White House: "Skimmers are Surged to Gulf Areas Most At-Risk for Oil Impact"

[Clio the Leo]

The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill
Prepared by the Joint Information Center
UPDATED June 13, 2010 7 PM

In the Past 24 Hours

Secretary Salazar Inspects Relief Well Drilling Operations
Continuing his ninth visit to the Gulf region, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the Development Driller II, which, along with the Development Driller III, is making progress in drilling the dual relief wells to permanently stop the flow of leaking oil from BP’s deep underwater well. He was briefed by BP officials, as well as engineers directing and overseeing their work.

Skimmers are Surged to Gulf Areas Most At-Risk for Oil Impact
To facilitate the removal of heavy oil that has begun to come ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., Gulf State Park, Ala., and Bon Secour, Ala., the Unified Command has increased skimming and beach cleanup activities and is preparing to move to 24-hour cleanup and skimming operations. More than 400 skimmers are currently deployed to remove an oil-water mix from the Gulf—a more than 300 percent increase over recent days.

Area coastlines are being protected by both near-shore and offshore operations. Near-shore skimming vessels were moved from Panama City, Fla., to Pensacola, Fla. Skimming operations directed by ICP Mobile have collected more than 240,500 gallons of oil-water mix from the Gulf as far out as 50 miles.

New skimming equipment, including “Current Buster” skimming systems and a “Big Gulp” weir skimmer, is being deployed offshore. Current Busters can be towed at higher speeds than conventional boom and are ideally suited to high seas and ocean currents. The Big Gulp is a barge that has been converted into a large-capacity skimmer.

A task force, or group of vessels including skimmers, is working south of Gulf Shores, Ala., Perdido Pass, Fla., and Petit Bois Island, Miss., among other areas, to boom and skim oil. Night skimming operations will be pursued as weather permits.

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson Returns from Science Mission; Will Redeploy Immediately
The 208-foot NOAA research vessel Thomas Jefferson arrived in Galveston, Texas, following completion a project to sample water and test advanced methods for detecting submerged oil while gathering oceanographic data in the area’s coastal waters. The ship is preparing for immediate redeployment on a second mission to start this week.

National Parks Service Reaches 158 Staff Deployed to Protect Vital Parkland
In the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of the Interior protects eight national parks and 36 wildlife refuges, from Texas to Florida. NPS has dispatched 158 staff to deal with Gulf response efforts. The National Park Service has deployed incident management personnel from across the country to prepare for and respond to oil impacts along the Gulf Coast.

As oil continues to come onshore at Gulf Islands National Seashore and encroaches on other national parks in Florida, Louisiana and Texas, National Park Service employees regularly based in these parks as well as those deployed as part of various incident teams are working to assess and clean up oil impacts and protect the park’s critical natural and cultural resources, including wildlife, birds, and historic structure and serve the visiting public. NPS is providing Resource Advisors (READs) to the field to ensure that response crews operate in compliance with the established sensitive resources guidelines.

Fish and Wildlife Service Reaches 428 Staff Deployed to Protect Vital Wildlife
The Fish and Wildlife Service continues to coordinate and supervise search and capture for oiled wildlife—conducting aerial flights to identify oiled wildlife and helping facilitate recovery and treatment, and leading 17 bird survey teams in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to determine the extent of the oil impact on birds. FWS is training four additional teams for survey work in Texas, and has dispatched 428 staff to deal with Gulf response efforts.

BP Continues to Capture Some Oil and Gas Using Containment Device
BP continues to capture some oil and burn some gas at the surface using its containment dome technique, which is being executed under the federal government’s direction. After cutting off a portion of the riser, BP placed a containment device over it in order to capture oil at its source.

Administration Continues to Oversee BP’s Claims Process
The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage, and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss as a result of the BP oil spill. BP reports that 51,329 claims have been opened, from which more than $61.5 million have been disbursed. No claims have been denied to date. There are 596 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution can call the Coast Guard at [phone]. Additional information about the BP claims process and all available avenues of assistance can be found at www.disasterassistance.gov.

By the Numbers to Date:

The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
More than 27,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
More than 5,400 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
Approximately 2.3 million feet of containment boom and 3.1 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 450,000 feet of containment boom and 1.9 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
Approximately 19.9 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
Approximately 1.26 million gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—833,000 on the surface and 382,000 subsea. More than 529,000 gallons are available.
More than 178 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 4 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
To date, 68.2 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline has been impacted by BP’s leaking oil—34.8 miles in Louisiana, 10.8 miles in Mississippi, 7.2 miles in Alabama and 8.7 miles in Florida.
Approximately 78,000 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. 68 percent remain open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/14/ongoing-administration-wide-response-deepwater-bp-oil-spill-june-12-and-june-13-2010

[mikelgb]

1. headline should be weeks old

[Clio the Leo]

2. Skimmers are named...

One piece of skimming equipment is called "Current Buster" - suitable for oil slicks in ocean currents; another is named "Big Gulp"

http://twitter.com/WestWingReport/status/16142592320

[montanto]

3. Surged?

Moseyed, Ambled, Strolled, Crawled, Limped, Dragged . . . but surged?

[snagglepuss]

4. That has gotta be the wittiest response I have ever read on DU.

Your remark hit me like a ton of bricks. I was so po'd with the story given that it has taken so damn long to deploy more skimmers (any idiot would assume that having as many skimmers as possible as soon as possible was only logical). It feels so odd to feel so angry one moment only to be convulsed with laughter the next.





:thumbsup:

[amborin]

5. as in A MONTH later, when they were there at the get-go but not permitted?