INTRODUCTION Over 10 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products are transported each day to and from U.S. ports and on U.S. waterways. Additionally. approximately 1.5 million barrels of crude oils are produced from offshore oil wells. Less than 0.1% of these oils is accidentally spilled. The quantity of oil washed ashore@ however@ has increased in recent years owing to the continuously increasing quantities of oil transported over water and the increasing quantity being produced offshore. Shorelines are occasionally contaminated when crudes and/or products are spilled on adjacent waters. The spilled oil approaching a beach endangers both the fauna and flora of the area between the high and low tidelines. Additionally@ the aesthetic value of the beach and its usefulness are adversely affected if it becomes contaminated by spilled oil. Methods or systems are needed which can be used 1) to prevent or reduce the damage to the beach ecology and real estate in the vicinity of an oil spill and 2) to hasten the restoration of beaches which have been contaminated by spilled oil. The American Petroleum Institute has engaged the Pipeline Research and Development Laboratory of Shell Development Company to conduct a feasibility study concerned with the applicability and effectiveness of chemical substances for the protection of shorelines which might be in danger of becoming fouled by oil floating on water and for the cleaning and restoration of shorelines that have become fouled by oil. This report discusses 1) the laboratory tests conducted in model shoreline test apparatus@ 2) some of the qualitative tests leading to the selected candidates@ 3) literature pertinent to this study@ and 4) toxicity and hazards associated with the candidate chemicals.