Scoop Sea's Oil Spill Thread

[Scoop Sea]

Alright, it's really late in the game (actually it's probably only half way through at best) for me to start a thread on this response, but some of you fellas asked that I start a thread and I am now able to breathe a little and can do so. In turn, here's my thoughts for today.
I am sure by now you all have seen that it has been officially reported that 6,000 barrels of oil has been recovered via the top hat system. That's a 24 hour average that will most likely be reported daily. That number should increase a pretty good click over the next 24-48 hours. If you figure 20,000 barrels of oil a day (this is not official, you've seen the guesses) and then add 20% for opening up the line fully to get the cap on, you would have been up to 24,000 barrels of oil flowing a day. Doing the math, you would see that the 6,000 barrels recovered represents a 25% decrease in oil hitting the Gulf. Is anybody in the press jumping up and down screaming, hey, good news, we are making progress????
Now let's just say hypothetically, that number doubles here over the next day or two, we would be up to 50% (assuming the 20,000 barrels estimate is correct). That would be really good news. Let's watch the press over the next 48 hours and see what the tone is. I am cautiously optimistic that we will see numbers that indicate a recovery rate that shows we are heading in the right direction. There were challenges encountered over the last 24 hours that I think have been fully worked out and in turn we should see more and more progress. What's the total recovery rate going to be, I can't say. I do know it won't be 100% until we get the relief wells completed.
We had a pretty rough day with the weather. In turn, that means you will probably see/hear about more tar/oil substances hitting the beach. Most of what we have seen has been tarballs that are less than a quarter in size.(yes there has been some "mousse" and splatter, but not too much at this point). It's a shame that the term "tarball" is used when the size is more like a marble or walnut. I guess tar-nut just doesn't sound right.
There is an army of cleanup folks out there working hard to make sure they can get the tarballs cleaned up as soon as possible. Furthermore, there is a whole regatta out there doing surveillance trying to spot the tarmats off-shore so they don't break into tar patties and then eventually tar balls. This is the new "Gulf War". We have planes, helicopters, boats, troops on the ground, satellites in play, etc. etc. etc. to try and beat back this oil.
On a side note, a buddy of mine whose family sells boats (yeah ya'll know him) down in our neck of the woods called me today and said that his potential customers are really worried about being able to boat, fish, etc. due to the oil spill. That is a darn shame. Not a drop of oil has hit the coast in our neck of the woods, but as far as people know the whole Gulf is filled with oil. Thanks a million press corp. and politicians. When are they going to change their focus from "a catastrophe" to a "response". Let's get real, this has been going on for 46 days and we have had minimal impact on our coast but maximum impact on our local businesses. Saying the spill is killing us out of one side of your mouth, while saying come to our beaches out of the other really sends a mixed message. Potential tourists are going to listen to the negative, the news is going to concentrate on the negative, and the locals will suffer. Time will tell what the impact of the oil/dispersants will be on the Gulf, but right now we are killing our locals with all of the skewed news.
Here's the deal, folks over here are working hard to minimize the environmental and economic impact. That message is not being adequately conveyed across the masses. I have shot you fellas straight all along and will continue to do so while I am here. In turn, I'd like to request ya'll help spread the truth about this response so that we can beat back all of the negative press that's killing our neighbors and start concentrating on the positive steps being taken and the fact that our beaches are open and the fresh from Florida seafood is still available. Alright, gotta run to a meeting. Take Care.

[MudDucker]

Thank you sir! This is the kind of real information we need!

[Redbelly]

I heard CNN reported tar balls on Destin Beach. Has anyone else heard that? I am hoping for a miracle.

[Harmsway]

Attaboy! Scoop Sea. Keep the scoop coming.

[killswitch]

Thanks for reporting.................great info.

[Jumptrout51]

boggob gets mad when we say positive things about the oil spill response efforts.

I will say something positive anyway.
The IFA tournament out of Panama City today weighed many redfish.
Not one had a tarball stuck to his ............self.

[What a mess]

I heard CNN reported tar balls on Destin Beach. Has anyone else heard that? I am hoping for a miracle.

Why don't you start your own thread rather than hijack his?

Have you seen a drop of oil or a tar ball yourself?

Don't stick your head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong thats no good.

Don't try to make everything worse bigger etc..

Here is a person with first hand knowledge and is telling the good and the bad.

He suggested we have mercy on those that are being effected by this now.

Guess you don't approve of that sentament what a shame.

Yes this is America you do have 1st amendment rights.

Your not a commie just a very negative person at times.

This is one of those times.

[Aquamaholic]

Thanks Scoop Sea, It's nice to hear from someone that is not trying to sell adspace on their news channel. Keep up the good work!!! And thanks again for your continued efforts and for keeping us all posted.

[CSMarine]

Thanks Scoop. Maybe we could leave this thread open for the real "Scoop" and questions only. Sea Scoop is as close as we are getting to what's really going on. Post the opinions on the other threads. Just a suggestion.

