A Contingency Plan is a strategy that is prepared in anticipation of an oil spill. A quick and effective response minimizes oil spill damage and institutes effective and practical plans for all types of oil spill cleanup.

A typical contingency plan comprises the following: Identification of authority and chain of command and listing of persons and organizations that must be immediately informed of an oil spill. The emergency plan should make a record of available trained spill personnel and spill response equipment. It should also list jobs to be done in the order of priority, organize a communication network to coordinate response and identify probable oil movement patterns under different weather conditions. Using all this information sensitivity maps and other technical data should be compiled.

Contingency planners must know important physical and biological resources within or near the region, such as marshes and vital habitat areas required by particular species for spawning, feeding, or migration. Information regarding tides, currents, and local climatic conditions, weather patterns, and shoreline characteristics should be gathered by planners.

When an oil spill occurs, the spilled oil is washed ashore and results in contamination of shore lines. Quick and effective oil spill cleanup prevents the oil being mixed or buried in the sediment.

Shoreline cleanup methods include physical herding, using barriers or berms, pressure washing, manual cleaning, sedimentation, removal of oil debris, and more. Other cleanup methods, such as use of solidifiers, fertilizers for biological remediation, in situ burning, and shoreline cleaning agents can be used after obtaining special permission from authorities.

Sensitive coastal areas are likely to be affected by oil spills as well as oil spill cleanup methods. Therefore, it is necessary to get a thorough insight into the affected area before using a particular oil cleanup method.

Waste materials, such liquid oil, oil mixed with sand, and tar balls can be sometimes reused or should be disposed effectively. Use of environmentally friendly products, such as Oil Gone Easy 200 to clean oil spills or stains minimizes the harmful effects caused by chemicals.

Oilgoneeasy

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/contingency-plan-and-response-centre-for-oil-spill-cleanup-on-land-1608054.html

Oil spills in small or large scales are one of the major sources of pollution in the world. Large scale oil spills from container ships or tanks are largely written about. But, the spilled or leaked oil from fuel oil storage tanks and vehicles also largely contribute to environmental pollution.

There are two types of home fuel oil spills – small and large. Small scale oil spills are those that occur when oil drops leak from storage tanks or vehicle fuel tanks. Whereas, large scale home oil spills happen when the overhead oil storage tanks collapse or basement storage tanks overfill.

The spilled or leaked fuel oil is either washed away by running water or mixed with the ground water. Fuel oil spills not only affect the environment but also the economy. In addition to the loss of oil, the costs involved in oil spill cleanup are also very high.

Domestic oil spills can be prevented by maintaining the oil storage tanks through regular inspection. Storage tanks should be replaced immediately if found to be defective as defective storage tanks or supporting units are more prone to leakages or spills. Cracks in tanks or supporting stands must also be rectified. Inspection of leaks should be done, and in case the problem persists, it is always good to replace the damaged oil tank.

If the storage tank is to be installed externally, then the location must be finalized first. The tank must be installed away from the house and from any drinking water units. Installation of used tanks should be avoided as second hand tanks run a high risk of getting damaged.

Even after all the precautions, if an oil spill does occur in and around your home, take immediate measures to clean the spilled oil. Using environmentally friendly products, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 for oil spill cleanup will prevent further damage to the environment.

oilgoneeasy

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/protect-your-homes-from-fuel-oil-spills-1583650.html

Even one-drop-at-a-time oil spills on roads and parking lots from vehicles are enough to pollute the environment significantly. The oil spilled on the driveway, parking lots, or gas stations, not only look unsightly, but according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, they also contribute to an estimated 80 percent of marine pollution.

When an oil spill occurs at home, most people use oil spill cleanup techniques, such as hot water pressure washing, pour paint thinner, use kitty litter, soapy water and other granular absorbents and solvents. But, the fact is that most of the techniques that you use for oil spill cleanup are not environmentally safe and cause more harm than the oil spill itself.

Even though washing down oil spills quickly removes driveway oil stains, it still leaves the driveway slippery and also proves to be harmful to the environment in the long run. Washing off oil spills results in oil being flushed into the ditches or storm sewers, which ultimately end up in streams or lakes polluting them and causing great harm to humans as well as to the wildlife.

Similarly, when you use toxic chemicals, such as detergents or dispersants on an oil spill, they break up the oil into small droplets, which dissolve for some time, but again reform and float on the water surface creating additional problems.

