Inside the gruelling effort to clear oil spills from the UAE coast

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Hundreds of workers are continuing to clean up oil spills around the UAE, and equipment has been flown in from as far away as the US to help with efforts.The work – with one…

Hundreds of workers are continuing to clean up oil spills around the UAE, and equipment has been flown in from as far away as the US to help with efforts.

The work – with one company reporting “overwhelming" demand for its services – is taking place even as some beaches have been reopened after cleaning.

Among the companies involved is Evogreen, a joint venture between Sharjah-based Beeah Group and Polygreen, a Greek-owned company with offices in Dubai.

Dr Vassilios Mamaloukas Frangoulis, director of oil spill response services at Beeah Group, said the firm had about 1,000 people working in Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

Although a large length of coastline has been affected, Dr Frangoulis said the clean-up was “quite manageable” and “technically straightforward”.

Among the processes being carried out is flushing sand – using a low-pressure hose to release “huge quantities of water” in the upper parts of beaches to clean out the oil.

Washing equipment is also being used to clean oil off hard surfaces, such as stone walls, Dr Frangoulis said.

“Whatever we collect from the sand or the rocks, we collect with absorbent material or mechanical methods, like skimmers,” he added.

“It’s a very large operation. We have 1,000 people working every day in the sites. With all this we need a lot of qualified personnel. We employ workers, but qualified personnel are needed to train the people and guide them.”

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