Oil contaminated beach cleanup

Abstract

A review of representative oil spill incidents supplemented by personal and telephone interviews with persons involved in beach cleanup operations as on-scene coordinators or as cleanup operators has been made to evaluate methods suitable for future operations. The selection of procedure and equipment for beach cleanup was found to depend on the amount of oil, the characteristics of the oil as it hits the beach, and the type of beach contaminated. Thee slope of the beach, indicative of the material the beach is composed of, is related to appropriate methods and equipment that may be most effectively used to decontaminate the beach material. A scheme for classifying the type of beach contamination was devised. The most effective -beach cleanup procedures and equipment have been identified and tabulated in terms of selected beach classifications. Recommendations for future work to remove deficiencies of existing techniques are included.