U.S. Navy Ship Salvage Manual Volume 6 - Oil Spill Response

S0300-A6-MAN-060While agreement to respond initially to gross contamination is easy, agreement on a specific strategyand on how far to proceed is harder. The larger agreement depends upon factors such as economicimpact as well as environmental sensitivity. Resolution often derives from trying toanswer, “How clean is clean enough?”7-3.1 No Cleaning. No cleaning is sometimes a proper response. Response personnel and equipmentmay damage some environments, particularly wetlands, so severely that an attempt toremove oil by mechanical means is inappropriate. The decision to not clean should be made withadvise from the Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC), EPA Environmental Response Team(ERT) or similarly qualified personnel.The decision to clean a contaminated area or to leave it alone should be made after consideringthe:• Impact of oil on the environment.• Persistence of the oil.• Impact of oil on economic value of the contaminated area.• Natural processes, such as surf, that may enhance cleaning.• Likelihood of oil recontaminating the area.• Likelihood of oil refloating and contaminating other areas.• Environmental or economic impact of cleanup operations.• Probability of successful cleanup.Federal, state and local regulations may influence the nature and scope of the cleaning response.7-3.2 Cleaning Sequence. Shoreline cleaning is usually separated into primary and final cleaningphases.7-3.2.1 Primary (Gross) Cleaning. Removal of gross contamination includes removing floatingoil and responding only to heavily contaminated areas. Moderately contaminated or stained areasare left alone. Heavily contaminated areas to be considered for immediate cleaning include seaweed,saturated sand beaches, etc., that contain enough oil that some is refloated and spread bywaves and tides.7-3.2.2 Final Cleaning. Removal of moderate contamination usually follows removal of grosscontamination. Sand beaches with oil in sediment, under rocks, etc., are typical moderately contaminatedareas. A moderately contaminated beach, while not fit for recreation, is not a significantsource of oil pollution. Oil must be removed from a moderately contaminated shoreline to restorethe utility and ecological systems of the shoreline.7-2