Abstract
Five and a half months after the Keumdong oil spill accident on the 21$^{st}$ of September 1993, 34 seawater samples and 94 sediment samples were collected from Kwangyang Bay and Namhaedo area to assess its environmental impacts. Hydrocarbon concentration in the seawater ranged from 0.8 to 9.2 ${\mu}$g/1 with an average of 3.3 ${\mu}$g/1. This average value was nearly the same as the value(3.7 ${\mu}$g/1) before the oil spill accident. This suggests that by the early March of 1994 majority of the coastal water in the study area restored to its background hydrocarbon concentration before the oil spill accident. Nutrients, heavy metals and other general environmental parameters of the seawater did not show any aggravated seawater quality compared with the previous records. From the regression analysis of time-course observation of hydrocarbon in the seawater, except the sediment environment, the effect of oil spill on the water column was estimated to last at least 4 months in the study area after the oil spill accident. In the shoreline sediments, oil deposits were, however, still found at the high water marks at several stations, and very high values were found in the west of Namhaedo, ranging from 3.7 to 40.1 mg/g of wet sediment. Gas chromatography of these samples showed a very distinct Bunker C chromatogram identical to the Keumdong oil spill. Hydrocarbons in the subtidal bottom sediments in the study area and the reference stations (YB and CB) ranged from 0.45 to 18.08 ${\mu}$g/g of wet sediment with an average of 3.09 ${\mu}$g/g. West of Namhaedo (Stations Bl2-B33) generally showed much higher values than inner Kwangyang Bay and in Chinju Bay. Chinju Bay generally showed the lowest value among the study area. Subtidal bottom sediments in inner Kwangyang Bay and Chinju Bay seemed to be less affected than west of Namhaedo. Heavy metal concentrations in the sediment were relatively higher in the Kwangyang Bay than in the Chinju Bay. However, metal concentrations in the study area were in general comparable to the reference areas.