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EPA Response to Enbridge Spill in Michigan

Technology Solutions - Ideas & Suggestions

Since the Enbridge oil spill in the Kalamazoo River, EPA has received numerous suggestions regarding possible technology solutions for the oil spill response efforts. As a result, EPA has developed the voluntary submittal process described below to allow for faster review of the suggestions being offered and to provide guidance regarding what information would be most useful to the reviewing officials. The information we receive through this voluntary submittal process will be scrutinized for innovative ideas and technological solutions that are safe for the environment and public health and can be deployed along the Kalamazoo River to help with cleanup. The information you submit will be forwarded to the appropriate reviewing official who will contact you, if necessary. Thank you for your interest in helping develop technology solutions for the oil spill response efforts.

Before you submit your suggestion there are a few things you should know. If you are looking for information about businesses currently working at the site, visit our Contractor Information page. Specifically, you should be aware that:

  1. EPA will NOT accept information claimed as confidential business information (CBI). By submitting information through this website, you acknowledge that none of the information you submit is CBI. If you do submit information claimed as CBI, it will be deleted without review.
  2. This mechanism for the public to submit ideas and suggestions and is not a request for proposals or a request for a quote to do business with EPA or other parts of the Federal government.
  3. There is a regulatory process for assessing the performance, including the potential environmental impacts of dispersants, surface washing agents, surface collecting agents, bioremediation products, and sorbents, before they can be used in this or any other response. If you have not already submitted your product through that process, you can do so by completing the requirements described in Subpart J of the National Contingency Plan (NCP). If your product is currently listed on the NCP Subpart J Product Schedule (PDF) (21pp, 212K About PDF), please note that you do not need to make us aware of your product, nor do you need to submit any additional information, through this website.

There are a number of important environmental problems created by the oil leaking into the Kalamazoo River and migrating downstream. Please help us understand what part of the response efforts your suggestion is intended to help by reviewing the choices below. If you feel your suggestion could be applied to more than one aspect of the problem, then you should identify each in the submittal form.

  1. Surface Water Containment and Cleanup – clean, safe, and innovative solutions for preventing further spread of the oil and removing it from surface water.
    1. Surface washing agents (see note) - Surface washing agent is any product that removes oil from solid surfaces, such as beaches and rocks, through a detergency mechanism and does not involve dispersing or solubilizing the oil into the water column.
    2. Surface collecting agents (see note) - Surface collecting agents means those chemical agents that form a surface film to control the layer thickness of oil.
    3. Miscellaneous oil spill control agents (see note) - Miscellaneous oil spill control agent is any product, other than a dispersant, sinking agent, surface collecting agent, bioremediation agent, burning agent, or sorbent that can be used to enhance oil spill cleanup, removal, treatment, or mitigation.
    4. Sorbents (see note) - Sorbents are essentially inert and insoluble materials that are used to remove oil and hazardous substances from water through adsorption, in which the oil or hazardous substance is attracted to the sorbent surface and then adheres to it; absorption, in which the oil or hazardous substance penetrates the pores of the sorbent material; or a combination of the two. EPA does not require technical product data submissions for sorbents and does not include sorbents on the NCP Product Schedule. Manufacturers that produce sorbent materials that consist of materials other than those identified on the NCP Product Schedule website will need to file a Miscellaneous Oil Spill Control Agent application.
    5. Hardware/mechanical (e.g., booms, vacuums)
    6. Monitoring and detection equipment
  2. Air Monitoring and Detection – clean, safe, and innovative solutions for monitoring air quality and the emissions from the oil as it volatilizes.
  3. Riverbank Cleanup – clean, safe, and innovative solutions for protecting and cleaning the banks.
    1. Soil remediation
    2. Disposal of waste material
    3. Bioremediation (see note) - Bioremediation agents means microbiological cultures, enzyme additives, or nutrient additives that are deliberately introduced into an oil discharge and that will significantly increase the rate of biodegradation to mitigate the effects of the discharge.
    4. Sorbent (see I.5 above) (see note)
    5. Surface Washing Agents (see I.2 above) (see note)
  4. Wildlife Protection and Cleanup – clean, safe, and innovative solutions for protecting and cleaning wildlife affected by the oil spill.
  5. Other categories of interest (e.g., data collection and management, GIS)

NOTE : Product categories included in the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule

PROCEED TO SUBMISSION FORM

 

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