Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Coast Guard, cleanup efforts "held hostage" by weather
Posted by Alex Woodward on Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 10:42 PM
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says all cleanup operations in the Gulf are being "held hostage" — all skimming, controlled burns and dispersant use has stopped, due largely to Hurricane Alex. Waves of 7 to 10 feet prevent skimmers to skim for oil — when seas rise beyond 3 feet, Zukunft says, the skimmers just end up gathering water.
- Efforts to move the Helix Producer containment device in place, which was set to be up and running today, have also stopped. Seas need to be less than 4 feet to make the subsurface connection to the blowout preventer.
- Closer to shore, where Zukunft says winds are at 25 knots, all skimmers have been brought in, and dispersant application has stopped, deemed ineffective against the winds and seas.
- "Our large heavy skimmers can certainly stay out at sea by the spill site, but in terms of their ability to do any skimming, we really have to wait for those seas to come down," he says. "For 36, nearly 48 hours of weather not conducive to skimming — it looks like this weather will persist another 24 hours. Perhaps 48. As soon as it does subside, we’re prepared to immediately launch and resume our attack on this oil...
- "At the same time we have oil moving to Chandeleur Sound, so I’m very concerned with the impact this oil’s going to have in the area," he says. "Until this weather subsides all we can do is have everything ready ... and (we'll) remove this oil, once we have weather conducive to operations."
- Meanwhile, BP is now under fire for its reported lack of any hurricane response plan in the event of an oil spill or for any disaster of this scope. Zukunft says the Coast Guard has a plan, which he says he has been "intimitely involved" with its development — but it's not ready to go public. "The only reason I’d be reluctant (to make it public) is because it’s dated. We’re possibly making revisions and updates to it," he says. "As we bring in other equipment and newer technologies, if there’s a plan out in the public, it’s the equivalent of having last year’s phonebook, and everyone’s address has changed."
- The "fully integrated plan" is the product of several agencies working with the Coast Guard, including the Department of Defense and FEMA. It's now in its third revision.
Speaking of...
-
Buddy Roemer to appear on Real Time With Bill Maher
... and here's a question Buddy can ask Bill.
- Jan 19, 2012
- More »
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
First off: You Rock, Alex, as always, a ring like an acidic church bell on a blistering September Morning. [U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says all cleanup operations in the Gulf are being “held hostage”] What is it with our military commanders? They all seem to have turned into Pusillanimous PR Punk'doggies! Our Coast Guard, our heroes of The Flood. Mother Nature Happens, get over it and deal with the mechanizations of men. I swear, if Snakes were Ladders this stepchild would be The Page of the Flies. We must have NEWS, alas. But I'm getting pretty tired of it being BP NEWS. That said, he is a brawny jump ahead of Thad The Impaler, (now former) CG Commander. Poor Thad, his Tony Fey has Gone Away. No mo'dina on the tax-payers dime. I truly wish they could ass'can Thad the Impaler with Billy the Will'he in the Barracks of Shame. I believe this new Commander will ply a different trough. I want my Coast Guard BACK! Thad sold it out to BP, the Fink! These folks were ALL OVER NEW ORLEANS DURING THE FLOOD. I mean, really. No organization has ever given me 1 Million return on my tax dollar as the US Coast Guard. Alex is only the letter 'A' on the Sayz'z'me Street To Hell this summer. Our Coast Guard knows how to deal with this. But we have the Black Swans... Great post, Alex.
like
dislike
These skimmers are too little too late. I have to go on line and read your newspaper and other news coming form the effected areas regarding the spill due to a national " news black out" We are getting very little information and very small clips consisting of two or three workers raking a beach. Thank you and others who are spreading the word other wise the nation would not know a thing. We are pressuring the government some tactics are listed as follows. There is a petition going around the country calling to seize BP's assests. Many fund raisers are in motion, one in NY called Clearwater is being organized. Other organizations which include animal right activists are also pressuring the government. I believe this is why Congress is getting on BP's back> Keep the word coming we are fighting for you also.
