PART 1 - PROPERTIES OF OIL 

• Properties of Oil
  • What is oil?
  • What are hydrocarbons?
  • Types of oil
  • Classification of oils (AP number)

• Crude Oil
  • Light crude oil
  • Waxy crude oil
  • Heavy crude oil

• Oil Products
  • Gases
  • Gasoline and light distillates
  • Kerosene and middle distillates
  • Heavy fuel oils and distillates
  • Asphalt

 Back

PART 2 - BEHAVIOUR OF OIL ON WATER

• Phases of Oil on Water
  • Initial phase
  • Intermediate phase
  • Final phase

• Behaviour of Oil on Water
  • Evaporation
  • Spreading
  • Movement by wind
  • Movement by currents
  • Forecasting motion and trajectories

• Behaviour of Oil in Water
  • Sinking
  • Dispersion
  • Emulsification

Back

PART 3 - SPILL RESPONSE EQUIPMENT

• Booms
  • Basic operating principles
  • Classification oil booms
  • Description of Boom Types
  • Ocean or open water boom
  • Nearshore, river or protected water boom
  • Harbour or calm water boom
  • Lightweight utility boom
  • Specialty booms
  • Applications of Boom
  • Deflection
  • Containment
  • Collection
  • Protection and prevention
  • Beach barriers

  • Containment by air and water pressure2

• Skimmers
  • Classification by type
  • Classification by use
  • Basic Operating Principles
  • Suction Skimmers
    • Vacuum, manual
    • Vacuum, passive
  • Gravity Skimmers
    • Weir skimmers
    • Submersion Skimmers
    • Inclined plane
    • Drum and paddle
    • Vortex skimmers
  • Adhesion or Oleophilic Skimmers
    • Disc
    • Belt
    • Drum
    • Rope
    • Brush
  • Absorption Skimmers

• Pumps
  • Types and classification of pumps
  • Trash pumps
  • Centrifugal pumps
  • Reciprocating pumps
  • Peristaltic pumps
  • Screw pumps
  • Air driven pumps

• Vessels
  • Classification and uses
  • Command boats
  • Work boats
    • Flat bottom                                
    • Inflatable
    • Boston Whaler
  • Utility barges
  • Large barges
  • Ships

Back

PART 4 - DISPERSANTS

• What are Dispersants?
• History of Dispersant Development
  • Early dispersants
  • Second generation dispersants
  • Present generation dispersants
• Use of Dispersants
  • Near shore
  • Offshore
  • Confined areas
  • Special (ecologically sensitive) areas
• Applications of Dispersants
  • Via vessels
  • Via aircraft
  • Hand-held sprayers
• Logistics of Dispersants
  • Stockpiles
  • Means of application

Back

PART 5 - SHORELINE CLEAN UP

• Shoreline Types
  • Bedrock, boulder, cobble and pebble
  • Gravel and Sand
  • Man-made
  • Marshes and lagoons

• General Cleaning Methods
  • Deluge and flushing
  • Pressure washing (water, steam)
  • Sorbents
  • Vacuum pumps and trucks
  • Manual labour
  • Heavy equipment applications

• Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) 

• Disposal
  • Collection and consolidation
  • Bags, barrels and bins
  • Trucking
  • Recovery and recycling
  • In situ burning
  • Incineration
  • Bioremediation
  • Shoreline Cleaning Chemicals

Back

PART 6 - APPROACH TO WILDLIFE

• General Approach
  • Recognition of distressed wildlife
  • Do's and don'ts (safety & hazards)
  • Reporting of distressed wildlife
  • Wildlife protection

• Methods
  • Hazing and relocation
  • Recovery
  • Triage
  • Collection and cleaning
  • Rehabilitation

• Wildlife Rescue Centers
  • Organizations and contacts (Canada)
  • Organizations and contacts (USA)
  • Organizations and contacts (International)

Back

PART 7 - COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTERS

• Communications
  • Telephones (fixed, portable, cellular)
  • Radio
  • Facsimile (fax)
  • Person to person
  • E-mail

• Satellite Technology
  • GPS (Global Positioning System)
  • Sensors and images
  • Surveillance and monitoring

• Computers
  • Internet applications
  • Modeling and forecasting
  • GIS (Geographic Information System)
  • Record keeping and documentation 

Back

PART 8 – SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING

• Oil Spill
  • Reports from scene
  • Aircraft over-flights
  • Satellite images
  • Geographic Information Systems, or GIS updating
  • Model forecast updating
  • Status (phase) of oil spill

• Personnel and Equipment Tracking
  • Personnel in field and in use
  • Personnel disabled
  • Equipment in use and staged
  • Interim cleaning, maintenance and repair

• Assessment and Damages
  • Environmental damages
  • Commercial and business impacts
  • Private property damage
  • Fate of oil (present and forecast)
  • Effects sampling

Back

PART 9 – RESPONSE TECHNIQUES

• Offshore
  • Sweep systems
  • U-sweep
  • Three-vessel funnel sweep
  • Dispersion
  • Incineration and burning
  • Collection at sea (vessels, sea bags)

• Near Shore

  • Side sweep
  • Encirclement
  • Deflection
  • Protection
  • Collection and disposal
  • Chemical treatment
  • Incineration and burning

• Onshore
  • Shoreline protection
  • Flushing (chemical pre-treatment, deluge, pressure washing, steam cleaning)
  • Collection and consolidation (bags, barrels and bins)
  • Removal (trucking and disposal, airlift)
  • Incineration and burning
  • Bioremediation
  • Heavy equipment (trenching, windrows, ditches, scraping)
  • Manual labour (washing, sorbents, collection)

Back

PART 10 – SAFETY AT OIL SPILLS

• Properties of oil that affect health
• Open water hazards
• Near shore hazards
• Safety on the shoreline
  • Safety Overview
  • Personal protective equipment
  • Working environment
  • Equipment and transportation
• Wildlife

Back

PART 11 – RESPONSE STRATEGIES

• Planning
  • Oil spill contingency plan
    • Overview
    • Strategy
    • Operation
  • Corporate structure
  • Institutional structure
  • Scenarios and response tactics
  • Training
• Outside Assistance
  • Provincial government
  • Federal government
  • Specialists
  • Consultants
  • Contractors
  • Local community

Back

PART 12 – OIL SPILL MANAGEMENT

• Top-down Approach
  • Corporate commitment
  • Fiscal commitment
  • Corporate support
• Incident Command System
• Organizational Structure
• Phases of Response
  • Activation Phase
  • Reactive Phase
  • Tactical Phase
  • Strategic Phase
• Documenting the Situation

Back