Bitumen Subject of Spill Response Report

A new oil spill response report deals with diluted bitumen or dilbit.

Dilbit is a type of crude oil that comes from tar sands in Canada and it is extremely difficult to clean up.

UCSB geochemist David Valentine co-authored the report. He said bitumen is like peanut butter that sinks in water. Once it weathers it becomes difficult to recover with traditional oil spill response techniques.

One of the worst spills happened in Michigan in 2010 and cost a billion dollars to clean up.

Researchers hope the study will lead to federal regulations that will strengthen the response to bitumen spills.

The report is being published online by the National Academies of Sciences.