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Gulf oil spill: Florida DEP official acknowledges weakness of response
The Associated Press and USA TODAY ? May 3, 2010
TALLAHASSEE -- As oil keeps gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and the possibility of a months-long effort to stop the flow, Florida's lead-response agency secretary said aggressive steps are being taken but acknowledged the weakness of the response and that more than the Panhandle is at risk.
"I can tell you the magnitude of this spill is daunting," said Mike Sole, secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Sole last week flew over the spill sight off the coast of Louisiana and was briefed this weekend by federal responders based in Mobile, Ala. He said Monday that he held out hope that BP -- the British oil giant that held the lease on the rig that blew April 21 -- might yet be able to trip the safety mechanism to cap the well. Barring that, efforts to contain the flow of oil by a containment structure or drill a relief well would take weeks or months.
Though 79,000 feet of floating barriers have been place in the Pensacola area, Sole acknowledged the booms have weaknesses.
"Booms are not failsafe and actually are very prone to failing," Sole said. "While they're appropriate ... candidly we cannot boom off the peninsula or the Panhandle of Florida to prevent landfall of product."
Sole said he urged the U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry -- who's heading up the unified response of federal, state and private efforts -- to take quick action to protect points further east on Florida's Panhandle.
He said a plan in place before the spill is guiding BP's efforts to protect identified sensitive areas.
"We have a six-county region just east of Pensacola that needs to be protected," Sole said.
But the possible impact is not limited to the Panhandle or even the Gulf.
Sole said the possibility of the flow of oil getting into the Gulf loop -- strong currents that swing north into Gulf before curling south and around the Keys and northward again up Florida's Atlantic coast -- is real and grows.
The mass of oil is now north of the current loop.
"Unfortunately, both of these things move," Sole said of both the spill and the currents. "If the two intersect ... and the longer this goes the more potential those will intersect, the more probable the impacts that this will get in the Gulf loop and actually go as far as the Southeast coast of the peninsula."
Much more at:
http://www.news-press.com/article/2...EP-official-acknowledges-weakness-of-response
The Associated Press and USA TODAY ? May 3, 2010
TALLAHASSEE -- As oil keeps gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and the possibility of a months-long effort to stop the flow, Florida's lead-response agency secretary said aggressive steps are being taken but acknowledged the weakness of the response and that more than the Panhandle is at risk.
"I can tell you the magnitude of this spill is daunting," said Mike Sole, secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Sole last week flew over the spill sight off the coast of Louisiana and was briefed this weekend by federal responders based in Mobile, Ala. He said Monday that he held out hope that BP -- the British oil giant that held the lease on the rig that blew April 21 -- might yet be able to trip the safety mechanism to cap the well. Barring that, efforts to contain the flow of oil by a containment structure or drill a relief well would take weeks or months.
Though 79,000 feet of floating barriers have been place in the Pensacola area, Sole acknowledged the booms have weaknesses.
"Booms are not failsafe and actually are very prone to failing," Sole said. "While they're appropriate ... candidly we cannot boom off the peninsula or the Panhandle of Florida to prevent landfall of product."
Sole said he urged the U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry -- who's heading up the unified response of federal, state and private efforts -- to take quick action to protect points further east on Florida's Panhandle.
He said a plan in place before the spill is guiding BP's efforts to protect identified sensitive areas.
"We have a six-county region just east of Pensacola that needs to be protected," Sole said.
But the possible impact is not limited to the Panhandle or even the Gulf.
Sole said the possibility of the flow of oil getting into the Gulf loop -- strong currents that swing north into Gulf before curling south and around the Keys and northward again up Florida's Atlantic coast -- is real and grows.
The mass of oil is now north of the current loop.
"Unfortunately, both of these things move," Sole said of both the spill and the currents. "If the two intersect ... and the longer this goes the more potential those will intersect, the more probable the impacts that this will get in the Gulf loop and actually go as far as the Southeast coast of the peninsula."
Much more at:
http://www.news-press.com/article/2...EP-official-acknowledges-weakness-of-response