How Clean Is 'Clean'?

Making the decision to terminate oil spill clean-up operations can be a very challenging aspect of the response. Various stakeholders are likely to have different expectations or perspectives and these will vary depending on the incident. This issue is further compounded in cases where long-term remediation might be considered, after the initial clean-up is deemed complete – especially for terrestrial spills.

Addressing these issues, we developed a robust and detailed set of procedures for a client as part of their oil spill contingency planning. This provides a clear and logical framework for decision making. Such clarity brings efficiency to response and helps avoids confrontation and prolonged or expensive clean-up operations. Most importantly, the procedures encompass the concept of net environmental benefit, acknowledging that some clean-up techniques can exacerbate environmental damage in certain situations.

The procedures also provide clear guidance on the organizational and operational transition from clean-up to consideration of remediation. Following the finalization and acceptance of the procedures, the client unfortunately had an oil spill incident on a terrestrial pipeline. We were pleased to see the procedures we developed were followed and proved effective.

Hand cleaning stones may not be preferable to natural clean-up