Patent ID: 7506702

Claim:
A method of disposing of drill cuttings from an oil and/or gas well drilling platform, comprising: (a) providing a barge having an upper level with an area, the barge having at least one storage compartment, with upper and lower portions, and the upper portion of the at least one storage compartment having an inlet with an inlet area and a cover operably connected to and covering the inlet of the at least one storage compartment, the cover having multiple cover sections that are positioned side by side when covering the inlet; (b) placing the at least one storage compartment in a first open state by removing at least one but not all cover sections from the inlet; (c) receiving through the inlet cuttings in the barge's at least one storage compartment, the cuttings being received from the drilling platform; (d) after step “c”, placing the at least one storage compartment in a closed state by replacing any cover sections removed in step “b” so that the cuttings in the storage compartment are contained; (e) transporting the barge from the drilling platform to a collection site; (f) placing the at least one storage compartment in a second open state by removing from the inlet of the at least one storage compartment more of the cover sections than were removed in step “b” so that the cuttings in the barge's at least one storage compartment can be removed, the second open state having a larger open area compared to the first open state; and (g) removing through the inlet the cuttings from the barge's at least one storage compartment.