Oil Spill Blog

Rail yard oil spill is one among the many issues that is often overlooked. What many fail to realize is that oil spills in rail yards are hazardous both to the environment and human health. By the time people realize the seriousness of the issue, it may just be too late as these oil spills would have already taken its toll.

One best example is the East Deerfield Rail Yard that has witnessed quite a lot of contaminations over the years. This oil contamination is a consolidation of spills due to various rail yard operations at the former locomotive fueling island, petroleum-contaminated soil, and an underground fuel tank leakage. So, to clean up these spills, Pan Am Railways hired a consulting firm – Environmental Resources Management (ERM) for investigating the East Deerfield rail yard oil spills. On April 13, 2011, this firm submitted a draft of the plan.

The plan targets four contaminated areas, three oil-contaminated soil areas, and an area that is contaminated by chlorinated solvents. According to ERM’s investigation, excavating the oil-contaminated soil will be the prime action plan. The plan also states that the time that will be taken for this excavation process will depend upon the depth of contamination.

As part of the plan, a vacuum system will be employed to remove the solvents. The work of this vacuum system is to remove vapors from the soil and filter them effectively. Serious monitoring will be commenced in all sites to ensure that the contamination level drops to a minimum. Finally, a review will be conducted by the State Department of Environmental Protection to check if the contamination drop has reached the acceptable levels.

What seems to be the biggest challenge with rail yard oil spills is the treatment of oil-contaminated soil. But, with green oil spill removers like Oil Gone Easy S-200, cleaning oil spills from soil will be easier than imagined.

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Recent times have witnessed quite a lot of pipeline accidents despite the lately amended pipeline safety bill. Even before the scars of the Gulf oil spill could start fading away from the US coast, another major oil spill broke out in Montana on July 1^st, adding to the woes.

The reason for the Montana oil spill is stated as the rupture of an ExxonMobil pipeline that carries crude oil from Belfry, Montana to the company’s refinery situated in Billings. However, the cause for the rupture still remains a mystery. When asked about this oil  pipeline accident, Pam Malek, the company spokeswoman said that the pipe broke out just before midnight and leaked huge barrels of oil for half an hour continuously until it was shut down. Before the company officials could figure out the actual estimation of the Montana oil spill, the situation worsened as the oil spread beyond the river’s banks. However, a rough estimation has been made and reported that about 42,000 gallons of crude oil was spilt into the river.

Over hundreds of people residing along a 32km stretch were evacuated for the fear of potential explosions and intense fumes engulfing the area. But, they were asked to return to their homes when the fumes got reduced considerably.

This pandemonium wouldn’t have occurred if the safety measures were intact. However, the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company has deeply regretted for this pipeline accident and has deployed many crews to clean up the mess.  While the cleanup of the spill in itself is a herculean task, the flooding of the river further added to the woes.

Even though boomers and various absorbent materials were used to prevent the spread of this spill, they did not manage do it. There were instances where the oil just flowed from beneath the booms and resulted in the oil spreading further out in the river. This is a common scenario with most oil spills. On the other hand, usage of green oil spill removers like Oil Gone Easy Marine S-200 in such cases can not only help prevent the spill from spreading, but will also get rid of the oil completely.

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Oil Spills and Their Impact on Fisheries!

Fishery and aquaculture production, the most vital sources of food and livelihood, have witnessed a tremendous progress over the last few decades. Valued as high-revenue generators, fisheries have become the victims of depletion in recent times. Apart from threats like overfishing and massive destruction of wetlands, a new threat has popped out– marine oil spills. Believe it or not! The National Marine Fisheries Service has stated that 90 fish species have been found depleted off the shores of the U.S.

What impact do oil spills have on fisheries? Well, the consequences are more serious than we imagined. Though the oil spilt out of damaged pipelines, tankers, or offshore oil rigs may seem to be insubstantial, the problems encountered are really high. Marine mammals like whales, dolphins, seals, and sea otters are severely affected by oil spills. Though these mammals survive the effects of oil spills, they don’t escape from their contaminated food supply.

When marine oil spills can take a toll on the big sea mammals, small fishes and other marine life are no exceptions. Not many are aware how severely the shrimp and oyster fisheries along the Louisiana coast were affected by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon offshore oil spill. Included in the affected list are fish eggs or larvae, which have been wiped away once for all. One best example quoting this problem is the Exxon Valdez oil spill that affected billions of salmon and herring eggs.

