Oil Spill Blog

Green cleaning is a term that refers to cleaning techniques and products that make use of eco-friendly materials and substances rather than toxic ingredients. Certain products emit volatile organic compounds, which can cause irreparable damage, respiratory problems, and skin infections. Green cleaning techniques are a much safer and healthier way to treat water, purify air, and clean a home or land.

Sunrays are natural disinfectants. Ultraviolet radiation emitted from the sun can be used to disinfect water and air. UV radiation is commonly used in waste water treatment and is increasingly being used in drinking water treatment. In fact, there are several manufactures that offer water purifiers that use UV light. This cleaning technique is more eco-friendly than treating water with chemicals. Almost all the pollutants in the air are carbon-based compounds. These compounds break down when exposed to high-intensity UV light at 240-280 nm.

Hospitals have used UV technology for years to sterilize the air in their facilities. Halo vacuum cleaners also use this green cleaning technology to kill germs, bacteria, mold, dust mite eggs, and flea eggs that fester deep in carpet fibers. Halo vacuum cleaners suck up dirt as well as any other vacuum, but unlike other models, they kill microorganisms like E.coli and Samonella. Rather than use toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment and humans to sterilize surfaces, a Halo vacuum cleaner is a great alternative.

Electrokinetic remediation is a green technology used to clean land, especially to restore contaminated waste sites. The section of soil that has been contaminated is exposed to a low voltage direct-current electric field. When the electrodes are charged, ions and water move toward the electrodes. The ions flow through the outer casing of the electrode, which contains water, where they are then removed for treatment. Bioreactors and bioventing technology are two forms of bioremediation that are used to remediate soil that has been contaminated by fuel.

Oil Gone Easy S-200 also uses bioremediation to help fight oil spill pollution both on land and in water. This eco-friendly product is more readily available than bioreactors or bioventing technology and is ideal for home and boat owners.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Freshwater bodies are not just the main source of drinking water, they also serve as nesting grounds and food sources for various organisms. Oil spills could pose a serious threat to freshwater ecosystems as the fresh water organisms are exposed to high risk.

Fresh water ecosystem includes two habitats, standing water, and the flowing water. Oil spills affect standing water more severely than flowing water as the currents offer a natural cleaning mechanism.

When an oil spill occurs, not only are the aquatic creatures smothered to death, the aquatic vegetation is also susceptible to deadly effects of oil spills. Oil spilled into the rivers clings to plants and grasses. Animals that feed on these plants are also affected, causing a serious damage to the food chain.

In addition, birds and mammals either get killed or injured soon after they come into contact or will be slowly poisoned by long-term exposure to oil that is trapped in shallow water bodies or stream beds. Thus oil spills have a catastrophic effect on the local ecology.

The Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse (FSIC) serves as a point of entry for freshwater oil spill planning and response information. It includes research data and document abstracts, geographic information system data relevant and organizational links.

The effectiveness of Freshwater Spills Information Clearinghouse depends on how much the research community posts historic and current information electronically. But there has been a lack of information specifically related to oil spills on freshwater bodies. This has been highlighted in meetings such as the Freshwater Spills Symposium and also by groups such as the Great Lakes Spill Protection Initiative (GLPSI).

FSIC also posts available environmental, economic, and cultural sensitivity data electronically and will work along with the Great Lakes Information Network’s (GLIN’s) geographic information system (GIS). Organizations that play a major role are also linked. Increased awareness and higher profile for FSIC will bring in more of these groups into the network.

Popularity: 24% [?]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency responsible for investigating civil transportation accidents. It investigates all types of accidents, including ship and marine accidents and pipeline incidents. The NTSB will also render assistance to the military with accident investigation if requested by it.

One of the world’s premiere accident investigation agencies, the NTSB has investigated more than 124,000 aviation accidents and over 10,000 surface transportation accidents ever since its inception on April 1, 1967.

The organization has different sub-offices for highway safety, maritime safety, and aviation safety, railroad, pipeline, and hazardous material investigations, research and engineering, recommendations and communications, academy and administrative law judges.

The NTSB is responsible for maintaining the database of civil aviation accidents and conducting studies of transportation safety issues of national significance. It also provides investigators to serve as U.S. Accredited Representatives for accidents overseas involving American-registered aircrafts.

When an accident occurs, the party involved must notify the NTSB, as stipulated in the Code of Federal Regulations. The agency sets the investigation into motion by setting up a “go team.” Specialists in fields relevant to the accident usually make up this team. Once this is done, other organizations or corporations are designated as parties to the investigation. The NTSB may then hold public hearings on the issue. After completing the investigation, it issues a final statement. The board may also issue safety recommendations, if need be.

Its reputation for impartiality and thoroughness has helped it improve safety measures. Several safety features integrated in automobiles, pipelines, and marine vessels have their origin in NTSB recommendations.

The NTSB has also investigated several oil spills, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Oil spills on both water as well as land are a serious threat to the environment as they cause terrible damage to the encompassing ecosystem. Oil Gone Easy’s Marine S-200 can be used for oil spill cleanup effectively without causing any further damage to the environment.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Any major oil spill causes great environmental damage. The oil spill that took place on the San Francisco Bay in 2007 resulted in spillage of 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel from the container ship Cosco Busan.

But what makes the San Francisco Oil Spill unusual, is the oil spill cleanup technique that was adopted. A group of volunteers cleaned San Francisco’s beaches using unconventional products, namely human hair and mushrooms.Though unconventional, it is an organic and eco-friendly way of cleaning up oil spills.

