Oil Watch: Oil spill stirs strategic responses

As storms threaten Gulf clean up, businesses make most of uncertain situation

While BP, the Obama Administration and the national news media take turns pointing fingers and prognosticating the ultimate impact of the ongoing oil disaster, area businesses are quickly taking action to protect their bottom line exposure to the incident.

One method some area Realtors are beginning to employ is to form defined action plans for each of their properties and customers to deal with the various scenarios that may unfold. Some sellers, for instance, may have the resources to wait and see what will happen or wait until the well is capped and a sense of normality returns to the market.

Others, already recoiling from year over year softening in property values, cannot afford the carrying costs of waiting several months or until the next busy season. By the same token, Realtors must contend with apprehensive buyers, some who must buy today and make a calculated judgment as to the ultimate outcome of the oil impact, or other buyers who are cautious and are waiting for the situation to come under control.

Stirring emotions
One variable that threatens to complicate the oil spill in the near term is the apparent formation of a tropical storm between Honduras and Jamaica, which forecasters say has a 60 percent chance of entering the Gulf over the next few days.

If that happens, or any of the 21 named storms forecasted to form this hurricane season were to enter the Gulf, U.S. Coast Guard officials say all oil capture efforts and relief well drilling will stop for a minimum of 10 days. With a current estimate of 60,000 barrels a day leaking into the Gulf, every storm event will result in more than 2.5 million gallons gushing into the Gulf over the 10-day evacuation period.

Jeff Masters, director of Meteorology for weatherunderground.com, told Earth Sky it’s pretty much guaranteed that we’re going to see the oil spill interact with a storm. He also said he thinks with the counter-clockwise spin of winds around a hurricane, you’re going to see oil get to a large portion of the shore, along a good portion of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. And in addition to that transport, you’re going to see the storm surge of any hurricane take the oil inland quite a few miles, wherever there are low lying areas, and ultimately see the oil get deposited inland in marshes and potentially residential areas along the coast.

Residents offer a hand
In a symbolic display of solidarity supporting clean energy and in opposition to offshore drilling, Caryn Hodge is urging area residents to join hands and form a continuous line spanning the entire length of Anna Maria Island this Saturday (see News Shorts).

Oil location
According to the NOAA, the majority of impacts to Florida’s shoreline will likely be highly weathered, in the form of tar balls, oil sheen, tar mats or mousse—a pudding-like oil/water mixture that could be brown, rust or orange in color.

Observations by NOAA continue to indicate no significant amounts of oil moving toward the Loop Current. The Loop Current Ring, a circular current that was formerly part of the Loop Current is detached from the main Loop Current.

There have been no reports of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill-related oil products reaching the shore beyond the Northwest Florida region.

A new Web site, created by BP, lists vessel decontamination locations within the U.S. Coast Guard Mobile Sector for oiled boats: http://bpdecon.com.

Oil containment status
On June 23, the Discoverer Enterprise and the Q4000 recovered more than 27,000 barrels of oil, which is the largest daily collection amount to date. BP is continuing efforts to drill two relief wells.

As part of a coordinated response that combines tactics deployed above water, below water, offshore and close to coastal areas, controlled burns efficiently remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. In total, 275 burns have been conducted to remove more than 10 million gallons of oil from the water.

However, 166 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled including 34 miles in Louisiana, 41 miles in Mississippi, 43 miles in Alabama, and 48 miles in Florida.

By the numbers
The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; currently, 1,585 are active.

•Approximately 35,600 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.

• More than 6,300 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles and multiple mobile offshore drilling units. Currently, 447 skimming boats are working the unabated spill area. Unified Command last week implemented a “surge” strategy of moving the fleet to areas directly threatened by the spill.

•Approximately 2.57 million feet of containment boom and 4.17 million feet of absorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 790,000 feet of containment boom and 2.1 million feet of absorbent boom are available.

• Approximately 25.4 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.

• Approximately 1.47 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—972,000 on the surface and 493,000 subsea. More than 445,000 gallons are available.

