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Gulf oil spill likely to reach Florida Keys, Miami, report says
Those shorelines will probably see tar balls in the months ahead, NOAA finds. Also, skimming boats prepare to go back to work, and efforts to help turtles and migrating birds are announced.
http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100703,0,1038308.story
By Richard Simon and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times July 3, 2010
Hundreds of skimming boats prepared Friday to return to calmer gulf waters in the wake of Hurricane Alex and resume cleanup of the massive BP oil spill, which scientists now predict is likely to reach the Florida Keys and Miami in the months ahead.
Using computer simulations based on 15 years of wind and ocean current data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Friday showing a 61% to 80% chance of the oil spill reaching within 20 miles of the coasts of the Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, mostly likely in the form of weathered tar balls.
Shorelines with the greatest chance of being soiled by oil — 81% to 100% — stretch from the Mississippi River Delta to the western Florida Panhandle, NOAA scientists said in a statement on its projections for the next four months.
Other areas of Florida have a low probability of oil hits. The Florida Panhandle has already seen tar balls wash up on beaches.
But the chances of oil reaching east-central Florida and the Eastern Seaboard are less than 1% to 20%, NOAA said. And it is "increasingly unlikely" that areas above North Carolina will be hit.
Meanwhile, officials were moving skimming vessels back to sea and were trying to protect the ecologically sensitive Chandeleur Sound area, said Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft.
"It's going to be a long weekend from an oil spill response perspective," Zukunft said Friday. All skimming boats from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle had been idle for three days because of dangerously high waves.
Officials hoped to move another containment ship above the gushing well by Wednesday to nearly double the 25,000 barrels of oil being recovered daily. As many as 60,000 barrels a day are spewing from the well, according to government estimates.
An operation to drill a relief well, the ultimate solution to stopping the leak, is seven to eight days ahead of its mid-August target date for completion.
But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, said Friday: "I am reluctant to tell you it will be done before the middle of August because I think everything associated with this spill and response recovery suggests that we should under-promise and over-deliver."
BP and the Coast Guard worked out an agreement Friday with wildlife groups in response to concerns that sea turtles were being incinerated when oil slicks are burned. The parties agreed to convene a group of scientists to develop plans for monitoring future controlled burns, said Cathy Liss, president of the Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute, lead plaintiff in a lawsuit on the issue.
Liss said the officials also agreed to notify her group of any burns conducted after Tuesday and whether they have a biologist or other trained observer nearby to protect the turtles. Officials had halted such burns through Tuesday because of the weather.
The environmental groups had initially requested a temporary restraining order to prevent the burns.
Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials were making plans to start shipping thousands of sea turtle eggs marked for collection along the shores of Alabama and western Florida to the Kennedy Space Center this month.
Starting July 12, turtle eggs will be removed from nests, placed in boxes and shipped in special climate-controlled, vibration-resistant FedEx trucks to a climate-controlled, predator-proof warehouse at the space center, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fish and Wildlife spokesman Chuck Underwood said. Hatchlings will be released at various locations and times along the nearby Space Coast to avoid drawing predators, he said.
Federal officials also announced that stopover grounds would be created along the Gulf Coast in an effort to assist some of the millions of birds that will soon begin their fall migration.
Paul Schmidt, assistant director for migratory birds at the Fish and Wildlife Service, said it would be impossible to redirect vast numbers of migrating birds around the still-expanding oil slicks. But he said safe grounds for feeding and breeding could be created in coastal marshes and up to 100 miles inland.
He said conservation groups would work with private landowners to flood crop fields, cut out invasive plants that have overgrown some habitats and burn off some plants to open more ground for the birds.
On the economic side, new efforts were underway in the courts and Congress to deal with the financial effects of the spill.
A coalition of business groups and Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) filed a brief urging the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a judge's ruling striking down the Obama administration's six-month deep-water drilling moratorium in the gulf.
Also, a bipartisan group of Gulf Coast lawmakers launched a drive to pass a package of tax breaks to aid struggling businesses hurt by the spill.
Those shorelines will probably see tar balls in the months ahead, NOAA finds. Also, skimming boats prepare to go back to work, and efforts to help turtles and migrating birds are announced.
http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100703,0,1038308.story
By Richard Simon and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times July 3, 2010
Hundreds of skimming boats prepared Friday to return to calmer gulf waters in the wake of Hurricane Alex and resume cleanup of the massive BP oil spill, which scientists now predict is likely to reach the Florida Keys and Miami in the months ahead.
