In-Situ Burning Page

In-situ burning, or ISB, is a technique sometimes used by people responding to an oil spill. In-situ burning involves the controlled burning of oil that has spilled from a vessel or a facility, at the location of the spill. When conducted properly, in-situ burning significantly reduces the amount of oil on the water and minimizes the adverse effect of the oil on the environment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Here are answers to questions that are often asked about ISB:

ISB Guidelines and Handouts

Health and Safety

Fate and Effects

Monitoring ISB: the SMART Protocol

SMART (Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies) is a monitoring protocol for both in-situ burning operations and dispersant application. The ISB module of SMART provides guidelines for monitoring the smoke plume from ISB operations.

More ISB Information

The Spill Tools section of our web site offers an In-Situ Burn Calculator to help oil spill planners and responders estimate:

Revised: December 29, 2000
Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration