In-Situ Burning for Oil Spill Countermeasures

Dr. Merv Fingas is a scientist focussing on oil spills. He was Chief of the Emergencies Science Division of Environment Canada for over 30 years and is currently working privately in Western Canada. Mr. Fingas has a PhD in environmental physics from McGill University, and three masters degrees (chemistry, business, and mathematics), all from University of Ottawa. His specialities include: in-situ burning, spill dynamics and behaviour, spill treating agent studies, remote sensing and detection. He has over 900 papers and publications in the field. He has prepared nine books on spill topics in recent years. He has prepared a manual on insitu burning in 2000 and since has prepared book chapters on the same topic. Dr. Fingas has been an editor of the Journal of Hazardous Materials for six years. He has served on two committees on the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on oil spills including the recent 'Oil in the Sea.' He is chairman of several ASTM and inter-governmental committees on spill matters, including in-situ burning. He is on the international committee of IMO looking at the incorporation of a burn manual for United Nations. He has worked co-operatively with up to 25 agencies on in-situ burning projects including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. EPA, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Several Oil Companies, Canadian Coast Guard, CEDRE in France, etc. Importantly, he was the founding chairman of the ASTM sub-committee on in-situ burning, a position he holds today.