TERI completes first phase of oil spill clean-up operations

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on Saturday announced that it has managed to scoop up all the oil sludge, tar balls and oil stained sand from Awas Beach near Alibaug and start the bio-remediation process using its globally acclaimed Oilzapper technology.

Two cargo ships had collided off Mumbai coast, resulting in oil spill along the coast earlier this month.

Working with volunteers from National Cadet Corps, which were mobilized with the help of Sanctuary Asia magazine and PSUs like Indian Oil Corporation, technical experts from TERI managed to scoop up oil from over a 1.2 km stretch of the beach.

This oil stained sand, tar balls and sludge was then dumped into a specially created bio-remediation pit about 200 metres from the shore and the Oilzapper technology applied on it.

Oilzapper is a patented consortium of crude oil and oily sludge degrading bacteria derived from various naturally occurring and non-pathogenic bacterial cultures.

Over a time frame of four months, these biological organisms eat up the contaminants (mostly organic compounds) convert them into carbon dioxide and clean up the surrounding area without any harmful residue or side-effects.

Banwari Lal, Director TERI, said he was "happy to note that with the help of NCC and civil society, we have been to complete the first phase of the clean-up operations at Awas Beach."

Technical experts from TERI will monitor the bio- remediation process for the next two months. Weekly samples will be taken and tested at TERI, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and Indian Oil Corporation's laboratories to monitor the progress of the bio-remediation process, he said.

"We are also grateful for all the assistance provided by the local administration and villagers of Awas," he added.

The clean-up operations started yesterday, after TERI got a formal clearance from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. The Awas beach with its sandy coast line was chosen because it was ideally suited for the application of the Oilzapper technology, Lal said.

During the past 10 years, with the help of Oilzapper, over 1,50,000 tons of oil-soaked soil and oily sludge has been treated, and more than 10,000 hectares of surface area (both land and water) has been cleaned, he said.