What are we doing about oil spill

On May 26, 1967, President Johnson directed the Department of the Interior and the Department of Transportation to mobilize the resources of this nation against the pollution of water by spills of oil, or other hazardous substances. At that time, the United States was committed primarily to containment and mechanical clean-up devices. Today the United States leads the world not only in the capability of the various devices, but also in the number of devices situated at various strategic locations throughout the country. Under the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan the parties responsible for an oil spill are also responsible for cleaning it up, with the Coast Guard functioning as a standby in the event that the responsible party does not take appropriate steps. When an oil spill occurs in water, the first reaction is to contain the spill by barriers or oil booms. Once the spill is contained, mechanical skimmers or adsorbents, are used to clean up the contained oil. Experience with the use of dispersants on beaches has not been favorable for many reasons. Other methods of treating oil spills such as agents that sink the oil, burn it or biologically degrade it, have been rather ineffective tomore » date. In spite of these efforts, oil spills continue to affect beaches, the intertidal zone, and marshes. There is a long way to go in the area of preventing spills, and find new techniques to mitigate the damage.« less