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In-situ Burning
In-situ burning is one of the treatment to control the burning of oil that has

spilled from the wellhead quickly and effectively before it reaches the coast. It can
significantly reduce the amount of oil on the water surface as well as minimizes the
adverse effect to the environment.
In order to undertake the burning, the oil must be concentrated and an ignition
source applied. The condition of the oil is important for in-situ burning. The lighter oil
fractions may lose through evaporation and start to form an emulsion. These factors
will make the oil more difficult to be ignited or burned. The minimum layer of oil on
the sea surface is 2 to 3mm for in-situ burning in order to counter the cooling effect of
the wind and sea at the same time to maintain a fuel source to the fire.
In-situ burning is more suitable for offshore or away from the populated areas
due to the emission of the toxic smoke which will bring potentially adverse effect to
human and environment. The potential impact of the soot will deposit on the rate of
melting ice. Besides, the residue left from in-situ burning is difficult to recover and it
has potential to sink and endanger the marine species.

Figure: In-Situ burning

Dispersant
Dispersants are chemicals or mixture of emulsifiers and solvents that are

sprayed on a surface oil slick that helps break the oil into small droplets which is more
readily mix with the water. The dispersed small droplets will help microbes to
biodegrade the oil easily. It was used in the BP oil spill to reduce the chances of
surface oil slick would reach shoreline habitats and come into contact with animals.
Spraying dispersant onto the sea will decrease the visibility of the oil spill as well as
reduce the ability of oil absorption from the ocean surface.
However it would not reduce the amount of oil entering the environment and it
push the oil spill underwater. As a result, it will increase the exposure of a wide array
of marine life in contact with the spilled oil on the ocean floor. It brings significant
negative impacts on marine life due to the toxic break-down produce from spilled oil
and combine with oil droplets and dispersant chemical. This will cause the dispersed
oil more harmful to marine life if compared to the untreated oil. Apart from that, the
dispersants used by BP contains the toxin 2-Butoxyethanol may cause injury to red
blood cells, kidney or liver.
BP have used two dispersants which are Corexit 9500A and Corexit 9527A.
which are significantly more toxic and less effective than other available EPAapproved dispersants. There are several approved dispersants 10 times less toxic and
more effective if compared to the dispersants used by BP. Moreover, the formulations
of Corexit 9500 and 9527 were banned in the United Kingdom due to harmful
substance to marine life that inhabits rocky shores was found in laboratory test.
Therefore, BP is encouraged to use the approved dispersants to minimize the negative
impact to the environment.

Figure: Oil dispersant mechanism of action

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Oil-Eating Microbes
A new study has shown that the microbes have gobbled up at least 200,000

tons of oil after BP oil spilled. By spraying the dispersant onto the sea will help to
facilitate the digestion of the oil by microbes. The oil is pushed down below the sea
surface and allow the microbes to digest the oil before it reached the surface. There
are more than 150 different molecules make up the toxic stew of hydrocarbons. The
microbes breakdown the molecules and disperse the hydrocarbon molecules quickly
from dissolving into the water. However, there these microbes will reduce the subsea
oxygen level and release carbon dioxide which will threaten marine species. When the
bacteria are died and decomposed, it require more oxygen and further reduce the
subsea oxygen level.

Shoreline Clean-up
As the oil has reached the shoreline, several treatments are taken to clean the

affected areas. There are 3 stages in shoreline clean-up operations. Firstly, bulk oil
is removed from the shore to prevent remobilization. Next, the stranded oil and
oiled shoreline material is removed. This is the most protracted shoreline clean-up
stage. Lastly, final clean-up is deployed in order to remove light contamination
and removal of stains.
There are several techniques to clean the shoreline. Vacuum trucks, pumps and
skimmer can be used during the first stage to clean up the bulk oil. Nonspecialized machinery could be used to collect and remove the stranded oil. In
second stage, the high volume of low pressure water can wash and flush the
buried oil from shorelines. At the last stage, high pressure washing with either hot
or cold water is used to flush the spilled oil on most hard surfaces.

Figure: High pressure washing at quayside