Using computer simulations based on 15 years of wind and ocean current data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Friday showing a 61% to 80% chance of the oil spill reaching within 20 miles of the coasts of the Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, mostly likely in the form of weathered tar balls.
Shorelines with the greatest chance of being soiled by oil — 81% to 100% — stretch from the Mississippi River Delta to the western Florida Panhandle, NOAA scientists said in a statement on its projections for the next four months.
Other areas of Florida have a low probability of oil hits. The Florida Panhandle has already seen tar balls wash up on beaches.
But the chances of oil reaching east-central Florida and the Eastern Seaboard are less than 1% to 20%, NOAA said. And it is "increasingly unlikely" that areas above North Carolina will be hit.
Meanwhile, officials were moving skimming vessels back to sea and were trying to protect the ecologically sensitive Chandeleur Sound area, said Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft.
"It's going to be a long weekend from an oil spill response perspective," Zukunft said Friday. All skimming boats from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle had been idle for three days because of dangerously high waves.
Officials hoped to move another containment ship above the gushing well by Wednesday to nearly double the 25,000 barrels of oil being recovered daily. As many as 60,000 barrels a day are spewing from the well, according to government estimates.
An operation to drill a relief well, the ultimate solution to stopping the leak, is seven to eight days ahead of its mid-August target date for completion.
But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, said Friday: "I am reluctant to tell you it will be done before the middle of August because I think everything associated with this spill and response recovery suggests that we should under-promise and over-deliver."
BP and the Coast Guard worked out an agreement Friday with wildlife groups in response to concerns that sea turtles were being incinerated when oil slicks are burned. The parties agreed to convene a group of scientists to develop plans for monitoring future controlled burns, said Cathy Liss, president of the Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute, lead plaintiff in a lawsuit on the issue.
Liss said the officials also agreed to notify her group of any burns conducted after Tuesday and whether they have a biologist or other trained observer nearby to protect the turtles. Officials had halted such burns through Tuesday because of the weather.
The environmental groups had initially requested a temporary restraining order to prevent the burns.
Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials were making plans to start shipping thousands of sea turtle eggs marked for collection along the shores of Alabama and western Florida to the Kennedy Space Center this month.
Starting July 12, turtle eggs will be removed from nests, placed in boxes and shipped in special climate-controlled, vibration-resistant FedEx trucks to a climate-controlled, predator-proof warehouse at the space center, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fish and Wildlife spokesman Chuck Underwood said. Hatchlings will be released at various locations and times along the nearby Space Coast to avoid drawing predators, he said.
Federal officials also announced that stopover grounds would be created along the Gulf Coast in an effort to assist some of the millions of birds that will soon begin their fall migration.
Paul Schmidt, assistant director for migratory birds at the Fish and Wildlife Service, said it would be impossible to redirect vast numbers of migrating birds around the still-expanding oil slicks. But he said safe grounds for feeding and breeding could be created in coastal marshes and up to 100 miles inland.
He said conservation groups would work with private landowners to flood crop fields, cut out invasive plants that have overgrown some habitats and burn off some plants to open more ground for the birds.
On the economic side, new efforts were underway in the courts and Congress to deal with the financial effects of the spill.
A coalition of business groups and Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) filed a brief urging the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a judge's ruling striking down the Obama administration's six-month deep-water drilling moratorium in the gulf.
Also, a bipartisan group of Gulf Coast lawmakers launched a drive to pass a package of tax breaks to aid struggling businesses hurt by the spill.
| « on: Today at 03:42:24 PM » | |
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/07/01/oil-bp-gulf-oil-spill-confirmed-gulf-stream-entire-east-coast-florida/
When I last wrote about the last ROFFS independent oil tracking map released on June 22nd it showed a possible mixture of oil and water heading up the entire east coast of Florida.
ROFFS has released an updated map June 28th for June 24-27th which now confirms that the oil from the BP Gulf Oil Spill has indeed made its way up the entire East Coast of Florida.
ROFFS BP Gulf Oil Spill Tracking Map For June 24 to June 27th with WOM (Water Oil Mixture) Outlined
Why Is The Government Hiding This From Us?
ROFFS uses a combination of techniques to track the oil from the BP Gulf Oil Spill that is available to the public.
It is unacceptable that the Government officials in charge of reporting this to the public are hiding it.
