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There are typically five primary types of containment boom manufactured and deployed in the United States and Canada.  We provide a brief description of each for the benefit of those not familiar with containment boom.  All containment boom is sold in managable sections that can be joined end to end to form longer lengths.  Boom manufacturers typically utlize universal connectors so that boom from different companies can be used in combination.   In emergency deployments, containment boom can be strung continuously for miles.  

1 - Foam Filled Containment Boom

Also referred to as Conventional Boom, Contractor Boom, Standard Boom.  This boom has flotation chambers filled with closed cell foam and sealed to provide the buoyancy needed to keep the boom afloat and provide the freeboard that contains the oil.  These booms also feature a skirt that is suspended below the water to help with oil containment.  This skirt provides the draft height.  Tension cables and ballast chains provide strength and stability.  Containment boom is light and can be quickly and easily deployed.

There are two major categories of floating oil boom:  Absorbent Floating Oil Boom and Non-Absorbent Floating Oil Boom.  Both serve a specific purpose, and they can be used in tandem to help contain oil spills in bodies of water such as oceans, gulfs, bays, rivers, streams, lakes, canals, and ponds.

Absorbent Floating Oil Boom is comprised of a mesh sock or tube filled with polypropylene.  The fibers in the boom absorb oil and other hydrocarbons while repelling water.   In addition, the properties of the polypropylene fibers also provide buoyancy, allowing these absorbent booms to float with no additional material required.  These floating oil booms are effective until they become saturated, reaching the end of their useful life.  Upon saturation, these booms are then disposed of properly, having removed a significant volume of oil from the water where they were deployed.  Absorbent floating boom are typically deployed in calmer waters.   

Non-Absorbent floating oil boom is made to be a barrier that contains oil, keeping it from spreading.  This oil can then be skimmed or dispersed using chemicals that break the oil down into smaller particles.  This type floating oil boom can either utilize foam filled chambers or air filled chambers to provide the floatation.  The foam filled floating oil boom is conventional or contractor boom, while the air filled floating boom is inflatable boom.   Because these floating oil booms do not absorb oil, they offer a longer term solution to contain the oil.  There are additional styles of non-absorbent floating oil boom, including permanent oil containment boom.  This permanent oil boom is made of more durable materials and is intended for extended use after deployment.  Any of these types of floating oil boom can be sized accordingly, making them effective for water and weather conditions ranging from calm to severe.  

Texas Boom Company typically uses a 22 oz PVC fabric to construct our oil spill containment boom.  This fabric offers a good balance between durability and cost.  This weight fabric adheres well during the RF welding process that TBC utilizes for all seams.  However, there are times when either a lighter fabric is prefered to reduce costs since the oil spill boom may be utilized for a shorter window of time.  Other times, a heavier weight fabric is preferred to add longer life and greater durability if the oil spill containment boom is expected to be deployed and retrieved repeatedly over time.  

Shown above is a recent production run that utilized 28 oz PVC fabric.  The customer needed the oil spill containment boom to be used repeatedly to conform with port requirements when their ships were docked.  Other fabrics like Polyurethane are also options.  Color is also a consideration with some customers.  Permeability is a key requirement on some silt curtain skirts.  We are always willing to consult with customers to choose the best fabric material and weight to meet their needs.  TBC can manufacture oil spill containment boom, silt curtains,and collapsible fabric tanks to exact customer specifications. 

The question is often asked:  Should I use a permeable or non-permeable silt curtain?  We hope to shed some light on the topic to help our customers understand the difference between these two types of turbidity curtains.  For reference, these are also referred to as turbidity barriers, silt barriers, silt curtain, sediment filter barrier, floating silt fence, floating curtains, and floating sediment fence.

On the early morning of September 8, the MV Golden Ray capsized off the coast of Brunswick, GA in St Simon Sound, approximately 80 miles south of Savannah.  The exact cause of the accident has not been finally determined.  Initially, four of the twenty-four individuals on board were trapped.  They were subsequently rescued safely.  However, the ongoing environmental hazards continue now over a month later. 

Fuel and oil continue to leak from the vessel.  When the accident occurred, the ship contained roughly 300,000 gallons within its tanks.  To date, 220,000 gallons have been successfully pumped off.  Unfortunately, there have been ongoing oil slicks located in the area, as well as oil coating the plant life along shorelines.  Thousands of feet of oil spill containment boom have been deployed in the area to control the spread of the hydrocarbons and protect the shorelines.