Hair is a natural absorbent that soaks oil very well. In the San Francisco Oil Spill, masses of matted hair the size of a doormat were used to soak up oil. (These mats are woven from human hair donated by salons.) After the visible effect in the San Francisco oil spill, others have also started using these for cleaning up oil spills.

You must be wondering where mushrooms come into the picture in this whole process. Oyster mushrooms have the power to convert toxic oil to compost. In the San Francisco oil spill, once the hair mats had soaked up the oil, oyster mushrooms were layered between these mats. In about 12 weeks, these mushrooms not only absorbed but turned these oil-soaked mats into non-toxic compost.

The success of using hair and mushrooms in the San Francisco oil spill cleanup calls for more such innovative, cost-effective, and eco-friendly techniques of cleaning oil spills. One such eco-friendly technique that has proved to be effective in oil spill cleanup is bioremediation technology.

Oil Gone Easy S-200 is an oil stain remover that makes use of bioremediation technology. Instead of toxic chemicals, microorganisms present in the atmosphere are used to degrade the harmful hydrocarbons present in the oil. Thus, this eco-friendly product cleans oil stains without causing any harm to the environment.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Causes of oil pollution are many. They can range from minor spills from recreational boats to serious oil spills from commercial vessels. Whatever the cause, it leads to serious marine pollution.

Large oil spills come to notice very quickly. Marine pollution authorities therefore respond quickly to clean them up. But minor oil spills that result from pumping oily bilge water overboard or from careless refueling go unnoticed even though they are a major cause of marine pollution, which harms the marine environment.

Several steps have been taken to prevent marine pollution, including laws such as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. According to these acts, the discharge of any kind of oil in the navigable water of the United States that causes a film, sheen, discoloration, sludge, or emulsion on or beneath the surface of water is strictly prohibited and can result in stiff civic penalties.

To avoid these penalties and to prevent further oil pollution here are some preventive measures that will help in keeping the discharged bilge water clean.

• The engine of the boat should be maintained properly to avoid fuel or oil leaks. Oil filters should also be changed often.

• Floating oil, if any, should be soaked up with a sorbent material before pumping the bilge. An absorbent pad or a drip tray should also be kept under the engine.

• During bilge cleaning do not mix detergents with oily bilge water as they can prove even more toxic than the oil. Instead, use a biodegradable bilge cleaner like Oil Gone Easy Marine S-200. This bilge cleaner is environmentally friendly and will not cause marine pollution.

Following these simple preventive measures will not only result in clean bilges but will also result in a green earth.

Popularity: 44% [?]

What is environmental remediation

Environmental remediation is the process of environmental cleanup that restores a polluted or contaminated site to a state that is not harmful for human beings and other living organisms. In most cases, it involves media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. Before deciding on the technology, a complete environmental assessment of the contaminated site has to be done to decide the approach towards the restoration.

Remediation technologies

Remediation solutions that are adopted for an environmental cleanup can be broadly categorized into ex-situ and in-situ methods. While the affected soils are excavated and the surface then treated using ex-situ methods, the contamination is treated without removing the soils by means of in-situ methods.

Excavation or dredging – In this process, the contaminated soil is dug up and transported to regulated dump sites. But, if the bottom of a river or bay gets contaminated, dredging is employed for environmental remediation.

Surfactant Enhanced Aquifer Remediation (SEAR) – Special surfactants or hydrocarbon mitigation agents are injected into the subsurface to reduce desorption, which in turn speeds up the recovery process.

Pump and treat – The contaminated groundwater is pumped out and then treated for contamination through a series of vessels.

Solidification and stabilization – In stabilization, different kinds of reagents are added to the contaminated material to make it more stable chemically whereas, in solidification, the reagents are added to make it physically or dimensionally stable and limit the access to external agents like rain and air.

In-situ oxidation – This method involves injection of strong oxidants into contaminated soil and groundwater resources for environmental remediation.

In-situ vitrification – Contaminants and the surrounding soil are melted here using electricity and then cooled to form glass.

Bioremediation – It is defined as the process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment polluted by contaminants to its original condition. It is an eco-friendly approach towards remediation and uses products such as Oil Gone Easy Marine S-200 while dealing with oil spill cleanups.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Boating is not only a means of transportation, but also a recreational activity for many. It is the responsibility of each boater to keep our waters free from pollutants like oil, fuel, sewage, trash, toxic cleaning and maintenance products, and bottom paints. The best way to do this is to switch to green boating.

Here are a few steps that boaters can follow for clean boating and marine environmental protection:

• Prevent oily discharge: This is the most important step in any green boating program. Prevent fuel or oil from leaking into the water by keeping your engine well tuned. Have oil absorbent pads or pillows in places where drips may occur. While filling the tank, do it slowly and only fill to around 90% of the tank capacity to prevent the fuel from overflowing. Utilize oil change pumps for transferring oil to a spill-proof container.

• Never use soap: In case of fuel or oil spills, do not use soap to clean them. It causes a lot of damage to the environment and is also illegal to dump oily water overboard.

• Use green products: Use green products for bilge cleaning, like Marine S-200 bilge cleaner from Oil Gone Easy. Using green products will help you protect the environment.

• Contain and recycle waste: Don’t throw trash overboard. Also, avoid plastic products or products with plastic packaging; opt for reusable containers instead. Use a hazardous waste collection facility to dispose other harmful waste products, like paint, batteries, or oil filters, and recycle plastic, glass, metal, and paper.

• Maintain your vessel: Clean your work area regularly. Use tarps and vacuum sanders to contain all debris. Besides keeping the engine well tuned, repair oil and fuel leaks promptly. By doing so, you will not only minimize pollution, but will also save money on fuel.

Popularity: 22% [?]