Deep Sea Oil Cleanup Technology

7/29/2019 Deep Sea Oil Cleanup Technology

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Deep Sea Oil Spill Cleanup Techniques:

http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/drsservice/servicemanager/do/service?serviceid=getcomponent&docid=180951190&mt=image%2Fjpeg&ts=3030333834323239324432463036&doclocation=0A%2FC9%2F18%2F96IMAGE0.jpgApplicability, Trade-offs and Advantages

by Pam Graham

As the explosion of BPs Deepwater Horizon oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico has shown, recoveringlarge amounts of crude oil from a spill is adaunting task. The range of clean-up effortsvaries widely and depends on a number of fac-tors, including oil type and density, water tem-perature, the volume of the spill, proximity toshorelines, waves, currents, weather and speedof response, among others. From low-tech ap-proaches, such as physical containment andskimming and burning, to high-tech methodsthat use sophisticated dispersantsgiant separa-tors that basically vacuum oil from the surface

and seeding with oil-eating microorganisms, thetechnique(s) applied to any given spill must becarefully chosen.

Workers shovel oiled sand hit by the BPDeepwater Horizon oil

Saul Loeb, Getty Images, 06-13-2010, Takenfrom ProQuests eLibrary

The principal U.S. federal agency in charge of funding and coordinating oil spill response re-search for the past 25 years, the Minerals Management Service, has focused on technologies todetect, contain and clean up oil spills that may occur on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. ThisDiscovery Guide takes a brief look at detection technologies and more thoroughlyexplores theadvantages and trade-offs inherent in today's most viable oil spill remediationtechnologies.

Countless marine and terrestrial wildlife species rely on sea and coastal habitats for food, coverand breeding space, creating a variety of ways for spilled oil to threaten fish,birds, mammals andreptiles. This Discovery Guide ends with a discussion of cleaning and rehabilitation of oil-im-pacted wildlife.


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Since the universally recognized key to avoiding catastrophic damage is fast response, the effec-tiveness of any cleanup effort begins with timely detection and accurate appraisal of an oil spillssource, location, size, thickness, depth and more.

Detection and Assessment of an Oil Spills Extent

For the foreseeable future, as today, spill response will depend on the abilityto trap and removeoil. That reality places heavy importance on the speed and accuracy of detection, because thesephysical methods, according to Larry Nies, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University,.are generally most effective if you get there in time and are the first line ofdefense." [1]

In practice, the majority of oil spill detection continues to be performed by the least costlymethod: visual observation from the air, along with still and video photography.But the many


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File:BP Oilspill June25.2010.jpgcritical deficiencies of this approach include limitations on seeing ability imposed by atmos-pheric and sea conditions, as well as complete inoperability in rain, fog or darkness. The Miner-als Management Service (MMS) warns that all estimates of oil thickness and coverage by visualobservations .should be viewed with considerable caution..

Oil spreading north-east from the leaking Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf ofMexico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BP_Oilspill_June25.2010.jpg

Increasingly, aircraft-based remote sensors (which work by detecting color, reflectance, tem-perature, roughness and other sea surface properties) are proving useful in a variety of oil spilldetection modes, such as large area surveillance, site specific monitoring, and

tactical assistancein emergencies. [2] Yet, while airborne sensors offer greater accuracy and the advantage of oper-ating beyond the optical spectral region, they are expensive and require highlytrained personnelto control the systems and interpret results.

At the top end of spill detection technology, the ideal system: 1. would be completely automaticto reduce operational staff,2. would be capable of delivering real-time data (including wave and

current information) with no need for post-processing, and 3. would be able to see oil spills inthe dark, enabling 24-hour vigilance.

