Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE) and Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) have developed an Environmental Oil Spill Sensitivity Atlas covering West Greenland off shore waters and coastal areas, and here mapped areas particularly sensitive to oil spills. In this project the atlas will be extended to cover Northeast Greenland. The atlas is prepared to provide oil spill response planners and responders with tools to identify resources at risk, to establish protection priorities and to identify appropriate response and clean-up strategies. The atlas enables oil companies and authorities to incorporate environmental considerations into exploration and contingency plans.
The atlas will provide an overview of such aspects as the occurrence of wildlife, human resource use (fishing and hunting) and archaeological sites that are particularly sensitive to oil spills. Furthermore it contains information regarding the physical environment – coastal types, oceanography – logistics and oil spill response methods. Based on these parameters as well as the total environmental information the coastline oil spill sensitivity is classified in 4 categories (low, medium, high and extreme)
The proposed extension of the oil spill atlas will be targeted towards the Greenland Sea assessment area.