Researchers stationed in the Gulf of Mexico are carrying out emergency hazardous materials response training as they wait for the Deepwater Horizon spill to make landfall.

Speaking to The Scientist magazine, Monty Graham, a biological oceanographer at Alabama's state-run Dauphin Island Sea Lab off the coast of Alabama, said the team is rushing to undertake Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER) training before the spill reaches their research site.

Jim Franks, a fisheries biologist at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, added that his team of researchers have recently completed HAZWOPER training ahead of a sampling trip to collect blue fin tuna larvae.

Meanwhile, regional training specialists are engaged in a massive mobilisation effort to ensure training is available to private, public and voluntary sector workers.

HAZWOPER training is accredited by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration and covers procedures for both clean-up teams and workers stationed in hazardous environments.

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