A Slick Response?
An oil spill the size of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is not likely to happen in our waters. Still, the state has a plan—just in case.
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Crews may also treat spills with dispersants, substances that break the oil into small droplets that can evaporate quickly. Dispersants can be effective in helping Mother Nature along, but they don’t work on all types of oil, and they can cause oil to accumulate temporarily in marine organisms. Biological agents can also be added to help with biodegradation, but they tend to deplete oxygen in the water, which suffocates other organisms.
Because no method is perfect—“the amount of land and water is so large, there’s not a lot you can do,” says Sharp—prevention and preparation are the best policies.
The non-profit Delaware Bay and River Cooperative is one of several agencies working to prevent and prepare. Members such as local oil refineries, tugboat operators and power plants, as well as many of the vessels that enter the bay, pay for the cooperative. Its two skimmers are some of the first responders to spills. It stores a series of booms near critical areas along the bay and river.
The industry’s self-policing, continually updated safety policies and procedures, and more efficient machinery cut down on spills significantly. “We’ve been fortunate,” says Gardner Knight, marine supervisor for DBRC in Lewes.
To keep in practice, skimmer captains take their boats out to simulate different responses. “We try to deploy the equipment, not just hope it will run fine,” Knight says. Members of DEMA and the DNREC emergency response team also take part in similar drills to stay ready.
A spill here is not just an exercise. It is a reality. Last year the Coast Guard sent out its Maritime All-Hazard Response Team 196 times in response to calls of pollution in the water. Many of the calls were small spills such as those that occur when someone spilled gas while fueling a boat. But that is not always the case.
More than 12 million gallons of oil have been spilled in the Delaware River and Bay since 1975. The Corinthos spill of 1975 alone was, by some estimates, bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska’s Prince Edward Sound in 1989, says Turner. More than 11 million gallons from the Corinthos escaped into the river. The fact that the ship exploded and burned most of the oil actually saved the environment from greater damage.
The last large spill was in November 2004. A ship called the Athos I spilled more than 473,500 gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude into the Delaware River. Complicated by a northeast storm that prevented clean-up crews from arriving immediately, it was a huge spill, affecting 115 miles of shoreline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. (Winds and tides helped spare Delaware.) Shipping channels were closed for three days, and two reactors were shut down at the Salem nuclear power plant. More than 7,812 tons of oily solids (cleanup materials and oil) were collected. Some 1,300 people were involved in the cleanup.
Regulations since then have decreased the likelihood of a spill. By February of 2011, all vessels coming into the Delaware River must have fire, salvage and spill plans in place, Knight says. The more stringent regulations help ensure methods of prevention and cleanup are in place and functioning before an accident happens.
“We’ll use anything to make a problem go away, but it’s got to be tested—proven,” Turner says. “The only perfect emergency is the one prevented.”
