National Oil Spill Response Test Facility News

Cleaning up marine oil spills can be a challenge as there are various types of oil spilled but only a few effective recovery methods. The three main technologies for oil spill recovery for inland and offshore waters are mechanical, insitu burning (ISB), and dispersant application. Absorbent booms and pads may also be used, but they are more effective for small fuel spills. Mechanical recovery, usually an oil skimmer, is a device that skims contained floating oil and transfers the recovered oil to a storage container or vessel.

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…