Oil Disaster: BP orders 25 BeachTech™ beach cleaning machines

June 25, 2010 - PRLog -- BP, the City of Gulf Shores, and BeachTech conducted multiple tests and evalua-tions over a two week period in adapting beach cleaning machines to the challenge of removing oil from beach sand.

The extensive testing covered all aspects of beach oil removal, from cleaning be-low and/or above high tide lines, cleaning at any hour of the day or night, working under difficult conditions and at various temperatures. The knowledge gained by all involved has proven to not only be crucial in the immediate job of getting oil off Gulf Coast beaches, but also in the future roll out of oil spill recovery and cleanup plans.  

While factors such as time of day and sand conditions are important to an effective and efficient oil removal process, the most important key enabling equipment to be successful is removing all raking tines and simply sifting the sand to capture the oil and tar balls.

Testing and analysis done by BP, Hepaco and Local /Federal Officials clearly shows that to be successful, the sand should be sifted rather than raked. This knowledge was realized from the testing on the Gulf Coast, along with experiences BeachTech™ gained from the 2009 Sunshine Coast and the 2003 Prestige oil spills.

The issue with raking tines is that when they rotate/till the sand, they make contact with the oil and break the bigger, easy to pick up pieces into smaller, harder to pick up ones, making it even more difficult to get the oil out.

Removing oil from beach sand is a challenge for any cleanup strategy. The oil must have a certain consistency in order to be picked up mechanically and that consistency changes by the hour.  Due to the prevailing summer heat and humidity along the Gulf coast, the most effective and efficient cleaning is done at night or in the early morning hours because the oil has had time to coagulate and solidify with beach material.  The cooler consistency of tar balls enables them to be separated from the sand with sifting technology to fill the disposal hoppers while removing minimal sand from the beach.  

Generally oil is found in the tidal zone where sand is wet and packed which makes it even more difficult to be collected by machine. However, through all the testing, BeachTech™ proved that the sifting technology is the “best practice” solution when removing oil from beach sand as demonstrated to various groups, including Gulf Shores Mayor Craft, representatives from the State of Alabama, officials from BP, and from HEPACO.

After the initial testing, BP ordered five BeachTech™ units which are already work-ing on the beaches in Alabama where oil has come ashore. BP ordered another 20 BeachTech units the week of June 21 which will be deployed to other beaches in Alabama and Florida so those beaches also can be cleaned quickly and efficiently on an on-going basis.  

To determine the conditions of Gulf Coast beaches, as well as to gain a full under-standing of the specialized equipment needed for removing oil from white sugar sand, executives from Kässbohrer BeachTech™ Worldwide and Kässbohrer BeachTech™ North America have spent the last 3 weeks in Gulf Shores, AL, working closely with BP and local officials as part of their long term oil cleaning strategy.

Since June 1, BeachTech™ has had an advance team task force on the ground in the Gulf, every day, to help with what needs to be done.   According to Scott Merrill, Manager for North America BeachTech™ Operations, "Regardless of where oil threatens beaches and no matter how long it takes to clean up the oil, BeachTech's equipment, additional manufacturing capacity, service support,  and beach-cleaning consultation expertise will be used to help ensure that the sugar-sand beaches of the Gulf Coast are restored to their natural beauty."

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Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is a worldwide leading supplier of technology for the environment, nature and recreation.
The company’s products are used worldwide in various applications: PistenBully ski slope and trail preparation vehicles, BeachTech beach cleaning equipment, Special-purpose vehicles for operation and equipment, transportation in inaccessible terrain.
Kässbohrer’s worldwide headquarters and production facility are located in Laupheim, near Ulm, South Germany. Branch establishments are maintained in Kuchl (Austria), Möriken (Switzerland) and Bolzano (Italy) with subsidiaries such as Kässbohrer E.S.E. S.A. in Tours en Savoie, France, Formatic by Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG in Finland and Kässbohrer All Terrain Vehicles Inc. in Reno, Nevada USA.
Furthermore, the company has sales agents and service stations in more than 40 countries to ensure worldwide, on-the-spot distribution and after-sales support for PistenBully and BeachTech vehicles.