were received, cleanup crews were dispatched to address the problem. The efforts mounted to battle the spill stretched from the cold days of winter through the hot summer into early fall. Therefore, cleanup methods had to address not only the type of shoreline and species threatened, but also the weather likely to be experienced during the particular season in which the cleanup was being conducted.Initially, a band of ice ranging in width from several feet to several miles coated the Cape Breton shoreline, providing a mixed blessing for those involved in oil spill cleanup. On the one hand,the ice acted as a perfect natural barrier holding the oil offshore long enough to allow the problems of addressing the bow and stern to be met without having to face cleanup responsibilities immediately. It also allowed sufficient time to assemble manpower and equipment at strategic locations where it appeared probable that the oil would come ashore.On the other hand, the oil in ice presented difficulties with respect to cleanup. It was obvious that the oil was being held away from the coast temporarily and that with the spring melt, the oil would find its way ashore. One direction of approach lay in cleaning up the oil from the ice before it could come ashore. To this end, the C.G. fitted a barge with backhoes, booms, and sorbent material. The barge was towed to the areas of the oil and ice and attempted to scoop the oil from the water. Although partially successful, the area over which the oil had spread was too large for this effort to be effective. In the end, the oil had to be removed as it came ashore, with cleanup crews using rakes, shovels, and pitchforks. The viscosity of the oil in the cold weather was such that it could be easily removed into stout plastic bags.During the cleanup, EPS provided environmental information on beach cleanup and protection methods and set priorities as to the areas to be cleaned in order of environmental importa...
