Navies and coast guards around the world will be the likely users of a new standard developed by ASTM International Committee F20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response, F 2533, Guide for In-Situ Burning of Oil in Ships or Other Vessels. The standard, under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F20.15 on In-Situ Burning, covers the use of in-situ burning directly in ships and other vessels as a means of cleaning up after an oil spill.
 
F 2533 describes a method for burning oil that is a last-resort option, applicable only in oil spills in which other solutions are not practical and in which the vessel and cargo involved are not salvageable. The standard cites the example of the New Carissa, a damaged ship off the coast of Oregon from which oil was removed through in-situ burning.
 
Mervin Fingas, chair of three subcommittees within Committee F20, says that F 2533 will be used as a way to provide information that will enable oil spill responders to decide whether burning can be used to remove oil from a stranded ship.
 
While work on F 2533 is complete, Fingas says that participation in the other standards developing activities of Subcommittee F20.15 is always welcome.
 
ASTM International standards are available for purchase from Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; https://www.astm.org/contact/) or at www.astm.org.

For further technical information, contact Mervin Fingas, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (phone: 780/989-6059; fingasmerv@shaw.ca). Committee F20 will meet Oct. 30-31 at the October Committee Week in Tampa, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Jeffrey Adkins, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9738; jadkins@astm.org).

Release #7716