Are Turbidity Curtains a Part of Your Contingency Plan?

Spill containment system

If your corporation has any involvement in oil drilling beneath the ocean, then you know that having an oil spill solution at hand is absolutely essential should disaster strike. Recent events and news reports have shown us how damaging it can be for a company which is ill prepared to manage an oil spill. Make sure that you are prepared by asking yourself the following two questions. If you can not answer them thoroughly then you may want to work with one of the oil spill response companies available to corporations such as yours to create a comprehensive plan.

1. Do you know what oil spill response equipment is included in your fuel spill response plan?

Your oil spill response kit might include an oil skimmer, oil dispersant, oil absorbent boom, silt barriers, or any other number of tools, but unless you know what is in that toolbox now it will not matter what is in it when the time comes to respond. Once there is an oil spill there will be panic, and investigating your response plan equipment for the first time at that point will set your corporation up for failure. It is best to be well aware of the capabilities of the equipment at your disposal before there is a catastrophe.

For example, you may have a turbidity curtain, but did you know that they are intended for only short term use? Generally these curtains are used for construction along the shoreline. Also, they are better utilized in calm waters. If an oil spill occurs out in the middle of the ocean and you did not know these facts about your equipment, then you may end up using the wrong tool for the job.

2. How do you intend to initially contain the oil spill?

A word of advice, no matter what oil spill containment plans you might already have, make sure that turbidity curtains are a part of your oil spill solution. A turbidity curtain naturally helps to contain “turbidity,” which it can be helpful to think of as solid matter and particles of many different sizes suspended in the water. Turbidity is to water as smoke is to air, therefore an oil spill may be best contained with a turbidity curtain.

However, be aware that if you use a turbidity curtain in tidal or similar conditions you may find issue with the stability. Be sure to weigh down the curtain from every side. If you must use a curtain in flowing water, then ensure that the curtain is parallel to the flow. Wind, current change, and the flow of water can all undermine the stability of the curtain.

If the time comes when your corporation needs to bring their oil spill solution to practical application, remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and it is better to be well prepared for the disaster than to hope that it never strikes.

6 thoughts on “Are Turbidity Curtains a Part of Your Contingency Plan?

  1. Why is not more being done to PREVENT these oil spills from happening in the first place? I agree that it is good to have a plan in the event of a spill, but come one, we need to work harder at stopping them from happening in the first place.

  2. Why is not more being done to PREVENT these oil spills from happening in the first place? I agree that it is good to have a plan in the event of a spill, but come one, we need to work harder at stopping them from happening in the first place.

  3. Why is not more being done to PREVENT these oil spills from happening in the first place? I agree that it is good to have a plan in the event of a spill, but come one, we need to work harder at stopping them from happening in the first place.

  4. Why is not more being done to PREVENT these oil spills from happening in the first place? I agree that it is good to have a plan in the event of a spill, but come one, we need to work harder at stopping them from happening in the first place.

  5. Why is not more being done to PREVENT these oil spills from happening in the first place? I agree that it is good to have a plan in the event of a spill, but come one, we need to work harder at stopping them from happening in the first place.

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