Oil Detection Dogs (K9 SCAT)

OSPR/Chevron Response Technology Workshop

Ed Owens and friends

Oil Detection Dogs

• SINTEF research project

• April 2008 field test at Svea on Svalbard in winter with two trained dogs

• they successfully detected a very small oil sample on top of the ice buried under snow from a distance of 5 km (not a typo !)

• fitted with GPS transponders on their collars so able to map their search pattern that led to the oil

Detecting oil buried in ice/snow

GPS tracks of three dogs, all detecting oil

sample drilled down into the sea ice

Oil sample

Oil sample (400 mL) drilled

into the ice and left for a week

Oil in Ice JIP project - published AMOP 2010

American Petroleum Institute (API) Study: Subsurface Oil Detection and Delineation in

Shoreline Sediments

3 phase program:

Phase 1 (2012-2013): State of the Art Review

Phase 2 (2013-2014): Field Guide Recommendations

Phase 3 (2015): Oil Detection Canines Field Trials K9 SCAT Guide

API Report 1149-3 API Report 1149-4

WAS – Test Design

• Clearance: No targets placed

• Detection: Target tube placed in a large search area

Distances covered - 0.3 to 0.7 kmAverage speed - 6.4 to 11.2 km/hr

No target

Target

Wide Area Search – Off Leash

WAS - pipeline, straight beach

Straight forward grid pattern

Delineation Tests – On Leash

• Search pattern directed by handler with support from K9 SCAT Coordinator

Distances covered - 0.2 to 0.6 kmAverage speed - 1.5 to 3.5 km/hr

ResultsTARGETS 704

Targets correctly assessed 684

False Alerts 6

Explained (experimental procedure issue) 5

Unexplained 1

Missed Targets 14

Explained (experimental design issue) 4

Explained (search pattern issue) 9

Unexplained 1

Search pattern (survey) issue 1.3%

Experimental design issue 1.3%

Unexplained 0.3%

Canine success rate 99.7%

If take out procedural and search pattern issues, scored 702 out of 704

Surface Oil Survey Data

Response Total Shoreline

Surveyed (km)

Length with No

Observed Oil (NOO)

(km - %)

Source

Deepwater Horizon 7,058 5,285 - 75% Michel et al., 2013

T/V Exxon Valdez, AK 5,459 3,359 - 61% Owens, 1991

M/V Selending Ayu,

AK

763 345 - 45% Owens et al., 2008

M/V Cosco Busan, CA 379 232 - 61% Unpub. SCAT data base

K9 SCAT can reduce effort and allow ground survey teams to focus on higher probability target areas

Subsurface Oil Survey DataResponse/ Project Period Pits/

Trenches

Comment Source

Deepwater

Horizon: SCAT

May 2010 –

Dec 2012

>180,000 NOO in 67%

Deepwater

Horizon: LAASR

January-

June 2013

>32,000 NOO in 5 of the 15 selected

target areas

OSAT-3, 2014

Deepwater

Horizon: BOP

June-

August

2013

>8,000 NOO in 86% of the locations OSAT-3, 2014

Bouchard B-155

spill, Tampa Bay

FL

18-19

August

1993

964 1 team, 2 days: pits at a 1-m

interval on 119 transects

spaced at 160 m

Owens et al.,

1995

Refugio, CA 15 June

2015

360 4 teams: 1500’ x 30’ area

(4,000m2) with a 10’x10’ (3m

x 3m) grid in 6 hours

J. Michel,

pers. comm.

Current Subsurface Oil Detection Practices

Attributes

Current Practices

Excavation Cores JettingCanine

Detection

Horizontal Detection and Delineation

Vertical Delineation

Survey Speed

Oil Character

Why Use Dogs ?

Proven concept + SPEED and CONTINUOUS COVERAGE

– One day - manual digging - single team -maximum production of 200 pits (based on MC 252 field operations)

– Dogs provide virtually 100% coverage versus < 0.01% coverage by manual or auger spot sampling.

– High confidence-low risk tool

2016• Environment Canada – Chedabucto Bay shoreline

detection in June for subsurface oil from a 2015 “Arrow” spill concurrent with an ECCC beach sampling program

• Summer N. Saskatchewan River pipeline spill was the fits operational deployment of K9 SCAT: 2 teams active from 08 August through 13 October

Oil Detection Dogs (K9 SCAT)

• an example of confidence in the data– dogs are completely neutral

– they do not interpret or make choices, they simply analyze and report

– not just fun to work with …….

• a high-confidence/low-risk tool, and

• primarily for low oil concentrations and subsurface oil

• goodwill ambassadorsDeveloped more efficient survey techniques to work off-leash and with the handler on a boat

ApplicationsPipelines• leak or spill searches• smart pig inspection anomaly support• routine inspections• tracking subsurface migration of oil/gas

Oil in snow and under ice

Shorelines, River and Inland SCAT Support• Wide Area Search surveys to detect and/or clear areas with No Detectable Oil• delineation surveys for subsurface oil for:

- SCAT support during ground surveys,- reconfirmation before Operations implement an STR, and/or- confirmation after treatment.

• clearance as part of Shoreline Inspection Report (SIR) surveys.

Oil in Snow Detection

• SURFACE

SINTEF – found a larger oil deposit (400 L: 100 gallons) that had been laid down on top of ice and covered by snow, based on the triangulation of detected plume dimensions; with oil detected up to 5 km (3 miles) downwind of the spill location

• SUBSURFACEOn snow a detection canine can search one hectare (2.5 acres) in approximately 20 to 30 minutes and detect targets to depths of 2 - 4 m

Pipeline

stream

flowing river with ice

Knowledge Improvements

Maximum depths

tested up to 1m

Constraints due to environmental conditions e.g.

weather

environmental conditions

ice/snow

Distinction between target oil and background oiling

Effects of trace surface oiling when searching for subsurface oil

ComparisonsFACTOR Canines

GroundSurvey

Aerial Survey

sUASGas

Detection

AccuracyExcellent(99.7%)

Subsurface Poor Surface only Surface onlyExcellent: surface and surface

Effectiveness(area cover)

100% surface and subsurface

Surface: Poor -spot sampling

Surface - visualonly

Surface -visual only

100% surface and subsurface

SpeedRapid(15-25km/ day)

Slow Surface:very rapid

Surface :very rapid

Moderate to Rapid

Labor/ Equipment

K9-SCATTeam

SCAT Team plus shovels, mechanical equipment

Helo / fixed wing aircraft– visual or sensors

UAV and operators –visual or sensors

Gas detection equipment and operator

Cost

Maintenance costs low after set up

Relatively expensive (labour costs)

Relatively expensive (aircraft costs)

? Moderate – not much data

Maintenance costs low after set up

2017

• Proposed Prince William Sound AK subsurface oil survey

• North Saskatchewan River 2017 SCAT program

• Northern Alberta 2016 condensate spill delineation and clearance survey

SCAT dogs rock !!