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Oil-Spill Response
The high environmental sensitivity of Trinidad and Tobago is well established. More importantly the threat to the environment is compounded by the high concentration of oil related development both onshore and in the waters surrounding the two islands. In addition, the close proximity to Venezuela and related bilateral agreements require a high level of vigilance in the control of spills.
It is well documented that a high risk for accidental spillage is present in Trinidad and Tobago. Over 4 million barrels of hydrocarbon based products transit the surrounding waters daily and the Gulf of Paria is well known to have one of the highest concentrations of oil tankers in the western world. Oil spills are not unknown in Trinidad, with the 8th largest oil spill in history, the M/T Atlantic Empress, over 42 million gallons having spilled off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago in 1979.
It was against this back drop that in September, two thousand E.A.R.T.H. Company Limited formed an alliance with Navenco Marine of Canada and became the authorized agents to market and supply world-renowned systems and products for oil-spill containment and recovery, weather it be on land or sea. Some of our key personnel have already been trained by Navenco, and are now authorized spill responders. We intend to have the rest of our employees fully trained to handle a tier 1 spill at a supervisory level.
Navenco has more than 20 years of experience in product development, production planning, quality assurance, oil spill response, commissioning, and personnel training for the spill response industry. Todd Mitchell, president of Navenco is considered one of the pioneers of the development of oil spill cleanup technology in Canada. Involved since 1977 in the oil spill sector, his input dates back to a time when both industry and government were first realizing the need for spill related equipment and were in the first stages of development and procurement. Recent projects have allowed him to make an important contribution for clients conforming to the U.S. Oil Pollution Act 90 (OPA 90) and the 1995 Canadian Shipping Act (CSA). He has attended most major oil spill exercises that have been sponsored by industry and Coast Guard and has made a contribution second to none in facilitating the equipping of all major organizations in Canada with spill control equipment.
He has also been an active participant in the clean up of over two hundred (200) oil and chemical spills, filling various functions from on scene commander to actual equipment operation. In addition, his expertise is well noted throughout Canada and internationally and he is often invited to participate in training seminars as an instructor and has spoken on the topic of oil spill equipment at various functions throughout the industry. As one of only a handful of equipment specialists in this industry, he has made a notable contribution to the protection of Canadian waters.
They are also a principal supplier and manufacturer of oil spill equipment for the control and cleanup of accidental spills. Founded in 1984, the firm has been an active supplier for a wide range of Canadian and also international organizations. Some of their clients include:
- Canadian Coast Guard
- Canadian Marine Response Management Corporation
- All major utilities
- Canadian and International Port Authorities
- Worldwide Drilling Companies
- National Defence
Navenco is also a leader in the fabrication of industrial workboats of light tonnage. We are the only Canadian firm which specializes in the design and manufacture of vessels specifically destined for pollution control operations.
Through our team’s close involvement, we have already developed a spill response plan for the North Coast Marine Area in Trinidad and the eco-sensitive waters around Tobago.
Our services in the area of spill response and training are as follows:
Personnel training, oil spill response and equipment operation Exercise planning and supervision Set up of response organizations, strategy and spill scenario elaboration Acting as qualified individual on spill clean ups Consulting to response organizations or responsible parties during oil spills
Some of our other products and services include:
Oil absorbents pads and socks Hydrophilic polypropylene material cut in various sizes used to absorb oil on land and water.
Oil Spill Containment Booms All types of oil spill containment booms, including inshore and open water booms
Oil Spill Recovery Equipment All types of oil skimming apparatus covering floating stationary skimmers and advancing skimmers.
Emergency Response Equipment All ancillary gear for the response to marine and shoreline spills (i.e.: Pumps, high-pressure washer, monitoring equipment, separators portable tanks, beach flushing equipment etc.
Contingency Planning Navenco specializes in complete turnkey project supply. This includes a complete capability to address the aspect of contingency planning, risk assessment and also spill preparedness planning.
Wildlife Preservation Equipment Navenco is worldwide distributor for the Brecco Bird Deterring Buoy. This apparatus is designed for effective and autonomous operation in deterring seabirds from a spill area.
List of Major Projects Completed Projects:
June-2000: Clean up and containment of a forty-five (45) barrel oil spill in the San Francique area.
November-2000: Removal of oil and contaminated vegetation, from an oil spill in the Forest Reserve Area
March-2001: Clean up and containment of a Sixty (60) barrel oil spill in the Guapo, Fyzabad Area.
March-2001-Present: Awarded a contract by Venture Productions Trinidad Limited for the Environmental Management of Offshore Operations.
December-2001: Clean up and containment of a thirty (30) barrel oil-spill into the water at Station Beach, La Brea.
December-2002: Consultants/observers to the Environmental Management Authority and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries on a “mystery oil-slick” within the Chaguaramas area.
Training:
Navenco has more than 20 years of experience in product development, production planning, quality assurance, oil spill response, commissioning, and personnel training for the spill response industry. Todd Mitchell, president of Navenco is considered one of the pioneers of the development of oil spill cleanup technology in Canada. Involved since 1977 in the oil spill sector, his input dates back to a time when both industry and government were first realizing the need for spill related equipment and were in the first stages of development and procurement. Recent projects have allowed him to make an important contribution for clients conforming to the U.S. Oil Pollution Act 90 (OPA 90) and the 1995 Canadian Shipping Act (CSA).
He has attended most major oil spill exercises that have been sponsored by industry and Coast Guard and has made a contribution second to none in facilitating the equipping of all major organizations in Canada with spill control equipment.
As mentioned earlier two of our key personnel have already been trained in oil-spill containment and recovery and by the first quarter of next year our entire operations staff will have been trained and accredited by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to handle a tier 1 spill at a supervisory level. We have also approached the management of the civilian conservation corps to train its members in basic oil-spill containment and recovery. So if the need arises we have a pool of qualified people to drawn on.
