FAQ: Responding to Oil Spills

Q. Generally, what different techniques and procedures are used to clean up oil spills?

A. To see brief descriptions of the most common methods and technologies, check our What's the Story on Oil Spills? page, the Coast Guard's Oil Spill Prevention, Planning, and Response Measures pages, EPA's Response Techniques page, and ITOPF's Clean-Up Techniques page. You also can see photos of the most common cleanup methods in our Shoreline Assessment Job Aid (all links available at right).

Q. What chemicals are used for chemical cleanup of oil spills? Also, what kinds of biological and physical cleanup methods are used in spills, and how effective are they?

A. You can find the answers to these questions by reading two references on our website: the Shoreline Countermeasures Manuals and An Introduction to Coastal Habitats and Biological Resources for Spill Response. For even more information, check our other reports and online presentations using the Publications links in the left hand menu of every page.

Q. How long does it take to clean up an oil spill?

A. This depends on the amount and type of oil spilled, where it goes, and what types of shorelines are impacted. For a very large spill with lots of impacts on shorelines that are difficult to clean (such as the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989), cleanup can continue for several years. More commonly, cleanup takes from several days to a few weeks.

Q. What's being done to improve the tools that are used in oil spill cleanup?

A. Research is being conducted on new techniques, such as dispersants and burning.

Project Idea: How effective are the methods and tools commonly used in oil spill response? If you'd like to try answering that question for yourself, check our Historical Incidents Search Page (link at right) to see reports on incidents in which a particular method or tool was used to respond to an oil spill. Read those reports to learn when a technique proved to be effective, and when it did not. Can you speculate about the conditions under which a particular technique is more or less likely to be effective? To see the incidents in which dispersants were used, from the first "Search by Field" menu, choose "Dispersants (enter Yes or No)"; type "Yes" in the box next to the menu, then press Start Search. To see the incidents in which bioremediation agents were used, from the first "Search by Field" menu, choose "Bioremediation (enter Yes or No)"; type "Yes" in the box next to the menu, then press Start Search. To see the incidents in which in-situ burning was used, from the first "Search by Field" menu, choose "ISB (enter Yes or No)"; type "Yes" in the box next to the menu, then press Start Search.

Q. I'm curious about "hot-water washing" as a method of cleaning up spilled oil. I understand that you spray the beach to wash away the oil, but doesn't this wash the oil into the ocean? If so, how is this oil cleaned up? Wouldn't this spraying create a bigger mess than you had before?

A. You are quite correct that high-pressure hot-water washing (or any washing technique, for that matter) must be combined with an effort to collect the mobilized oil (see Has Prince William Sound Recovered From The Spill at right), or else it would simply wash up someplace else along the shoreline. Nearly all oils float on the water (there are exceptions!), so the methods people use to collect the oil generally focus on removing the layer of oil from the water. How that layer is removed varies--but usually, when oil is washed off a contaminated beach, it then is skimmed from the sea surface with special boats or oil skimmers, or cleanup workers use special sorbent booms that oil sticks to. These booms can then be collected and discarded.

As you've guessed, washing oil off the shoreline can create a big mess. Not only can it be tricky to skim or boom all that oil (see images on the pages linked at right), but the washing process can alter the physical characteristics of washed beaches. For example, washing can wash away fine-grained sediments (fine sand and silt) and disrupt the structure of the beach. It sometimes also can drive oil down into the water, where it can affect marine plants and animals.

Because of these potential problems, we tend to be very cautious about the situations in which we recommend using this technique. Sometimes it can work just fine and a lot of oil can be recovered. Other times, it is not nearly so effective. The trick is to figure out which situation is which!

Q. What measures are taken when an animal is found that has come in contact with oil?

A. Most states have regulations about the specific procedures to follow. Untrained people should not try to capture any oiled bird or animal. At most U.S. spills, a bird and/or mammal rehabilitation center is set up to care for oiled animals. You can read an overview of this topic at EPA's Rescuing Wildlife page, and more information at the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research website and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network website (links available at right).

Q. How are whales cleaned up during oil spills?

A. We're tempted to say that whales are cleaned by running them through car washes...but that's not true. While we are very concerned whenever a spill occurs in an area where marine mammals like whales can be found, we rarely ever actually see oil on whales. However, this doesn't mean that oil doesn't affect whales. For example, research studies indicate that a pod (group) of resident orca ("killer") whales (Orcinus orca) in Prince William Sound, Alaska, has suffered some pretty severe impacts from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, because the number of whales in the pod has decreased steadily and significantly since the spill. Normally, the population of these animals is quite stable and changes occur very slowly over a long period of time. Members of this pod were observed in areas where oil was visible on the water in 1989. So, even though no one saw oil on whales, there is strong indirect evidence that the oil did impact them.

