Top Kill turns out to be Buzz Kill

According to the Christian Science Monitor and other news outlets, BP's third attempt to stem the flow of oil from the Macondo wellhead by pumping copious amounts of drilling mud down the shaft - a.k.a. top kill - has failed.


Apparently engineers were unable to match the overpowering flow of oil, which is surging out of the mangled pipeline at an estimated 26,000 psi.

On Saturday, President Obama issued a statement "While we initially received optimistic reports about the (top kill) procedure, it is now clear that it has not worked. Rear Admiral Mary Landry today directed BP to launch a new procedure whereby the riser pipe will be cut and a containment structure fitted over the leak."

The danger of course is that once the riser pipe is cut the oil, which is currently flowing out several small breaches, will now be shooting out at a much higher flow. Should the containment structure fail to seat or function, the increased amount of oil being discharged into the Gulf could dwarf anything we've seen thus far.

"Unprecedented"

Several times this week, we've heard President Obama and others refer to the Deepwater Horizon / Macondo spill as "unprecedented." But as we've mentioned previously on this blog and elsewhere that is hardly the case...

One only need to go back to August of last year and the Montara spill in Australia's ecologically sensitive East Timor Sea - which lasted 72 days - to appreciate how hard it is to control these situations.

Of course many critics are going back even further; 31 years ago to be exact - and another spill that is eerily similar to the current situation in the gulf. We're talking of course about the Ixtoc I oil spill, which took place in 1979 off the coast of Mexico. Currently listed as the second largest spill in history, oil from the Ixtoc I poured into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly 10 months until it was finally capped.

In fact, a simple search on Google or Wikipedia will produce a lengthy list of oil spills of varying size and scale, some dating back as far as the 1940's.

So let's be honest here people... NO ONE should be surprised at what we are seeing transpire in the Gulf of Mexico.



Let us close this post with a quote from the Spanish novelist George Santayana:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Cool widget

One of our activists forwarded this cool widget.



Mahalo to Rob Pleskoff for the heads up on this!

White House announcements and Surfrider's response

This morning, the White House announced that it will be extending the moratorium on new deep water well drilling for six months, along with plans to cancel the proposed lease sales off the coasts of Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as suspending planned exploration of two sites in Alaska.

In response to this announcement, the Surfrider Foundation has release the following statement:

“While the Surfrider Foundation lauds the steps taken today by the White House, we are steadfast in our stance that this is not enough and call upon President Obama, as well as our congressional representatives, to immediately enact a permanent moratorium on new offshore drilling.”

The announcement was followed by a press conference in which Obama was grilled by reporters on the government's response to the calamity, which has been widely criticized by everyone from Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, to longtime Democratic party strategist James Carville.

Gulf leak stopped?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the "top kill" effort appears to have successfully stopped the flow of oil and gas from the well.

According to U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, engineers were able to inject heavy drilling mud into the well head and stop the flow of oil for the first time since the incident began 36 days ago. If the mud holds, engineers will then inject concrete into the well to seal it.

-- UPDATE 3:48 pm PST --

According to various news sources, BP's top kill effort was suspended at midnight last night. There's no word yet on why BP suspended the effort, only that efforts to plug the well have just begun within the past hour.

-- UPDATE 4:08 PST --

In viewing the live cam it appears that the oil is continuing to spew forth unabated.

Who knew oil companies could be so metal?

Is it us or does all of BP's control methods sound like bad hair-band names?




Just saying...

Why Accurate Measurements of the Blowout are Essential

There's been lots of speculation lately on just how much oil is leaking from the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Unfortunately BP has been low-balling their estimates from the very beginning, first estimating it at 1000 barrels/day, then raising that estimate to 5000 based on early calculations by Skytruth and Dr. Ian MacDonald. Surfrider has been using Skytruth's more recent calculations as the basis for the counter running at the top of our site. As of today, this calculation puts the total volume of oil released at a whopping 35 Million gallons, more than 3 times the size of Exxon Valdez.

In the meantime, BP has resisted efforts to accurately measure the flow of oil, saying that it's unnecessary and not even possible.

• Lamar McKay, President of BP America: “The volume estimates are based effectively on surface expression, because you can’t measure what’s coming out at the seabed.” [Senate testimony, 5/12/10]
• Tom Mueller, BP: “We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort.” [5/14/10]
  

BP finally relented to pressures to allow a live video stream from the leak but still insist that measurements are not needed.



