After 35 years doing work doing environmental work and marine salvage, Mike Popa, of Oxford, decided that it was time to start his own business.
He started his salvage business, New Horizons Response Services (NHRS) two-and-a-half years ago, and has since traveled the world helping clean up the world’s waters from a variety of spills. He registered the company in 2003 and it went operational in 2007.
‘We do environmental and marine salvage services…we salvage any type of vessel that is in distress, from recreational vessels to tugboats. We do wreck removal when a vessel might be pushed up on the beach and isn’t salvagable…we remove it,? he said.
During the last two years, New Horizons has participated in more than 50 jobs throughout the United States.
‘We did a number of jobs last year. We did two jobs in Alaska, a couple jobs on the Mississippi River…we refloated a number of barges, my son Adam worked offshore after Hurricane Katrina and Wilma went through,? he said.
Mike sent his son Adam Popa and his friend Chris Jones, both 2003 graduates of Oxford High School, to work on derrick barges after Hurricane Ike to help clear the Houston Ship Channel of debris.
Their most recent trip took them to Jamacia, where they took all the ethanol off of a tanker that ran aground on a coral reef. They transferred the ethanol to another tanker ship in order to lighten the tanker and float it off the reef.
‘It was nice, it was an experience,? said Adam. ‘We took a crew boat from Galveston to Jamaica, which took a few days…the water was nice and it was very hot.?
Chris said that Jamaica was one of the best jobs that he participated in because of the experience of being on the ocean with all the exciting stuff he got to do and play with.
Another job that Chris liked was heading to Texas after the hurricanes. ‘We got to be right in after the hurricane and see what exactly goes on that the TV and camera’s don’t show.?
One of the main ways they hear about the spills and wrecks is through the Coast Guard. ‘We have a basic agreement with the Coast Guard. Whenever someone has a problem and has to contact the Coast Guard, in many cases they will call someone like us to get involved,? said Mike.
The other way New Horizon gets business is through the result of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which came about after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The act states that vessel operators have to list salvage operators in their vessel response plan, and if they have an incident they call the salvage or environmental company listed in the plan Mike said.
‘NHRS is sub-contracted to a primary response contractor, who is listed with 300 or more companies,? said Mike. NHRS is a resource provider for a couple of primary resource providers they teamed up with out of Texas.
‘Because there are so many aspects of marine salvage, there was a large contingent from the international community ? a mooring expert from England, a team of experts from Holland and a number of people located around the United States. There is a lot of expertise that has to come to bear to do a major salvage project,? said Mike of a recent salvage trip.
‘Most companies do not have all that expertise in house, so they reach out and they have teaming agreements with different companies and we are one of those,? he added.
Mike said that one of the most rewarding things about his job is walking away knowing that you made a positive impact on the environment.
‘To know that you helped out environmentally…to go out and help people and the environment in bad situations, that’s the most rewarding part,? said Chris.
Adam agreed with both his father and Chris that the most rewarding part of the job was helping people and the environment.
‘This job gives everyone an opportunity to be able to do a lot of things individually and there is a lot of self-development that comes out of that,? Mike said.