Calmer conditions help efforts to protect shore from oil slick
Source: Agencies |
May 5, 2010, Wednesday
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WINDS and waves calmed yesterday as masses of oil lurked off the beaches and bayous of the Gulf of Mexico coastline as people watched and waited to see where the slick would finally come ashore.
Only oil sheens have reached some coastal waters in the southeastern United States, and the oil's slow progress despite an uncapped seafloor well was allowing crews to lay booms in front of the shore. That effort was stymied by choppy seas into the weekend but the calmer weather should help.
BP Plc has been unable to close off the undersea well spewing 750,000 liters a day, but crews have reported progress with a new method for cutting the amount of oil that reaches the surface. They're using a remotely operated underwater vehicle to pump dispersants into the oil as it pours from the well, to break it up before it rises. Results were encouraging, BP and Coast Guard officials said.
Several river boat pilots said the edge of the oil slick was 25-30 kilometers off the Southwest Pass, where ships headed to New Orleans enter the Mississippi River. The latest satellite image of the slick, taken on Sunday night, indicates it has shrunk since last week, but that only means some of the oil has sunk deeper.
The new image found oil covering about 5,200 square kilometers, rather than the roughly 8,800 square kilometers observed last Thursday, said Hans Graber of the University of Miami.
The consequences on those whose livelihoods rely on the richness of the sea life in the waters was obvious. Fishing has been shut down in federal waters from the Mississippi River to northwestern Florida, leaving boats idle in the middle of the prime spring season.
Inns and restaurants that count on tourists attracted to the beautiful waters and sandy white beaches already are getting calls about the spill.
Engineers from BP have failed to come up with a solution to halt the gusher that's been spewing into the sea since an offshore drilling platform blew up and sank on April 20 and killed 11 workers.
It could take another week before a 98-ton concrete-and-metal box is placed over one of the leaks to capture the oil. Worse, it could take three months to drill sideways into the well and plug it with mud and concrete to stop the worst US oil spill since the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989, leaking nearly 11 million gallons of crude.
Only oil sheens have reached some coastal waters in the southeastern United States, and the oil's slow progress despite an uncapped seafloor well was allowing crews to lay booms in front of the shore. That effort was stymied by choppy seas into the weekend but the calmer weather should help.
BP Plc has been unable to close off the undersea well spewing 750,000 liters a day, but crews have reported progress with a new method for cutting the amount of oil that reaches the surface. They're using a remotely operated underwater vehicle to pump dispersants into the oil as it pours from the well, to break it up before it rises. Results were encouraging, BP and Coast Guard officials said.
Several river boat pilots said the edge of the oil slick was 25-30 kilometers off the Southwest Pass, where ships headed to New Orleans enter the Mississippi River. The latest satellite image of the slick, taken on Sunday night, indicates it has shrunk since last week, but that only means some of the oil has sunk deeper.
The new image found oil covering about 5,200 square kilometers, rather than the roughly 8,800 square kilometers observed last Thursday, said Hans Graber of the University of Miami.
The consequences on those whose livelihoods rely on the richness of the sea life in the waters was obvious. Fishing has been shut down in federal waters from the Mississippi River to northwestern Florida, leaving boats idle in the middle of the prime spring season.
Inns and restaurants that count on tourists attracted to the beautiful waters and sandy white beaches already are getting calls about the spill.
Engineers from BP have failed to come up with a solution to halt the gusher that's been spewing into the sea since an offshore drilling platform blew up and sank on April 20 and killed 11 workers.
It could take another week before a 98-ton concrete-and-metal box is placed over one of the leaks to capture the oil. Worse, it could take three months to drill sideways into the well and plug it with mud and concrete to stop the worst US oil spill since the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989, leaking nearly 11 million gallons of crude.
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