When And How To Use Oil Spill Containment
Booms
Containment booms, such as the one pictured here,
are used during a spill to contain the spilled oil so skimmers,
vacuums, or other collection methods can be used. Oil spill containment
booms help to concentrate oil in thicker surface layers, making
recovery easier, and to reduce the possibility of polluting shorelines
and other resources.
Booms come in many shapes and sizes, with various levels of effectiveness
in different types of water conditions. Successive rows of boom
are typically employed to capture oil which may escape the first
set of booms. |
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| Boom Deployment For Oil Spill
Response Trainees |
Oil spill response trainees are shown techniques of containment
boom deployment. The EPA's five-day training course for conducting
proper response measures in cases of inland oil spills is designed
for spill response personnel from the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, and
state agencies, covering federal laws and policies related to oil
spills, basic technical issues, oil spill prevention, cleanup and
treatment technologies, roles of agencies responding to inland oil
spills, and monitoring requirements. Attendees improve their knowledge
of these topics through a variety of methods, including lectures,
problem sessions, and hands-on exercises.
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Response personnel attend training sessions conducted by
EPA and the Coast guard to enhance their practical knowledge of
response techniques and equipment. Here, personnel are participating
in a hands-on lesson in deploying a boom around an oil tanker.
Successfully Using Containment Booms |
One of the first steps in the event of an oil spill
to inland waters is to contain the spilled oil. This photo (right)
shows the use of a oil containment boom to corral the oil for recovery
and disposal. The use of containment booms also help to reduce the
potential for the oil to spread to adjoining shorelines or affect
fish and wildlife.
Th e picture (above) demonstrates how oil containment booms can
be used to successfully corral oil to protect fragile marsh areas.
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| Spills In Sensitive
Habitats |
Oil spill responders are working on oil spilled
into marshlands, one of the most sensitive habitats. Marshes have
little water flow and serve important ecological roles as nurseries
to shellfish and fish, a food source for many organisms, and a home
for fish, birds, and mammals. These characteristics also make responding
to an oil spill in a marsh even more difficult. Responders must
take care not to further disturb the sensitive habitats, while facing
challenges of transporting personnel and equipment into hard-to-reach
locations to conduct response activities.
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| Oil Containment Booms Used At
Sugar Run Creek in Reston, Virginia |
In March 1995, an underground oil pipeline located
in Reston, Virginia ruptured. The high-pressure pipeline, released
over 400,000 gallons of oil to the environment before it could be
shut down. One of the largest inland oil spills in recent history,
the oil affected nine miles of the nearby Sugarland Run Creek and
entered the Potomac River. In this photo, response personnel deploy
a containment boom into Sugarland Run Creek to contain the spilled
oil and to prevent the oil from contaminating areas downriver, including
numerous public drinking water intakes.
The inset photo shows response personnel using vacuum pumps and
hoses to remove oil from Sugarland Run Creek after deploying oil
containment boom to contain the oil. In all, response personnel
recovered over 90 percent of the spilled oil.
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Photograph by Ruth A. Lyngard. |
| For more information about EPA oil spill containment
boom projects click
here.
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