ASTM standard aims to help oil spill cleanup, contingency planning

April 8, 2019
ASTM International released a new standard aimed at improving both cleanup of and contingency planning for crude oil spills on Apr. 8. The new guide standardizes the way laboratories both prepare and measure “weathered oil,” which is naturally different from the “source oil” at a facility, ASTM International member Merv Fingas said.

ASTM International released a new standard aimed at improving both cleanup of and contingency planning for crude oil spills on Apr. 8. The new guide standardizes the way laboratories both prepare and measure “weathered oil,” which is naturally different from the “source oil” at a facility, ASTM International member Merv Fingas said.

“This is important because, after an oil spill occurs, the oil weathers, leading to changes in its properties and behavior,” said Fingas, who formerly led Environment Canada’s Emergencies Science and Technology Division.

“In order to predict and understand how the oil will behave in the environments, it is necessary to prepare weathered samples by weight percent lost and then to measure its properties and behavior at each weathered point,” he said.

Resulting data can be incorporated into oil spill models to help predict behavior, including oil spill trajectory, Fingas indicated.

“With this guide, spill-response individuals will have standardized means to understand how a given oil will behave once spilled and can then use this information in computerized models to predict behavior and effects of a spill,” he said.

“This information can be used for contingency planning for a spill, as well as management of a spill once it occurs,” he said.

ASTM International’s Committee on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response developed the new standard, ASTM F3337.

Formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, the organization integrates consensus standards—developed with its international membership of volunteer technical experts—to improve public health and safety and increase consumer confidence.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].