Seafood is being harvested from these waters and women and children are swimming in it while the Government hides that fact that the water is filled with oil and toxic dispersants.
"Nearly Every Cleanup Worker from Exxon Valdez Now Dead?"
http://soitgoesinshreveport.blogspot.com/2010/07/nearly-every-cleanup-worker-from-exxon.html
Greta Perry linked this article from Business Insider on Facebook last night that states nearly every cleanup worker from the Exxon Valdez is now dead. Why? From the fumes? From natural causes? From chemicals? More explanation, please. This prompted me to do some digging today. I read the article, watched the video clip, and my initial reaction was, "Aww c'mon. Hyperbole. Fear mongering by CNN and their 'expert'." It was 21 years ago, to be sure, and are they dead because of the spill? Surely not ALL of them.
Questions.
Are you sure that you want to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? In a previous article we documented a number of the health dangers from this oil spill that many scientists are warning us of, and now it has been reported on CNN that the vast majority of those who worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead. Yes, you read that correctly. Almost all of them are dead.
Merle Savage is one of those that helped cleanup the beaches in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez spill and she is trying to warn the workers in the Gulf and inform them what happened in 1989.. She wrote a book about her experience: Silence in the Sound. Her website is here. Savage explains that her health problems began almost immediately:
After working for 3 days on the oily beaches, I had a persistent cough that developed into bronchitis, headaches, sore throat, upset stomach and fatigue. On the 4th day I reported to the sick bay and was given medication by the doctor who was supplied by VECO, and on the way to my room, I fainted. I had 3 days of bed rest, but went back to work with recurring symptoms. Of the workers that I supervised 80% had the same medical problems. I wonder how many other cleanup workers, like me, went home thinking we would get better – but didn’t? The symptoms escalated until my medical condition took over my life, and was so bad that I have been unable to hold a job.
Savage breathed in crude oil and dispersant for weeks as she and her coworkers cleaned up the beaches that summer. One of the dispersants used that summer was Corexit 9580. Another was Inipol EAP22, also toxic.
The dispersants BP is using today is a variation of the Corexit dispersant used in 1989. They're using Corexit 9500 and 9527. The EPA freely admits that they just don't know about the exact toxicity of them on animals or humans:
It is also important to note that the LC50 value may be different for a given chemical depending on the route of exposure (e.g., skin contact, ingestion, inhalation) and can be different for different animal species, ages and sexes. The LC50 is only one source of toxicity information and only provides information for the species and concentrations of chemical being tested under laboratory conditions. Toxicity tests resulting from controlled laboratory experiments may not accurately represent the degree of toxicity seen in the environment because of factors such as breakdown of the chemical, different species, different routes of exposure, age, sex, stage of development (e.g., adult versus larval).
To protect workers, the EPA advises hazmat gear and masks:
People working with dispersants are strongly advised to use a half face filter mask or an air-supplied breathing apparatus to protect their noses, throats, and lungs, and they should wear nitrile or PVC gloves, coveralls, boots, and chemical splash goggles to keep dispersants off skin and out of their eyes.
BP will provide these upon request.
As of today, BP reports use of more than 1.62 million gallons of dispersant.
Corexit 9527 was used initially in the Gulf but was discontinued because it was considered too toxic. Corexit 9500 is considered much better:
By last week, the EPA and Nalco had both released the ingredient list for COREXIT 9500 in response to widespread public concern. Its constituents include butanedioic acid (a wetting agent in cosmetics), sorbitan (found in everything from baby bath to food), and petroleum distillates in varying proportions—and it decomposes almost entirely in 28 days. "All six [ingredients] are used in day-to-day life—in mouthwash, toothpaste, ice cream, pickles," Ramesh argues. "We believe COREXIT 9500 is very safe."
But, as this Scientific American article points out, all dispersants contain carcinogens. There are reports that Corexit has been banned in the UK but to be clear, it's only been banned in use on rocky shoreline. It may or may not be used elsewhere.
Reports of illness in Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states are beginning to mount. As of June 29:
Exposure to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in 162 cases of illnesses reported to the Louisiana state health department, according to a report released Monday. Of those cases, 128 involved workers on oil rigs or individuals involved in the oil spill cleanup efforts, the report said.
And that's just Louisiana. This article in The American Chronicle suggests that the Gulf Oil Syndrome is on the horizon and suggests that many won't be taken seriously:
The Gulf oil spill will likely lead to a new condition known as Gulf Oil Syndrome (GOS), a syndrome of toxicity related to 911, GWS, and MCS, which will initially be denied and labeled as psychiatric to protect the financial interests of responsible parties.
The Exxon medical records were sealed by the courts until 2023 and the Miami Herald reports that long term studies have never been done on the effects of that disaster, so it's difficult for us to know what to expect with this crisis. Last week U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin reiterated this problem:
"Current scientific literature is inconclusive with regard to the potential hazards resulting from the spill," Benjamin said. "Some scientists predict little or no toxic effect ... while other scientists express serious concerns about the potential short-term and long-term impacts the exposure to oil and dispersants could have on the health of responders and our communities."
That lack of published, peer-reviewed study of the Exxon Valdez cleanup workers has made protecting the growing number workers in the Gulf of Mexico all the more difficult and has Alaska watchdogs warning that BP and government regulators are repeating mistakes that made people sick a generation ago.
What are the options? What are the alternatives? Environmentalists would probably suggest that we quit drilling and that would solve all this, but everyone with half a brain knows that's not realistic. Not unless you want to turn back the clock 200 years. I don't have the answers. I don't know how many people died as a result of the Exxon cleanup.
People want to get out there and clean the beaches, the wildlife, and put things back to normal. BP has an obligation to clean up the oil. But at what cost does it all come? The state of Louisiana is already asking BP to set up a fund for mental health help but what about the physical medical needs these clean up workers will be facing? Is that to come from the $20 billion?
And that's the tragedy of the whole episode. That's where you see that this is an end to a way of life on the Gulf coast. Scientists are already predicting a huge dead zone where wildlife cannot survive. Some will say it's all fear mongering and hype and that the Gulf will survive. Everything will be okay. Life goes on. We survive. I sure hope so.
Merle Savage is advising great caution and wants people in the Gulf cleanup to learn from the mistakes of the Exxon Valdez.
When I last wrote about the last ROFFS independent oil tracking map released on June 22nd it showed a possible mixture of oil and water heading up the entire east coast of Florida.
ROFFS has released an updated map June 28th for June 24-27th which now confirms that the oil from the BP Gulf Oil Spill has indeed made its way up the entire East Coast of Florida.
ROFFS BP Gulf Oil Spill Tracking Map For June 24 to June 27th with WOM (Water Oil Mixture) Outlined
Why Is The Government Hiding This From Us?
ROFFS uses a combination of techniques to track the oil from the BP Gulf Oil Spill that is available to the public.
It is unacceptable that the Government officials in charge of reporting this to the public are hiding it.
Seafood is being harvested from these waters and women and children are swimming in it while the Government hides that fact that the water is filled with oil and toxic dispersants.
"Nearly Every Cleanup Worker from Exxon Valdez Now Dead?"
http://soitgoesinshreveport.blogspot.com/2010/07/nearly-every-cleanup-worker-from-exxon.html
Greta Perry linked this article from Business Insider on Facebook last night that states nearly every cleanup worker from the Exxon Valdez is now dead. Why? From the fumes? From natural causes? From chemicals? More explanation, please. This prompted me to do some digging today. I read the article, watched the video clip, and my initial reaction was, "Aww c'mon. Hyperbole. Fear mongering by CNN and their 'expert'." It was 21 years ago, to be sure, and are they dead because of the spill? Surely not ALL of them.
Questions.
Are you sure that you want to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? In a previous article we documented a number of the health dangers from this oil spill that many scientists are warning us of, and now it has been reported on CNN that the vast majority of those who worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead. Yes, you read that correctly. Almost all of them are dead.
Merle Savage is one of those that helped cleanup the beaches in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez spill and she is trying to warn the workers in the Gulf and inform them what happened in 1989.. She wrote a book about her experience: Silence in the Sound. Her website is here. Savage explains that her health problems began almost immediately:
After working for 3 days on the oily beaches, I had a persistent cough that developed into bronchitis, headaches, sore throat, upset stomach and fatigue. On the 4th day I reported to the sick bay and was given medication by the doctor who was supplied by VECO, and on the way to my room, I fainted. I had 3 days of bed rest, but went back to work with recurring symptoms. Of the workers that I supervised 80% had the same medical problems. I wonder how many other cleanup workers, like me, went home thinking we would get better – but didn’t? The symptoms escalated until my medical condition took over my life, and was so bad that I have been unable to hold a job.
