Alaska Beat

Icy waters complicating oil spill recovery in Norway

Experts have long know that collecting spilled oil from ice-congested water poses a difficult challenge. Some researchers, Canada's Kenneth Lee for one, have said more information is needed to improve the effectiveness in Arctic waters of techniques commonly used to recover and contain a spill in more temperate climates. According to Barents Observer (Norway) on Monday, crews from Norway and Sweden working near their countries' border are gathering data on the very problem; although, unfortunately, while dealing with an accidental spill. An Icelandic ship ran aground last week and started leaking fuel into the broken-ice covered waters near southeastern Norway's Hvaler Islands. As of the Monday report, clean-up crews were having trouble because of the cold and the ice on the water. Read more specifically about the obstacles crews face, here. According to a later report by Deutche Welle (Germany), the leak has stopped, and although officials stress that conditions prevent an accurate measure of how much leaked, their estimate that less than 500 tons of fuel oil leaked from the total 800 tons the ship carried. One Norwegian official notes that the Norwegian Coastal Administration is working with the oil industry to develop technological means to recover oil-on-ice spills. Read much more, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT