The Environmental Sensitivity Index and Oil and Hazardous Materials Impact Assessments: Linking Prespill Contingency Planning and Ecological Risk Assessment

ABSTRACT Scott, G.I.; Fulton, M.H.; DeLorenzo, M.E.; Wirth, E.F.; Key, P.B.; Pennington, P.L.; Kennedy, D.M.; Porter, D.; Chandler, G.T.; Scott, C.H., and Ferry, J.L., 2013. The environmental sensitivity index and oil and hazardous materials impact assessments: linking prespill contingency planning and ecological risk assessment. The oil spill Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) was developed by Miles O. Hayes and researchers at Research Planning Institute and at the University of South Carolina during the 1970s and has been used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess, forecast, and mitigate oil spill impacts throughout coastal regions of the United States. The ESI delineates different habitats types within coastal ecosystems and prioritizes their vulnerability to oil spills based on the persistence of oil and the ecological sensitivity of marine animals and plants within each habitat type. More physically exposed habitats (e.g., rock headlands), have shorter oil spill p...