American Petroleum Institute

INTERNATIONAL 1995 OIL SPILL CONFERENCE - Achieving and Maintaining Preparedness
 N PUBL 46201

Annotation

FOREWORD

This proceedings represents the 14th biennial International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC). Since its inception a quarter of a century ago, the Conference has slowly evolved upward as the political winds of oil spill interest have waxed and waned. Today, this Confernce stands as the premiere international technical conference and trade exposition for the world's oil spill community. In a maturing and more sophisticated industrialized world, nations of all sizes have recognized the importance of international environmental stewardship. Oil spills, though generally of relatively short term, localized influence, are one more environmental perturbation that can be minimized and mitigated by man's active intervention. The goals of this Conference remain much as they were in 1969: "... to delineate the overall dimensions of the oil spills problem, explore the present state of the art of prevention and control of oil spills, and review the relevant research and development efforts of government and private industry, both here and abroad."

The 1995 Conference takes another step forward to maintain its position as the premiere international conference on oil spill issues. To further develop the international cooperation and flow of information, the long time sponsors--the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Coast Guard, and Environmental Protection Agency--are joined this year by two international organizations. Representing the international regulatory community is the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and representing the international petroleum industry is the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA). With this new partnership, the IOSC will greatly enhance its international balance of technical contributions and trade exhibits. More importantly, it will help to communicate the latest in oil spill information to nations of all sizes throughout the world. The long term benefits should include reduced loss of oil to the seas, quicker cleanup, and less environmental impact due to cleanup practices.