I saw a report a few years ago of authorities using human hair to absorb the oil.
Pack human air in a rope like form!!!
Wouldn't it be ideal to put these things out to absorb all the oil from the ocean b4 it hits land.
Oil will float on the surface. So naturally will be absorved. less oil, less damange.
that's a fair call jeremy. a ship that size can handle some pretty nasty weather though. i believe that the focus now is on whether the containers were actually secured correctly. i mean it was a freak accident that the corner of a box punched through into a fuel tank, but if the boxes weren't secured correctly then that opens up another can of worms. what has happened is definitely bad, but shipping is part of the lifeblood of our country's economy and therefore our lives in general. the other factor is that ships cost sh!tloads to run/operate and have to run to strict timetables. demurrage can be around US$35k a day so it can really cost money to delay them, this could explain why it was sent north with the risk of the cyclone heading south, it's a bit of a gamble i suppose and it didn't pay off. either way there'll be a massive investigation into the damage that it has caused and it's definitely in the government's interest to make sure everything gets cleaned up and returned to normal as quickly as possible.
There are all sorts of devices designed to contain, absorb and break down various spills.......but most of them are completly useless in anything but calm waters.
Almost all of the clean up processes for this sort of thing are crude and simple.
most of you would be horified to hear that one real option is spraying the stuff with detergent.
cleaning up off a nice sany beach is pretty easy... you scoop up and much of the carp as you can and as little of the sand as you can manage and drag it away in a big bucket.......where does it go then.....Hmmm
so what do you do if it gets among the rocks or in mangroves and stuff?
cheers
Its the details, those little details, that make the difference.
According to this website about the long term impact after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (11 million Gallons). There are significant long term problems.
http://www.csuchico.edu/pub/inside/a...05_valdez.html
" Rice's research team has shown that the health, growth, and reproduction of wildlife, shoreline plants, and ocean-floor invertebrates continue to show long-term effects."
I expect we will have long term problems to based on the above scientific research. The only difference is that our spill had less oil.
Thats a good question oldboot, may our friends the greenies could use their expert knowledge to fix the problem, they seem to know just about everything there is about the environment.
Fillet and Release Squad
No mate like chalk and cheese comparing the two events, no long term environmental effects outside of designer half truths for money/power/position and simple zealotry will result from our spill.Originally Posted by Trader1
Edit* better throw this caveat in...the freshwater reaches breached baddly will upon investigation of sediment show the lingering effects for quite some time.
Although this will not in any long term affect the complete regeneration but the lingering chemistry may well be measurable for quite a while. Physical work to help remediate these areas is where any meaningful effort will be placed.
cheers fnq
Hi FNQCairns,
I don't see it as "chalk and cheese". It is the same event on a smaller scale. There will still be long term damage.
No oils ain't oils, climate ain't climate, substrate ain't substrate, volume V area. there are far more differences than similarities between the two.
If you can can highlight what a specific long term impact will be, as related to this event and conditions that apply to it only, a comparison might be drawn better.
Interestingly what we are seeing largely NOW for the bulk and colour of the spill is sloughed of dead organisms and dead bio films/froth all wrapped up in the mix, effectively tons of microscopic bits and pieces..a soup so to speak.
cheers fnq
FNQ - Still your sitting there pushing the agenda that we should not be worried about this. And I dont see what you have to gain from this, except maybe to make yourself fell big and smart.
This spill is in our backyard, in the areas we fish and the beaches we visit. Stop telling us its nothing to worry about. I dont care if the ecosystem will have it all cleared in 6-12 months. Right now its a bloody big mess, that in my view is a dam shame!
Hi FNQ, A quote from another scientist says: "Oil spills are a lot more damaging than people thought and, by implication, toxic pollution is a lot more threatening than people thought," said chemist Jeff Short, a key oil spill researcher at the U.S. government's Auke Bay Laboratory in Juneau."
reference http://dwb.adn.com/front/story/4534151p-4509987c.html
From what I am reading on overseas scientific research it is a major problem.
ST, Sheesh, I am not saying it's nothing to worry about I am and have been saying there is nothing physical can be done to reverse or change the course now. Now we have an balmy army heading to the islands to do more damage...where is your mindset I may ask?
Will caveat the freshwater reaches though, this area is for experienced and well controlled remediators, not a herd of cattle.
cheers fnq
yeah you should hear what some scientist can say about the sun and it's potential harmful effects...half truths to propagate spin is where all this must go today, the reactionary will follow.
All has been covered already, need to keep at least one eye on this particular episode and all that it IS. BTW did you know the sun can implode! Now that's harmfull in any long term.
cheers fnq
The course can be changed by legislation. Such as No ship carrying oil or environmentally dangerous cargo can run within 50km of our coastline if the wind is more than say 40knots in strength. Legislation is the way to change the course that will stop future disasters.
Trader i hope it happens, someone has already put forth the idea that if the shipping rules where not changed by the last federal government an aussie crew wouldn't have let this happen...I dunno but it is worth a ponder.
trader comparing this to the Exxon Valdes is like comparing a ten cent bunger to herishema. plus exxon valdes was crude oil not light fuel oil and the climate was much colder which makes a huge difference to the breakdown of oil not to mention pure volume.
Yes it is an unfortunate inccident but its not the environmental catastophy that its being played up to be. Yes there is a mess there right now yes there will still be one there next week but in twelve months all visual signs of the spillage should be gone and the ecology of the area should be begining to return to normal.
I can understand everyone getting excited and upset it is a terrible thing but it has happened. Lets not make mountains from mole hills so to speak the area will recover and much quicker the the Exxon Valdez incedent which was a catastrophy.
On a different note I heard recently about a trawler fisherman who accidently spilt 10,000 litres of diesel into mooloolaba harbour some years back and that area has recovered. Then there was a semi cant remember what it was carrying but it crashed on the brunswick river bridge and spilled what ever it was carrying in the drink major incident same trumped up media circus then when it happened twelve months on the area had regenerated and started to recover now you would never know it happened
As for the talk of "what was the skipper doing heading into the cyclone" If it was me i would of done the same thing not a little boat the pacific adventurer chances are there would of been another 5 or 6 ships go straight through that cyclone and both the skipper and the ship probably been through a lot worse. Containers break loose and go over the side quiet frequently on ships it happens it was just bad luck that these ones where full of amonnium nitrate, one pearced the hull and it was right in front of moreton island.
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