[Scoop Sea]

Yes sir, there have been tar balls reported in Destin and even a little further east, but wait, there's more...........tar balls as I noted in the opening thread are subjective in nature when being described. I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I understand that the tarballs that washed ashore were about a nickel in size. I also understand that they were being cleaned up and then the weather turned south and the crews had to leave the beach. I don't know if they were all cleaned up or not. As posted earlier, the weather today and yesterday really hurt our ops, in turn, you will see more tar balls, etc. coming ashore over the next few days. That being said, cleanup teams will be deployed at daylight tomorrow barring any bad weather.
Maybe somebody will start reporting on how quickly the crews are reacting. There is a tiered approach, fight the oil off-shore, work it near shore, clean it up on the shore if it arrives. A strong initiative to utilize volunteers is under way for reporting purposes, i.e. folks that already do beach walks to note turtle nests, folks that do beach cleanups in the morning (think hotel staff), etc. These folks will call in the sightings, if the areas are in environmentally sensitive areas (nesting areas, culturally sensitive areas, etc.) a Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team will be mobilized. The SCAT team will advise on what can/cannot be cleaned up, etc. Once the SCAT assessment is done, the cleanup teams will move in. So, there will be times when oil may sit on a beach for an unspecified time due to the process. For lots of the sandy beaches and man-made beaches, the SCAT team will not need to be utilized, in turn, cleanup should be able to take place.
Maybe our tourism groups can use Walt Disney World as an example: It's the greatest place on Earth, right? You go there with your family, tons of trash gets dropped on the ground, gum, wrappers, etc, but there is an army of workers who concentrate on making sure those items are properly picked up. You and the family still have fun, all the while, the streets/sidewalks, etc. are being cleaned up. Well, let's say you head to Destin and some tarballs wash up, the whole beach will not be ruined, the workers will come in and remove the tarballs and you and the family have a good time. Yeah there may be some disruption, but how much, probably not too much. Well, what if I go in the water, will I get tarballs on me? Don't know, probably not, I'd say you have a greater chance of getting stung by a jellyfish. Yeah but the tarballs are toxic (because the news said so) right? nope, tests have been run and they are not toxic. Would I eat them, nope. Would I freak out if one gets on me, nope. The word toxic has been used way too much. Remember, by the time the oil product reaches the shore or the area in which you are fishing, etc., it has come up 5000 feet through the water column and it has travelled a really long ways, which leads to weathering. The "toxins" will have been long gone by that time.
Lastly, there is continuous air and water monitoring/sampling going on. There has not been one actionable level exceeded on the air monitoring/sampling...........Not one of the thousands upon thousands, not a single one. You can smell the product at levels in the parts per trillion range, but actionable levels are way more conservative than parts per trillion, i.e. you can smell it at magnitudes less than any actionable levels.

Alright, I've got to run, but before I do I want to include a few websites you all can check out. One of which: Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com I already posted. The second is a BP public site that provides some overview of boom deployed, etc. The third is the EPA's website for the response, it gives some intel on environmental and health questions, etc. I hope ya'll find them useful.

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

http://www.gulfofmexicoresponsemap.com/dwhi/

http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

[What a mess]

Any Idea how long the fishing closures will last in any given area?

[Jumptrout51]

More HAPPY NEWS;
BP cap captures '10,000 barrels' a day in US Gulf.
reported by BBC.

[Redbelly]

More HAPPY NEWS;
BP cap captures '10,000 barrels' a day in US Gulf.
reported by BBC.

This is good news, now we need a miracle to stop it.

Thanks for answering my question Scoop Sea.

[Scoop Sea]

What A Mess: To answer you question about the Fishery Closures: The NMFS Southeast Fisheries Office in St Pete sets the closure, they are not located in our Command. However, I have checked with one of the NOAA reps here and they advised that NMFS use the 72 hour trajectories and a buffer for uncertainty. Areas are re-opened if they never had oil in them and are outside of the new 72-hour trajectory+buffer. No one seems to know how long they will remain closed and it's quite possible that the closure area will increase east (not my words...........).

Wasn't that good news about the 10,000 barrels a day being recovered, you might recall I mentioned this could happen "hypothetically" yesterday Now, hypothetically speaking, what if the results can get even better, wouldn't that be great? Let's say for example, all of the valves aren't open yet and the choke and kill lines on the BOP are still accessible to recover oil/gas later on (hopefully within a wee). Hypothetically speaking that would lead to a greater recovery of oil. Folks should remember two things: First, this process will not capture all of the oil (only the relief wells will stop the flow) and in turn, we will have this continue for months. Second, some of these procedures are risky and come with dangers. We should all applaud the successes that are happening, but we should remember, methodical approaches need to be taken to ensure that there are no other loss of lives.

Gotta run, I'll try to hit ya'll with a post later.

[Flint River Pirate]

God bless you Scoop. I sincerely appreciate you and look forward to your posts. I want to buy you a steak dinner when all this is finished. I don't look at Fox News first anymore, I log on here first. At first I was skeptical of your facts because I don't know you but, I have quickly found that you are about a day ahead of the AP. Thank you buddy!