Title: The use of information technology for oil spill planning

Authors: Donald E. Brown, Antonia de Medinaceli

Addresses: Department of Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, Thornton Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2442, USA. Department of Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, Thornton Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2442, USA

Abstract: In the years since the Exxon Valdez ran aground, US laws and regulations at the state and federal levels have required the development, maintenance, and use of oil spill contingency plans by any facility that transports, handles, or stores oil. US National Park Service areas and facilities fall under the jurisdiction of the federal regulations as most parks store and handle oil or can suffer from the adverse effects of external spills, such as Exxon Valdez. To create plans for the National Parks, we designed and developed a contingency Plan Automation, Response, and Communication System (PARCS). PARCS provides an automated tool for the construction of response plans that comply with applicable federal regulations. PARCS clearly illustrates the use of advanced information technology for public policy planning and shows some of the important differences with private sector use of information technology.

Keywords: oil spill planning; planning support systems; template-directed, rule-based systems; planning for crisis management; plan automation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2000.002816

International Journal of Technology Management, 2000 Vol.19 No.3/4/5, pp.532-545

Published online: 07 Jul 2003 *

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