Today, the New York Times ran an Op-Ed by a team of researchers arguing very clearly why knowing the true volume is important, and how it could be done simply and accurately.

• "It is our view that accurate, continuously updated measurements are not only possible, but absolutely essential if we are to respond effectively to this and future disasters." ... "Without knowing the flow’s true magnitude, how can anyone judge the success of any approach? Without determining how much oil is beneath the ocean’s surface and how much is floating toward land, how can we best direct response efforts?"
  
  
  
• "...our preliminary estimates indicate that the discharge is at least 40,000 barrels per day and could be as much as 100,000 barrels. Certainly, our assessments suggest that BP’s stated worst-case estimate of 60,000 barrels has been occurring all along. What matters most is that we take the steps to find out if it has"

Understanding the full extent of oil in the water will have huge implications for cleanup planning, especially as the oil is carried to Florida (and beyond) by the Loop Current and possibly into the Gulf Stream.

MMS apologizes for inappropriate Drill, Baby, Drill cake

Just in case you didn't feel that MMS was too cozy with the oil drilling industry, their Alaska office removed all doubt. See apology below after NY Times reported on MMS office celebrating the recent finds about their office lacking appropriate environmental standards in review proposed oil drilling efforts in the Arctic with a cake decorated with "Drill, Baby, Drill" on it.

From: Goll, John
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 7:53 AM
To: MMS Employees Nationwide
Subject: Apology to MMS

As the manager in charge of the Alaska Region, I apologize to
everyone in the Minerals Management Service with regard to the cake
at a recent Alaska Region All Hands meeting, as reported in a New
York Times article today. The cake had the words "Drill, Baby,
Drill', plus other words which were meant to take light of the words.
This was simply wrong to have. I failed in preventing this from
happening in my office.

jg

John Goll

Regional Director, Alaska

U.S. Minerals Management Service

3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500

Anchorage, AK 99503

907-334-5200

This week Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a plan to separate MMS into three agencies because the energy development, enforcement and revenue collecting functions have conflicting missions and must be separated. Lack of oversight on safety devices and procedures are partly to blame for the BP blow out.

An Update on What You can Do Now

1. Federal Action Alert - Help us urge the Obama administration to demand more of a response at the spill site, and reinstate our Federal Offshore Moratorium. Over 10000 letters have been sent.

2. Gulf Oil Spill Tracker - Surfrider Foundation and SkyTruth have launched an interactive website, that lets you document what's happening to your coast. Using an interactive map, you can report text descriptions, photos, and links to video of your beach before oil hits and after.

3. State Action Alert for Special Session (FL Only) – Our legislators are holding up Gov. Crist's request for a special session to make oil drilling a 2010 ballet item.

4. Training - BP has hired PEC Premier to organize training throughout Florida. There are a number of locations this weekend and next. Once you have done this step contact www.volunteerflorida.org to volunteer your time.

5. Walk your beaches daily to ensure so garbage or plastic debris is present. Do not disturb bird nesting areas!

6. Save the Date: Hands Across the Sand Nationwide, June 26^th event. Stay Tuned!

Contacts

To report oiled wildlife, please call 1-866-557-1401
To discuss spill related damage, please call 1-800-440-0858.
To report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, please call 1-866-448-5816.

EPA Orders Use of a Less Toxic Chemical in Gulf

One month and 700,000 gallons later, the EPA decides that Corexit, the dispersant that BP has been pumping into the gulf in massive quantities, is too risky to use.

Wow. It took our lead environmental agency a month to figure this out and then only in response from scientists and politicians who have pointed to less toxic alternatives. We must do better.

In directing BP to select a less toxic dispersant, the Environmental Protection Agency said it was exercising caution because so little is known about the chemicals’ potential impact.

BP has sprayed nearly 700,000 gallons of Corexit dispersants on the surface of the gulf and directly onto the leaking well head a mile underwater. It is by far the largest use of chemicals to break up an oil spill in United States waters to date.

Scientists and politicians have questioned why the E.P.A. is allowing use of the Corexit products when less toxic alternatives are available.

Read more...

