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.