TEXAS MARSH BURN: REMOVING OIL FROM A SALT MARSH USING IN SITU BURNING

Abstract

ABSTRACT Frequently coastal marsh is burned to enhance regrowth; but rarely is it burned to remove spilled oil. On January 7, 1992, a 40.64 cm crude oil pipeline ruptured causing a spill in a salt marsh. Four days later, in an unprecedented cleanup coordinated by Exxon Pipeline Company and the Texas General Land Office, 1,150 barrels of South Texas crude was ignited and removed, minimizing environmental damage to Copano Bay, Chiltipin Creek, and the surrounding wetlands. This cleanup had been made difficult by inclement weather and heavy rainfall that saturated the marsh. Ingress and egress had damaged the marsh and was discontinued. Conventional mechanical cleanup techniques had been used with minimal success. Alternative methods like bioremediation, low pressure flooding, and peat moss applications were considered, but proved unfeasible. The unified command system then made an application for a permit to burn and gained approval. Seventy-six hours into the event, a successful test burn was conducted; one day later, the majority of the oil was ignited. It maintained a full burn for 21 hours, self-extinguished, and later was re-ignited for further removal. Emerging technologies such as in-situ burning are additional implements in the oil spill responder's toolbox. In Texas, burning helped save a marsh.