BP blocks journalists from filming on oil soaked beaches

CBS News crews were prevented from filming oil soaked beaches in South Pass, Louisiana yesterday.

As seen in the video below, U.S. Coast Guard officers were reduced to functioning in the capacity of corporate goons, preventing reporters and others from accessing coastal areas.

Are we going to stand by let the corporations legislate our comings and goings on public lands?


Watch CBS News Videos Online

State of the Spill - Week 4

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 30,576,000 gallons

Continuing rate of spill: 1,092,000 gallons per day.

More details:

http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-oil-spill-counter-gulf-oil.html

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html

Analysis of aerial photographs by Skytruth on May 15 indicated slicks and sheen covering an area of about 4,922 square miles. There are some indications that the edge of the oil slick may be entering the “loop current” that would take it toward the Florida Keys and potentially up the East Coast. More on this.

Today (May 18) there were reports of oil washing up on the beach in Waveland, Mississippi and tar balls were found by park rangers at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and nearby Navy beach at Truman annex in Key West, Florida. [Update: the tar balls found in Key West have been determined not to be from the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout.] Oil has previously been reported hitting the beach at South Pass, near Port Eads, Louisiana and also on the Chandeleur Islands. Earlier reports documented oil on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

BP has put a mile-long 4-inch diameter “insertion tube” into one of the two leak locations. This tube extends up to a recovery ship where oil is collected and natural gas is burned off. Initial recovery rates were estimated at 1,000 barrels per day and now are reportedly about 2,000 barrels per day (bpd). Keep in mind that we believe the total leak rate is about 26,000 bpd and some scientists have pegged the leak at up to 70,000 bpd. Read more on oil recovery.

Meanwhile, BP has started to drill two “relief wells” that are intended to intercept the blown-out well at a depth of about 16,000 feet. Drilling mud and cement would then be pumped into the well to seal it. The wells will take about 3 months to drill. Read more.

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit

Response websites:

http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/

http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/

http://tinyurl.com/audubonvolunteer

Volunteer Phone numbers: (state-specific contact information below)

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816
Vessel of Opportunities Program - Fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill:
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon
http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm

Official Response Resources

United incident command

Twitter: http://twitter.com/usnoaagov

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov

Podcasts: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html

NOAA Roles and Tools: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066
For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240
BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511
To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816
To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401

Coast Guard officials say not to pick up any tar balls you find and to report them at (800) 424-8802.

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up: http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/

Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:

Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 



Bay County call: 763-6587 


Walton County: go to http://www.waltonso.org/

Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers can email Surfrider's Florida Regional Manager Ericka Davanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Donations Needed

Help already trained personnel prepare for animal response by giving supplies or donating. The Wildlife Sanctuary in Pensacola: www.pensacolawildlife.com/ is looking for the following donations:
--Baby blankets
--Towels
--Heating pads (w/o auto shut off if possible)
--Large Rubbermaid containers with lids
--Heating lamps
--Rubbermaid troughs (can be purchased at Tractor Supply)
--Large backyard portable pools like found at Wal-Mart

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is looking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies:
--Linens
--Kennels
--Towels
--Sheets
--Dawn dish detergent
--Pepto-Bismol and toothbrushes

The sanctuary is a local dropoff center for the donations at 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. See its website for details or call (727) 391-6211 for information, or e-mail jessicag@seabirdsanctuary.com.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113
Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

Resources in Other Gulf States:

Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000
Galveston Bay Foundation

Ecological Damage

17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.

Breton National Wildlife Refuge remains closed to public entry and low-level over-flights continue to be prohibited to protect nesting birds. The refuge’s nesting islands have been surrounded with 4.1 miles of boom to protect them.

Twenty-five national wildlife refuges could potentially be impacted.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service Gulf of Mexico commercial and recreational fishing closure area now measures 45,728 square miles.

More Information & Call to Action

Help us track oil spill impacts at: http://oilspill.skytruth.org/

For more information: http://www.nottheanswer.org/

Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join

Strange happenings in Key West

When most people think of Key West they think of things like thriving reefs, umbrella drinks, Ernest Hemingway and conch fritters.

(Or if you're like me, you think of that scene in Running Scared where Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are roller skating through the island wearing custom airbush t-shirts)...

In fact probably the only thing that people don't think of in association with Key West is oil. Until now...

