Ohmsett Facility News

Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) announced Dr. Tom Coolbaugh has joined the team as the Program/Facility Manager for Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility. He will have oversight of the day-to-day operations, maintenance and testing at the facility, while ensuring facility users’ needs are met.Dr. Coolbaugh recently retired after 32 years with ExxonMobil Corporation, most recently as the Technology and Advocacy Advisor in the Emergency Preparedness and Response organization.

Wave-generated power could be considered the Rodney Dangerfield of offshore renewable energy sources; it gets no respect. There have been a number of high-profile, expensive failures that have conspired to give the sector a poor reputation despite a number of engineering advances. A new entrant is SurfWEC offering a patented “surf-making” Wave Energy Converter which has been in development since 2007. Its developers promise it will stand out from the field and perform where others have failed. How?

No two oil spill response operations are the same. Each can present new and even tougher challenges for spill responders as they detect, contain and recover spilled oil. Diverse aspects affecting oil spill response operations can be the physical environment, spill monitoring, use of chemical dispersants, and the availability of proper technology for the situation.Some challenges have been met through research and technology development of techniques for dealing with spills. However…

Brian Salerno was sworn in as the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on August 26, 2013. He is responsible for promoting safety, protecting the environment and conserving resources through the vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement of offshore operations on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. Prior to his appointment as Bureau Director, Salerno served as the U.S. Coast Guard’s Deputy Commandant for Operations where he was responsible for establishing and providing operational strategy…

The National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility has been an integral part of the spill response community for more than three and a half decades. Tucked away on the shores of the Sandy Hook Bay in central New Jersey resides Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility. It has been an integral part of the spill response community for more than three and a half decades. Government agencies, private industry, and oil spill response organizations from around the world have visited the facility for testing, research and training.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) staff participated in a workgroup meeting at the bureau's Ohmsett facility in Leonardo, N.J., as part of the workgroup’s efforts to define Technology Readiness Levels for use in the oil spill response community. BSEE staff discussed the criteria that could be used to determine the readiness of technology with equipment manufacturers, industry, and facility representatives, drawing from their different perspectives and expertise. These discussions are part of the BSEE-funded project Technology Readiness Level Definitions for Oil Spill Response Technologies and Equipment. The project’s goal is to develop a uniform and objective method to quantify the maturity level of a new technology from concept to use offshore.

The funds allocated to BSEE will provide for infrastructure resiliency improvements at the bureau's national oil spill response research and renewable energy test facility, Ohmsett, located at Naval Weapons Station Earl in Leonardo, N.J. The Ohmsett facility includes the nation’s largest saltwater tank used for testing oil removal technologies, providing unique research and applied training capabilities. After Hurricane Sandy, BSEE quickly worked to complete a thorough damage assessment of the facility and complete necessary repairs in order to return it to operational status.

Oil Stop Division of American Pollution Control Corp. (AMPOL) completed phase two of its contract with the US Coast Guard Research and Development Center for the testing of Submerged Oil Recovery Equipment. The contract was completed in November after successfully executing a variety of tests at the OHMSETT facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. The OHMSETT facility allows industry professionals to work with real oil in simulated environments. As a result of testing, adaptations were made to AMPOL’s Oil Stop Bottom Oil Recovery System (OSBORS).

NEW IBERIA, La. (March 14, 2011) – The Oil Stop Division of the American Pollution Control Corp. (AMPOL), the industry leader in oil spill response and total environmental solutions, has been granted a Phase 2 contract for development and testing of its OSBORS (Oil Stop Bottom Oil Recovery System) submerged oil recovery system by the United States Coast Guard Research and Development Branch. “Working with the United States Coast Guard Research and Development Branch is a great honor,” said CEO Kirk Headley.

Ohmsett, the National Oil Spill Response Test Facility will hold its first ever hands-on Dispersant Training Course to be held April 29 and 30, 2009. This two-day training session will take place at the Ohmsett facility, located in Leonardo, NJ. The training will emphasize practical experience in full-scale dispersant applications using the Ohmsett dispersant testing protocol and dispersant effectiveness monitoring methods using Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies (SMART) visual and fluorometry methods. Instruction is provided by leading dispersant experts from SL Ross Environmental Ltd. The goals of this training are to provide responders…