CleanGulf: Learning Lessons from Deepwater Horizon

The 21st edition of CleanGulf was held on 30th November and 1st December 2011 in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The conference was once again centred around the topic of Deepwater Horizon. However, the angle this year was focused much more on the lessons learned from the biggest spill in US waters so far, in order to prevent anything like it from ever happening. The conference attracted 2,000 delegates who were able to attend more than 20 sessions, ranging from Emerging Technologies for Spill Response and Debris Removal Operations to Subsea Containment and Inland Case Studies. 

Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, assistant commander for Marine Safety, Security & Stewardship at the United States Coast Guard, pointed out that the complexity and expansiveness of this incident was so big that it will have impact for many years to come. Not only regarding the immediate response, but also on policy and methods for shoreline restoration, etc.

 

In addition to the sessions, there were six extended workshops, including on Dispersants, Oiled Wildlife Response or Oil Spill ‘Risk Based' Management. In between sessions, delegates were invited to visit the trade show. Many made use of this opportunity to learn about the latest developments from the 200 plus companies that were exhibiting their products and services on the exhibition floor.

 

Next year's CleanGulf will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, and many delegates were already looking forward to next year's conference. Experience over the years has shown that visitor numbers are always higher when CleanGulf returns to the Big Easy.