The US Coast Guard is leading the Unified Command, a joint recovery and salvage effort between the state of Georgia, the USCG, and the shipping company Hyundai Glovis’ contractor, Gallagher Marine Systems.  Crews of up to 400 people and 70 vessels are participating in the clean-up and recovery effort. 

A collision between a tanker and two barges occurred in the Houston Ship Channel on Friday, May 10, 2019.  The tanker collided with one of the barges, resulting in the second barge capsizing.  The barge damage resulted in a spill of 9000 gallons of flammable material called reformate, which is a gasoline blend.  Six oil skimmers have recovered 376 barrels of product-water mixture.  More than 20,000 feet of spill containment boom was deployed to contain the spill and help protect vulnerable areas.  Salvage teams have secured the two barges and all remaining product has been removed from the damaged barges.  The spill has resulted in some wildlife and fish deaths, and a seafood warning was issued by the Texas Department of Health.  Air quality tests in the area have resulted in no actionable levels.  The Galveston Bay Foundation will continue to take water samples for testing.  At this time, the Houston Ship Channel has resumed full operation.

Operation Clean Sweep (OpCleanSweep.org) is a campaign designed to help every plastic resin handling operation achieve zero pellet, flake, and powder loss.  For over 25 years, companies have been engaging with industry trade groups to educate and motivate all companies that deal with plastic in these raw material forms to help prevent pollution.  Because most plastics in pellet, flake and powder form are small, light-weight, and buoyant, they are easily transported via drainage systems to open bodies of water, where they ultimately impact wildlife and the environment.  Operation Clean Sweep helps to tackle the problem at the source.  As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

As the spring season progresses and temperatures begin to rise, it is a sure bet many areas will see an increase in problems associated with marine vegetation.  These water-based plants, often invasive species, grow rapidly and can overtake a body of water quickly, blocking out the sunlight into the water and depleting the oxygen levels in the water.  These problems affect not only people but also animals and other plants.  Common freshwater plant species that can be a nuisance in the US include Water Hyacinth, Hydrilla, Duckweed, Watermeal and Giant Salvinia.  These plants can overgrow rivers, streams, creeks, bayous, lakes, ponds and reservoirs. 

When a call comes in as the result of an active spill, office hours don't much matter.  Texas Boom Company stands at the ready to equip companies to quickly and effectively respond to oil spills.  The most recent example occurred when a leaking wellhead was identified in Tabbs Bay near Baytown, TX.  The exact source of the leak was unknown, so each of the companies that potential own the wellhead responded quickly.  TBC was asked to provide conventional oil spill containment boom and sorbents and responded by getting a trailer loaded in short order.  Our company also worked to provide additional sorbent boom the following day and consulted on deployment as well.  The goal at TBC is to have inventory at the ready for just such a need and to provide the knowledge needed to effectively deploy the products.  

While we hate to hear of any spill, we take pride in knowing that our products are used to mitigate the damage that results from any spill.  Containment boom keeps the oil from spreading.  Sorbent boom adsorbs the oil without taking on the water.  Oil skimmers collect the oil without intaking the water.  These three primary components are all be used in conjunction to reduce the environmental impact until the oil can be recovered and the shoreline cleaned.  It's not a perfect system, but it serves a tried and true means to lessen the damage caused by any spill.  

Workboat sets a perimeter with Texas Boom Company's oil spill containment boom.

As the recovery in the Bahamas continues following the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian, it offers a lesson in the value of preparedness.  Companies and governments around the globe work to balance the expense and efforts to plan for all contingencies against the threat of a wide variety of disasters and the resulting damage.  With regard to oil spills, there is no doubt that the damage can vast and extensive.  It highlights the need to have oil spill response equipment on-site and ready for immediate deployment.  Waiting to bring oil spill containment boom, oil skimmers, and other equipment in after the fact, especially when infrastructure may be damaged and access severely limited can often compound an already serious problem.  The sooner the equipment is deployed after a spill, the more effective the containment and recovery efforts will be.  

The spill that has occurred in the Bahamas at the Equinor tank farm resulted from the tops of six storage tanks being blown away during the storm, Early feedback indicated the spills appears to be mostly land-based.   However, reports are beginning to trickle in that slicks are being spotted in the surrounding waters.  Deploying oil containment boom and sorbent boom to keep the oil from migrating could help this situation until full-blown recovery resources arrive.  

No reports have been issued as to what resources were staged on-site in preparation to react quickly and effectively to this type of spill.  It does serve as a reminder to other companies to plan ahead and invest in the supplies required to tackle a spill, regardless of the root cause. The costs of containment equipment are a small investment compared to the expenses associated with a major environmental disaster. Contingency planning for oil spills is critical to minimize environmental damage, and after the fact, responses are often just too late.  

Recently, a historic wooden schooner sank in Hamburg, Germany as the result of a collision with a 462-foot container ship.  The 136-year-old sailing ship had just undergone an expensive renovation and had recently returned to Hamburg from a Danish shipyard.  There happened to be response vessels in the area, and the 43 passengers were quickly rescued.  One passenger was severely injured while four others also incurred relatively minor injuries.           

As shown in the image above, the sinking vessel was surrounded by oil containment boom.  Using boom to surround a sinking or sunken boat can help prevent fuel, hydraulic fluid, or oil from escaping the immediate area and contaminating the body of water.  By containing the hydrocarbons by deploying a boom, it allows for sorbents and skimmers to remove them from the water surface.

Timeliness of deployment is a key factor in the effectiveness of this technique.  The sooner the containment boom is deployed, the more of the fuel and oil will be contained.  In order to be timely with the deployment of the boom, it is critical that the containment boom is staged at the ready in a nearby location.  This means that the coast guard, marinas, response vessels, ports and shipping lines should all have containment boom in stock for just such emergencies.  

On October 17, a small commuter plane carrying 42 people skidded off the runway in Unalaska, Alaska.  Unalaska is located in the Aleutian Islands and is home to Dutch Harbor, one of the busiest US fishing ports and a frequent point of reference on the popular Discovery Network TV show "Deadliest Catch."  Two people were critically injured while 10 others required medical care.  Amongst the passengers was a high school swim team.  No one on the swim team was injured.  

The relevance of this accident for Texas Boom Company relates to the deployment of oil only sorbent boom shown in the picture above.  The sorbent booms are deployed in the water on the right side of the image.  Three sorbent booms are deployed in parallel, providing redundancy and added absorbency.  Sorbent boom is designed to repel water while absorbing oil, fuel, and other hydrocarbons.  Because it repels water, the sorbent oil boom also floats.  Fortunately, it doesn't appear that the plane crash resulted in a major spill.  IT does highlight the need to always be prepared, and to keep response supplies at the ready for quick deployment in the event of any unplanned emergency.  Speed is critical when it comes to the effectiveness of a spill response.  The quicker the containment boom can be deployed, the less likely the spill is to spread.  

Texas Boom Company offers a range of sorbents and would be pleased to consult with you on a stocking program for oil only boom, pads, and rolls.  Spill kits are also available.  The cost of planning ahead is far outweighed by the resulting costs of any spill.  

Differences between Containment Boom and Turbidity Curtains

To the casual observer, it may be hard to differentiate between a spill containment boom and a turbidity curtain.  They do in fact look similar when deployed in the water and differences can be subtle and hidden below the surface of the water.  Depending on the application, oil spill containment boom can be used as an effective silt barrier when the skirt length required is shorter due to shallow water conditions.   In the image shown below, a spill containment boom has been deployed to serve as a turbidity curtain. 

Whether you are installing oil spill containment boom or turbidity curtains, these products are only one of the items you will need for a successful deployment.  Factors such as wind, tide levels, currents, boat traffic, and safety issues are all considerations when developing your plan. Texas Boom Company offers a wide range of accessories that can make your installation easier, safer, and more effective.  Anchors, lines, buoys, lights, beach stakes, and tow bridles can all be important additions to a successful installation.  

Installation layouts can result in varied layouts and patterns to best accomplish the intended goal of containing material or silt.  These same considerations come into play with traditional oil spill containment boom, sorbent containment boom, inflatable containment boom, shore barrier boom, or permanent type fence boom.  Texas Boom Company offers installation instructions and a number of diagrams that show different layouts for containment boom installation or turbidity curtain installation. 

