If a spin or significant leak occurs, most operators have their own 

 emergency plan for containment and removal of the oil and restoration of the 

 area. In addition, there are numerous state and Federal requirements for 

 reporting and cleaning the area. If the spill occurs on land, the first step 

 is to contain the oil so it does not spread. In many production facilities, 

 the equipment is surrounded by small levees, so many spills can be controlled. 

 If enough oil has collected, vacuum trucks can be used to pick some of it up. 

 If vegetation is covered by oil, it can be cut or burned in situ after the air 

 control authorities have been notified. If all that is left is soil soaked 

 with petroleum, it may be dug and removed from the area or buried elsewhere. 

 New fill can then be brought to the spill site. While these activities occur, 

 the source of the leak or spill is repaired. 



If the spill occurs on water, the problem is often more complex. Since 

 the state usually owns the waters and wildlife, many state agencies are involved 

 in the cleanup. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection 

 Agency must be notified. The first step is to contain the spill and keep it 

 from spreading. Floating oil booms or surface dams are brought in to isolate 

 the spill. Then specialized equipment may be used to skim the oil off the 

 surface. In some cases, hay is used to absorb the oil and is then picked up 

 and burned. Several chemical dispersants or sinking agents are available to 

 break up the surface oil. However, many states require special permission to 

 use the materials, depending on the environmental circumstances. In the case 

 of oil spills on water, state and Federal agencies often send representatives 

 who supervise and approve the methods for cleanup. 



Workover of wells. The breakdown or maintenance of equipment in wells, 

 clogging of lines, or changes in the petroleum reservoir may necessitate work 

 in the wellbore itself. Downhole equipment that may require maintenance 

 includes pumps, sucker rods, and tubing. In sedimentary strata, sand may clog 

 the screens of the tubing, perforation holes, and tubing bore. Paraffin may 

 clog the tubing and require occasional swabbing. With changes in gas or 

 formation pressure of petroleum-bearing strata, treatment and/or pumps of 

 various sorts may be needed in the wellbore. Indeed, if strata play out and 

 petroleum can no longer be economically recovered, holes may be deepened or 

 new strata may be utilized for production. This may involve more drilling, 

 plugging back, recementing, refracturing, and retreatment. 



Well workover requires a portable rig that can pull and place equipment 

 in the well. The size of the equipment depends on the job to be done, and it 

 may range from very small truck-mounted rigs to rigs the size of the original 

 drilling apparatus. Consequently, the activities at the well site may range in 

 scale from being hardly more than routine maintenance to fullblown drilling 

 operations of the same magnitude as exploratory drilling. 



Termination of production. At the well site, terminating production 

 involves the pulling of all tubing and downhole equipment; therefore, a small 

 rig will be required. Used equipment is often sold as scrap and trucked away 



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