Last week the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) participated in the Interspill 2015 Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Timothy Steffek, Research Specialist, spoke at the March 24th Dispersant Issues session, which reviewed best practices of dispersant application in difficult environments. Steffek presented his research on how various dispersant products could perform in harsh arctic conditions, which was conducted at the Ohmsett, BSEE's National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility in Leonardo, New Jersey.
Interspill is hosted by the Spill Response Group Holland and controlled by a number of European spill industry associations. The conference, held every three years, hosts over 1,300 delegates, visitors and exhibitors from over 70 countries. The event provided an opportunity for BSEE to share information that will assist in critical decision making during response planning and operations.
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. Ohmsett provides independent and objective performance testing of full-scale oil spill response equipment and marine renewable energy systems and helps improve technologies through research and development. It is the largest outdoor saltwater wave/tow tank facility in North America and is the only facility where full-scale oil spill response equipment testing, research and training can be conducted in a marine environment with oil under controlled environmental conditions. To find out more about the Ohmsett facility, visit http://ohmsett.com/.
