Manual cleanup refers to the simple act of humans cleaning up affected areas without the use or impact of industrial machinery.

Mechanical cleanup utilizes large specialized machines to more quickly and systematically relieve oil-crippled enviroments.

Manual cleanup is widely preferred, but the use of heavy machinery can quickly clean up large areas. It is worth noting that the use of bulldozers, trucks and digging equipment can damage the affected areas in addition to the oil.

These techniques are directed primarily at marshy locales which may require a unique approach to recovery.

Vacuum/pumping removes pooled oil on marsh sediment or the surface of water. Low-pressure flush pushes oil towards collection points where other equipment is operating, like skimmers or vacuums. Vegetation cutting is when plants are cut and removed so that other techniques can be effectively employed, however, erosion and damage to fragile sediment and existing roots may limit or even delay recovery.

Bioremediation is a potential low-impact cleaning technique, using microorganisms and enzymes to facilitate decomposition. Nitrate or sulfate fertilizers are used to facilitate decomposition.

Natural organic sorbents: peat moss, straw, sawdust, feathers and even ground corncobs can soak up 3-15x their weight, but may sink. Natural inorganic sorbents like clay, perlite, glass wool, sand or volcanic ash all can soak up 4-20x times their weight in oil.

Synthetic sorbents are similar to plastics and are designed to soak up liquids into their surface and can absorb up to 70x their weight in oil.

Booms and skimmers work like complex barriers and filters. Booms define a physical boundary to encapsulate a polluted area. Skimmers process the area by taking in great quantities of polluted sea water and separating the pollutants.

In order to properly deploy booms and skimmers to recover oil, the movements and activities of vessels must be controlled as to direct them to the thickest areas of oil. Doing so effectively requires aircraft equipped with air-to-sea communications. Overall, containment and recovery operations at sea require extensive logistical support, which should not be underestimated.

Further limitations are brought about by poor weather and rough seas.

Controlled burning removes large portions of oil from the water’s surface, keeping it away from the shoreline and shifting the environmental impact from the sea to the air.

While it may seem like a simple solution, burning such a large mass of oil does have its consequences. Furthermore, burning does not get rid of the oil entirely. It leaves waxy residue that must either be skimmed from the surface or it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

Controlled burning has been suggested by several agencies as a means of preventing large masses of oil from reaching the Gulf’s shore.

Underwater dispersants attach to the oil before it can reach the surface, thus minimizing the amount of oil that eventually lands on shore.

Underwater dispersants break up oil by bonding to the oil molecules and forcing them to separate from regular sea water below the surface. This renders large underwater oil slicks into smaller, more quickly degrading oil droplets.

Underwater dispersants are not without their own drawbacks. Though less toxic than the oil spill it’s meant to address, the chemical itself is actually toxic and could potentially cause damage to underwater ecosystems.

Surface dispersants are a common product used to fight oil spills at the ocean’s surface.

Surface dispersants break up oil by bonding to the oil molecules and forcing them to separate from regular sea water at the surface. This renders large solid oil slicks into smaller, more quickly degrading oil droplets.

Surface dispersants are not without their own drawbacks. Though less toxic than the oil spill it’s meant to address, the chemical itself is actually toxic.