In 2005, a Norway-based company developed a system that satisfies some of theserequirementsby capturing and processing digitized radar images from standard X-band navigation radars. Thesystem features a user-friendly graphical interface that shows the oil spill, its area, velocity andother information valuable for a discovery and recovery operation. This technology is based onthe fact that areas covered by oil will reflect less microwave power due to damp

ening of sea sur-face capillary waves. [3] These very short waves, or tiny ripples, are the predominant scatterersof microwave radiation from the oceans surface. A coating of oil changes the waters surfacetension in a way that reduces the presence of capillary waves, resulting in lessmicrowave radia-tion. So, sections covered in oil show up as dark areas in radar sea surface images. [4]


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Other research seeks to get a jump on detection by accurately predicting slicktrajectories usingdata such as salinity, temperature, bottom pressure, and number and area of theslicks, obtainedfrom an array of orbital satellites. A recently proposed computational methodology uses the


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File:080723-N-0780F-002.jpgCase-Based Reasoning (CBR) methodology to forecast the probability of finding oil in certainopen sea areas after an oil spill. [5] CBR depends on the case base, a databasewhere a collectionof problems is stored, keeping a relationship with the solutions to every problem stored, whichgives the system the ability to generalize in order to solve new problems and predict outcomes.[6]

Currently, there are two critical shortfalls in the technical ability to measure and assess the ex-tent of marine environment oil spills. Thickness sensors, which would be valuable as triage toolsfor targeting the thickest portions first, do not yet exist. Additionally, thereis no practical ap-proach to remotely detecting or mapping oil trapped in, under, on or among ice.[7]

Another fairly recent addition to the spill cleanup team's arsenal is a series o

f data-gatheringbuoys and other ocean-based instruments that allow response teams to get a real-time sense ofthe conditions at sea.

Regardless of the sophistication of the detection system, once government and oil company offi-cials have been notified of a spill, they are dependent on the systems data and analysis toquickly make targeted decisions and immediately deploy the appropriate containment andcleanup measures.

Containment: Oil Booms

When oil is accidentally released into a body of water, the most urgent priorityis limiting thespills spread to minimize the natural resources at risk and to facilitate cleanupand removal.Swift and skillful deployment of a containment boom is essential for achieving both of thesegoals.

Boom Basics

Because oil is less dense than water, it rises to

the surface, where floating fences called boomscan corral it. In its simplest form, a boom con-sists of a length of rugged fabric with buoyantfiller stitched into the side intended to floatabove the water, and a heavy chain or otherballast inserted into the bottom to weigh downthe sub-surface skirt and make it sink. Boommaterial is brightly colored for ease of recoveryand to help crews spot a break in the line. Thefreeboard (above surface) component is com-


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monly designed to reduce splash-over, whilethe skirt is engineered to keep oil from escapingbeneath the boom.

SOUDA BAY, Crete, Greece (July 23, 2008) An oil spillresponse team at U.S. Naval Support Activity deploysa "Harbour Buster" high-speed oil containmentsystem

U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Paul Farley/Released

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:080723-N-0780F-002.jpg

Under ideal conditions, a spill is quickly con-tained by booms strung end to end until they


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completely encircle the floating oil. Realistically, however, a number of factors, such as watercurrent, wave height, wind velocity and oil viscosity steadily work to churn upthe surface andhamper a booms capacity to contain oil. [8] The result is that in heavy seas or during roughweather, some of the oil sloshes over and under the boom, making a single line inadequate.These cases require multiple concentric circles of oil boom extending over increasing diametersuntil the spatial extent of the leak is contained.

When a slick becomes too dispersed for circular containment or when it begins toapproach land,a mobile retention boom, with or without a built-in recovery system or skimmer,can be deployedto assist the oil roundup.

Modified Boom

A variety of booms designed to repel water (hydrophobic) and soak up oil (oleoph

ilic) serve as abackup or replacement for physical containment booms. Unlike barrier-only booms,absorbentbooms are lightweight, easy to deploy, and have the ability to simultaneously contain a spill andbegin the recovery process. They also require timely retrieval or an anchor point to preventsinking as the booms become heavy with oil.

Commercial absorbent booms are commonly made of an outer mesh with polypropylenefillerand are engineered for easy deployment and maximum absorbency, as well as a longflotation

period.

