Refugio Beach Oil Spill Sandy Beach Chemistry Analysis Results

NOAA's dataset contains chemistry analysis results from sandy beach samples collected after the May 19, 2015 oil spill at Refugio State Beach, California. The data supports the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) and Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (DARP). It was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Assessing chemical contamination levels in beach sediment based on the described chemistry analysis.
• Modeling environmental recovery timelines based on post-spill sample data.
• Supporting restoration planning and public compensation calculations as part of the NRDA process.

Strengths

• Data is associated with a specific, documented environmental incident (Refugio Beach Oil Spill, May 19, 2015).
• Produced by a federal scientific agency (NOAA, Department of Commerce).
• Last update timestamp is precisely recorded (2026-03 13 22:25:09.513725).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Chemistry data from analyzed samples collected in support of the Refugio Beach Oil Spill Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA).

Time Range

Samples collected after May 19, 2015.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:25:09.513725; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Santa Barbara County, California, near Refugio State Beach and the Pacific Ocean.