A structure for selectively absorbing an oily contaminant from an aqueous environment comprising a plurality of sheets of nonwoven oleophilic fibers arranged in superposition to form a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape, the configuration may be maintained in shape and has a major surface formed by sheet edges so that when contacting an oily containment, the contaminant is selectively absorbed into the structure through wicking action. These structures may be combined to form booms or the like and stacked in a particular configuration for easy storage, transportation and deployment.