50 years ago, scientists found a new way to clean up oil spills
Excerpt from the October 14, 1972 issue of Science News
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster floats atop the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Chemical dispersants, which have been a staple in oil spill clean-up efforts since they came on the scene 50 years ago, were used to break down some of the oil. Certain microbes and setting fire to the oil helped too.
David L. Valentine/University of California, Santa Barbara
Oil on the waters — Science News, October 14, 1972
[In the late 1960s], about the best means of cleaning up oil was to put straw on it, then scoop up the oily straw by hand or with pitchforks.