Oil recovery equipment and more!

NEWSLETTER - February 2000 - Issue No. 13 US Coast Guard Conducts Burn Trial Hydro-Fire Boom System is Tested In the first week of November, 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center conducted a near shore, in-situ burn trial off the coast Galveston, Texas. The purpose of the exercise was to 'evaluate operational theories and tactical strategies relative to open water, near shore, operations'. Resources included staff from the US Coast Guard R&D, US Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, Coast Guard vessels, personnel from NRC (National Response Corp) with their vessel, another 5 vessels (120 ft. in length) from Secor shipping, 2 helicopters for video/spotter support, 1 helicopter with helitorch, and one Hydro-Fire Boom system from Elastec/American Marine. During the exercise, two vessels towed conventional, inflatable boom (2000ft.length) in an open apex, funnel configuration. Simulated oil (oranges were used to simulate floating oil) was deflected through the opening in the apex of the inflatable boom. The 'oil' was collected in the 500ft. system of Hydro Fire boom which was towed behind the open apex. Problems occurred during the exercise which proved the versatility of the Elastec/American Marine Hydro-Fire Boom under adverse conditions. An inexperienced captain accidentally backed down on a water feed line, effectively stopping the water supply from one end of the Hydro-Fire Boom system. However, the redundant pumping supply built into each system insured that water supply to the boom was maintained for the exercise. The in-situ burn exercise continued without delay and fire (100 gallons of gelled fuel) was dumped into the apex of the Hydro-Fire boom as planned. The Hydro-Fire Boom was undamaged by the burning gel, proving the effectiveness of the redundant water pumping system. An exercise of this proportion indicates the importance the US Coast Guard places on the use of in-situ burning of oil spills and the equipment required to successfully control an oil spill by controlled burning.

DrumIt Really Sucks One of Elastec/American Marine's most recent products is the DrumIt, a drum filling vacuum head with automatic shut off. The DrumIt sits on a round head drum and connects to a vacuum truck. Hazardous material can be pumped directly into drums rather than the vacuum truck, which avoids costly decon expense for the truck owner. The DrumIt had immediate interest from vacuum truck owners who wanted to keep hazardous materials out of their trucks. The response to DrumIt was extensive. Many DrumIt units have already been sold and Elastec is busy keeping up with demand. See vacuum systems on the web site (www.elastec.com)

Elastec/American Marine Makes Cover for Space Shuttle While a space shuttle awaits its next assignment, it is housed in a huge building called the Vertical Assembly Building. This building (VAB) is large enough and tall enough to form its own clouds and it sometimes rains inside. High above the space shuttle, miles of catwalks are active with technicians working on a variety of projects. The potential for dropping something that could land on the shuttle is significant. With that in mind, NASA decided that the shuttle should be covered for general protection from falling objects, and Elastec/American Marine was called on to build a special cover for the shuttle.Some of the unique elements of the cover include velcro made of silver, and non-static fabric. The huge cover is suspended over the shuttle with a network of cable and hangs like a circus tent to protect the special tile covering of the orbiter from falling objects. Elastec/American Marine technician, Greg Cassell, was instrumental in the completion of this project.

Brazil Spill Calls for Elastec/AMI Boom In January, Petrobras, Brazil's state owned oil company, reported a 1,166 tonne spill at their largest refinery. Brazilian environmental officials called the spill the worst ecological disaster in 25 years. Petrobras mobilized all their response vessels and equipment, but found it to be lacking. They contacted several response co-operatives as well as Elastec/American Marine for more equipment. Elastec/American Marine sent nearly 12,000 feet of containment boom, air freight to Rio De Janero in rapid response to their urgent inquiry. The boom was immediately deployed in the previously pristine Guanabara Bay.
Don Harris Retires Skimmer sales manager, Don Harris, retired on January 28, 2000, after 8 years with Elastec. As a parting gesture, Don would like to bid farewell to the many people he has dealt with while at Elastec. Don has taken trips to Russia with Elastec/AMI, as well as the Bahamas, and many cities in the United States. He has had numerous dealings with customers in countries around the world. Don especially enjoyed working with the Elastec/American Marine dealer network, commenting that the dealers made it all worthwhile. We at Elastec/American Marine wish Don well in the future.
Dealers of the Year 1999 dealers receiving awards for leading sales efforts are:

Containment Boom Sales International Dealer of the Year Kolda Corporation Containment Boom Sales Domestic Dealer of the Year Foss Environmental	Incinerator Sales Dealer of the Year Spill Shield International Skimmer Sales Domestic Dealer of the Year Texas Master Pump
		Skimmer Sales International Dealer of the Year Ever Green Service Elastec/American Marine thanks all our award winners and we look forward to a prosperous 2000.


Burrard Clean Buys Fire Boom Burrard, a large West Coast, Canadian oil spill co-operative, recently purchased a 500 ft. system of American Fireboom. Burrard purchased the fire boom in preparation for potential in-situ burn scenarios in their region. Elastec has new Web site www.elastec.com The new Elastec/American Marine web site has been designed to provide brief, easy to read, product information. The site has been carefully thought out for ease of navigation, and we feel that the web site will be a beneficial tool for our dealers and customers alike. On our registration page, those getting to know us have a chance to win a multiknife. We have plans to give away one multiknife per month. It's a thirty dollar value - free for registering with Elastec/AMI. Also on the site, you will find an emergency button to click on that will give you Elastec/AMI's personnel, and phone numbers to call in case of an emergency. When looking through the site, if you have comments or suggestions, let us know by email (elastec@elastec.com) or give us a call. We look forward to your feedback. Elastec/American Marine in Cocoa is changing phone and fax numbers Area codes have changed in Brevard County, Florida effecting the Elastec/American Marine phone numbers as follows: Phone: 321-636-5783 Fax: 321-636-5787 Elastec/American Marine: 1309 West Main, Carmi, IL 62821 USA Call us at (618) 382-2525 Fax (618) 382-3610 E-mail elastec@elastec.com Updated July 2002. Copyright Elastec/AmericanMarine. All rights reserved.