US Oil Spill Testing, Response Facility Gets Major Upgrade
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility, known as Ohmsett, has now reopened after undergoing significant refurbishment over the past eight months as part of BSEE’s ongoing maintenance plan. Originally constructed and operated by the U.S. EPA in 1974, the facility was passed to the U.S. Navy and then to the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service in 1990. Today, it is the only facility in the U.S. conducting full-scale oil spill response research, equipment testing and training using live oil.
ARA Taps Coolbaugh as Ohmsett Facility Manager
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.
New Oil Spill Tech Solutions Put to the Test
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…
Incentivizing Spill Response Innovation
Researchers tackle the tough problems despite a lack of funding and official incentives to move forward. Progress, in particular for Arctic spill response equipment and techniques, is being made. Even in the messy but now seemingly distant wake of such environmental disasters such as the Exxon Valdez grounding and the Deepwater Horizon accident, domestic oil spill response requirements still provide little or no incentive for responders in the U.S. to develop and deploy new equipment. Elsewhere, other countries (especially Norway) have better options for testing and approving systems using an intentional spill. Here at home, this approach has been recommended especially for the Arctic by many stakeholders, to no apparent avail.
Ohmsett: Advancing Spill Response Every Day
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.
Delia Succeeds Schmidt as Ohmsett Program Manager
MAR Incorporated has named John Delia the Program manager for Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility, succeeding Bill Schmidt who retired in December 2015. Delia was most recently with BAE Systems where he served as a Program Manager responsible for the production and development of systems as well as the logistics for the Low Probability of Altimeter (LPIA), Common Data Link (CDL) and F-22 product lines within the Electronic Systems group. Prior to working at BAE systems he served as a Senior Engineer with Northrop Grumman supporting the Defense Metrological Satellite Program (DMSP) where he performed extensive data analysis and operations of sensors on satellites.
BSEE Funding Oil Spill Response Research
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has announced that it is investing up to $600,000 for targeted oil spill response research in drift ice conditions. In a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) released on the federal government's business opportunities website, the bureau called for white papers on new mechanical technologies for cleaning up oil spills in drift ice conditions that could be found in an Arctic environment. BSEE will select up to three designs for prototype development and testing at Ohmsett…
BSEE's Ohmsett Facility Receives US$4-Million Grant
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.
