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water-reactive: Can react vigorously when mixed with water or steam or when spilled into water; the reaction may generate hazardous gas or overpressurize container.
weathering: The physical and chemical changes, such as evaporation, emulsification, and biodegradation, that oil or other pollutants undergo when exposed to the environment. Weathering can change an oil's density, viscosity (resistance to flow), rate of evaporation and dispersion into the water column, and the rate at which it may emulsify. A pollutant's weathering behavior affects its eventual fate in the environment.
well: A hole drilled or bored into the earth, usually cased with metal pipe, for the production of gas or oil. A hole for the injection, under pressure, of water or gas into a subsurface rock formation.
wetlands: A region where the influence of surface water or groundwater has resulted in the development of plant or animal communities adapted to aquatic or intermittently wet conditions. Wetlands include tidal flats, shallow subtidal areas, swamps, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, and similar areas.
wind chop: Short-crested waves found in harbors and lakes that may spring up quickly in a moderate breeze, and which break easily at the crest. Wind chop is usually created by wind, but may also occur by the passage of boats.
windrows: Streaks of oil that line up in the direction of the wind. Windrows typically form early during a spill when the wind speed is at least 10 knots (5.1 meters per second). Sheen is the form of spilled oil that most frequently windrows.
WMD: Weapon of Mass Destruction. A term used to describe a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive agent that can be used as a weapon.
wrack: Organic material, usually from dead seagrass or algae that wash up on shorelines.

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