Though a lot of effort is put on the cleaning up of spilt oil, some traces of oil still lurk behind. The reason is that marine oil spills don’t leave the water at ease as they cling to every rock and grain of sand. The best solution to get rid of the oil completely is to make use of bioremediation agents.

Oil Gone Easy Marine S-200 is one good choice for effective oil spill treatments. This eco-friendly oil stain remover has been subjected to rigorous testing, so it can be used on a large scale basis. So, let’s fight these marine oil spills and save our fisheries from extinction!

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International Oil Spill Conference

Oil experts from all over the globe gathered for the International Oil Spill Conference at Portland during the last week of May. Lingering truths, new facts about the Gulf oil spill, and above all, the use of chemical oil dispersants were discussed in this conference. However, a million-dollar question that kept cropping up was the methods employed for the cleanup of the Gulf oil spill.

About 2 million gallons of Corexit were used to disperse off the 200 million gallons of oil released. The use of this chemical dispersant resulted in a 100 million gallons of oil and Corexit mixture spread across the ocean. When asked about the use of this dispersant in the ocean waters, the US Coast Guard officials said that Corexit was proven to be safe and scientifically justified. They also mentioned about studies conducted in Norway which explained the safety of Corexit, and argued that there is no life down the ocean to be affected by this chemical.

However, according to biologists who work for Applied Science Associates, Inc, the tests performed in Norway were not conclusive. They also claimed that life forms exist in the deep that are very likely to come in contact with this dispersant. If you’re a nature lover, then you would definitely not support the use of Corexit. Most of the members of this oil spill conference were of the opinion that the government is less transparent and people are not fully informed about oil spills.

With such instances cropping up every now and then, most environmentalists are calling for the use of environmentally-friendly cleaners when such large scale oil cases are encountered.

Oil Gone Easy S-200 is an eco-friendly oil spill cleaner that degrades oil in a biological way. Initial field tests were performed on the Gulf samples with this product, and now it is being considered to clean up the Gulf waters. If this product is used in future emergency situations, then there would never be a question of environmental safety!

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Concrete Oil Spill Cleanup Made Easy!

With the increasing oil spill tragedies in the sea, there is so much talk about oil spills these days. Yet, most of us fail to notice the oil spills that occur at our homes every day. Do you often wonder why your driveway is turning grayish day by day? The reason might be pretty much evident. Check if your car is spilling too much oil.

Anyway, you car might not be the only source for concrete oil spills at your outdoors. Vehicles of your visitors or passer-by trucks can also spew oil in front of your gateway. These are situations you have no control over. However, you cannot sit idle after knowing that there’s a spill. So, here are some tips for you to cleanup those unsightly concrete oil spills.

It’s best to avoid wire scrubs to cleanup spilt oil from your concrete driveway. Besides leaving a lot of oil intact, these scrubs damage the concrete surface too. In addition, ground water safety is also at stake. If you want to safeguard your ground water, then do not, at any cost, seal the oil spilt area with fresh cement. This method causes a certain amount of oil seepage into the ground, and in the long run has a toll on the water table.

Do you use chemical oil dispersants to cleanup oil spills on your concrete driveway? Then, we suggest you better stop doing it. Chemicals especially muriatic acid and silane siloxane that are used in these cleaners erode the concrete surface leaving a permanent scar. Sometimes, people use kerosene to remove oil spills. Besides being very tricky to handle, kerosene also raises environmental concerns.

So, the best alternative to all these techniques is to go green. By doing this, you’ll not only be saving yourself, but the environment too. Try Oil Gone Easy Home & Driveway S-200, an eco-friendly oil spill cleaner, to cleanup oil spills. This green oil spill cleaner uses oil eating bacteria to clean up the spill. It can be used on concrete, asphalt, granite, and many other surfaces without compromising on environmental and personal safety.

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The Impact of Highway Oil Spills on Traffic!

Highway accidents due to oil spills are not uncommon. However, highway traffic hold ups due to oil spills is one thing we could have experienced, but not given a second thought. There need not necessarily be an accident to hold up the traffic, just a spill is enough.

