U.S. NAVY R&D EFFORTS IN SUPPORT OF OIL POLLUTION ABATEMENT STRATEGIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the past few years the Navy has become increasingly concerned with the detrimental environmental effects which may result from the oily waste discharges and oil spills from its ships and shore facilities. Thus, it is not surprising to find that the Navy has been embarked on a vigorous oil pollution abatement program designed to permit its ships and shore facilities to at least meet existing federal, state, and local environmental regulations.1 The basic strategy of the program has been to institute measures that will reduce the amount of oil being discharged into the environment wherever possible, before implementing oily waste treatment techniques. In implementing the oil pollution abatement program it became apparent in many instances that commercially available off-the-shelf systems were not suitable for direct Navy use. Strict space, weight, reliability and maintainability requirements associated with operational Navy units precluded, in many instances, the use of existing oil pollution abatement equipment. For these reasons, an extensive research and development program was initiated. Numerous in-house laboratories and private contractors have been actively involved in the development of a technology base required to support oil pollution abatement strategies. They have been instrumental in identifying the causes and magnitude of the problem, developing operational changes, and providing techniques and hardware to combat oil pollution. The most salient contributions of the program are shipboard oil/water separators for contaminated bilge and ballast wastes, real time oil-in-water monitors, and effluent oil spill containment and cleanup equipment.