The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) Paul Meyer traveled to Alberta, Canada earlier this month to participate in Environment Canada’s 37th Arctic Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Conference on Environmental Contamination and Response. Meyer, who oversees the bureau's National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility, Ohmsett, participated in a session on oil spill response research in icy waters and met with representatives from Environment Canada, the Canadian government's environmental department, to discuss the possibility of future collaborative research opportunities. The conference, held annually since 1978, provides a forum for researchers, scientists, students and regulators from around the world to exchange ideas on preventing, assessing, containing and cleaning up spills of hazardous materials in every type of environment.
During Meyer's session he spoke to attendees about research conducted as part of Ice Month at Ohmsett. Ice Month, held last year at BSEE's Leonardo, N.J. based facility, tested mechanical response equipment currently used or being considered for use by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and other oil spill response organizations in an ice environment. The tests provided information for potential improvements to mechanical response technologies.
BSEE is the principal federal agency funding offshore oil spill response research, and Ohmsett is a key part of the bureau’s Oil Spill Response Research Program. Many of today’s commercially available oil spill cleanup products have been tested at Ohmsett and a considerable body of performance data and information on mechanical response equipment has been obtained there. This information is used by response planners in reviewing and approving facility response and contingency plans. More information about BSEE's Oil Spill Response Research Program can be found here:
More information about the conference can be found here:
BSEE's Paul Meyer observing a test at Ohmsett.