Yesterday various blogs and news outlets began reporting that tar balls from the Macondo Well rupture began washing up on Key West beaches. According to our friends at Gawker, park rangers at Zachary Taylor State Park found 20 tarballs on the beach yesterday.


It is thought that the oil is hitching a ride on the Loop Current - a warm ocean current that cycles through the Gulf of Mexico before exiting through the Florida Straights.

It is feared that this same current could potentially carry the oil around the tip of Florida and up the Eastern seaboard. YIKES!

Naturally BP is denying that the oil being found in the Keys if from the Macondo Well spill. However satellite imagery from our partners at SkyTruth clearly show the slick has found its way into the loop current.


-- UPDATE May 18th 7:46 PST --

CNN and other news agencies are reporting that according to the U.S. Coast Guard, the tar balls found in Key West are not from the Macondo Well spill.

"The conclusion that these tar balls are not from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident in no way diminishes the need to continue to aggressively identify and clean up tar ball-contaminated areas in the Florida Keys," Capt. Pat DeQuattro, commanding officer of the Coast Guard's Key West sector said. "We will continue to operate as a Unified Command and utilize funding through the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund until we have successfully identified any additional tar balls on the shoreline and completed cleanup efforts."

World Class Surf Break Threatened by Offshore Drilling

We received news today that the Australian government has approved a series of offshore drilling leases just off the coast from the famed surf break Margaret River.

Renown for it's massive A-frame peaks and its formidable local inhabitants (the toothy kind!), Margaret River has been mecca for surfers for over 40 years. The break hosts several contests annually, including the Drug-Aware Pro.


According to ABC News, the Australian Government agreed to release up 31 exploration areas this year. The news that Margaret River had been selected was particularly disappointing, as the area was previously up for consideration as a marine sanctuary.

Surfrider Foundation Australia and other local activist groups have rallied in opposition of the decision.

“This...has woken up the Southwest community,” said Drew McKenzie from Surfrider Foundation Australia’s Margaret River Chapter. “We realize that we can no longer take a healthy ocean for granted. It is clear we need marine sanctuaries to protect our marine environment and clean beach and surf lifestyle.”

The Chapter recently organized rallies in opposition to the proposed drilling.


"A lot of people are going to be quite distressed that this lease is sitting off the coast of Margaret River with the potential for an oil industry to start there any time," says Conservation Council's Tim Nicol. "The big risk comes from the big spills like we've seen recently in Louisiana and Montara."

For more information on Surfrider's efforts to stop new offshore drilling in Australia, go to www.surfrider.org.au.

60 Minutes piece on the Deepwater Horizons Rig

In case you missed last night's 60 Minutes piece on the Deepwater Horizon disaster, here it is...

Part One:




Part Two:




Part Three:




Part Four:

Natural gas rig sinks off Venezuela coast

The Associated Press is reporting that a natural gas rig has sunk off the coast of Venezuela.

The rig, the Aban Pearl, sank early this morning. All 95 crew members were safely transported off the rig.

In a briefing this morning, Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez announced that the crew was able to disconnect the tube connecting the rig to the gas field and shut off all the valves.

Click here to read the Associated Press article.

Video of primary leak released

BP officials released the first clear video of the primary leak at the Macondo Well site. In the video the flow is clearly evident - initially mixed somewhat with gas (most likely natural gas or possibly methane).



Something to think about... Estimates are that the flow emanating from break is blowing out at a whopping 15,000 to 25,000 psi.

To help frame that for you, a firehose typically blows between 100-300 psi, with a bursting max of 1200 psi.

BP tries second, smaller dome to contain oil

CNN is reporting that BP is at this hour making a second attempt to stem the flow of oil using a smaller containment dome.

The new dome is a fraction of the previous dome's size; five feet tall compared to for stories tall. It is thought that by reducing the size of the structure the response crew may be able to better prevent the build-up of hydrates, which prevented crews from closing up one of the leaks last weekend.

Company officials have said that should this new effort fail they may have to resort to shooting trash into the breach, in an effort known as a "junk shot."


...Of course should that fail, they may have to call Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Oil Containment Solution Randomizer
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

State of the Spill - Week 3

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 20,748,000 gallons
Continuing rate of spill: 1,092,000 gallons per day.

