Louisiana Confirms Presence of Tar Balls at South Pass

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Heavy oil spotted seven miles off coast

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by Michael Luke / Eyewitness News
wwltv.com
Posted on May 5, 2010 at 7:37 AM
Updated today at 12:26 PM

VENICE, La. – Heavy oil has been spotted 7 miles off the coast of Southwest Pass, according to Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.

After days of oil gushing from the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico following the massive explosive of an oil rig British Petroleum announced early Wednesday morning that it has capped one of three leaks.

“We have been able to cap one of the three leaks,” said Curtis Thomas, BP spokesman, “That is the great news.” The leak was stopped using a robotic device.

“The bad news is that it did not diminish the flow, so we still have about 5,000 barrels that are being released, but it is from two leak sources, not three.”

The good news was tempered also by a report of an oil sheen approaching the Louisiana coast.

Earlier an oil sheen was been spotted about two miles offshore by an oysterman, according to Nungesser. It was spotted near the St. Bernard-Plaquemines border.

Late Tuesday night, Thomas said, they were able to place a valve over an end of a pipe, allowing them to close one of the leaks. They are currently looking at other engineering methods to stop the leaks from the other two sources.

BP officials are readying the huge concrete containment dome. The dome will be loaded onto a barge and then lowered over the leak, Thomas said, hopefully giving workers the ability to collect the oil that is spewing from the leaks and pump up to the surface.

The 100-ton dome is expected to be in place by Thursday, according to Thomas, and operational by Saturday.

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http://www.wwltv.com/news/One-of-three-leaks-capped-in-Gulf-92855479.html

 

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Re: Louisiana - Heavy oil spotted seven miles off coast

Re: Louisiana - Heavy oil spotted seven miles off coast

Southwest Pass (Mississippi River)

Southwest Pass is one of the channels at the mouth of the Mississippi River.[1] It empties into the Gulf of Mexico at the southwesternmost tip of the Mississippi River Delta. It lies in Plaquemines Parish in southeastern Louisiana in the United States.[2] It has been the main shipping channel in the Mississippi River Delta since 1853.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Pass_(Mississippi_River)

 

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Re: Louisiana - Heavy oil spotted seven miles off coast

Re: Louisiana - Heavy oil spotted seven miles off coast

Gov. Bobby Jindal sees coastal defense plan in Venice, acknowledges Gulf oil spill could go west of river

By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune

May 05, 2010, 1:43PM

John McCusker / The Times-PicayunePlaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser holds press conference from Venice about Wednesday's Gulf of Mexico oil spill activities. At the far right is Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Venice</ST1:CITY> this morning to oversee deployment of loads of absorbent booms that will be placed in the <ST1LACE w:st="on">Mississippi River</ST1LACE> delta to protect fragile inland marsh areas from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.


The governor also acknowledge forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that for the first time show the possibility of oil moving west of the <ST1LACE w:st="on">Mississippi River</ST1LACE>.


Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he has had a report this morning of oil near the <ST1LACENAME w:st="on">Chandeleur</ST1LACENAME> <ST1LACETYPE w:st="on">Islands</ST1LACETYPE> and got word from a river pilot that thick oil could be seen seven miles out from <ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1LACENAME w:st="on">Southwest</ST1LACENAME> <ST1LACETYPE w:st="on">Pass</ST1LACETYPE></ST1LACE>, the main shipping channel of the river.


"In the case that oil does get west of the river, obviously that would pose even greater challenges to protecting our coast," Jindal said. "You're looking at the possibility of it eventually going into areas of <ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1LACENAME w:st="on">Barataria</ST1LACENAME> <ST1LACETYPE w:st="on">Basin</ST1LACETYPE></ST1LACE> and other areas that would require multiple lines of defense."

Jindal said there are still no plans to close fishing west of the river.


Recreational and commercial fishing remain closed for a broad swath of the waters east of the river.

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http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/gov_bobby_jindal_sees_coastal.html

 

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Louisiana Confirms Presence of Tar Balls at South Pass

Louisiana Confirms Presence of Tar Balls at South Pass

BATON ROUGE (May 12, 2010) - The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has confirmed the presence of tar balls at South Pass in Plaquemines Parish. Tar balls are sticky, dark-colored pieces of oil that occur after weatherization changes the physical characteristics of floating oil.

LDWF technicians working with oil spill response crews on boom maintenance around Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area (WMA) spotted the tar balls that had washed ashore on the southeast side of the WMA .

The state continues to monitor coastal conditions and will assess any potential damage to Louisiana's coast and wetlands as impacts are reported.

http://emergency.louisiana.gov/Releases/05122010-SouthPass.html

<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>Y.E.onDOMReady(show_notes_initially);</SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>F.decorate(_ge('photo_notes'), F._photo_notes).notes_go_go_go(4600739587, 'http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1223/4600739587_d6131cdba6_t.jpg', '3.1444');</SCRIPT><FORM id=fave_form style="VISIBILITY: hidden" method=post>The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has confirmed the presence of tar balls at South Pass in Plaquemines Parish. Tar balls are sticky, dark-colored pieces of oil that occur after weatherization changes the physical characteristics of floating oil. LDWF technicians working with oil spill response crews on boom maintenance around Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area (WMA) spotted the tar balls that had washed ashore on the southeast side of the WMA . http://www.flickr.com/photos/lagohsep/4600739587/</FORM>