AFSC/ABL: Exxon Valdez Trustee Hydrocarbon Database

This hydrocarbon database was initiated after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The first version was as an RBase database, PWSOIL(Short, Heintz et al. 1996). It migrated to a proprietary structure in 1997, EVTHD (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Hydrocarbon Database) and contained the collection and hydrocarbon analysis information for environmental samples obtained for the Exxon Valdez National Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration efforts. The data were organized into three matrix types, tissues, sediment, and seawater. The analytical results included concentrations of 63 hydrocarbons, summary statistics for the evaluation of the hydrocarbon sources and laboratory quality control data. Features of the database included identification of replicate samples, presentation of results in dry or wet weight, optional correction for method detection limits (MDL) of the analytes, and easy identification of samples contaminated with Exxon Valdez crude oil. This structure, written in Visual Basic, ceased to function well when Windows operating systems were upgraded to XP and the data were moved to a Microsoft Access format. The 2014 version continues in Access and is described in the included lexicon document. The 2014 version also includes a data analysis tool (Excel Office 2007 or greater) that flags recovery problems, provides method detection limit filtration (MDL), and source oil modeling. The data should not be used without understanding these details. Further instructions are in the lexicon document.