Page 67: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2, 2010)

Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Re- search & Renewable Energy Test Facility offers a comprehensive training program for oil spill respon- ders. In partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard,

Texas A&M University National Spill Control

School, and SL Ross Environmen- tal Research Ltd., Ohmsett provides training in U.S. Coast Guard Class

C Response Technician training,

Oil Spill Response and Strategies

Training (in English and Spanish), and Dispersant Training for the Oil

Spill Responder. Training empha- sizes classroom exercises and prac- tical hands-on use of the oil spill equipment in realistic marine con- ditions. Following classroom in- struction, students receive hands-on training in the tank recovering real oil with full size oil spill recov- ery equipment in both calm water and in harbor chop conditions. The two principal efficiency measures are Oil Recovery Efficiency (ORE), and Throughput

Efficiency (TE). Oil Recovery Efficiency is the per- centage of the volume of oil recovered divided by the volume of fluid (oil plus water) recovered.

Throughput Efficiency is the volume of oil recovered divided by the volume of oil encountered. A high

ORE score indicates that the fluid recovered by the student contained a high percentage of oil and a low percentage of water. A high TE score indicates the student was able to recover a high percentage of the oil that was spilled. In partnership with SL Ross En- vironmental Research Ltd., Ohmsett conducts hands- on dispersant training for oil spill responders. This two-day course emphasizes prac- tical experience in full-scale dis- persant applications using the

Ohmsett dispersant testing proto- col and dispersant effectiveness monitoring using the U.S. Special

Monitoring of Applied Response

Technologies (SMART) visual and fluorometry methods. Por- tions of the training are designed to meet the needs of U.S. Coast

Guard Strike Force Monitoring

Teams. Training focuses on practical experience dis- persing oil slicks of crude oil under near-at-sea con- ditions in the Ohmsett tank. There is a brief refresher on dispersants and effectiveness, as well as a discus- sion of new developments in dispersants followed by a full day of experience spilling oil and dispersing the slicks in Ohmsett’s tank, making observations of effectiveness on untreated and dispersed slicks as per the SMART dispersant effectiveness monitoring pro- tocol, familiarization with a Turner C3 submersible fluorometer and Turner 10-AU digital field fluorom- eter. www.ohmsett.com

June 2010 www.marinelink.com 67

Ohmsett Provides Comprehensive

Oil Spill Responder Training