Oil in Ice Project Final Report
Abstract
In the northern regions of the United States, the Coast Guard (CG) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are required to respond to oil spills during the winter months. The majority of the spills are tank leaks and gasoline truck accidents that may occur near waterways; thus, the oil can reach navigational waters, such as harbors and rivers, requiring CG response. The reduced ice during some seasons may increase vessel and barge traffic and increase the potential for more accidents. Given the potential increase in risk of oil spills in colder weather with ice-packed waterways, The CG needs better technologies for responding to oil spills in these extreme cold weather environments both in the Arctic and the northern contiguous United States. The overall project objective was to provide planners and responders, both inside and outside the Coast Guard, with useful spill response information. Over the past seven years, the CG Research and Development Center has conducted a number of demonstrations of new technologies, approaches, and tactics to detect, track, and remove oil from ice-infested water in the Great Lakes and Alaska marine environment. This report describes the various field technology demonstrations and provides an appendix with a description of 11 tactics using the most promising response technologies. The report has been reorganized and revised in March 2018 to reflect the historical events of the project demonstrations and final research recommendations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1050443
Entities
People
- Kurt A. Hansen
- Michele Fitzpatrick
Organizations
- United States Coast Guard