Methods and Equipment for Beach Restoration 



Basically, methods used for restoring the beaches to acceptable 

 conditions involve the removing of contaminated sediment and replace 

 with like materials or dispersing the contaminant or contaminated mate- 

 rials [20]. The following methods have been tried: 



Dispersion Processes 



Emulsification with detergents 



Steam cleaning (for piers, rocks, etc.) 



Sand blasting (for rocks, etc.) 



Hydraulic dispersal 



Mixing and burying on-site 



Removal Processes 

 Burning 



Adsorption by straw, and other sorbent materials. 

 Mechanical removal of contaminated material 

 Sand cleaning on-site 

 Biodegradation 



These are discussed in detail below. 



Emulsification . Removal of oil from sand and rocks and dispersal 

 back into the sea has been accomplished effectively using detergents. 

 However, even when nontoxic detergents are used, the oil forms an emul- 

 sion which is toxic to the biota. Detergents effectively remove oil 

 from sand and rocks but the resulting emulsion of oil and water tends 

 to drain down into the beach structure, increasing the degree of con- 

 tamination and making the problem of ultimate beach cleanup more difficult. 

 The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 

 [21] bans the use of detergents on any shoreline. Therefore, the use 

 of detergents cannot be considered as an acceptable means of beach 

 cleanup . 



Steam Cleaning . Steam (or hot water) cleaning of rock outcroppings 

 has been used for removing surface oil. The oil is loosened by the jet 

 and drops to a lower elevation, where it will eventually be dissipated 

 by the action of the sea. This procedure does not remove the contaminant 

 from the environment, but it does remove most of the coating of the 

 oil from the rock. A part of the loosened oil may be collected from 

 the water surface using surface oil recovery devices for disposal after 

 the steam cleaning operation. This process will leave a black coating 

 of residual oil on the rock surfaces [4] . 



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