Mechanical Recovery Systems News

Recent spills in the Gulf of Mexico have demonstrated how tried and true oil spill recovery has combined with chemical dispersant technology to combat oil spills. On October 1, 1998, when a slick tracked to a crude oil pipeline leak off Louisiana's Gulf Coast was detected, the ready forces of oil responders were immediately activated. Along with a small armada of oil spill response vessels (OSRVs) hurrying to the site of the spill traced to a Chevron pipeline, a plane loaded with Corexit 9527 dispersant was deployed to shrink the growing oil slick estimated to be 37 kilometers long. By day two of the spill, dispersant operations had successfully shrunk the slick enabling OSRVs to contain the oil and finish the cleanup job.

Government and industry agree chemical dispersants can be combined with mechanical recovery to shorten clean up time and reduce the cost of cleaning up spills. Recent spills in the Gulf of Mexico have demonstrated the use of dispersants - when used early in the response of a spill - can help minimize the size of the spill. This enables oil spill response vessels to position mechanical recovery systems, to complete the removal process, while shortening the average cleanup time of a spill.