Spill response in the Gulf of Mexico continues

Spill response teams are still scouring the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, removing oil and tar balls that continue to wash up on shore.

Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams (SCATS) patrol the coastline every day looking for any new oil that may have found its way ashore. When oil is located, a spill control task force is deployed to the area to eliminate the spilled fluid.

Some of the teams are working day and night as part of the spill containment and response effort, with 17 teams currently patrolling the shores of the four affected US States.

Some teams have the benefit of using ‘Sandboni’ machines to scoop up any spilled matter found on the beach. The machines can cover up to one mile a day per machine and ‘skim’ the oil off the surface of the sand.

The spill response will continue as long as oil washes up on the beaches of the Gulf. BP are committed to cleaning the area and as well as using the SCAT teams, they are continuing to use hundreds of miles of booms and skimming vessels on the water surface that use ropes, rotating discs and belts to separate the oil from the water. The collected oil/water mix will be processed in the future and used for fuel.