Scoop Sea's Oil Spill Thread

[Scoop Sea]

Hey Nature Boy, First question: Danny Bently, I don't know that fella, but figure since you put his name out there it may be implied that I should. Should I?
As for the TS, no doubt severe weather can hamper the response efforts. The recent weather has been hampering skimming and other offshore activities. We want to keep the fight off-shore instead of near shore, in turn, any real bad weather would hamper the efforts to keep the fight off shore. We're hoping that we won't have too bad of weather coming our way.

[Good Times]

Looks like PCB just barely got touched and then the wind took it all west. They had tar balls but they were cleaned up quickly. VERY quickly. It was like an easter egg hunt at the beach. My Dad, a PC'er said the sheen was 3 miles off the coast when the wind took it west. Wow. That was close. My wife has been down there at youth camp all week and said that everything is beautiful. Just some seaweed.

[Flanders]

Thats good news! My youth group is headed down to PC for the weekend. I hate to miss it but at least they will have a nice beach to play on.

[lizbeth]

I'm not wishing anything on anyone.....but WIND please keep heading WEST ! (for the next 6 month's)

[FUTCHCAIRO]

WHAT YA SAID, LIZBETH.
PA THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA SEMPER FI

[Scoop Sea]

Good Morning Folks: I'm sorry I haven't written more the last couple of days than I have, it's been crazy busy over here. I did make it out on to the front line the past two days and I'll tell you what, it's down right depressing. What I saw over in Orange Beach, Al, etc. just sickened me. Fortunately, my trip into the Grayton Beach-Destin area was quite the opposite. Our coasts over there looked great. It's really scary to think that our neck of the woods could have such an impact. Luckily the Lord has been on our side and kept it away.
Operationally, the relief wells are ahead of schedule at this point, however, it's the last part that goes really slow, so let's hope it gets done quicker than predicted. Looks like we are going to dodge a bullet for the most part with the TS, however, the wind and waves associated with the TS will impact our operations. Mainly, excessive winds/waves will prohibit the skimming and burning of oil, it could also impact the use of surface spraying of the dispersants. What's that mean, less recovery efforts on the water being able to be taken which usually leads to more shoreline impact. More shoreline impact will lead to more impacted wildlife and wayyyy more political posturing. I tell you what, it would be nice if we could get politics out of this response, but we know that won't happen. There are tons of resources that have been deployed that will not be able to be used efficiently due to politicians screaming. I fully respect them for thinking about their own backyard, however, this is a big ol’ Gulf and resources need to be deployed due to Need Not Want.
If I am not mistaken we are pushing 8,000 folks working in the field on this response. I can’t even tell you how many boats are out there, it looked like an Armada yesterday. The manpower and resources are there, but this is a darn hard fight to win when the weather negatively impacts us and the oil gets nearshore………aaaggghhh
O.K., sorry for the down tone this morning, it’s been a rough few days in the response and the forecast doesn’t look too much better. I’ll try to post more when I get a chance. Keep smiling, All you really have to do is get to Heaven…………

[lonesouth]

Regarding vessels, including vessels of opportunity, which we have nearly 3,000 barges which are used to, to, to – for skimming operations and to block passages and entrances to bays, skimmers which are about 430, other vessels that are out there in support including Coast Guard Command and Control vessels are about 2,700.

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com ... 31/714075/

[Barhopr]

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... kes_v.html

Maybe after a few months of negotiating to get a union crew on the ship, we can get this skimmer put into play.

[MudDucker]

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... kes_v.html

Maybe after a few months of negotiating to get a union crew on the ship, we can get this skimmer put into play.

You mean the Jones Act waiver that Andy Stern hasn't let Obama issue yet? You would think that after all the billions Obama has already stolen for the Unions that they would let us get a little slack on using a foreign boat equipped exactly as we need it in the gulf. I am not hopeful though.

[lonesouth]

Heard on the radio that the Jones Act only applies to water up to 3 miles out, and that most of the skimming would take place further than that. Still doesn't help us inshore though...

[Scoop Sea]

Sorry it’s been a couple of days, we have been really busy over here and I haven’t had too much time to break away and update the thread.

I'm not sure what the posts about the Unions and Andy Stern were about. I'm not aware of unions being an issue on this job, or at least in our AOR. I'm also not sure who Andy Stern is. I do know that the article referenced advised that the EPA would need to allow the ship to operate due to the decanting of oil contaminated water. I do not know what they are referring to, the Federal On Scene Coordinator is USCG Admiral Watson, he would have the authorization to allow the decanting off-shore. The EPA would be involved if it was off-shore dumping, it would appear that the oil contaminated water would be considered decanted water and the USCG would be able to allow that. Either way, if the ship can make a difference, bring her on.
I made it out to the beaches again today and I noted a lot of people and resources working with very limited abilities to make progress due to the magnitude of the spill, politics, and weather. Politics: "hire people to clean the beaches", "don't use heavy machinery on our beaches during the day when tourists are there" Well, a flat shovel and a hand net isn't going to cut it, heavy equipment (beach cleaners) need to be used to make a difference. The challenge is when the tar balls, moussey oil, etc. gets hot during the day and the beach cleaners start becoming less effective. But, the first challenge is to make sure that the politicos allow the heavy equipment in the first place, so that when an opportune time comes to use them, they are allowed on to the beaches. Weather: What the heck can I say, the weather is too rough for the VOO’s to operate near shore. The skimmers are not effective in rough seas, the boom gets battered/displaced and burning/dispersant use is also hampered by weather. I think we are stuck in this weather pattern for a few more days. In turn, we will have more impact on shore.
There is a danged if you do and a danged if you don’t element to this response. If you cut back field staff (beach cleaners/shovelers) and replace them with machines, you will be criticized for letting staff go and not having enough staff for response. If you keep the staffing at an unmanageable number, you will be criticized for not effectively directing a response. Solution: Don’t worry about political/public perception and right-size the response. Doable: ? Maybe shoot for some middle ground. Currently there are 20,000 plus folks working in the Ms, Al, and Fl area of response. That’s a lot of people working on this event. If I am not mistaken, there is only approximately 40,000 USCG personnel (not including reserves). That should put it in a fairly good perspective.
We should see more booming in our neck of the woods as the weather permits. I hope that’s all we see in our area……….

[lonesouth]

I heard reports of angry beachgoers flinging tar balls at cleanup crews. Any news of such events get to you? Seems as silly as boycotting BP gas stations to me.

[Scoop Sea]

Hey Lonesouth: Unfortunately, you are correct. Last week some folks threw tarballs at the beach crews working at night. The next night a group of folks chased the cleanup crews with sticks (two of the people were arrested). The end result: Beach cleanup operations stopped both times. Really, like the folks cleaning up the beach are the ones to target their anger towards......... Oh well, just another issue for us to have to deal with.

[wevans]

Hell, give the cleanup crews tazzers

[Chill-N-Grill]