Recovery of Sunken and Buried Oil in Coastal Water During the Erika Spill

ABSTRACT The Erika spilled a very high density, high PAH content persistent heavy fuel oil that impacted over 400 kms of France's West Brittany coastline resulting in a protracted period of shoreline cleanup. One of the sites oiled by the HFO was Pen Bron, located seaward of the Croisic salt marshes. This laarge and very environmentally sensitive area with extensive salt pans and bivalve production was polluted by a significant spill of sunken oil buried in the sediment. In view of the risk to local resources and amenities, operations were undertaken to remedy the sunken oil spill: the pollution was mapped and cleanup techniques studied to define the optimum technique for removing the oil that sank and was buried in an area subject to strong tidal currents. Site restoration was conducted in two stages: Sediment in the most polluted area (700 m2) was mobilized by a mechanical shovel dredge mounted on a barge and the sediment was sent to a refinery to be disposed of along with waste from other locations. Se...