Savage breathed in crude oil and dispersant for weeks as she and her coworkers cleaned up the beaches that summer. One of the dispersants used that summer was Corexit 9580. Another was Inipol EAP22, also toxic.
The dispersants BP is using today is a variation of the Corexit dispersant used in 1989. They're using Corexit 9500 and 9527. The EPA freely admits that they just don't know about the exact toxicity of them on animals or humans:
It is also important to note that the LC50 value may be different for a given chemical depending on the route of exposure (e.g., skin contact, ingestion, inhalation) and can be different for different animal species, ages and sexes. The LC50 is only one source of toxicity information and only provides information for the species and concentrations of chemical being tested under laboratory conditions. Toxicity tests resulting from controlled laboratory experiments may not accurately represent the degree of toxicity seen in the environment because of factors such as breakdown of the chemical, different species, different routes of exposure, age, sex, stage of development (e.g., adult versus larval).
To protect workers, the EPA advises hazmat gear and masks:
People working with dispersants are strongly advised to use a half face filter mask or an air-supplied breathing apparatus to protect their noses, throats, and lungs, and they should wear nitrile or PVC gloves, coveralls, boots, and chemical splash goggles to keep dispersants off skin and out of their eyes.
BP will provide these upon request.
As of today, BP reports use of more than 1.62 million gallons of dispersant.
Corexit 9527 was used initially in the Gulf but was discontinued because it was considered too toxic. Corexit 9500 is considered much better:
By last week, the EPA and Nalco had both released the ingredient list for COREXIT 9500 in response to widespread public concern. Its constituents include butanedioic acid (a wetting agent in cosmetics), sorbitan (found in everything from baby bath to food), and petroleum distillates in varying proportions—and it decomposes almost entirely in 28 days. "All six [ingredients] are used in day-to-day life—in mouthwash, toothpaste, ice cream, pickles," Ramesh argues. "We believe COREXIT 9500 is very safe."
But, as this Scientific American article points out, all dispersants contain carcinogens. There are reports that Corexit has been banned in the UK but to be clear, it's only been banned in use on rocky shoreline. It may or may not be used elsewhere.
Reports of illness in Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states are beginning to mount. As of June 29:
Exposure to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in 162 cases of illnesses reported to the Louisiana state health department, according to a report released Monday. Of those cases, 128 involved workers on oil rigs or individuals involved in the oil spill cleanup efforts, the report said.
And that's just Louisiana. This article in The American Chronicle suggests that the Gulf Oil Syndrome is on the horizon and suggests that many won't be taken seriously:
The Gulf oil spill will likely lead to a new condition known as Gulf Oil Syndrome (GOS), a syndrome of toxicity related to 911, GWS, and MCS, which will initially be denied and labeled as psychiatric to protect the financial interests of responsible parties.
The Exxon medical records were sealed by the courts until 2023 and the Miami Herald reports that long term studies have never been done on the effects of that disaster, so it's difficult for us to know what to expect with this crisis. Last week U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin reiterated this problem:
"Current scientific literature is inconclusive with regard to the potential hazards resulting from the spill," Benjamin said. "Some scientists predict little or no toxic effect ... while other scientists express serious concerns about the potential short-term and long-term impacts the exposure to oil and dispersants could have on the health of responders and our communities."
That lack of published, peer-reviewed study of the Exxon Valdez cleanup workers has made protecting the growing number workers in the Gulf of Mexico all the more difficult and has Alaska watchdogs warning that BP and government regulators are repeating mistakes that made people sick a generation ago.
What are the options? What are the alternatives? Environmentalists would probably suggest that we quit drilling and that would solve all this, but everyone with half a brain knows that's not realistic. Not unless you want to turn back the clock 200 years. I don't have the answers. I don't know how many people died as a result of the Exxon cleanup.
People want to get out there and clean the beaches, the wildlife, and put things back to normal. BP has an obligation to clean up the oil. But at what cost does it all come? The state of Louisiana is already asking BP to set up a fund for mental health help but what about the physical medical needs these clean up workers will be facing? Is that to come from the $20 billion?
And that's the tragedy of the whole episode. That's where you see that this is an end to a way of life on the Gulf coast. Scientists are already predicting a huge dead zone where wildlife cannot survive. Some will say it's all fear mongering and hype and that the Gulf will survive. Everything will be okay. Life goes on. We survive. I sure hope so.
Merle Savage is advising great caution and wants people in the Gulf cleanup to learn from the mistakes of the Exxon Valdez.
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