Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.
Issue link: https://uscgproceedings.epubxp.com/i/149372
History and Engagement The USACE laboratory provides facilities and ice expertise to stakeholders to further the understanding of oil spill detection and mitigation and to create efective spill response techniques for ice environments. The CRREL, located in Hanover, N.H., addresses inadequacies within the Army regarding operating in a cold theatre, with a primary focus on engineering solutions to equipment operation and capitalizing on cold environments.1 The laboratory staf conducts a number of experiments then shares its fndings with other government partners through the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research, which is comprised of 14 members representing independent federal agencies, departments, and department components. The purpose of the interagency committee is twofold: • • Night testing for submerged oil detection systems at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's geophysical research facility. Photo courtesy of Mr. J. Wilkinson, Scottish Association of Marine Science. thetechnologyhascompletedtesting,thissystemcan beusefulinproflingthickseaiceintheArctic.Currently,thetechnologyisintheresearchanddevelopmentcycle,soitwillrequireadditionaltestingand redesign. Submersible sensors are an innovative under-ice approach and have been used to help esearchers r detectandmapasimulatedoilspill.From2011to 2012, CRREL Civil Engineer Leonard Zabilansky provided facility and on-site testing assistance to researchers.Thetesting,sponsoredbytheOilSpill RecoveryInstitute,exploredthepossibilityofusinga suiteofsensors,cameras,sonar,andlasersattachedto asubmersibletrolleythatwasthenplacedunderthe ice.Thispreliminarytechnologyassessmentisleadingtoadditionalin-depthtesting. Herding Agents CRRELhasalsohostedtestsofchemicalherdersto mitigate oil spills in an ice environment. Oil herders aresurface-activechemicalsdispensedtocontainoil slicksonawatersurface.Oilspreadsonwaterbelow anignitablethreshold;theobjectiveofaherderisto thickentheoiltofacilitateignitionandburningin situ. www.uscg.mil/proceedings t o prepare a comprehensive, coordinated federal oil pollution research and development plan; t opromotecooperationwithindustry,universities,researchinstitutions, state governments, and other nations through information sharing, coordinated planning, and joint project funding.2 Endnotes: 1. 2. Available at the CRREL website at http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/. www.iccopr.uscg.gov. Themostrecentexperimentswerewithnewformulationsofherderagentsdesignedtobemorerobustin an Arctic ocean environment.3 "Whatwearetryingtodointhebasinistominimizetheareaandmaximizetheoilthicknessinicy watersonceaspillhasoccurred,"saidZabilansky. "Herdingagentsareanothertoolintheresponder's toolboxthatcanbeusedtoquicklymitigateanoil spillinice-infestedwaters.Bypartneringwiththe oilcompaniesandconductingthistypeoftesting, weareworkingtowardtheCorps'missionofbeing An early version of an airborne radar antenna to detect oil under ice. Summer 2013 Proceedings 81