The area affected by oil spills on land

Abstract

Abstract Data have been compiled and analysed on the volume and area of 53 oil spills on land in Alberta. Comparable data are presented for smaller experimental spills in the Mackenzie Valley, North West Territories. From these spill data and consideration of the flow characteristics of oil on the permeable terrain of the Mackenzie Valley, an equation is derived to predict the likely area affected by an oil spill from the proposed Mackcnzic Valley Oil Pipeline, namely:‐ Spill Area (m 2 ) = 53.5( Volume (m 3 ) ) 0.89