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.