellow Sea 10 km away from the cost of Taean Province, Korea. As the coastline has been contaminated, local residents have been exposed to crude oil. Because the residents were showing many symptoms, we investigated the acute health effects of this oil spill on them. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of the heavy and moderately oil soaked area in Taean and the lightly oil soaked area in Seocheon. Ten seashore villages were selected from each area, and 10 male and female adults were selected from each village. We interviewed the subjects using a structured questionnaire on the characteristics of residents, the cleanup activities, the perception of oil hazard, depression and anxiety, and the physical symptoms. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The logistic regression model was adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking, the perception of oil hazard and anxiousness. Results: The more highly contaminated the area, the more likely it was for residents to be engaged in cleanup activities and have a greater chance of exposure to oil. The indexes of anxiety and depression were higher in the heavy and moderately oil soaked areas. The increased risks of headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, tingling of limb, hot flushing, sore throat, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, itchy skin, rash, and sore eyes were significant. Conclusions: The results suggest that exposure to crude oil is associated with various acute physical symptoms. Long-term investigation is required to monitor the residents' health.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.168-177
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• 1998

Five and a half months after the Keumdong oil spill accident on the 21$^{st}$ of September 1993, 34 seawater samples and 94 sediment samples were collected from Kwangyang Bay and Namhaedo area to assess its environmental impacts. Hydrocarbon concentration in the seawater ranged from 0.8 to 9.2 ${\mu}$g/1 with an average of 3.3 ${\mu}$g/1. This average value was nearly the same as the value(3.7 ${\mu}$g/1) before the oil spill accident. This suggests that by the early March of 1994 majority of the coastal water in the study area restored to its background hydrocarbon concentration before the oil spill accident. Nutrients, heavy metals and other general environmental parameters of the seawater did not show any aggravated seawater quality compared with the previous records. From the regression analysis of time-course observation of hydrocarbon in the seawater, except the sediment environment, the effect of oil spill on the water column was estimated to last at least 4 months in the study area after the oil spill accident. In the shoreline sediments, oil deposits were, however, still found at the high water marks at several stations, and very high values were found in the west of Namhaedo, ranging from 3.7 to 40.1 mg/g of wet sediment. Gas chromatography of these samples showed a very distinct Bunker C chromatogram identical to the Keumdong oil spill. Hydrocarbons in the subtidal bottom sediments in the study area and the reference stations (YB and CB) ranged from 0.45 to 18.08 ${\mu}$g/g of wet sediment with an average of 3.09 ${\mu}$g/g. West of Namhaedo (Stations Bl2-B33) generally showed much higher values than inner Kwangyang Bay and in Chinju Bay. Chinju Bay generally showed the lowest value among the study area. Subtidal bottom sediments in inner Kwangyang Bay and Chinju Bay seemed to be less affected than west of Namhaedo. Heavy metal concentrations in the sediment were relatively higher in the Kwangyang Bay than in the Chinju Bay. However, metal concentrations in the study area were in general comparable to the reference areas.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.443-449
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• 1999

The investigation of the amount of the ecosystem damage on the shoreline due to the NAHODKA oil-spill accident, which occurred in the Sea of Japan, was attempted by using geoinformatics. At first, it was assumed that symbolical vegetation's distribution could be specified in the coast in Ishikawa Pref. where the heavy oil was washed, and surveyed the regional distribution. Then, the presumption result of those environmental capacities was arranged by GIS. In addition, the amount of the ecosystem damage was presumed as cost necessary though a symbolical living thing for the retreat because of the base line by the heavy oil drifting ashore was recovered. By comparing the vegetation line and the surveying data which shows environmental capacity, the retreat areas of the vegetation were 1100-1200 $m^2$. When the amount of damage on the ecosystem of the NAHODKA oil-spill accident was presumed based on the retreat area of this vegetation and the restoration cost, the amount of damage within Shioya beach which 150m in the surveying range became 2 to 2.5 million Yen. Because the extension distance from the Shioya beach to the Katano beach was about 3,500m, the amount of damage became about 46 to 65 million Yen. As a result of calculation for the amount of damage on the ecosystem of the NAHODKA oil-spill accident, it was estimated approximately 1,400 to 2,000 million Yen in the shoreline of Ishikawa Pref., because the total extension of beaches in Ishikawa Pref. is about 110km.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.90-95
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• 2011

