Information for Fighting Oil Pollution A Case History
Authors: Schimke Gerald R. , Goodier J. Leslie 
Published: October 2008

This paper outlines a model coastal pollution control program undertaken at a multi-use test site in Massachusetts. The findings indicate that the area can improve the environmental conditions for continued multi-use status bystate and industrial cooperation,spill prevention surveys,water flow studies and simulation, andindustrial mutual aid.

The study shows that state, municipal, and industrial resources and knowledge can be effectively combined for the benefit of the natural environment.

The effective prevention of oil and chemical spills, and the control of damage resulting from such spills, can be attained by the development of government/industry sponsored program containing as a minimum:A complete knowledge of past spill experience in a given area.The re-engineering of plant facilities to "fail. safe" operational procedures and mechanical equipment in order to prevent spills before they occur.A sufficiently thorough knowledge of the environment, including threatened resources and water flow during all tide, current, and weather conditions, to permit effective containment of a spill through the use of well-positioned floating or submersible barriers.A mutual aid agreement whereby the full experience and resources of all industrial complexes in a given area can be concentrated toward the fast containment and clean-up of an oil or chemical spillA federal and/or state sponsored educational system whereby plant management and operating personnel can receive specialized training in pollution control procedures.

INTRODUCTION

Our coastal waters are being degraded by repeated spills of hydrocarbons and miscellaneous chemicals along the waterfront, massive spills from tanker collisions and offshore oil rigs, the continuous discharge of industrial waste in all harbors of the nation, and indiscriminate disposal of debris and human sewage into the waterways. The collective ire of the conservationist, the ecologist, the marine biologist, and the general public has been aroused. Bills have been introduced to prohibit offshore exploration and the leasing of state and federally owned sub aqueous land.

A general view of our main harbors (Figures 1 & 2), rivers, and estuaries is sufficient to indicate that definite action is warranted to cleanse, restore, and otherwise conserve our contiguous water. The answer is not, however, to shut down our industrial plants and prohibit the development of the vast resources contained in the 850,000 square miles of government-owned underwater land. Such action would short-change not only the present generation but many generations to come. The halting of scientific progress would be a short-sighted method of attacking an environmental problem that could be solved by the systematic application of existing technology.

In a televised interview, one of our citizens recently expressed the futility of spending multiple millions of dollars on space exploration when we lack a solution to the problem of disposing of our, earthly waste. Many agree that an all-out effort to be first in such an endeavor should not absorb our technical and financial abilities to meet a more beneficial but mundane need - pollution control.