Investigations A 16-Foot Fire Tornado Burned an Oil Slick With 40% Less Soot. Cleanup Crews Have Been Breathing the Same Old Smoke Since the Exxon Valdez.
A federally funded field trial used a controlled fire whirl to burn up to 95% of a crude oil pool while cutting soot by 40%, raising the question of why the standard in-situ burn, with its measured worker-lung cost, has gone unchallenged for thirty-five years.
By Sarah Okonkwo · June 7, 2026