Communications and data exchange via the black sea and Caspian Sea environmental information center (http://pims.ed.ornl.gov)

A U.S. interagency committee (including representatives from the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, Commerce, and State, and others) was formed to deal with Black Sea and Caspian Sea environmental issues. Oil tanker traffic is expected to increase significantly on the Black and Caspian Seas in the coming years, and the United States decided to address this issue, with the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Policy and International Affairs taking the lead. The goal is to facilitate cooperation among the countries of the region to develop contingency plans should a spill occur. This is being done through a series of workshops held in the Black Sea countries and Kazakhstan and through the establishment of a regional information and communications center. The activity has strong support from the oil industry, whose representatives participate in all of the workshops. The Black Sea and Caspian Sea Environmental Information Center web site (http://pims.ed.ornl.gov), created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for DOE, facilitates information flow and dialog between the countries of the region. The web site is intended to provide a comprehensive source for information on oil spill cleanup, monitoring, and related commercial technologies; scientists' requests for research partners; the laws, regulations, and standards of various countries relating to the environmental condition of the seas; publication of scientific papers, and on-line discussions of these issues; and lists of individuals and companies working on Black Sea and Caspian Sea environmental issues. The web site also provides a real-time chat capability where meetings are organized. Several meetings among regional officials and scientists have been conducted by this means. The web site is also host to a growing database of historical pollution testing data from research institutes in the region.