More details:
http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-oil-spill-counter-gulf-oil.html

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html

Analysis of aerial photographs by Skytruth on May 9 indicated slicks and sheen covering an area of about 4,384 square miles. Oil has been reported hitting the beach at South Pass, near Port Eads, Louisiana and also on the Chandeleur Islands. Earlier reports documented oil on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

Today the Washington Post published an article titled "Engineers trying multiple tactics in battle to plug oil well in Gulf of Mexico" that discussed Plans 'A through F' to try to deal with the ongoing oil well blowout. Plan A was the blowout preventer valve that either did not close off or only partially closed. Plan B was the 40-foot-tall steel containment dome or 'coffer dam' that failed when gas hydrate crystals clogged the inside of the dome. Plan C is a smaller dome that may not capture as much of the flow but may be less resistant to clogging. That plan may be tried in the next few days. Plan D is a "hot tap" which would attempt to cut into the damaged riser pipe and connect another pipe to collect the oil. Plan E has been termed a "junk shot" or "top kill" which would inject a mixture of solid material, ranging from shredded tires to golf balls, to clog up the well, followed by drilling mud and cement to permanently seal it. Plan F is to drill a new well (actually two wells are being drilled simultaneously) to intercept the leaking well 3-1/2 miles below the ocean floor and inject cement to kill the well.
More info

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit

Response websites:
http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/
http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
http://tinyurl.com/audubonvolunteer

Volunteer Phone numbers: (state-specific contact information below)

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816
Vessel of Opportunities Program - fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill: http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/ http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm

Official Response Resources

United incident command
Twitter: http://twitter.com/usnoaagov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov
Podcasts: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html
NOAA Roles and Tools: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/
EPA: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066
For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240
BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511
To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816
To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up: http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:
Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 


Bay County call: 763-6587 


Walton County: go to http://www.waltonso.org/

Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers can email Surfrider's Florida Regional Manager Ericka Davanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Donations Needed

Help already trained personnel prepare for animal response by giving supplies or donating. The Wildlife Sanctuary in Pensacola: www.pensacolawildlife.com/ is looking for the following donations:
--Baby blankets
--Towels
--Heating pads (w/o auto shut off if possible)
--Large Rubbermaid containers with lids
--Heating lamps
--Rubbermaid troughs (can be purchased at Tractor Supply)
--Large backyard portable pools like found at Wal-Mart

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is looking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies:
--Linens
--Kennels
--Towels
--Sheets
--Dawn dish detergent
--Pepto-Bismol and toothbrushes

The sanctuary is a local dropoff center for the donations at 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. See its website for details or call (727) 391-6211 for information, or e-mail jessicag@seabirdsanctuary.com.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113
Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

CRCL encourages pre-veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and anyone with HAZWOPER training to volunteer. Anyone with experience in wildlife handling, rehabilitation, or hazardous materials clean up is also strongly encouraged to volunteer.

Resources in Other Gulf States:

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000
Galveston Bay Foundation www.galvbay.org/volunteer_oil_signup.html

Ecological Damage

Breton National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana has been closed to public entry. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has established 10 staging areas that are ready to protect sensitive shorelines (Biloxi, MS; Pensacola, FL; Venice, LA; Pascagoula, MS; Port Sulphur, LA; Port Fourchon, LA; Gulfport, MS; Dauphin Island, AL; Shell Beach, LA; Slidell, LA) . FWS has seen very few oiled birds, but they did recover 2 dead birds that were oiled (unknown species of tern and unknown species of egret). Two treated birds (northern gannet and brown pelican) have been released at the Archie Carr NWR.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has modified the area closed to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico due to the BP oil spill, which will include federal waters seaward of Louisiana state waters in the vicinity of Timbalier Island to waters off Florida’s Choctawhatchee Bay.

More Information & Call to Action

Help us track oil spill impacts at: http://oilspill.skytruth.org/

For more information: http://www.nottheanswer.org/
Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling
Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join

Spilltracker - Show Us What's Happening On Your Beach

In partnership with Surfrider Foundation and Ocean Conservancy, SkyTruth has launched an interactive website, the Gulf Oil Spill Tracker, that lets Gulf-area residents document what's happening to their coast. Anyone can search the site, using an interactive map, to find reports that others have submitted. Reports can include text descriptions, photos, and links to video and news articles. Anyone can submit their own report by clicking on the map to indicate the location, and uploading their own photos and info:

We intend to use this to document pre-spill and post-spill conditions, and to give cleanup volunteers a way to show the world the great work they're doing. The more people who participate, the better, so please send this link to your Gulf-area friends, members, and other organizations!

