Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1971)

Chemical To Control Oil Spills

Announced By Shell Oil Co.

Oil Herder (Trademark, Shell Oil Company), a new surface-active chemical agent to aid in the containment and cleanup of oil spills, re- cently introduced by the Shell Oil Company,

Houston, Texas, has just received classifica- tion by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has agreed to the classifica- tion of Oil Herder as "a surface collecting agent" in accordance with definitions as out- lined in Annex X of the National Oil and

Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan.

Concurrent with the EPA classification, the state of California, in an independent action, has licensed Oil Herder as an acceptable oil spill cleanup agent when used in accordance with applicable regulations covering its use in waters under that state's jurisdiction.

Developed as part of Shell's Environmental

Conservation program by the research and de- velopment laboratory of Shell Pipe Line Cor- poration, Oil Herder works entirely on the surface on the water. With the application of a relatively small amount of the chemical to the periphery of a spill, except under adverse wave conditions, the oil slick is not only con- tained, but will actually contract upon itself to facilitate removal.

In commenting on the EPA classification,

Donald C. Appleby, in charge of marketing Oil

Herder, stated: "The recognition of Oil Herd- er as a surface collecting agent by the Environ- mental Protection Agency follows more than a year of extensive testing by Shell to demon- strate the product's effectiveness under a varie- ty of wind, weather and water conditions.

Regarding the California licensing of Oil

Herder, Mr. Appleby stated: "We consider the action taken by California to be particularly significant because this is the only state we know of that has established formal proce- dures for evaluating and licensing oil spill cleanup agents. "Oil Herder has been subjected to a series of tests 'by independent laboratories," Mr. Ap- pleby added. "Results of these tests have shown Oil Herder to be fully biodegradable and nontoxic to fish, shrimp and oysters, and to such waterfowl as ducks, if used as directed.

This data was supplied to both EPA and Cali- fornia and was used in their evaluation of the product."

The classification by the EPA and licensing by California are expected to clear the way for other Government and private organiza- tions to use Oil Herder to protect coastal and inland beaches, harbors, marinas and other waterfront facilities threatened by contamina- tion from approaching oil slicks. It was point- ed out however, that such action will be sub- ject to the judgment of the On-Scene-Coordi- nator that the particular spill conditions will permit the effective use of Oil Herder.

Oil Herder will work on petroleum oils and the normal variety of vegetable oils, as long as they are in liquid state. It contains no or- ganic halides, heavy metals or other chemicals known to be harmful to process equipment or refinery catalysts. "To the (best of our knowledge, Oil Herder is the first surface collecting agent to be made commercially available for containing oil spills.

It is also the first to 'be classified as such by the EPA and the first chemical cleanup to be licensed by California," Mr. Appleby said.

Mr. Appleby continued, "Oil Herder's biggest advantages are its speed and ease of applica- tion at the site of the spill, and the fact that it does not have the adverse ecological after effects usually associated with dispersants and detergents."

Recommended dosage rate for Oil Herder is two gallons per linear mile of spill perimeter every six hours if needed, with no more than tjiree applications in a 24-hour period.

Commenting further on the product's ap- plication, Mr. Appleby said: "Oil Herder is ex- tremely versatile in its mode of application because of the small amount required for the majority of spills. As an example, for spills that occur within harbors or other sheltered waters near loading/unloading points or wa- terfront storage or processing facilities, Oil

Herder can be easily sprayed on the water at the spill perimeter with a common hand-oper- ated garden sprayer from a small boat. "For larger spills at sea," Mr. Appleby added, "Oil Herder can (be applied by helicop- ter equipped with spray units such as those used for the spraying of crops."

Though not specifically covered by the EPA or California actions, preliminary research has shown that when Oil Herder is applied to the surf zone of a beach in front of an approaching spill, it may assist in cleanup operations by in- hibiting the oil from penetrating the sand and by concentrating it into easily removable pud- dles and globules on top of the sand.

Mr. Appleby stated: "Oil Herder is now commercially available and is being stocked at key Shell locations throughout the country for immediate availability for spills occurring in various areas. Stocking points are presently at

Sewaren, N.J., Chicago, 111., San Francisco,

Calif., Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, La."

He added, "Plans are under way to increase the num'ber of stocking points and will pro- gress as usage develops."

Mr. Appleby pointed out, "In case of a spill, arrangements can be made to have Oil Herder shipped to the site by contacting the nearest

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INC. 42 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News