Cleanup Takes A Step Back Before Storm
Barriers Are Removed, Allowing Oil to Infiltrate, Sully Fragile Ecosystems
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703812704575386632279921678.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La.?A fast-approaching storm scrambled efforts to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as BP PLC halted work on a relief well and federal officials ordered all cleanup vessels, boom and skimmers out of the storm's path.
By RUSSELL ADAMS And ANGEL GONZALEZ
2010 Storm Tracker
Follow the paths of storms including Bonnie, below, and locate oil rigs and refineries.
Waiting for Bonnie
View Slideshow
<cite>Reuters</cite> Beachgoers looked toward the Atlantic Ocean as Tropical Storm Bonnie made landfall in Miami Beach, Fla., Friday.
With many of the protective barriers that had been shielding Louisiana's coastal marshes locked away in warehouses, oil began to seep into fragile ecosystems that had been relatively unscathed; the black blotches were visible in the waters off St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans's French Quarter.
"We can't do anything about it," said parish spokeswoman Jennifer Belsom about current skimming operations. But she expects them to resume Monday.
By daybreak Saturday, all but a handful of the ships working at the well site were expected to remain at sea, the Associated Press reported. The vessels relaying video images and seismic readings from undersea robots monitoring BP's broken oil well will be among the last to leave, and may stay and ride out the rough weather, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
View Full Image
<cite>Getty Images</cite> Vessels near the source of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill Friday.
Farther out in the Gulf, at the site of the spill, BP demobilized the ships that had been steadily drilling into the sea floor with the aim of intercepting, then plugging, the damaged well. The two mobile drilling rigs, owned by Transocean Ltd., were pulling thousands of feet of riser pipe back into their decks on Friday in preparation for departure. They were expected to leave Friday evening, a Transocean spokesman said.
The evacuation could delay the relief well for as long as two weeks, pushing back the attempt to definitively shut down the leak by intercepting the well to late August, BP officials said. But an attempt to flood the well with drilling mud and cement could be tried shortly after the ships get back to the drilling site, Mr. Allen said.
The temporary containment cap now fixed to the damaged well will remain in place during the storm, said Mr. Allen, who is overseeing the federal spill response. Aerial and satellite surveillance will be conducted throughout to watch for leaks, he said, and if conditions allow, undersea robots also will keep an eye on the well.
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The Gulf Coast is bracing for a tropical storm and the oil spill response effort is temporarily suspended. Video courtesy of Fox News.
Though officials along the coast expressed frustration at the sudden halt to cleanup and containment, several said they saw no choice, given the looming arrival of bad weather. Tropical Storm Bonnie, which weakened to a tropical depression as it dumped rain on Florida on Friday, could strengthen again as it moves rapidly west toward the spill area. An earlier storm in the region, Hurricane Alex, damaged or displaced 80% of the boom laid down through the waters of St. Bernard Parish, making it useless. "We learned our lesson," Ms. Belsom said.
Kevin Davis, president of St. Tammany Parish, has been fighting the Coast Guard's efforts to move cleanup equipment out of his area. On Thursday night he negotiated an agreement to allow his parish to hold onto dozens of oil-catching barges and skimmers that he says are needed to protect lakes in and around New Orleans. "You take all our assets, then we're in real trouble," said Mr. Davis, who has threatened to arrest anyone who tries to move the protective barriers.
Barriers Are Removed, Allowing Oil to Infiltrate, Sully Fragile Ecosystems
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703812704575386632279921678.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La.?A fast-approaching storm scrambled efforts to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as BP PLC halted work on a relief well and federal officials ordered all cleanup vessels, boom and skimmers out of the storm's path.
By RUSSELL ADAMS And ANGEL GONZALEZ
2010 Storm Tracker
Follow the paths of storms including Bonnie, below, and locate oil rigs and refineries.
Waiting for Bonnie
View Slideshow
<cite>Reuters</cite> Beachgoers looked toward the Atlantic Ocean as Tropical Storm Bonnie made landfall in Miami Beach, Fla., Friday.
With many of the protective barriers that had been shielding Louisiana's coastal marshes locked away in warehouses, oil began to seep into fragile ecosystems that had been relatively unscathed; the black blotches were visible in the waters off St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans's French Quarter.
"We can't do anything about it," said parish spokeswoman Jennifer Belsom about current skimming operations. But she expects them to resume Monday.
By daybreak Saturday, all but a handful of the ships working at the well site were expected to remain at sea, the Associated Press reported. The vessels relaying video images and seismic readings from undersea robots monitoring BP's broken oil well will be among the last to leave, and may stay and ride out the rough weather, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.
View Full Image
<cite>Getty Images</cite> Vessels near the source of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill Friday.
Farther out in the Gulf, at the site of the spill, BP demobilized the ships that had been steadily drilling into the sea floor with the aim of intercepting, then plugging, the damaged well. The two mobile drilling rigs, owned by Transocean Ltd., were pulling thousands of feet of riser pipe back into their decks on Friday in preparation for departure. They were expected to leave Friday evening, a Transocean spokesman said.
The evacuation could delay the relief well for as long as two weeks, pushing back the attempt to definitively shut down the leak by intercepting the well to late August, BP officials said. But an attempt to flood the well with drilling mud and cement could be tried shortly after the ships get back to the drilling site, Mr. Allen said.
The temporary containment cap now fixed to the damaged well will remain in place during the storm, said Mr. Allen, who is overseeing the federal spill response. Aerial and satellite surveillance will be conducted throughout to watch for leaks, he said, and if conditions allow, undersea robots also will keep an eye on the well.
<!-- lib_json_commons.ftl -->
The Gulf Coast is bracing for a tropical storm and the oil spill response effort is temporarily suspended. Video courtesy of Fox News.
Though officials along the coast expressed frustration at the sudden halt to cleanup and containment, several said they saw no choice, given the looming arrival of bad weather. Tropical Storm Bonnie, which weakened to a tropical depression as it dumped rain on Florida on Friday, could strengthen again as it moves rapidly west toward the spill area. An earlier storm in the region, Hurricane Alex, damaged or displaced 80% of the boom laid down through the waters of St. Bernard Parish, making it useless. "We learned our lesson," Ms. Belsom said.
Kevin Davis, president of St. Tammany Parish, has been fighting the Coast Guard's efforts to move cleanup equipment out of his area. On Thursday night he negotiated an agreement to allow his parish to hold onto dozens of oil-catching barges and skimmers that he says are needed to protect lakes in and around New Orleans. "You take all our assets, then we're in real trouble," said Mr. Davis, who has threatened to arrest anyone who tries to move the protective barriers.