Stupid is as stupid does...

Just when you thought BP couldn't get any stupider...

In the wake of yesterday's failed attempt to place a containment dome over the breach of the Macondo well (as they are referring to it now), BP is now proposing a new idea - something called a "junk shot."

The effort quite literally involves taking junk - shredded automobile tires, golf balls and other debris - and trying to jam it into the opening of the leak to clog the flow of oil.

That's all we need...an ocean full of oil AND trash!

With growing acrimony over BP's handling of the spill, paired with this weekend's failure to place a dome over the leak, company officials are already acknowledging that the junk shot option offers only marginal chance of success. And there's also this - experts have warned that any further damage to the blowout preventer (you know, that valve that was supposed to prevent a blowout, but didn't) could cause the oil to start shooting out at up to 12 times the current rate.

Meanwhile oil continues to wash ashore along Louisiana, Mississippi, and now Alabama.

-- UPDATE: Monday 2:00 p.m. pst --

Another idea from the great minds at BP...

BP and local officials in Louisiana are also contemplating a plan to build up almost 70 miles of barrier islands by dredging sand and mud from a mile out in the Gulf of Mexico and depositing it onto the outer shores of the islands. A project of this scale normally requires years of environmental assessment to ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease, but officials say there is no time for that now.

Effort to place dome over the leak fails

The effort to place a containment dome over one of two remaining leaks from last month's Deepwater Horizon oil spill has failed.

According to CNN, BP was unable to place the structure over the breach due to large volumes of hydrates - crystals which form when gas combines with water - accumulated inside the dome.

The structure is now sitting on the ocean floor off to the side of the wellhead.

Surfrider Foundation has also received unconfirmed reports that the effort may have somehow actually made the situation worse.

Top Florida Legislators Take Pause in Light of Disaster

Florida's two top incoming legislative leaders say there will be no discussion of offshore oil drilling in the 2011 session and perhaps for years to come. In addition, Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday he’d consider calling lawmakers back to put an offshore drilling ban into the Florida Constitution.

Republicans Mike Haridopolos of Merritt Island and Dean Cannon of Winter Park said a Thursday fact-finding flyover of the Gulf of Mexico spill area persuaded them to take the issue off the table until they can be assured Florida won't face a similar threat.

Cannon becomes House Speaker in November when Haridopolos takes over as Senate President. Both were considered to favor offshore drilling before the April 20 rig explosion that caused the spill.

Haridopolos said neither man had seen a spill of such magnitude and said it was sobering for both of them.

While this is great news...two things still remain to be seen:
They have not said they now oppose drilling – this is critical.
They have not ruled out gas drilling next session.

Interior Suspends VA Lease Sale

Big News today as the Department of Interior has indefinitely suspended plans for an oil and gas lease sale off the Virginia coastline. The department postponed the comment period on the plan indefinitely and canceled a series of public meetings that had been scheduled for this month on the proposed lease sale.

In a notice to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, the Minerals Management Service announces the suspension of the comment period on the proposed Virginia lease sale, known formally as Outer Continental Shelf Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Lease Sale 220. No further comments are being solicited, pending a decision by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, it says.

Could this be a prelude to reinstating the federal moratorium on new offshore oil drilling?

More details

Live Oil Chat Today between Surfrider and Fl Oil Lobbyist

Join expert panelists David Mica, Executive Director/Lobbyist of the Florida Petroleum Council, and Ericka D'Avanzo, Florida Regional Manager of the Surfrider Foundation, for a live discussion of offshore oil drilling and the Deepwater Horizon explosion. They will be joined by Laurence Reisman, editorial page editor, and Michael Goforth, columnist, of Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.

You can join the discussion on this page beginning at 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, May 5 or post your opinions via Twitter using the hashtag #deepwater.

You can also check out the transcript later by going to http://www.tcpalm.com/live-chat/oil-spill-chat/.

State of the Gulf Spill - Week 2

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 13,104,000 gallons
Continuing rate of spill: 1,092,000 gallons per day.

