Not that it is any big comfort, but the colder the water is, the longer an oil spill affects its surrounding: Im warm waters it decomposes far fast than in icecold waters, but if the dispersing agents do any good in the long run is open to debate. According to the then famous book "Super tankers" a small tanker accidentally emptied its tanks (filled with alcohol) in the middle of Hudson Bay. Naturally all life below the ship died instantly. Ten years later there was still no sign of life! Studies have been made on the effects of a severe oil spill along the coast of Brazil, where the first year most minor creatures were gone in the magrove swamps, but just five years later things were back to normal. Here, on the West Coast of Sweden, the waters never become really warm, thus it takes ages for all oil to disappear after an oil spill - a situation similar to that in Alaska, after Exxon Valdez. There the situation is now stable, but a lot of oil is still around, below the bottom of the sea, where the clams live. As the clams are eaten by the sea otters, the amount of oil in the bottom sediments go down, slowly but surely, so as long as there are otters, the situation will be improving, as I said: slowly but surely. Tord PS As far as the Alaska scientists, interviewed on Swedish radio, are aware, the otters themselves don't seem to come to any harm! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Tord's comments about the variation in biological breakdown of oil trapped in sediments are accurate, far as I know. Warmer climes resolve oil much faster than cold ones. The finding of oil residues in Prince William Sound Is thus not surprising. For more on the remediation of that spill, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill#Cleanup_measures_and_environmental_consequences As might be expected, much was learned about tackling big oil spills from that 1989 event. Locally, there were many folks whose livelihood was wiped out when the seine salmon fishery died in those areas of PWS (and a few other places, as well). The settlement payout, which came down within the last year or so, turned out to be pennies on the dollar, after the legal system was done with it. A substantial fraction of the aggrieved died waiting for the payout. You don't find any Astoria salmon fishermen who look kindly on big oil. This is a sad event, yet an inevitable one, given the enormous number of offshore rigs. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Does anyone know anything about bacteria that consume oil? I've heard two people who think bacteria will break down the oil in reasonable time. Is there any scientific basis for this hope? Brad Crain Dave Kruger wrote: > Tord's comments about the variation in biological breakdown of oil trapped > in sediments are accurate, far as I know. Warmer climes resolve oil much > faster than cold ones. The finding of oil residues in Prince William > Sound Is thus not surprising. For more on the remediation of that spill, > go here: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill#Cleanup_measures_and_environmental_consequences > > As might be expected, much was learned about tackling big oil spills from > that 1989 event. Locally, there were many folks whose livelihood was > wiped out when the seine salmon fishery died in those areas of PWS (and a > few other places, as well). The settlement payout, which came down within > the last year or so, turned out to be pennies on the dollar, after the > legal system was done with it. A substantial fraction of the aggrieved > died waiting for the payout. You don't find any Astoria salmon fishermen > who look kindly on big oil. > > This is a sad event, yet an inevitable one, given the enormous number of > offshore rigs. > > -- > Dave Kruger > Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 9:22 AM, Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu> wrote: > Does anyone know anything about bacteria that consume oil? > I've heard two people who think bacteria will break down the oil > in reasonable time. Is there any scientific basis for this hope? > > Not only are there bacteria that consume oil but there is a product (BioBore) that will stop them from doing it as it can be a major problem. Dave can certainly answer the chemical questions of how they survive on the oil but the result of these critters is a sticky substance that clogs up fuel pumps, fuel lines, and injector nozzles. The critters are especially hard on boats that sit idle for long periods of time with full fuel or on boats that don't use their engines a lot. It would not surprise me much if someone weren't working on training these little guys to work on oil spills. However it would also not surprise me to discover that the cure could be worse than the disease. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Google "oil eating bacteria" there's lots of info. I don't want to post links or the spam grabber may not permit the e-mail thru in a timely fashion. Carey *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Now I'm wondering what oil-consuming bacteria eat in between oil spills. I know there are snails (invasive species) in Florida that eat house paint. Brad On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 9:22 AM, Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu> wrote: Does anyone know anything about bacteria that consume oil? I've heard two people who think bacteria will break down the oil in reasonable time. Is there any scientific basis for this hope? Not only are there bacteria that consume oil but there is a product (BioBore) that will stop them from doing it as it can be a major problem. Dave can certainly answer the chemical questions of how they survive on the oil but the result of these critters is a sticky substance that clogs up fuel pumps, fuel lines, and injector nozzles. The critters are especially hard on boats that sit idle for long periods of time with full fuel or on boats that don't use their engines a lot. It would not surprise me much if someone weren't working on training these little guys to work on oil spills. However it would also not surprise me to discover that the cure could be worse than the disease. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 7:36 PM, Paul D. Hamilton <pdhamilton1_at_comcast.net>wrote: > > Then kayaks and bolas will rule, and jet skiers will sit crying on their > boat anchors. On second thought, maybe that's not *all* bad... > > Better be a BIG fan of skin-on-frame boats with no petro-based chemicals in them. Craig *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> I remember a teen-aged girl who had convinced her parents that their stashes of booze were "evaporating" because they weren't screwing the caps back on tightly enough A buddy of mine once tried to convince his dad that "some settling of the contents may have occurred during shipment" of the bottles in his liquor cabinet. jim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:53 PDT