BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

generally contains debris and sand, need not come into contact with the pump
mechanism. Industrial, sanitary or agricultural vacuum trucks can be used to
pump oil from open water or pools provided there is good access to the
beaches. The efficiency of pumping equipment may be increased by attaching a
flattened (fish tail) suction head to the hose, which permits the collection
of thin layers of oil. A specialized suction head may be attached to the vacuum
truck to allow continuous pumping. Other portable vacuum devices, especially
designed to collect oil, are now available on the market. Other pumping
methods may be useful if the depth of the oil is sufficient, although
the pump must have a high tolerance to solids. The troughput of such pumping
devices varies from 15 m3/day to 100 m'lday or more.
For mechanical removal of oiled sand, depending on local conditions, various
types of earth-moving machinery such as graders, bulldozers, scrapers and
front-end loaders can be used. On large accessible beaches, such machines
can handle up to 250 m3/day of oiled sand, but selectivity is low, typically
1 % to 5 % of oil in sand, especially on thin layers of oil. Furthermore,
the use of these heavy machines can result in the mixing of the oil into the
beach. Wherever possible the use of tracked vehicles should be avoided and
care must be exercised to ensure that excessive removal of sand does not result
in beach erosion.
This method is not reconrnended for senstitive areas, but might be app
in the case of heavy pollution of recreational beaches.
3. Aerial Surveillance
licab le
The growing importance of aerial surveillance systems was recognised in the
memberstates of the Helsinki Corrrnission with the adoption of a relevant Helcorn
recomnendation in which the Contracting Parties are invited to introduce
airborne surveillance with remote sensing equipment in their surveillance of
the Baltic as soon as possible.
3.1 The requirements to such a system can be described as follows:
- detection of oil spills within a wide area on the surface
- unambiguous confirmation of the presence of an oil spill
- assessment of the thickness and thickness variations of the pollutant and
hence the amount of oil spill
- identification of the source of pollution and classification * of the oil
discharged
- mapping the extent of the spill or pollution
- provision of precise navigational information for spill and source location
and the positioning of clean up vessels
* still part of research programmes
3.2 A remote sensing system for installation in a fixed wing aircraft should
comprise the following sensors and documentation equipment:
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