On April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbon (oil and gas) to escape from the Macondo well onto Deepwater Horizon (DWH), resulting in an exploration and fire on the rig. While 17 people were injured, 11 others lost their lives. The fire continued for 36 hours until the rig sank. Hydrocarbons continued to flow out from the reservoir through the well bore and blowout preventer (BOP) for 87 days, causing an unprecedented oil spill. Beyond Petroleum (BP) and the US federal government tried various methods to prevent the oil spill and to capture the spilled oil. The corresponding responses were very challenging due to the scale, intensity, and duration of the incident that occurred under extreme conditions in terms of pressure, temperature, and amount of flow. On July 15, a capping stack, which is another BOP on top of the existing BOP, was successfully installed, and the oil spill was stopped. After several tests and subsea responses, the well was permanently sealed by a relief well and a bottom kill on September 19. This paper analyzes the subsea responses and engineering efforts to capture the oil, stop the leaking, and kill the subsea well. During the investigation and analysis of subsea responses, information was collected and data bases were established for future accident prevention and the development of subsea engineering.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2011

The unwanted artificial oil-spill has severely contaminated the coastal environment in the world. Level of contamination has so far been monitered by various indicator species including mussel, oysters, flounder, and cockle. In this study, we decided to use the oyster as a model organism to observe the morphological changes being exposed to the artificial oil-spill in the coastal areas in Taean, Korea. The oysters were collected from four local sites (Sindu-ri, Uiwang-ri, Jonghyeon-dong, Ansan and Uihang-ri) exposed to various levels of pollution after an oil spill in Taean. Microscopic analysis of the hepatopancreatic microstructure in the digestive gland from the collected oysters show that the swelling, whorl, and destruction phenomenon of the nuclear membrane, a well-known microstructure induced by heavy metal exposure, was observed. Nuclear body (Nb), another typical characteristic of contamination or infection were also observed in some samples. Necrosis was observed in tissue samples collected from the area with a high degree of oil pollution. In addition, parasite-like particles (virus, perkinsus) were observed in most samples. Taken together, these results suggest that oil contamination in the oyster habitats influences the cytopathological changes in Crassostrea gigas.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2007

In order to understand the impact of the heavy-oil pollution by the 1997 Nakhodka oil spill on the intertidal macroalgal vegetation, we have been monitoring succession in the intertidal flora since 1997 at Oh-ura, Takno, and Imago-Ura Cove, Kasumi in Hyogo Prefecture, northwestern coast of Honshu, Japan. We employed two different monitoring methods: 1) The percent cover of macro-algae (seaweeds) in 1 x 1 m quadrats along 450 m intertidal transects parallel to the shoreline were assessed and recorded by photographic imaging until 2002, and for 30-40 m transects of the most heavily polluted areas in 2004 and 2006; 2) The percent cover of macro-algae in 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrats along a transect line perpendicular to the shore were recorded and all macrophytes within the quadrat were completely removed to record the wet weight of each taxon (1997-2006). Based on the monitoring data, we conclude that the high intertidal zone at Imago-ura, where a large part of the stranded oil accumulated, suffered the heaviest damage and experienced the slowest recovery. In addition, although the original status of macroalgal vegetation before the impact was not well-documented, it appeared that recovery from the damage caused by the oil pollution required four to five years.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.26
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• pp.7.1-7.9
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the relationship between crude oil exposure and physical symptoms among residents participating in clean-up work associated with the Hebei Spirit oil spill, 2007 in Korea. Methods: A total of 288 residents responded to a questionnaire regarding subjective physical symptoms, sociodemographic characteristics and clean-up activities that occurred between two and eight weeks after the accident. Additionally, the urine of 154 of the respondents was analyzed for metabolites of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals. To compare the urinary levels of exposure biomarkers, the urine of 39 inland residents who were not directly exposed to the oil spill were analyzed. Results: Residents exposed to oil remnants through clean-up work showed associations between physical symptoms and the exposure levels defined in various ways, including days of work, degree of skin contamination, and levels of some urinary exposure biomarkers of VOCs, metabolites and metals, although no major abnormalities in urinary exposure biomarkers were observed. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of a relationship between crude oil exposure and acute human health effects and suggests the need for follow-up to evaluate the exposure status and long-term health effects of clean-up participants.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.123-128
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• 2000

The ocean is now increasingly suffering from pollution mainly caused by oil spill accidents roil increasing marine transportation. It cause not only the deterioration of ocean resources but also critical damage on the ocean ecosystem. Present study is an experimental one for the development of the oil skimmer which can collect spilled-oil actively and effectively from the sea surface. As an effort of achieving it, a new type of water wheel attached nil skimmer was devised, based upon the concept of orifice. The shapes of the water wheel, blades and oil storing tank are found to be very important factors on the oil skimming performance through systematic experimental analysis. Real oil recovery test was also carried out in square tank using the oil skimmer with their optimal shapes. Quite satisfactory result are obtained from the test which showed 99% and 98% recovery rates for light oil and heavy oil in still water condition, respectively.