This training is educational and should not be construed as legal advice. It is a courtesy to our customers and others who may find the information helpful. Greensora Oil Absorbent Company produces this article for you to know everything about oil spills.
When an oil spill occurs, it must be contained quickly to minimize environmental damage. Containment booms and equipment reduce spill area by preventing spilled oil from migrating further into the water system and making removal easier.
Other consequences include:
Typically have a more significant direct impact on human populations than marine and coastal spills. They are more likely to harm drinking water sources, metropolitan areas, recreational waterways, shoreline industries, and facilities.
They harm the soil and prevent new plant growth. Also, migrate to underground water tables.
Water conditions and temperature have an impact on booms. Other environmental factors include the type of oil product absorbed. No single kind of boom (containment or absorbent) is 100% effective in all spill scenarios. Other advantages include the following:
Using Absorbent Booms for Spill Response
Make contingency plans that address potential oil leak scenarios before a spill occurs. Plan for both land and water spills if they are possible. While each facility’s contingency plan is distinct, they have three elements:
One of the best methods to reduce the effects of an oil spill, whether on land or in the sea, is planning. Think about typical wind, temperature, and water current patterns that could make responding on land or at sea difficult.
Putting up flashy reflectors, flags, balloons, floodlights, and other animal deterrents; caring for the plants and grasses that grow along shorelines or on banks.
While it is essential to be prepared for “worst-case scenario” spills, it is also good to be prepared for incidental spills. Stocking spill kits, drain covers, and other response tools in spill-prone areas can help responders quickly contain spills and minimize overall impact.
Resources may include:
Absorbent booms come in different lengths and diameters. Consider the weight of a fully saturated boom. If booms are retrieved by hand, consider 10′ lengths over 20′ lengths of the boom, 3′ in. diameter booms for ponds, lakes, or very slow-moving waters,5′ in. diameter booms for creeks and slow-moving water,8 in diameter booms for moving water up to 1 knot, Sufficient quantities of ropes and anchors to secure booms Step.
Surround the spill, linking absorbent booms as needed to keep the spill from spreading
Allow at least 18 in. of overlap
If the spill is still moving, allow space between the spill and the absorbent boom
Placing a boom too close to a spill can cause oil to escape under the boom
For spills of water
Absorbent booms can be Fixed to piers or buoys, Towed behind a vessel for deployment.
Booms are rarely deployed across a watercourse from shore to shore, perpendicular to the water flow. Booms may be deployed in a watercourse at an angle from shore to shore to force the oil to the shoreline where personnel, sorbents, and/or mechanical skimming devices can more easily access the oil.
Booms may be deployed in a “U”-shaped manner on a calm body of water (lake, pond, or calm harbor) when an on-shore oil spill enters the water, and booms can surround the oil slick.
Wind speed above 5 knots and water-current speed above 2 knots (perpendicular) cause absorbent booms to submerge, allowing oil to pass over them.
Waves higher than the freeboard (above the water) portion of a boom will push oil over the boom, requiring the Skimming Sweep and/or multiple lines of booms to capture most of the oil.
High current speed and below-surface turbulence will pull oil under a boom. A Skimming Sweep or multiple lines of booms will need to be deployed.
Anchoring points are critical. Insufficient anchoring is a common cause of boom failure.
While it is easy to improvise an anchor point for spill response on calm water with rebar, metal or wooden stakes, shovel handles, and whatever else might be available, a moving body of water requires more permanent anchor points. And these should be determined well in advance of an actual spill.
Absorbent booms must be monitored to ensure that water conditions are not submerging them and are not fully saturated. If booms are fully saturated, leave them in place until a secondary line of booms is placed. Booms don’t function well in tidal conditions or currents moving more than 1 knot per hour. The weight of recovered oil can cause a sorbent to sag and deform.
The rate of absorption varies with the thickness of the oil. Light oils are soaked up more quickly than heavy ones. When an absorbent boom bobs at the water’s surface, it is fully saturated and needs to be replaced. Be aware of surfactants or dispersants that are used in open-water spill response. These can cause absorbent booms to absorb water.
Absent booms must be removed from the water and properly recycled or disposed of when they are saturated. Any oil extracted from sorbent materials must be appropriately disposed of or recycled.
Towing booms back to shore when a spill is encircled must be done slowly (less than 2 knots), or the boom’s speed through the water will cause it to submerge.
Even the best plans and largest stockpiles will fail if responders are not properly trained to use them. Drills or response exercises help responders prepare for different scenarios so that everyone knows how to use equipment and tools correctly, efficiently, and safely.
Consider hosting drills with local firefighters or other responders to help foster relationships and increase skill levels.
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