prevention

Prevention efforts have reduced recent ship sinkings, but what about the thousands of historical shipwrecks in U.S. waters?  Many of these sit out of sight, damaged, collapsed onto the seabed—some threatening to leak their oil cargo or fuel. Is there a way to prevent spills from ships that have already sunk? Improvements in underwater technologies now allow salvage companies to safely conduct oil removal operations from sunken ships, but where to start? 

Our ocean is filled with items that don’t belong there. From our everyday food wrappers, plastic bottles, and cigarettes to large and damaging derelict fishing nets and abandoned and derelict vessels, marine debris is a global problem that touches every corner of our ocean and Great Lakes. Although cleaning up marine debris is a helpful way to address the problem, the best way to keep marine debris out of our environment is by preventing it. 

When it comes to keeping waterways clean, we all have a part to play. Some of the most simple steps can take place in your own backyard. Our communities, including our individual homes, are part of an interconnected watershed. This means that the rain that falls onto your house and lawn flows through communities. From there they flow into creeks, rivers, and even into lakes or oceans.

Here at OR&R, we develop scientific solutions to help keep the coasts clean from oil, chemicals, marine debris, and other forms of marine pollution. During Pollution Prevention Week, we’re answering the question, “What can you do to prevent marine pollution?”

For more than 20 years, small oil spills prevention has been a hallmark of Washington Sea Grant work, but this summer marked the first-ever organized effort to directly educate Washington State recreational boaters. Washington Sea Grantteamed up with Washington State Parks in an effort that spanned the summer months and culminated in a week on San Juan Island, with staff talking to hundreds of suntanned recreational boaters.

Though each one is small in volume, oil spills from small vessels add up. In Washington State, when you multiply this volume by the thousands of fishing and recreational boats on the water, they compose the largest source of oil pollution in Puget Sound. How do small oil spills happen? The two most common causes are spillage during refueling and bilge discharge, when oil accumulates along with water in the bottommost compartment of a boat and then gets pumped out..