Glossary

Absorption

Any process that causes one substance to penetrate the inside of another substance. In the case of oil spill clean-up, oil is drawn into porous sorbent materials.

Porous

A porous material has openings or cavities that can be penetrated by another substance

Adsorption

The process that causes one substance to be attracted to and stick to the surface of another substance, without actually penetrating its surface.

Sedimentary Basins

A sedimentary basin is a large depression in the Earth's crust, where sediment (weathered rock debris and chemical precipitates) has accumulated. There are 40 basins in Canada, covering 47 percent of the land surface and continental slopes. Not all of them have potential for hydrocarbons.

Bilge Washing

After oil is removed, a ship's tanks are cleaned. This process is known as bilge washing. It used to be common to clean the tanks using jets spraying seawater. The jets washed the oil residue from the tanks, resulting in a mixture of oil and water that collected at the bottom of the tank, and was then pumped overboard. In some cases, the mixture of oil and water was stored in tanks and re-used as the cleaning solution. Current practice is to use crude oil as the cleaning solution to remove the oil residue from the tank walls. The oil residue and the cleaning solution are then transferred to the load being delivered.

Sensitive Areas

There are a number of factors that influence whether an area is considered sensitive. These include: the use of area by people (fishing, beach); the presence of habitats important to marine life for spawning, feeding or migration and the presence of rare or endangered species.

Bio-degradation

The natural process of decomposition by bacteria and other living organisms.

Sensitivity Maps

Sensitivity maps identify biological and human resources at risk from an oil spill. They can also outline spill response countermeasures and priorities for protective measures. These maps show shoreline habitats, identify environmentally sensitive biological resources such as fish, birds and associated shore or marine mammals, and show recreational beaches, marina sites or locations of archaeological significance.

Bio-remediation

The process of accelerating the rate of natural bio-degradation of hydrocarbons by adding fertilizer to provide nitrogen and phosphorus. Following a spill, there are too few of these chemicals compared with the amount of hydrocarbons.

Slick

The common term used to describe a film of oil on the water surface.

Decompose

To break up into component parts or elements.

Tar

A black or brown hydrocarbon material that ranges in consistency from a heavy liquid to a solid.

Dike

A raised bank constructed to prevent flooding.

Terminal

A facility where ships land to load, transfer or unload their cargo.

Offshore Blowouts

Offshore blowouts result from gas, or gas and oil escaping out of control under high pressure from subsurface reservoirs during drilling or production. Oil may be released either at the water surface or on the sea bottom, depending on the type of drilling rig being used, and other factors. Every modern rig has a set of large control valves, known as blowout preventers, to stop the flow of oil, gas and other well fluids if problems occur during drilling.

Wax

Any of a class of pliable substances of plant, animal, mineral or synthetic origin. Waxes generally consist of long-chain organic compounds. Waxes are included in the residue formed following the refining of crude oil.