About 70% of the oil transported on United States waterways between 1992 and 1997 were on waterways with currents that routinely exceed one knot. About 58 percent of all of the oil spilled (by volume) also occurred on these waterways. Approximately 80% of these waterways are in the Western Rivers and Mississippi River Marine Transportation System, which are safeguarded under the jurisdiction of six Marine Safety Offices (MSOs) and three Groups in the Eighth Coast Guard (CG) District. The U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development (CG R&D) Center has been evaluating the state-of-the-art of containment and cleanup of oil in currents over 1 knot since 1997. Three types of equipment from the previous CG R&D Center's evaluations, boom deflector, boom vane and oil spill Flow-Diverter, were further evaluated in the field exercises along with the Coast Guard's only pre-deployed Vessel Of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS) in the inland rivers region. These two exercises were the first time the VOSS system was used in the Eighth District rivers. Partnerships helped to facilitate first time deployment of the VOSS on a commercial ferry and a CG River Tender. The first exercise evaluated the Boom Vane, boom deflector and the St. Louis-based CG VOSS, which was deployed from State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ (ILDNR) ferry in Grafton, Illinois in May 2001. In the other exercise, the flow-diverter was deployed from a small boat and the CG VOSS, was deployed from the CG River Tender, CGC CIMARRON in Paducah, KY in August 2002. These exercises demonstrated the usefulness of these advance systems in fast water environments.

This content is only available as a PDF.

Author notes

1 Opinions or assertions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Government. The use of manufacturer names and product names are included for descriptive purposes only and do not reflect endorsement by the author or the U. S. Coast Guard of any manufacturer or product.