Layout:

Texas Boom Company has a long history of providing oil spill containment boom, buoys, markers, bladder tanks, and containment berms to all branches of the US Military and the civilian organizations that provide support for them across the globe.  Our company is proud to manufacture our products in the United States and to support our military in their mission to keep our country safe and maintain our freedom.  As such, we are pleased to have recently received these pictures of our 10-inch oil spill containment boom being used in port by the USS Wichita in Puerto Rico.  

Texas Boom Company – a leading manufacturer of oil spill response and marine construction products, today announced it was named to the 2024 Inc. 5000—an annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segment—independent and entrepreneurial businesses.

"We are honored to be named one of America's fastest-growing companies by Inc. for the first time," said Keith Harrison, CEO of Texas Boom Company. “While the company was established in 1986, growth in core markets has been emphasized in recent years.  Our team is building on the company’s longstanding reputation while expanding our repeat customer base. We recently expanded into a new facility and are capitalizing on efficiency gains to build on the recent momentum. The best is yet to come for Texas Boom.”

The Inc. 5000 class of 2024 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital, and seemingly intractable hiring challenges. Among this year's top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate is 1,637 percent. In all, this year's Inc. 5000 companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy over the past three years.

The skilled craftsmen at Texas Boom Company have quite a bit of experience fabricating coated fabric products to exact customer specifications.  These custom products are sometimes based on existing product designs, while other times they are completely unrelated to TBC's core business.  Regardless, we offer our customers the ability to receive a product that meets their exact needs.

Recently, Texas Boom Company tackled a project to produce a custom-designed inflatable boom product.  These 8-inch diameter inflatable booms were intended to provide flotation for a very specific application.  These custom booms also required the addition of retention loops to serve as guides for this particular use.  Because these booms are inflatable, you can see they require less space to transport and store when not inflated.  Use of a leaf blower or an air compressor can quickly transform these from flat pockets to fully inflated floats.  

Another example of custom fabrication work completed by Texas Boom Company is a set of floats that help self-right a capsized watercraft.  These inflatable balls are constructed similar to the geometry of a soccer ball.  The RF welding provided terrific bonds between each of the side panels.  The valve types used met the customer's exact standards required.  

As the year comes to an end, everyone at Texas Boom Company is proud of the work done at our manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas.  Texas Boom is a manufacturer of top quality oil containment boom, silt curtains, pillow tanks and bladders, containment berms, and many other products that leverage our RF welding capability.  We place an emphasis on quality, provide short lead times, offer the ability to customize a job to exact specifications, and offer it at a competitive price.  There may cheaper import product on the market, but you get what you pay for in this industry.  Made in America means something to us.  It translates into jobs for the talented people we employ, and it equates to satisfaction for our wide range of customers.  While we ship our products worldwide, Texas Boom makes them right here.  Made in Texas.  Made in USA.  

One of the difficulties in keeping a pump running in environments where there is vegetation, debris, and sediment in the water that is being pumped is keeping the in-take filter clean.  When the suction from the pump draws in materials other than water, they will typically either be caught at the filter of the intake hose, or worse, be passed through the pump and delivered onward.  If the water is being pumped to supply equipment, this can cause serious subsequent problems.

In the instance shown here, a pump was being used to supply water to mining equipment.  Because there was so much vegetation suspended in the water, the plant material was being transported to the mining equipment and clogging those machines.  In order to greatly reduce the amount of vegetation that was reaching the supply pump, the miners used these turbidity curtains to enclose the pump.  These turbidity curtains had permeable skirts, allowing water to flow through while filtering the debris.  These curtains were 5 feet in height and worked very well for this application.  The installation plan uses anchor kits to hold the turbity curtain in place away from the pump.  

Cranberries are one of only a limited number of fruits native to the US that are commercially viable.  They are grown in the northern part of the United States, including New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.  Cranberry farms are also located in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.  There are roughly 1000 cranberry growers in North America, so it is a specialized pursuit.  Americans consume 400 million pounds of cranberries annually, with 20 percent of that consumption occurring during Thanksgiving.  A majority of the remaining crop is consumed via juices or juice blends.