• 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.

• Approximately 78,600 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 67 percent remains open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

Marine impact
Of the 535 turtles verified from April 30 to June 22, a total of 403 stranded turtles were found dead, 42 stranded alive. Four of those subsequently died. Four live stranded turtles were released, and 34 live stranded turtles are being cared for at rehabilitation centers.

From April 30 to June 22, 50 stranded dolphins have been verified in the designated spill area—no change from June 21. Of the total 50 stranded dolphins, 46 dolphins stranded dead, four dolphins stranded alive and two of those have subsequently died, one on the beach and the other euthanized. The other two include one in rehabilitation at Audubon Aquarium and one freed from between two oil booms.

Kemp’s Ridleys affected
According to a report in The Raw Story, a rare and endangered species of sea turtle is being burned alive in BP’s controlled burns of the oil swirling around the Gulf of Mexico, and a boat captain tasked with saving them says the company has blocked rescue efforts.

Mike Ellis, a boat captain involved in a three-week effort to rescue as many sea turtles from unfolding disaster as possible, says BP effectively shut down the operation by preventing boats from coming out to rescue the turtles.

“They ran us out of there and then they shut us down, they would not let us get back in there,” Ellis said in an interview with conservation biologist Catherine Craig.

Dr. Brian Stacey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told NPR last week that although there are five different species of sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico, the majority of the ones found affected by the oil spill are Kemp’s Ridleys, “the rarest of them all.”

Ellis confirmed that he’s mostly been seeing Kemp’s Ridleys. Kemp’s Ridleys are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Harming or killing one “carries stiff fines and civil penalties ($500 to $25,000) assessed for each violation. Criminal penalties include possible prison time and fines from $25,000 to $50,000.”

Ellis suggests in a video that, given the size of the fines BP could face as a result of the turtle deaths, the company may be happy to let turtles burn, as it would make it impossible to calculate exactly how many turtles died. He notes that the bodies of dead animals are being kept as evidence to determine for how much in fines BP will be liable.

Part of BP’s efforts to contain the oil spill are controlled burns. Fire-resistant booms are used to corral an area of oil, then the area within the boom is lit on fire, burning off the oil and whatever marine life may have been inside.

“Once the turtles get in there, they can’t get out,” Ellis said.

Future of drilling in the Gulf
Judge Martin Feldman refused to delay his ruling to lift the moratorium on Gulf oil drilling, and the Obama administration is working on an appeal. The oil spill continues to pile pressure on Obama, as the hurricane season closes in and voters angry at his crisis management hammer him in a poll rating. House Democrats are crafting legislation to tighten oil industry practices, with a focus on deepwater drilling. Environmental groups asked the court to release additional information about Judge Feldman’s holdings in oil-related stocks.

Health concerns
A group of doctors who tracked the illnesses of Sept. 11 rescue workers are reportedly urging the Obama administration to prevent a repetition of mistakes by protecting Gulf oil spill workers from toxic exposure.

In a letter sent to health and safety officials this month, 14 doctors said oil spill workers should get the maximum level of protection from exposure to avoid the problems that arose after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Health experts accused the Bush administration of withholding information about the toxicity of the air at the World Trade Center site from emergency workers and of being too slow to prevent exposure. Long-term studies have found many rescue workers and firefighters have suffered increased respiratory illnesses and reduced lung capacity.

The group recommended that the program set up to track workers’ health be sponsored by organizations other than BP. As it stands, the administration is demanding that BP pay for the program.

The doctors wrote that the administration should “enforce applicable laws to the maximum extent possible, leaving as little as possible to the discretion of private industry.” Critics are questioning whether too many decisions about the health and safety of the estimated 37,000 oil spill workers have been left to the discretion of BP as a growing number of them complain about exposure to toxins.

Waste management
Waste Management Services has been appointed by BP to handle the transport and management of waste collected relating to the clean up. Florida area landfill disposal sites currently approved are in Ocala, Deland, Apopka, Blam and Campbelton, Fla.