While booms made of natural sorbents [9] like hair, hay and even a 3,000-year-old Egyptian hi-biscus plant called kenaf [10] reflect the largely low-tech measures still usedto clean up oilspills, they are also environmentally safe and stimulate community involvement.[11]

Often functioning as the first and last line of defense in an oil spill, booms are meant to bothcontain and concentrate the oil close to the source, so it can be skimmed or vacuumed from the

surface by other equipment, and then prevent the oil that manages to get throughfrom washingup on beaches or marshes.

Mechanical Recovery: Skimmers and Separators

Once booms have concentrated oil in sufficiently thick layers on top of the water, mechanicalmethods such as skimming, separating and vacuuming can be mobilized where conditions are


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favorable. But because these techniques take place at the surface, they are subject to the samedisruptions that applied to booms, particularly those posed by wind, waves and currents.

Skimmers

Skimmers are slow yet very effective machines used for surface removal in calm or shelteredwaters and along shorelines. They work by taking advantage of the adhesive nature of the oil,which will cling to any surface that it comes into contact with. Using rotation,suction, gravity orother forces to drive motion, these machines: 1. provide a never-ending surfacefor the spilledpetroleum to cling to, 2. clean the surface, and 3. repeat that process continuously. [12]


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http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/drsservice/servicemanager/do/service?serviceid=getcomponent&docid=181874525&mt=image%2Fjpeg&ts=4631333534393430334533373232&doclocation=0A%2FD7%2F2F%2F5DIMAGE1.jpgThe primary types of oil skimmers include belt,brush/disk/drum, mop and floating suction. [13]Stainless steel belt oil skimmers are lowered intothe contaminated water and then passed throughspecial wiper blades, which remove the oil fromboth sides as it passes through. Brush/disk/drumskimmers float on the surface and are fitted with abrush, disk or drum that collects oil as it rotates.The oil is then scraped off and discharged from theskimmer. Rope mop skimmers consist of a driveunit and a length of oil-attracting rope. Oil sticksto the rope and is carried back to the drive unit forremoval.

Yingling, KRT News Graphics, 07-08-2010, Takenfrom ProQuests eLibrary

For very thick layers of oil, floating weir oil

skimmers (designed with pivoting flaps that trapthe oil while letting water recycle outward througha filter) are most effective. However, these workbest when sitting on highly concentrated oil orthey tend to take on large amounts of water withthe oil. [14] These devices feature multiple floatsand a central intake weir, which is adjustable tohelp accommodate oil layer thickness. [15]

Separators

Water can contain oil in three major forms: 1. free oil (droplets larger than 20microns in diame-

ter), 2. emulsified oil (droplets that have been mechanically or chemically reduced in size tosmaller than 20 microns in diameter), and 3. dissolved oil (molecular-scale particles capable ofdissolving in water). [16]

Because they take advantage of the differences in the specific gravities of water and oil toachieve separation, traditional gravity-type separators will not separate emulsified or dissolvedoil from water. A gravity separator has a chamber designed to provide controlledflow conditionsthat help globules of free oil rise to the surface of the water and form a separ

ate oil mass that canbe removed mechanically.

The "rise rate" of oil globules (their vertical velocity) is the speed at whichoil particles movetoward the separator surface because of the difference in densities of oil and water. The closerthe density of the oil or the grease is to that of water, the longer it takes for separation to occur.


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High-tech centrifuge separators also leverage the density difference between oiland water, butby using centripetal force to quickly spin and separate the two fluids, they can.slurp up as muchas 200 gallons of oil every minute.. [17] Although centrifuge separators currently allow smallamounts of oil and water to cling together during the spin (especially in watercontaining dis-


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solved and emulsified oil from the heavy use of dispersants), another inventioncould soup-upseparators by blasting these stubborn hangers-on with microwaves. Idaho NationalLaboratorychemist David Meikrantz, on whose patented technology Kevin Costners Ocean Therapy Solu-tions based its separators, says microwaves .add a little turbo boost. that cangive centrifugeseparators higher throughput and better efficiency. [18]

The video referenced to the right demonstratesthe separation principle for one of these com-mercially available vortex-driven separators.

