CONTROLLING THE OIL SPILL

U.S. military officials said Monday that the bombing of the Iraqi oil storage facilities in Kuwait seems to have lessened the flow of opened oil pipes into the Persian Gulf. Still, thosein the clean-up effort said there are lots of problems ahead. Among the developments:

* Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazir reported the Iraqis have pumped about 460 million gallons, or more than 11 million barrels, into the gulf, easily making it the world’s worst oil spill. The previous record oil spill sent about 175 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico in 1979.

* Help was en route from Danish and Norwegian experts, and British and American environmental agencies. Hundreds have volunteered to help with the oil mop-up, but it has been deemed too dangerous for them to be in the war zone.

* The U.N. Environmental Program appealed Monday both to Iraq and the coalition forces to provide information on damage being caused by the massive oil spill to allow U.N. environmental experts into the area.

* Iraq renewed charges Monday that the oil spill was caused by allied bombing of oil facilities in Kuwait.

* The official word from Army Brig. Gen. Pat Stevens IV in Saudi Arabia: “The extent of that slick remains a little bit unclear. I assure you it is being monitored. It appears that we have stopped the flow of oil, but we continue to seek positive confirmation of that fact.”

* Mines floating in the region may make it next to impossible for a cleanup operation at sea.

The oil is traveling between 5 and 15 miles a day, depending on wind and currents.

How to Fight the Spill

According to some estimates, it will take more than six months to clean up the spill, and at best less than 20% of the oil will be removed. Here are the techniques:

* Contain the spill. Floating partitions, already on site in the gulf, are deployed around the spill to keep it from reaching the coast.

* Skim the oil. The Al Wassid, a Norwegian-Danish skimmer, can skim oil from the surface and store 350,000 gallons a day. From there it is pumped into an oil tanker.

* Vacuum the oil. A special chemical powder is sifted over the surface oil, which thickens it and enables a vacuum to suck it into a storage tank.

* Use chemical dispersants. These behave like household detergents and suspend the oil in droplets, making it less harmful to wildlife.

* Encourage oil-eating bacteria. Employed in the later stages of cleanup, specialized bacteria that occur naturally in oceans eat a remarkable volume of spilled oil. The existing populations are enhanced with fertilizers and nutrients.