If spill responders ever were to encounter a whale with oil on its skin (for example, on a beached animal), they would call in experienced veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitation specialists. We can only speculate about what would happen next. Two immediate concerns would be skin irritation from contact with the oil, and inhalation of oil vapors. A beached whale would be suffering from other stresses as well, so it would probably be in pretty rough shape. Surface contamination would be removed with a mild detergent. Inhalation of oil vapors would represent a much more serious problem, because it can lead to pneumonia and other complications. Ultimately, it might be necessary to move an oiled whale to a location where it could recover and be monitored, and hopefully finally be released.

Q. For a school project, I'm researching oil spills in rivers. I know that there is a different way of cleaning up river spills. Have you any information on this subject?

A. Oil spills on rivers certainly can behave differently than ones in the open ocean or in bays. There are four big differences.

Q. I'm considering a career in Spill Response. What kinds of courses should I take to work toward this?

A. In your coursework, try to include basic science courses, like chemistry, math, physics, and biology. You also need to learn to be a good communicator, both verbally and in writing. When you plan your studies, bear in mind that most people working in spill response come to it either with special expertise in a related subject, like marine biology, chemistry, oceanography, or computer modelling, or with useful hands-on skills like boat handling.

Service in the U.S. Coast Guard has proved to be a way for some people to gain on-the-job pollution prevention and response experience.

Q. Can you tell me how someone can volunteer at the site of an oil spill? Is there an organization that handles this?

A. There's no central organization that handles volunteering at oil spills generally (and we ourselves don't work with volunteers; our role is to act as science advisors). But check our EPA colleagues' page on wildlife rescue to see links to organizations that train and work with volunteers.

Q. If I encounter an oil or chemical spill, whom should I report it to?

A. Within the U.S., you should report oil or chemical spills to the National Response Center, at 800-424-8802. They may ask you questions like these: Where is the spill? What spilled? How much spilled? How concentrated is the spilled material (if it's a chemical)? Who spilled the material? Is anyone cleaning up the spill? What's being damaged?

Q. We recently heard that there has been a leak of home heating oil within our own neighborhood (in the U.S.), and that some neighbors' wells have been contaminated. We're concerned about our own water supply, as well as a nearby pond and our local wildlife. How do we get help and information?

A. Your state government would have authority and responsibility for addressing the problem you describe. We suggest that you contact the state site manager responsible for overseeing the site assessment and cleanup of this particular spill. Your state's public health agency also may be able to help you?for example, it might be able to help you check for contamination of your water. To find contact information for agencies in your State's government, check the Library of Congress' State and Local Governments page.

For more information and suggestions, call either of the following EPA Hotlines (www.epa.gov/epahome/hotline.htm):

• the RCRA, Superfund, and EPCRA Hotline: 1 (800) 424-9346 (select the Underground Storage Tank Option).
  
• the Safe Drinking Water Hotline: 1 (800) 426-4791.

Q. Is there any household product that can stop or slow the spread of an oil spill?

A. Although we don't use household products to control oil spills, much of the technology that we use is based on common household ideas. Booms, for example, are used to stop oil from spreading and to keep it contained. There are lots of different types of booms, but these are the three main types:

• Hard Boom - Hard boom is like a floating piece of plastic that has a cylindrical float at the top and is weighted at the bottom so that it has a "skirt" under the water. If the currents or winds are not too strong, booms can also be used to make the oil go in a different direction (this is called "deflection booming").
  
• Sorbent Boom - Sorbent boom looks like a long sausage made out of a material that absorbs oil. If you were to take the inside of a disposable diaper out and roll it into strips, it would act much like a sorbent boom. Sorbent booms don't have the "skirt" that hard booms have, so they can't contain oil for very long.
  
• Fire Boom - The third type of boom, fire boom, is not used very much. It looks like metal plates with a floating metal cylinder at the top and thin metal plates that make the "skirt" in the water. This type of boom is made to contain oil long enough that it can be lit on fire and burned up.

Another item based on a household idea is dispersants. A dispersant is a chemical that is put on the oil to make it break up into little droplets, some of which will go down into the water. Dish soap acts like a dispersant. It make it easier to get grease off your dishes by breaking the surface tension of the grease. If you squirt a little dishwashing detergent into a basin of water with oil floating in it, you'll see the oil break up very quickly and usually move to the sides of the pan. People who try to clean oil off of bird feathers often use dishwashing detergent.