Oil Spill Cleanup. EVTN: able to launch a voraxialseparator unit for oil spill response. [18]

When the primary fluid enters the separator, animpeller creates a cyclonic flow that forces the

heavier water outside the stream, while thelighter oil is drawn inward to form a centralcore. At the exit of the separation chamber, theseparated streams are collected and the primary(clean) fluid is released for discharge.

Mechanical collection by skimmers and sepa-rators cannot recover all the petroleum dumpedin a major spill, a deepwater leak or a spill inrough waters where oil is rapidly churned and emulsified. These situations require chemical, mi-crobial and other more experimental types of intervention such as airplane-deployed robots that

cordon off the oil and use centrifuge separators to collect oil for refining, [19] non-toxic superab-sorbent polymer powder that forms a sponge-like material when sprinkled on an oil slick and iseasily removed from the surface, [20] new high-speed skimming vessels that not only work fast,but can handle the rough seas that hamper current mechanical methods, and products likeAerogel, a reusable sponge-like material (composed of 2 percent clay, 2 percentplastic and 96percent air) thats capable of absorbing oil and leaving water behind. [21]

Cleanup: Chemicals and Microbes

Dispersants

Dispersants are chemical formulations composed of solvents, surfactants and other additives thatdisrupt the solid surface of an oil slick by reducing the surface tension between oil and water.Composed of molecules with a water-compatible (hydrophilic) end and an oil-compatible (lipo-philic) end, dispersants link an oil droplet to nearby water molecules and allow


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the natural agita-tion caused by waves and wind to pull the droplets apart into increasingly smaller droplets.Unlike the large, free oil droplets that float in a two-dimensional slick at thesurface of the water,these smaller droplets eventually become heavier than water and sink (spread inthree dimen-sions) into the water column, or the vertical expanse of water extending from the sea surface tobottom sediments.


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an airplane applies dispersant to a streamer of oilThe action of dispersants does notchange the total amount of oil leakedinto the environment. It simply changesthe oils transport, fate and potential ef-fects. Surface oil not only poses thegreatest danger to exposed seabirds, tur-tles and fur-bearing marine mammals, itis also the main threat to biologicallysensitive shorelines and economicallyimportant beaches. But since both thedispersants and the dispersed oil aretoxic (in varying degrees, according tothe type of oil spilled and the chemicalagent used) to animals living underwa-ter, coral reefs and other marine life,[22] decisions to use dispersants involve trade-offs between decreasing the riskto water surfaceand shoreline habitats while increasing the potential harm to organisms in the water column andon the seafloor. [23] For these reasons, decisions concerning the use of dispersants are usuallybased on a broad assessment of the overall environmental impact of a specific sp

ill. [24]

An airplane applies dispersant to a streamer of oil.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/

Once the decision to use dispersants has been made, there are additional conside

rations such aschoosing the most effective commercial product and determining the optimal application system.

Dispersant acceptance and product effectiveness criteria vary from country to country. Oil spillsin the United States have been limited primarily to offshore marine waters wherewater salinitiesare high, so there has been an emphasis on dispersants formulated to work in relatively high sa-linity water and some are known to lose their effectiveness when applied in fresh or brackishwater. In Canada, a number of federal and provincial agencies are responsible fo

r specific as-pects of spill response and planning, but as in the U.S., Canada lacks a decision guide and spe-cific criteria for dispersant use in fresh water. France is the only country with published informa-tion on dispersant use policies and criteria for their use specific to freshwater. [25] AustraliasGuidelines for Acceptance is a clear and informative publication within that countrys NationalPlan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Subst


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ances. [26]

