Propylene glycol dispersant used on US Gulf oil spill

28 April 2010 19:47  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A dispersant containing propylene glycol was being used for cleanup efforts on a massive spill in the US Gulf, a spokesman for the manufacturer said on Wednesday.

Illinois-based Nalco got a phone call from the US Coast Guard last week following the blowout and sinking of the BP/Transocean rig in the Gulf of Mexico, said Charlie Pajor, Nalco's senior communications manager.

Nalco took the order and shipped all of its Corexit dispersant then available, which was about 10,000 gal, Pajor said.

"That's about a day's worth right now," Pajor said. "We're ramping up to produce more, because that was all we had. We don't keep a lot on hand because it doesn't happen that often and we don't want it to happen, either."

Corexit contains propylene glycol, according to Nalco's data on the material. Propylene glycol is used in antifreeze, de-icers and detergents.

Responders had already used about 56,000 gal of oil dispersant so far on the oil slick, which had grown to a size of 100 miles by 45 miles, according to an estimate in the Wall Street Journal.

While dispersants are the main method being used to address the spill, the Coast Guard said on Wednesday it would begin a controlled burn of the slick about 15 miles offshore of Venice, Louisiana.

The Coast Guard said the purpose of the burn was to remove oil from the open water to protect shoreline and marine and other wildlife. 

The plan called for workboats to corral the oil into a fire resistant boom about 500 feet long and then tow it to a more remote area of the Gulf. Then it would be ignited and burned for about an hour at a time.

($1 = €0.76)

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By: Lane Kelley
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