Recently, a semi truck roll over was reported on Kings Highway, just north of Rampart Blvd overpass. Not only was the truck’s driver injured in the accident, even the traffic came to a standstill. It was reported that large oil drums in the truck spilled as many as 1000 gallons of oil into the dirt.

A similar, but more serious incident was reported on I-95 in Stratford, where a trailer tractor spilled 25 gallons of gasoline near Exit 34. Even though no accidents or injuries were reported, the oil spill delayed traffic on the right and middle lanes of the highway for more than an hour. Even the entire northbound traffic was also held up for about five minutes. The area was reopened for use only after a sand truck scattered sand all over the place. A fireman who was at the scene, termed the surface as dangerous and slippery.

In San Leandro, two lanes on the transition ramp from southbound Interstate Highway 880 to southbound Interstate Highway 238 were closed down due to a big-rig accident. Consequently, the oil tank was punctured leading to an oil spill in that area. No injuries were reported. The lanes remained closed as the clean-up crews removed the truck and started the clean-up operations. Just as in the case of above incidents, there was a heavy delay in traffic.

So, isn’t it pretty evident from the above cases, that whenever there are accidents involving oil spills, there should be an effective remedy to clear out the oil spill? Instead of using chemical cleaners or sand, it’s always a safer and effective option to use green spill cleaners like Oil Gone Easy S-200.

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Cleanup Costs associated with Port Oil Spill Cleanup

Port oil spills create a huge havoc and affect the surrounding environment heavily. The cleanup of in-port oil spill incidents is not an easy task. There are many facets to an oil spill cleanup employed. Several factors, such as type of oil spilled, location of the spill, weather conditions, and the reach of the spill in sensitive areas determine the cleanup costs in ports.

The cleanup cost incurred is really high, especially when manual recovery is involved. The cleanup operations sometimes tend to render more environmental damage when compared to the situation where the oil would have been left to degrade at a natural rate. However, that cannot be the case all the time as public demands and aesthetic considerations require some action to be taken for cleanup.

Manual containment can be the most damaging of all the oil spill cleanup exercises. In cases, especially where oil reaches the shore, the situation worsens since the use of heavy equipment and human resources can cause the oil to seep further into the sand and pebbles. Also, there is a possibility of damage to the physical integrity of the beach and the sensitive shoreline flora and fauna.

The type of oil spilled also plays a major role in determining the cleanup cost. Usually oil with lighter density is easy to cleanup than heavy oils as it easily evaporates. However, emulsified lighter oils are usually viscous, resulting in amplified cost related to oil spill cleanup.

In most cases, use of a dispersant is enough to mitigate the problem and it is easy to use as well. But, dispersants tend to linger in the deep water causing after effects to marine life at an immeasurable rate. So, it’s always better to use bio-degradable oil spill cleaners like Oil Gone Easy S-200. No after effects, easy to use, reduced cleanup cost, and most important of all – it’s harmless on Mother Nature. There more, this product is available in convenient 5-gallon pails. Places like Port of Pensacola have tried this product, you should too!


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Dealing with Port and Harbor Stormwater Runoff!

Have you ever given a second thought to how disastrous stormwater runoff pollution can prove to be? If no, then you are also one among thousand others who do not take this issue seriously. Any activity in ports and harbors causing an eco hazard reflects badly on the ocean. For instance, when oil leaks out of large tanker vessels while loading or unloading, then there is every chance for the leaked oil to get into the ocean waters. The flora and fauna of the sea are most badly affected, not to mention the degradation of the water quality. Such ruining impacts on water quality and aquatic beings, damage the marine ecosystem as a whole.

You might think that the probability of port oil spills contaminating the sea is rather too low. It might be considered true to a certain extent, but what if there is a storm? Stormwater runoff carries all those toxic and oily wastes from ports and harbors and leads them directly into the sea.

Though we might not win if we fight against the force of nature, we certainly can prevent chemicals and oil from mixing with the runoff. Only ‘Best Management Practices’ to the ‘Maximum Extent Practicable’ at ports and harbors will help us deal with it!

Finding a solution to a problem is impossible without properly understanding the source of the problem. In this case, the source is nothing but pollutants in ports and harbors, and from where they surface. The pollutants here are antifoulants, oil spills, heavy metals, organics, and cleaning chemicals, and they come out from routine seaport activities like loading, unloading, and boat hull cleaning. Modifying these activities is way above practicality, so finding remedies to nullify these chemical pollutants will be a viable option. Having environmentally-friendly spill cleaners handy is always a safe choice.

