Word: oiling
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
BUSINESS: A string of oil spills triggers a cleanup campaign...
...major cleanup campaign was under way once again last week in three different spots in the U.S.: the Delaware River, Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Crews were deploying rakes, hand-held skimmers, oversize absorbent pads and "supersucker" vacuums to scoop up the oil spilled in the accidents. While all the slicks were much smaller than the 10.5 million-gal. spill of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska last March, the timing of the latest mishaps, which all ! occurred within a twelve-hour period on June 23 and 24, had a powerful effect. "The political impact...
...spills stirred public outcry and galvanized congressional sentiment to impose tougher regulations on the oil-shipping industry. In House testimony last week, the Coast Guard reported that it had recorded 6,700 oil spills during 1988, ten of which involved at least 100,000 gals. While total spills were down from 10,000 in 1984, environmentalists contend that the level remains unacceptably high, especially in light of the poor results of most mop-up efforts. Cleanup crews recover on average no more than 10% of major oil spills, a performance that has failed to improve during the past 20 years...
Last week the Coast Guard, National Guardsmen and private contractors made unusually good progress in cleaning up the uncanny string of spills. In Narragansett Bay, where the Greek tanker World Prodigy struck a reef and spewed 420,000 gals. of No. 2 fuel oil, most of the residue had evaporated or was rounded up by week's end. While the fuel may have long-term toxic effects on some marine life, fishermen were able to harvest shellfish for the first time since the accident. After an initial investigation, the ship's captain, Iakovos Georgudis, was charged with one misdemeanor count...
...Delaware, where the Uruguayan tanker Presidente Rivera ran aground and spilled 300,000 gals. of heavy No. 6 oil, about 70% had been cleaned up. The smallest of the spills, which occurred when a barge collided with a cargo ship in the Houston Ship Channel and released 250,000 gals. of heavy crude, was almost completely recovered. Nature cooperated: high winds blew most of the petroleum into an industrial channel where it could be scooped up easily...