METHODS OF OIL SPILL CLEANUPS OIL SPILL PBL

CONTAINMENT OF OIL SPILL CLEANUP • OIL IS SURROUNDED WITH BOOMS AND RECOVERED BY SKIMMERS • BOOMS-PHYSICAL BARRIERS THAT KEEP OIL FROM ENTERING OR EXITING A CERTAIN AREA • SKIMMERS-FLOATING SYSTEMS THAT CONCENTRATE AND REMOVE OIL AS THEY SKIM ACROSS THE WATER

SKIMMERS • SKIMMERS MAY SPIN OIL, SO THAT IT IS SEPARTED FROM WATER USING CENTRIPETAL FORCE • LIFT OR DRAW OIL FROM THE WATER SURFACE ONTO A CONVEYOR BELT • OR USE OLEOPHILIC (OIL-ADHERENT) MATERIALS TO ABSORB OIL FROM THE WATER.

CONTAINMENT AND COLLECTION • WHILE CONTAINMENT AND COLLECTION IS THE MOST ECOFRIENDLY MANNER OF CLEANING UP AN OIL SPILL, IT IS NOT HIGHLY EFFICIENT, BEING ONLY 10 -15% EFFECTIVE, IN THE BEST CIRCUMSTANCES

ABSORBENTS • ABSORBENT MATERIALS ARE USED INSIDE BOOMS TO DRAW AND ACCUMULATE OIL • THEY INCLUDE NATURAL MATERIALS SUCH AS STRAW, GRASSES, HAIR, WOOD CHIPS, COCONUT HUSKS, OR SPONGES MADE OF SYNTHETIC DIAPER MATERIALS

DISPERSANTS • CHEMICALS THAT ARE USED LIKE DETERGENTS TO BREAK DOWN, DISPERSE, AND SINK OIL • EXAMPLE COREXIT 9500

FIRE • BURNING IS A VERY EFFICIENT MEANS OF REMOVING OIL • BUT IT RELEASES TOXIC SMOKE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

PHYSICAL REMOVAL OF CONTAMINATED VEGETATION • COLLECTING AND RELOCATING GRASSES, PLANTS, SHRUBS THAT ARE SATURATED WITH OIL FROM THE ENVIRONMENT • LOSS OF SEA GRASSES AND OTHER VEGETATION IS HARMFUL AS THESE ARE FOOD SUPPLIES FOR ORGANISMS

CLEAN UP WITH HIGH PRESSURE HOSES AND RAKES • FORCING WARM WATER OVER THE SHORELINE TO WASH OIL FROM VEGETATION AND ROCKS, BACK TO THE OCEAN FOR SKIMMING • THIS METHOD WAS FOUND TO BE VERY DAMAGING TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND LIFE IN THE AREAS WHEN USED DURING CLEANUP FOLLOWING THE 1989 EXXON VALDEZ TANKER SPILL

BIOREMEDIATION • ENHANCING BACTERIAL BREAKDOWN OF OIL BY SUPPLYING A SOURCE OF NITROGEN OR OXYGEN TO PROMOTE GROWTH OF NATURALLY OCCURRING OIL EATING BACTERIA • STILL A LOT OF RESEARCH IS NEEDED. NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE ON IT’S EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT BOTH POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

NATURAL CONSEQUENCES • TAKING NO ACTION • LEAVING NATURE TO BREAK DOWN THE OIL BY EVAPORATION, WAVE ACTION, AND PHOTO-OXIDATION BY THE SUN • THIS TECHNIQUE IS ESPECIALLY POPULAR WITH OPEN OCEAN SPILLS WHERE CLEANUP IS DIFFICULT AND INEFFICIENT