Purpose

EquipmentNeeded

HairMat

EcosystemType

Warnings

Bioremediation

Purpose: 
This page contains information on how to cleanup after an oil spill.  It should serve as an early example of a best practice.  Hopefully, it will be expanded over time to include more advanced remediation techniques, like fungi bioremediation.  Also, it should eventually include information to address cleanup in other types of ecosystems, environmental health dangers of different type of petroleum products, and links to resources to allow users find information for their local efforts.

EquipmentNeeded

• Plastic Bags
• Rubber Bands
• Kitty Litter Scoop.  Must have a flat edge blade.  Laundry scoops and kid shovels are okay, but the kitty scoop allows you to shake out sand.  Find a scoop with the smallest holes.
• One small flat stick.
• Thin and well fitting gloves.
• Paper towels.

• Unless the breeze is slight, leave the beach due to fumes.
• Others will come over to see what you are doing and step in the oil.  Encourage them to come back prepared.
• Work in a grid.  If you bounce around you'll push oil under the surface.
• If you're working in a group, stick together and clean an entire area at once.  This will leave enough beach for wildlife to approach if needed.
• Carry the oiled wildlife network number with you.
• This stuff is heavy.  Double and triple bag.

Hair Mat:

Human hair is very efficient at absorbing oil in the atmosphere, soil, and water.  Here is a photographic demo:

1 quart of used motor oil and 1 sq. ft. mat 00:00:01	00:00:42
00:01:07	1 quart of used motor oil recovered

Ecosystem Type: 
Marine Environment, Beach

Equipment Needed:

Technique:
Put three plastic bags over each foot and rubber band them over shoes.  Pick a clean area to stand, and clean a new foot area with your scooper and stick.  Shake genty to remove excess sand.  Bucket helps keep the bag edges clean and with careful technique no oil should reach your gloves at any point.  Your feet will hit oil that is just below the sand.  Stay above the waterline, and keep dry and clean.

Disposal:
There are giant specially lined dumpsters at the Berkeley Marina, near the Adventure Playground.  Do NOT put in trash cans.




Warnings:
If you haven't gotten hazmat training for the oil spill cleanup, and still decide to volunteer on your own, please, please keep yourselves safe. Telling people to just go out with plastic bags and kitty litter scoopers is really irresponsible. Actually even this posting is, too, admittedly. But people will still go out. So, for them:

- any clothes you wear will end up getting some tarballs/oil on it. pants, shirts, shoes. no matter how careful you are. I GUARANTEE IT.
- get a tyvek jumpsuit aka coverall. they come in various sizes, with or without hoods, with or without elastics at wrist and ankles. it will keep the grease off. Google it if you are not sure what they are.
- wear nitrile gloves. avail at most hardware stores. or heavy duty rubber gloves. avoid latex gloves as they can eventually break down in the presence of the tarballs.
- DO NOT GET YOUR FEET WET!!! Do not get wet at all. It's easy to get caught in the surf and get wet -- that will expose you to the oil in the waters. Your skin will absorb the toxins and your preventing getting oil on your skin will be for naught. Most people don't think anything of it and see the tarballs getting pushed in by the surf... they step closer and the surf gets their feet wet. Guess what? Now the skin of your feet are soaking in the carcinogens in the water. It's more than just plastic bags on your feet: guess what? you walk on sand and small rocks and the treads of your shoes will tear the bags. Step into a puddle and your shoes get wet. Either do not get close to the surf at all (which then limits your reach to the tarballs) or
- wear some industrial or rubber type boots that are heavy duty, waterproof and won't break down. this will keep your feet completely dry.
- bring the respirators with the cartridges -- for oil fume vapors. there will be times and areas where you will really smell the oil (such as at low tide or areas where there is a lot of oil) and these are the times you want to wear the masks.
- do not dispose of the oil in regular garbage cans. the oil is toxic and must be disposed of properly.

Better safe than end up with respiratory and other health problems in the future. Learn from past experiences of previous volunteer oil cleanups and minimize your exposure! Seriously, you do not want to have lifelong illnesses from exposure to the oil. Take as much precautions as you can and go to the EPA training sessions if you can: http://zunasurf.wordpress.com/



Bioremediation:

Paul Stamets on how mycology can transform oil soaked environments to green zones.