ABSTRACT
Lake Champlain: A case history on the cleanup of #6 fuel through five feet of solid ice at near-zero temperatures.
This is a report on the removal of 44,000 gallons of #6 fuel from Lake Champlain in March, 1971, while the lake was frozen to a depth of five feet in the area affected by the spill, The circumstances of the spill, the location and the adverse weather conditions presented a unique challenge to on scene personnel in their quest to remove thick, viscous oil from a frozen, high-amenity lake.
When confronted with this major spill (as classified by the National Contingency Plan) the on scene personnel had no precedence upon which to base their plan of attack. Improvisation was the keynote of the whole operation during the “life” of this spill. Many novel ideas and techniques were utilized, not only to remove the oil, but to contain it from further polluting the waters of Lake Champlain.