When oil spills, Accurate is there to clean it up

PORTSMOUTH

Attention, mariners: If you spill anything bad in local waters, help is standing by. The Coast Guard says so.

Teams have been moving through the region in recent days, inspecting local recovery businesses that perform clean up operations after any spills. Thursday found them at Accurate Marine Environmental, just south of Norfolk Naval Shipyard on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

As an official oil spill response organization, Accurate undergoes periodic inspections to make sure its equipment and training are up to snuff.

Thursday's inspection was dual purpose, with Coast Guard teams from both Hampton Roads and the National Strike Force in Elizabeth City, N.C. Their approval means the company can field calls both locally and as far afield as Jacksonville, Fla., and New York City.

Most spills come via accidental discharge, equipment failure or structural damage, said Accurate's Dave Moore.

In each case, the mariner is supposed to call the National Response Center, which in turn calls the Coast Guard as well as a contractor such as Accurate.

Accurate teams can be on the scene quickly, Moore said, citing a recent example where three boats reached a commercial 400-gallon diesel spill within 12 minutes.

Crews first encircle all spills with floating 18-inch booms. Some spills, such as small amounts of diesel, can be handled with large sections of oil sweep, which looks like a large, white, felt saltine. Other spills require oil snares, which look like cheerleaders' pom poms.

The heaviest spills may require a drum oil skimmer, which Accurate employees dropped in the water and fired up Thursday.

The small orange machine floated on two short legs as the drum spun water over its top, where a scraper pulled the oil off it like a windshield wiper, funneling the liquid into a trough where a vacuum hose sent it up to the pier and into a nearby tanker truck.

The skimmer and truck checked out, as did a response boat, a 24-foot fiberglass Carolina skiff.

Inspections like these are important because they also keep the communication lines open between government and industry, said Coast Guard Lt. Robert Gore, of the Elizabeth City delegation.

"We're just trying to do things smarter and better," he said.

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com