To fuel the world economy, there are billions of gallons of oil and natural gas delivered by a network of pipelines, tanker ships and trucks. However, spills may occur sometimes, which may pose a great danger to the environment and economy.
In US there are continual improvements to prevent spills from happening but you never know when it can strike. Take the example of the BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has created a big catastrophe, keeping every one on their toes to control it. The oil leak is however finally staunched but the oil is still scattered and the clean up will take a lot of time to be completed. So, what does a spill prevention and response usually do?
In open-water marine spills, the primary response objectives will be to prevent the oil spill from moving onto the shore, reduce the impact of the spill on marine life, speed the debasement of any un-recovered oil. Dispersant, which are used in the Gulf of Mexico spill, can be effective to break up spills of light/medium-density oils. Sorbents are also used for small-volume spills, or in case to "polish up" if others options are not working.
In the urban surroundings, spill response strategies are mostly placed to protect human health and to restore the site of spill quickly as possible.
Spills response strategies on grassy lands or agricultural land usually are targeted to return the soil to productive use and to stop the spill from flowing into groundwater or running-off into the waterways.
According to the type of spills, the response and clean up efforts will be different. But, all personnel responding to the spill and clean up operation must pass through a certified training.
Special HAZWOPER safety training courses are provided by many safety program providers to help spill response and clean up personnel comply with OSHA standards. Without this certification, no one can join in a clean up effort.
In US there are continual improvements to prevent spills from happening but you never know when it can strike. Take the example of the BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has created a big catastrophe, keeping every one on their toes to control it. The oil leak is however finally staunched but the oil is still scattered and the clean up will take a lot of time to be completed. So, what does a spill prevention and response usually do?
In open-water marine spills, the primary response objectives will be to prevent the oil spill from moving onto the shore, reduce the impact of the spill on marine life, speed the debasement of any un-recovered oil. Dispersant, which are used in the Gulf of Mexico spill, can be effective to break up spills of light/medium-density oils. Sorbents are also used for small-volume spills, or in case to "polish up" if others options are not working.
In the urban surroundings, spill response strategies are mostly placed to protect human health and to restore the site of spill quickly as possible.
Spills response strategies on grassy lands or agricultural land usually are targeted to return the soil to productive use and to stop the spill from flowing into groundwater or running-off into the waterways.
According to the type of spills, the response and clean up efforts will be different. But, all personnel responding to the spill and clean up operation must pass through a certified training.
Special HAZWOPER safety training courses are provided by many safety program providers to help spill response and clean up personnel comply with OSHA standards. Without this certification, no one can join in a clean up effort.
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