More details:
http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-oil-spill-counter-gulf-oil.html

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

On Sunday the NY Times reported: “On Monday, BP hoped to install a shut-off valve on one of the three leaks. But the biggest leak, at the end of the riser pipe, which is the source of most of the spewing oil, cannot be shut off this way. The company intends to address that leak by lowering a containment dome over it and then pumping the oil to the surface. That effort is still at least six days away. Another containment dome, for the third leak, which is on the riser near the wellhead, would follow two to four days after the first.”

Crews broke ground on the sea bed shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday as work began to drill a relief well. That work will take at least two months at best to complete.

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit: http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/04/oil-spill-volunteer-toolkit.html


Response websites:

http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com

http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org

http://tinyurl.com/audubonvolunteer

Volunteer Phone numbers:

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816

Vessel of Opportunities Program. Fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill:

http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon

http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm


Official Response Resources

United incident command:

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com


Twitter:

http://twitter.com/usnoaagov


http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov


Podcasts:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html

NOAA Roles and Tools:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/


Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066

For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240

BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511

To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816

To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up; http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org

Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:

Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 



Bay County call: 763-6587 



Walton County: go to www.waltonso.org

If Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers email the Florida Regional Manager: Ericka Davanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Donations Needed

Help already trained personnel prepare for animal response by giving supplies or donating. The Wildlife Sanctuary in Pensacola: www.pensacolawildlife.com/ are looking for the following donations:

--Baby blankets
--Towels
--Heating pads (w/o auto shut off if possible)
--Large Rubbermaid containers with lids
--Heating lamps
--Rubbermaid troughs (can be purchased at Tractor Supply)
--Large backyard portable pools like found at Wal-Mart

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is looking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies:

--Linens
--Kennels
--Towels
--Sheets
--Dawn dish detergent
--Pepto-Bismol and toothbrushes

The sanctuary is a local dropoff center for the donations at 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. See its website for details or call (727) 391-6211 for information, or e-mail jessicag@seabirdsanctuary.com.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113

Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

CRCL encourages pre-veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and anyone with HAZWOPER training to volunteer. Anyone with experience in wildlife handling, rehabilitation, or hazardous materials clean up is also strongly encouraged to volunteer.

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000 www.dmr.state.ms.us

Galveston Bay Foundation www.galvbay.org/volunteer_oil_signup.html


"If the oil reaches the shore it will kill all the shrimp, all the crabs and all the oysters," Kim Vo, owner of the largest shrimp distributor in Venice, LA, Sharkco Seafoods International, told the Wall Street Journal. The oil, which will likely also devastate nesting birds and whales, is also threatening two national wildlife refuges, in addition to the tourism and fishing industries of dozens of coastal communities.

Commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico waters affected by the massive oil leak have been restricted for 10 days, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Sunday. The closings are from Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Florida's Pensacola Bay. There are fish, crabs, oyster and shrimp near the spill and officials are working to prohibit harvesting from affected areas, NOAA said. The closure will be in effect until 12:01 a.m. local time May 12, 2010, unless conditions allow NOAA Fisheries Service to terminate it sooner.

For more information: http://www.nottheanswer.org

Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling

Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join


Link to this entire document as: http://www.surfrider.org/files/StateoftheSpill_week2.pdf"

Updated Oil Spill Counter: Gulf Oil Disaster is spilling 1,092,000 gallons/day

This is update on our revised estimate of the total amount of oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our original calculation was based on the approach used by SkyTruth, which is explained below.

A more accurate assessment of recent satellite images reveals that the volume and therefore the rate of the spill must be much higher than previously predicted. The current estimate is 26,000 barrels (1,092,000 gallons) per day.

Read how Dr. Ian MacDonald and SkyTruth made this calculation here.

Here's a summary of our prior estimate.

Schwarzenegger Announces Withdrawl of Support for Controversial Offshore Oil Drilling Project

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger withdrew his support Monday for a controversial new offshore oil drilling project off the Santa Barbara coast in the wake of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more

Surfrider and Other Groups Tell Senators Offshore Oil Drilling is Not the Answer

Today Surfrider Foundation joined over 70 other environmental organizations in sending the following letter to members of the U.S. Senate.