Whatever dispersant formulation(s) the agencies in charge of a spill select, they must design anapplication system (aboard aircraft or marine vessels) capable of meeting several basic criteria,including the ability: 1. to spray dispersant uniformly on the oil, 2. to disperse a droplet size thatencourages mixing with the oil and ease of movement to the oil-water interface,3. to attain theproper concentration at the oil-water interface, and 4. to deliver sufficient energy to disperse theslick into droplets. [27]

There is evidence that dispersed oil degrades more quickly than oil that has notbeen dispersed.So, ultimately, a successful dispersant operation would end in dispersed oil droplets being proc-essed in the marine ecosystem and degrading into naturally occurring substances.This processstarts with the droplets of oil and dispersant being colonized by bacteria thatthen begin to de-


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grade them. Next, protozoans and nematodes (small worms) join the colonies. Eventually, the oilmay be further broken down and incorporated into the food web. [28] However, some researchraises concerns that certain microbes may chew up the dispersant molecules instead of dining onthe oil. [29]

Microbes

Bioremediation (the use of natural microorganisms, plants or fungi to correct acontaminated oraltered environment) may have a role to play in restoring oil-contaminated environments andhabitats. But when it comes to using microorganisms and their enzymes to returnareas to theiroriginal conditions, there are two opposing schools of thought. Many scientistsagree that natu-rally occurring bacteria capable of degrading oil are already present in marineenvironments, butthe limited availability of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus prevent the oil-eaters from per-forming to their full potential. [30]

Others, like Ben Lyons, a research scientist and engineer at the small biotech firm Evolugate,think greater potential lies in seeding oil spills with more bacteria. Lyons says, .Our methodol-ogy is, youve got to get oil from the actual site where youre going to be puttingthe microbes..As the experiments go forward, Thomas Lyons (no relation to Ben Lyons), Evolugates principalresearch scientist, says that his staff will collect more samples from the waters and marshes alongthe Gulf Coast and attempt to evolve .designer communities. for each sample. [31] But, ac-

cording to Ronald Atlas of the University of Louisville, who has been studying oil-spill biore-mediation since 1968, field studies show that adding new microbes is no more valuable than pro-viding nutrients to the ones already there.

Because ecosystems are complex systems of finely tuned, interconnected parts that thrive onvery symbiotic relationships, they can be damaged by anything that disrupts thebalance of inter-actions that take place within them. A major known consequence of subsea oil plumes is thatthey lead to a bloom in oil-chomping microbes that eat the oil, but use oxygen i

n the processmeaning that oxygen levels in the water can drop rapidly and threaten marine life. [32] Atlasadmits that seeding an oil spill with microbes has no environmental drawback, although provid-ing too much fertilizer can cause die-offs by triggering damaging algal blooms.

For a variety of reasons, bioremediation will likely remain a secondary weapon,most effectiveafter mechanical and physical efforts at containment and cleanup have been exhau


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sted, in thefight to minimize the environmental damage of oil-contaminated water and coastalareas. Onedownside to using bioremediation in the initial cleanup is that its a slow process that doesntsatisfy the urgency of first response efforts to minimize environmental threats.Also, bioreme-diation isnt a practical approach far offshore, where high energy and waves can quickly dilutenutrients the microbes need to thrive. [33] The final battle line, rescue and rehabilitation, comesafter the oil has escaped containment, evaded cleanup and penetrated the livingspaces of count-less marine and terrestrial wildlife species.


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http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/drsservice/servicemanager/do/service?serviceid=getcomponent&docid=181036479&mt=image%2Fjpeg&ts=3430454546344535463546424445&doclocation=0A%2FCA%2F65%2FBFIMAGE0.jpgRemediation: Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation

Oil spills kill wildlife and cause ecosystem damage that can last for generations by forcingchanges in reproduction and compromising complex food webs.

The impact scientists worry about most in a major spill is more subtle than thepresence of oil onfeathers or fur. It is the long-term exposure to dispersants and oil that have the potential to triggerdramatic die-offs and population declines. Scientists are not yet able to address these large-scaleeffects, and will require new methods to monitor and assess the impact of deep,massive leaks faroffshore, like the one that resulted from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizonoil rig.

