Solidified Oil

Senator Lisa Murkowski recently held a hearing on how Shell Oil would respond to an oil spill in Alaskan waters. She said she really has never had a detailed look at Shell’s plan and wanted one, especially as new reports come out on the scientific information available about the Arctic. Shell has applied to drill in both the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in 2012 and 2013.
After much discussion about some of the finer points on capping wells, the nature of crude oil at colder temperatures, the key statement that should make all Alaskans in general (and the fishing industry specifically)  jittery was the statement that “Booms to corral any spilled oil and in-situ burning would be the primary tools to clean it from the Arctic waters. But those don’t work in rough seas and in that case chemical dispersants would be spread by airplane on an oil slick. ”
From the Gulf spill experience, it is incomprehensible that Shell would follow the same wrong-headed procedures as BP did. It is also incomprehensible that none of the major oil companies will seriously consider alternative technologies such as is offered by using PetroGuard-D to arrest and collect spilled oil, even though such use is approved by the USEPA. Another bungled oil spill response will set America’s energy independence back 10 years.