E.A.R.T.H. Company Limited received permission from the Chaguaramas Development Authority (C.D.A.) to lease land for the purpose of setting up a storage and operations facility. This facility will be located at Granwood, Chaguaramas by the Second quarter of 2004.
In the Second quarter of 2004, we will also have a fully equipped mobile response unit, which will be housed at our emergency response station container. Which will include the following equipment.
Bird Scaring Device:
In the marine environment, probably the most serious environmental casualties due to oil spills are sea birds. The most potentially damaging oil slicks in terms of bird mortality are those that drift freely with the winds, currents and tides. Due to its encroachment and evasion of areas where birds feed or congregate the impact of a spill is further intensified. There is however, increasing evidence that effective scarring methods that rapidly scare away birds from spills and prevent them from gathering there, ensures the survival of a greater number of birds. In light of this we have the Brecco bird scarer, it is a lightweight sound emitting device. Capable of keeping birds away in a 700-meter radius, it’s sounds are inaudible to the human ear and changes intermittently and can last anywhere from thirty seconds to five minute. The second advantage of our bird scarer is its ability to transmit radio signals due to a built-in G.P.S transmitter.
This not only helps us to locate our device, but also provides valuable information on the movement of a spill. Its body is constructed from fibreglass and is designed to withstand a drop-overboard up to a height of thirty-three feet.
Beach Booms:
The Ro Beach boom is a shoreline protection boom ideally suited and designed for protection of intertidal zones. The boom is manufactured from the same high quality Ro Boom fabric that is used on the offshore models. This construction gives a very high resistance to abrasion and dust from rocks and makes the Ro Beach the strongest boom of it’s type on the market today. We supplied 15-meter lengths for this application.
Collapsible Tanks:
Each tank consists of a foldable lightweight aluminium frame with a PVC liner. Capacity is 1000 gallons. Dimensions are 8’ X 8’ X 30’‘.
Oil Booms:
Our boom offers a total overall inflated height 42.7 inches with a total freeboard of 18.3 inches including a 4-inch splash fin and draft of 24.4 inches. The buoyancy to weight ratio is 15 to 1, which is approximately double of the US OPA 90 offshore boom requirements.
A 50-foot section of this boom weighs approximately 220 lb. and is therefore relatively easy to handle. This boom is equipped with an externally mounted ballast chain, which also acts as the main tension member. The chain length is actually shorter than the inflated length of boom material, thus ensuring that the upright position of a moored boom is stable regardless of the reaction of wind, current etc.
An equally important feature is that each section of boom is equipped with a bypass chain to transfer tension member load to the next section. This important feature ensures that undue stress is not applied through the boom fabric and across the connector.
This feature guarantees that a maximum working load of up to 20,000 lb. can be maintained at all times. This boom is stored for operation on reels of 200 meters each.
Peristaltic Pump:
Due to the possibility of heavy oil spills, a peristaltic pump for highly viscous materials. A hose set including 200 feet of suction hose and 200 feet of discharge hose is supplied with each pump.
Screw Skimmer:
The TERMINATOR Skimmer is the latest generation skimmer system from RO-CLEAN DESMI, who designed and manufactured the original Archimedes screw pump weir skimmer. The design of the TERMINATOR Skimmer has benefited from a continuing development program over nearly 20 years. The resulting system is the most straightforward, reliable, powerful and seaworthy unit in its class.
DESMI Skimmers have been used on virtually all-major offshore spills during the last 15 years. They were used on the "EXXON VALDEZ" and "AMERICAN TRADER" spills in the US., "ARAGON" clean up at Porto Santo, Madeira and in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia after the war. During 1995, 15 systems were in operation on the Komi pipeline spill in Usinsk, Russia. Results have been uniformly superior when compared with other skimmers intended for the same purpose.
The TERMINATOR incorporating the DOP-250 pump offers unmatched performance; it has a maximum capacity of 100 m³/h and can develop discharge pressures up to 10 bars while maintaining nearly maximum flow. It is capable of handling products with viscosities in excess of 1,000,000 CST, even when heavily contaminated with debris.
Unlike any other pump, the DESMI DOP-250 pump has proven that it can "swallow" slugs of water while pumping extremely viscous fluids without "losing its prime". When the discharge hose is filled with high viscosity liquid, other screw pumps can begin slipping and therefore stop pumping when they are forced to pump water against the high discharge pressure caused by the pressure drop in the hose.
Debris is a universal problem in almost all oil spill situations. However, the three cutting knives on the inlet of the DESMI DOP-250 pump, with 2400 cuts/min at 800 rpm, will handle a lot of debris normally found at a spill site; seaweed, kelp, plastic bags, aluminum cans, bottles, dead birds, rope (up to 18mm requirement from US Coast Guard) etc. If the pump becomes clogged, the operator simply reverses the direction of the screw and "spits out" the debris. The DOP-250 pump only weighs 70 kg and can be easily dismantled from the float system and used independently as:
Towable Bladders:
To offer versatility and pure storage capacity at low cost we recommend the use of at least two towable tanks. Available in up to a 25 cubic meter size the tanks may be attached together to provide limitless capacities. The tanks are easily separated at shore for ease of handling and for offloading. The tank ends are also closed by a cross bar which is bolted for cleaning. The tanks can also be fitted to a hydraulic reel that is easily transported and makes deployment instantaneous.
Trash Pump:
A 3’‘ dia. Gormann Rupp diesel driven pump mounted on a two wheel chassis it is a model 13D 6LD 360 with capacity of 350 GPM.
A hose set including 200 feet of suction hose and 200 feet of discharge hose included with each pump.
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