Scientists, volunteers and other responders are,however, prepared to deal with oiled wildlife andshoreline effects, because those are the usual

problems. [34] While experts agree on the mostviable methods for cleaning oiled wildlife, theydisagree about whether rescuing individual animalsimpacted by a spill is worthwhile. This DiscoveryGuide bypasses the argument for euthanasia andconcentrates on techniques for cleaning and reha-bilitating oil-impacted wildlife.

A brown pelican, covered with oil from the BPDeepwater Horizon

Saul Loeb, Getty Images, 06-15-2010, Taken fromProQuests eLibrary

The chemicals in oil are toxic and only trained per-sonnel with appropriate protective gear and equip-ment should handle and treat oiled animals. For thehealth and safety of rescuers and the animals theyare trying to save, the Marine Mammal Health andStranding Response Program and the Sea TurtleStranding and Salvage Network urges anyone whofinds oiled wildlife to avoid direct contact with the

animal and immediately call their Wildlife Hotline or other rescue organizationso they can de-ploy trained wildlife personnel to collect the animal. [35]

When trained professionals respond to such a report, they generally go through aseven-part res-cue and treatment process:


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1. Both live and dead wildlife are collected.2. Rescues receive a full physical examination.3. Rescues are warmed, fed, hydrated and then rested for 48 hours.4. Rescues are washed in a series of tubs filled with a mixture of diluted cleaning agent andhot, softened water.5. Cleaned animals are then placed in outdoor pools or other appropriate housingfor any-where from three days to several months, depending on the animals condition.


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6. Rescued animals receive another medical examination and are banded or taggedbefore re-leased back into a clean habitat.7. Released animals receive a post-release assessment, which often entails tagging the ani-mals with radio devices and monitoring them. [36]

Birds

Birds are some of the most frequent animals at rescue sites. It was once believed that washing abird with soap would remove the natural oils from its feathers, causing the birdto lose its insula-tion and waterproofing, which would lead to its death. But what actually keeps birds waterproofis the position of the feathers, which overlap each other like shingles on a roof to create a cover-ing. Millions of tiny barbs on individual feathers gently interlock to form a flexible seal. Preen-ing is all about aligning feathers to ensure a waterproof and airtight seal thatinsulates the bodyfor insulation and buoyancy. If the feathers arent perfectly aligned, the bird wi

ll die from expo-sure. Oil kills birds by matting feathers and separating the intricate barbs, which exposes the birdto temperature extremes.

Oiled birds are initially too traumatized to be washed immediately, but once stabilized, they gothrough a series of tub washes alternating between baths with a one percent solution of Dawndishwashing liquid and clean water. The wash time varies depending on the amountof oil andthe size of the bird, but on average it takes two people 45 minutes and 300 gallons of water to do

a thorough washing. [37]

Machines that wash oiled animals have been available for at least a decade. Manufacturers claimthey cut clean-up time by half, reducing a 35- to 45-minute manual washing to just 20 minutes.The speed, however, may come at a cost. Jay Holcomb, executive director of the InternationalBird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), told Discovery News that his network of specialists willnot use such a machine "as it does not truly clean the birds all the way and issometimes hurtfulto them." While working after the ERIKA oil spill in France, his specialists ini

tially used a ma-chine, with disastrous results. Due to the machines inability to adapt to individual birds shapesand sizes, each time the machine was used, wings were injured and many birds died. [38]

Before a bird can be released, it should be able to pass a waterproofing test. That is, it must dem-onstrate the ability to float and the ability to keep water away from its body.Once a bird passes


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the test, it is slowly exposed to temperatures comparable to outside weather. Its weight and mus-cle structure should be average for its species, and it should show no signs ofdisease. Afterbanding, rehabilitated birds are released early in the day to an appropriate habitat. [39]