Dear Senator:

On behalf of our organizations, and the millions of members they represent, we are writing you today to urge the United States Senate to reconsider any plans to include expanded offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling in any legislation. In light of the events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, our organizations urge you to oppose efforts to expand offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling off of our coasts. Expanding exploration and drilling into previously protected and remote areas is unacceptable when it is clear that we are not capable of responding to oil spills in a timely manner. The Senate faces a choice between leading America forward in a new clean energy economy or holding America back by preserving the failed energy policies of the past. This human and environmental catastrophe is proof positive that we must end our addiction to oil, enact a firm limit on carbon pollution, and ensure this type of disaster never happens again.

What began with the apparent tragic loss of 11 lives on April 21, 2010 now has the potential to be one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The unfolding catastrophe clearly illustrates that offshore drilling is an inherently dangerous, risky, and dirty business. Furthermore, these events raise numerous questions about the safety and environmental safeguards that are intended to protect our coastlines. If we cannot contain an oil spill in the very temperate Gulf of Mexico, how can we have any faith that a similar disaster does not await the "exploratory" drilling currently planned for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the extreme conditions of the Arctic Ocean where we already know technology does not exist to clean up a spill in icy water.

Currently, the oil slick resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to grow, posing hazards to marine wildlife. The slick of toxic oil has made landfall on the coastline of Louisiana and threatens the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Exposure to the oil will likely have devastating impacts for coastal and marine wildlife and commercial and recreational fisheries.

Oil can persist in the environment long after a spill. This prolonged exposure to oil could result in major impacts on the coastal economies of the Gulf region. Gulf of Mexico fisheries are among the most productive in the world. In 2008, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the commercial fish and shellfish harvest from the five U.S. Gulf states was estimated to be 1.3 billion pounds valued at $661 million. The Gulf also contains four of the top seven fishing ports in the nation by landed weight. The Gulf of Mexico has eight of the top 20 fishing ports in the nation by dollar value of landings.

Accidents happen, and they will continue to happen in the future. Any expanded offshore exploration and drilling should be off the table. Instead, legislation should focus on emphasizing development of carbon-free energy technologies, including offshore and land-based wind power and solar power, consistent with the protection of wildlife and ecosystems, and the development of a meaningful national renewable electricity standard.

Provisions creating new incentives (such as state revenue sharing) or reduced safeguards for expanded offshore drilling are simply not acceptable. The energy bill reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) of 2009, reverses the bipartisan agreement reached in the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). The language would allow drilling within 10 miles of Pensacola, and shrink the current 125-mile-wide buffer elsewhere along Florida's West Coast to 45 miles. Clearly, an accident similar to the Deepwater Horizon would devastate Florida’s coast regardless of buffers provided in the bill. We oppose inclusion of any such provisions in legislation considered by this Congress.

The numbers don’t lie. There is not enough oil off of our shores to make America energy independent or to reduce gas prices. But, clearly there is enough to damage ocean and coastal ecosystems and billion-dollar coastal economies. Instead of expanding offshore oil drilling, responsible climate legislation needs to focus on innovation and investment in clean, renewable, carbon-free energy that creates jobs and protects our coastal economies and ecosystems.

The Senate has a profound responsibility to build a clean energy future for our nation without sacrificing our oceans and coasts in the process. Now is the time for strong clean energy and climate policy. It is up to you to ensure that we put the United States on the path to economic, environmental and national security.

Gulf Fishing Fleet Grounded as Spill Grows

On Sunday, federal authorities closed all recreational and commercial fishing over a large portion of the Gulf - from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. The ban will remain in affect for at least the next ten days.

The closure affects what is one of the nation's richest fishing grounds - supplying 44% of all shrimp and 36% of all oysters caught in America. With the spill continuing to flow at upwards of 210,000 gallons a day, authorities have not been able to predict how long the ban may continue. Fishermen worry that any disruption will open the door for foreign competition, which already accounts for over 80% of total consumption in the United States.

Recreational fishing will likely be hit just as hard. According to the American Sports Fishing Association, saltwater angling supports more than 300,000 jobs and contributes $41 billion dollars annually throughout the Gulf Coast.

As has been mentioned numerous times on this blog and elsewhere, this is just a taste of the economic impacts associated with offshore spills. Rest assured, it will only get worse from here.