Oil Gone Easy S-200, an eco-friendly oil and grease cleaner, is a great example. It enhances the growth of oil eating bacteria to degrade oil. By using this product in ports and harbors, we can rule out pollution issues dealing with oily and greasy wastes.

If essential steps are taken to use this green product in ports and harbors, then there is going to be a sharp decrease in oil spill contamination. However, when we talk about stormwater runoff pollution, stringent BMPs and regulatory practices are also obligatory.

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Los Padres Oil Spill

Oil spills harming aquatic birds and animals have become rather too common – the oil spill into the tributary of Sespe Creek being the most recent one. This spill has caused waves of distress among environmentalists as the water body at issue is very close to a condor reserve in the Los Padres National Forest. However, there are no reports of wildlife injuries as of now. An area, not very far from this spilt area, has already been affected by a similar oil spill tragedy that occurred in 2007 for which a lawsuit has also been filed.

The Los Padres oil spill was a result of a pump failure at a ‘produced water’ storage facility located nearby. Produced water is nothing but a mixture of water and oil that is used in the drilling process. According to reports, about 630 gallons of crude oil and 25,700 gallons of ‘produced water’ leaked into the river. Toxic chemicals and crude oil in the ‘produced water’ have made their way through the river and are expected to have long term ill effects on the environment.

Officials were able to identify oil coated rocks and an oily sheen on the surface of the water after visiting the spill site. What made the matters still more worse was that oil absorbent materials were used to clean up the oil spill. It is the last thing that environmentalists would wish for.

The problem with oil absorbents is that even if they manage to sop up the oil from the river, getting rid of the oil in the materials is still a question. So, there has to be an effective technique to remove the oil from those absorbent pads. Dumping them could only worsen the situation. Despite all these problems, people continue to treat oil spills using oil absorbents, skimmers, and boomers during ocean oil spills. This situation badly needs to change and pave way for environmentally-friendly cleaning options!

Oil Gone Easy S-200 is an eco-friendly oil spill cleaner that uses micro organisms to eat up the spilt oil. This revolutionary oil spill cleaner has been recommended for the cleanup of the Gulf waters. So, why not for the Los Padres oil disaster?

Greener products like Oil Gone Easy S-200 should be relied upon to clean up everything right from minor home oil spills to serious oil spills in the oceans. This product is available in 5 gallon pails also.

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Parking Lot Oil Spills - Potentially Dangerous!

While talking about oil spills, most of us chew on marine oil spills, home and garage oil spills, and every other thing but parking lot oil spills. Oil leaks in parking lots are equally dangerous and are one of the major causes for water pollution. Surprising isn’t it? What will surprise you even more is that these spills are also a cause for the heating up of urban areas. Knowing the dangers, you would want to know ways on how to deal with such spills. So, here are a few tips on how to cleanup parking lot oil spills in a greener way.

Another fact that needs a mention is that it’s not just those oil specks in the parking areas that are risky; the method in which they are cleaned up also have a certain amount of risk factor to it. Water washing or using detergents to remove oil from the parking lots will seem to be a good idea. The area even appears to be free of oil and dirt. However the fact is that this method is even worse than the oil spill itself. They only wash down oil spill, eventually contaminating the water bodies nearby. The same is the case when it rains. So, it’s better to get rid of parking lot oil spills regularly.

Wondering what could be the best way to treat oil spills? Using Oil Gone Easy S-200, an environmentally safe oil spill cleanup product is a great idea. No more water pollution or unsightly oil specks in the parking lot!

Apart from oil spills, parking lots also account for increased temperatures and extensive land usage in urban areas. Some public parking lots occupy almost two times the area of their buildings, which tells us how much land goes unused. Shared parking lots are far better as they minimize land usage. Everything right from construction costs, property costs, and cleaning costs will come down. Also, a genuine sense of responsibility falls on the shoulders of the parking lot owners that urge them to keep the shared area clean.

Dividing the parking area into small sections, going for combined-use parking areas, or using eco-friendly oil spill cleaners to get rid of the oil spills as and when they occur can help deal with the situation. So, if you wish to save our environment, then go green in your parking issues. Make use of Oil Gone Easy S-200, which is available in 5 gallon pails to keep your parking area spotless!

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