Gas stations often use kitty litter or other granular absorbents for oil spill cleanup. These granular absorbents soak up all the oil rather than biodegrade it. And, when the oil kitty litter is swept up and disposed off, it ends up in a land fill resulting in an environmental hazard.

On the whole, the solvents and absorbents that we use for oil spill cleanup are also harmful pollutants. Bioremediation is the only method that cleans up oil spill in an eco-friendly manner. Bioremediation is the process where the harmful hydrocarbons present in the oil are broken down into nontoxic substances by attracting the microbes present in the atmosphere. So, always make use of oil spill cleaners that make use of this technology.

OilGoneEasy

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/harmful-effects-of-environmentally-unsafe-solvents-and-absorbents-1497495.html

Oil spills not only affect environmentally but also economically. The economic impacts are directly or indirectly related to the environmental impacts of oil spills. But, the economic impacts of oil spills are not much talked about as the environmental impacts are.

The most direct economic impact of oil spills is the loss of oil. The losses incurred depend on the size of the spill; the bigger the spill, the higher the economic impact. Oil spill cleanup costs too increase with the size of the spill.

Most of the people along coastal areas depend on tourism for income. The restrictions imposed on recreational activities, such as diving, bathing, and boating in the polluted area affect tourism. As a result, they suffer huge economic losses. Until and unless oil spill cleanup is done, these continue to suffer.

Fishing industry is another prominent sector that bears the brunt of oil spills. Contamination or death of commercial marine animals and plants result in economic loss for the fishermen. Oil spill cleanup actions usually take a very long time. The fishing and shellfish area are closed during these periods. This interrupts the fishing activities, resulting in further loss to the fishermen. Fishing boats and equipment get damaged when they come in contact with the spilled oil.

Industries like hydroelectric power plants, desalination plants, and nuclear central stations depend on seawater for their operations. The whole operation of the large scale industries is affected if the spilled oil is mixed in the water being used by them.

With such obvious economic impacts, it is our responsibility to protect our environment from such disasters. Preventing oil spills and using environmentally-friendly oil spill cleaners, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 rather than other toxic products will help a great deal in minimizing the impact of an oil spill.

OilSpillBlog

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/the-economic-impact-of-oil-spills-1492690.html

Oil spills are absolutely a threat to the environment and many living organisms like plants and animals. In the oceans, oil spills prove to be very disastrous to marine organisms like fishes, turtles, and even sea birds. Oil spill cleanup has never been an easy task and involves extensive labor and new technologies. Microbial degradation of oil spills has intensified over the years. Certain species of bacteria are capable of breaking down oil. Species belonging to Alcanivorax, Marinobacter, Thallassolituus, Cycloclasticus, Oleispira genera of marine bacteria are capable of oil degradation. Such oil spill bacteria were also used to clean up the Exxon Valdez. The Marine Bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis

1. Alcanivorax borkumensis is an omnipresent bacterium rod-shaped that has special characteristics to degrade oil growth.

2. These bacteria are found abundant in polluted waters but scarcely populated in clear waters.

3. The physiology includes alkane metabolism that can destroy a vast range of alkane hydrocarbons. This bacterium has three different alkane-oxidizing systems for the breakdown of a broad range of oil hydrocarbons.

4. They use oil hydrocarbons as their source of carbon and energy. The bacteria acts on hydrocarbons to produce glucose lipids. These biosurfactants act as an emulsifier to enhance the degradation rate of hydrocarbons.

5. Genome sequencing has revealed the low prevalence of mobile genetic elements and an excess of genes related to oil degradation.

6. When populated at oil spill sites, these bacteria can eliminate a considerable amount of petroleum.

7. Due to all these factors, Alcanivorax borkumensis is considered to be one of the best ecological biodegrader. T

he genome of Alcanivorax borkumensis was sequenced by a group of scientists, co-led by Martins dos Santos of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany. A research team has also been running pilot tests with the Alcanivorax borkumensis bacterium in the North Sea. Further research to sequence the genome of other, oil-degrading bacteria is also being carried out in the United States, Australia, and Japan. Such research will contribute immensely to field of oil spill cleanup with bacteria.

http://www.oilgoneeasy.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/the-marine-bacterium-alcanivorax-borkumensis-the-new-hope-for-ecologist-1407227.html