Oil dispersants Alaska had fewer than 4,000 gallons of dispersants available at the time of the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill, and no aircraft with which to dispense them. The dispersants introduced were relatively ineffective due to insufficient wave action to mix the oil and water, and their use was shortly abandoned. A report by David Kirby for TakePart found that the main component of the Corexit 9527 formulation used during Exxon Valdez cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 "Exxon Valdez" spill."
MV Treasure oil spill dive team reported that very little oil was leaking out of the ship. Different types of methods were used in the cleanup of the oil spill, two of which included workers loading kelp covered in oil into trucks and vacuuming up pools of oil with specially designed vacuums. In addition, booms were used to keep the oil from entering Cape Town Harbor. South African company Bio-Matrix was contracted to help clean up the oil slick that was polluting the penguins' habitats. The company used a Canadian product, also called Bio-Matrix, made of sphagnum moss properties, which are notable for their