Unfortunately, the success rates of bird rehabilitation have been low in past spills. In 1999, whenthe Maltese tanker ERIKA spilled 31,000 tons of oil in the Bay of Biscay, a major cleaning op-eration was mounted for the 15,000 oiled sea bird survivors and 2,000 were ultimately released.[40]


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http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/drsservice/servicemanager/do/service?serviceid=getcomponent&docid=180919090&mt=image%2Fjpeg&ts=4343353636303642363736413537&doclocation=0A%2FC8%2F9B%2F32IMAGE1.jpgSea Turtles

Sea turtles are vulnerable to oil exposure by many different routes. Several aspects of sea turtlebiology make them highly sensitive to chemical insults such as oil, and their natural behavior,including indiscriminate feeding in convergence zones, a lack of avoidance behavior and largepre-dive inhalations, places them at particular risk in oily waters.

In addition, many response activitiescan result in unintended adverse im-pacts to turtles. Dispersants can inter-fere with lung function through theirdetergent effect. In-situ burns requirecareful surveying for sea turtles beforeignition, and even then smoke inhala-tion can harm the lungs. Additionally,

the increased boat traffic during an oilspill cleanup adds increased dangerdue to collisions with swimming seaturtles. [41]

Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi document a dead Kemp's Ridleyturtle that washed up on the beach

Carolyn Cole, KRT Photos, 06-11-2010, Taken from ProQuestseLibrary

Oiled sea turtles present a different setof challenges than birds, requiring an-tibiotic treatment for lung and gastro-intestinal damage caused by swimmingfor long periods of time through oil-saturated waters. When it comes to externalrecovery, veteri-narians often use mayonnaise to help break down the oil in the eyes and other sensitive areas.[42]

Experts agree that hatchlings from sea turtle nesting in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rigexplosion are in jeopardy of being completely wiped out by the oil. In response,

officials drew upa plan to dig up the approximately 700 nests on Alabama and the Florida panhandle beaches.Translocation of nests on this scale has never been attempted before. Sea turtlebiologists havemixed opinions about this plan to relocate thousands of sea turtle eggs over 40days old. Thisprocedure is very risky to each and every sea turtle embryo, but many experts feel the hatchlingsemerging from nests along Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida panhandle beaches wi


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ll be doomedto oily deaths if they are not moved. Others believe that relocating a species endemic to the area,like Kemp's ridleys to Gulf beaches, away from their natural nesting area, is ecologically un-sound. [43]

At the writing of this Discovery Guide, there was no data on the success of thisunprecedentedrelocation effort.


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From accurate, real-time detection to quick deployment of the right containmentand cleanupmethods at the right location, oil spill response is a largely low-tech endeavorthat hasntchanged much over the years. According to U.S. Coast Guard incident operations coordinatorDoug Helton, there are improvements and efficiencies on the edges, but oil spillcleanup still re-lies on heroic efforts and a lot of dirty, messy labor. [44]

Oil spilled from the single-hulled oil tanker Prestige washes up on the beach asthe sun rises in Caion,

Northern Spain.

Marco Di Lauro, Getty Images, 11-22-2002, Taken from ProQuests eLibrary

Robert Bea, a University of California engineering professor and an expert on offshore drilling,worked for Shell Oil on the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969; the Bay Marchand, LA, spill in 1970;and for the Mexican oil company Pemex on the huge Ixtoc spill in 1979. Bea saidtodays boomsare better, and new materials absorb more oil than the straw that once was used,but in the yearssince those spills, the technology of cleanup hasn't changed substantially. Forthe most part, the

only ways to get rid of the majority of the oil are old ones corralling it, burning it, mopping itup and letting nature break it down. [45]

Oil cleanup remains an inexact science fraught with guesswork for a number of reasons, includ-ing greater industry investment and emphasis on better drilling technologies, the difficulty ofsimulating massive deep-sea oil spills for controlled research, the uniqueness of each disaster,and a federal funding preference for research programs that promote oil and gas

production overthose that focus on safety and accident prevention. [46]


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References

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Deep Sea Oil Cleanup Technology