Scoop Sea's Oil Spill Thread

[Scoop Sea]

No problem Leesburgga, wish I had more on that subject.

I attended a meeting today in which I was advised that the relief wells are ahead of schedule and that without any further interruptions (bad weather, mechanical problems) it's actually feasible that the wells could be put into place by the end of the month and the oil could stop flowing. A lot has to go right for that to happen, but that would be great. I'm not laying down any money on that, but it would sure be nice to have an end date for the flowing oil. We know that we'll have several more months of cleanup left after that, as well as years of scientific study as well, but to get the oil to quit flowing would be great. In that same meeting, I was advised that the A Whale just isn't doing too much collecting of oil at this time. It's recovered a lot of water, but very limited amounts of oil. I believe that the review period will now be extended a few more days to see if the ship/process can't be tweaked to gain better results. Lastly the new containment system has been hampered by weather, but "could" be up in running within the next few days if all goes well. Once again weather will be a factor in that occurring.

This evening I am writing this post from Orange Beach, Alabama. I had a meeting down here this afternoon and decided to stay down range instead of heading back over to Mobile.. I'm currently looking out at the beach and there is a 30 foot wide strip of brown staining/oil. It’s not consistent all the way down, but from my vantage point it looks pretty disgusting. Fortunately, this strip was left after the last high tide and folks have a nice wide swath of beach they can enjoy between the strip and water. I haven’t seen any oil in the water, but this obviously came in today or last night. Folks are also out there swimming in the water although there is a health advisory indicating they shouldn’t. I don’t blame them, if I can’t see or smell the oil, I’m in…. Currently, there are also a lot of contractors setting up lightstands and equipment getting ready to do some night ops. In turn, hopefully tomorrow morning the beach will look the way it’s supposed to.

Hopefully the winds will die down soon and help with the recovery work (and let those folks who are able to go fishing, go fishing).

I hope all is well with you all.

[Good Times]

Thanks once again Scoop.

[FUTCHCAIRO]

HEY SS, WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE REPORTS THAT YOU SEND. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
PA THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA SEMPER FI

[red_yakker]

Thanks for the update SS

That's great news about the relief wells. I'm sure it's a morale booster for those working the spill to have and end to the leak in sight.

I know it's probably impossible to answer this with any degree of accuracy, but how long do we have after the leak stops before the last bit of oil washes up onshore? Do they know how long it takes for the oil to get from the leak to land? Days? Weeks? Months?

[Scoop Sea]

Hey Red_Yakker: That's a great question that we do not have an answer for. We "predict" at least two months from the time the flow stops, until the last visible amount can possibly hit the shore. That being said, that's just a prediction and does not account for the oil that gets caught in the sediment off-shore, etc. and then eventually makes it's way here. We are talking about the floating/recoverable oil. My personal guess is that we could be dealing with tarballs for years to come, dependent on hurricanes, geomorphology, etc. We know that there is oil under the beach surface and we'll have to deal with that after the spill stops as well. Like everyone else, I wish we could be more specific, but we can't be at this time.

[Scoop Sea]

This afternoon I made it back to the County after being gone nearly three weeks this go around. Upon entering C’ville, I stopped at the Jr. Store to get a Wakulla News and Woods & Water. There are two things I do religiously when I return from being out of town, 1. buy a Wakulla News and 2. go to Hammaknockers Oasis (down at the Panacea airport) for BBQ or steak and to catch up with my Pops on the local happenings. Anyway, when I was at the store, a lady approached me and asked “I see you are with the @@@, have you been busy with the oil spill?”. I advised her that I was just returning and that I had just stopped to buy the Wakulla News before going to my house. She asked how the spill was going, etc. and then proceeded to advise me that Apalachicola, etc. was really being hit hard due to the oil spill. I kindly countered that the oil spill was not the only thing keeping folks away from Apalach, but that the national media had done a wonderful job of scaring folks away from our neck of the woods. She then advised that she was with the local paper herself and asked if I could give her my card so that a reporter could follow up with me. I obliged. Who knows if they will follow up or not, however, the point still remains the same: The national media has absolutely killed our local businesses that rely on tourists. I told the woman that there should be more articles on how our beaches have no oil, our seafood is safe to eat, and we have plenty of fishing opportunities in this area. I further advised that we should be conducting a mass media outreach event letting the tourists know that they can come to our neck of the woods to do some fishing, eat some seafood, and hit the beaches. We’ll see if anything comes of it….

Well, I am hoping that by the end of the weekend the new cap is on and we are recovering most, if not all of the oil. Skimmers have been placed out near the source, since putting on the new cap requires removing the old cap and this allows an opportunity for oil to be released. We have been needing a “good weather window” to make this happen and it looks like we are in the midst of one. Let’s pray (seriously, please do so) that the weather holds and the new capping system works. No, this will not kill the well, but it will be a nice increase in the amount of oil being recovered. Killing the well will require having the relief wells being put in place AND being successful. I am still optimistic, that if the weather holds, we can have that done by the end of the month or so. I don’t want to get hopes up too high, but this could be a great month for us…………. I am finally seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel, as far as the spewing oil goes. We will just have to wait and see. There are a lot of variables that we have to factor in.

As a reminder, here are a few things to remember: The oil will not stop flowing until the well is killed. We don’t have oil on our beaches, our seafood is safe to eat, and our fishing areas are open. Most importantly, all you really have to do is go to Heaven………..
I was hoping to come home and go scalloping, but I hear they aren’t in our area (St. Marks, Lanark). Please let me know if what I am hearing is wrong, I’d love to get some local scallops.
I hope all is well with everyone………. Take Care.

[big bend gyrene]

Sadly, and crazily, Sea Scoop the hit to Florida tourism is being felt far and wide, with areas far further away from oil than us still being greatly impacted. Got a friend who guides down near Sanibel and he's seen a huge hit to business with out-of-state folks canceling due to "FLORIDA COATED IN OIL!" news articles. Almost cried when I read his last report.

http://www.barhoppr.com/rept070310.html

[Scoop Sea]

Hey BBG: The first story in that link is exactly what I am talking about. Between the National Media and rampant politicos, our businesses that depend on tourists are being killed, even when the oil isn't in their area. Hopefully the new Top Hat will work and that "positive news" will change the tide in the full time negative media blast that is taking place. If we can turn the image around (for the areas not impacted), then maybe those businesses can salvage some of the summer tourist season.

[CSMarine]

Thanks SS. Again BBFN comes through with cutting edge info from it's members. Be safe out there SS, we are all depending on you for the first hand truth from the front lines.

[Scoop Sea]

Talked to my buddy who is alternating with me on our tours down range tonight and he said it looks like all systems are go for having the new cap on by Monday morning. Of ocurse, bad weather or mechanical hiccups could delay the newest cap, but right now it looks pretty positive.

My wife ended up getting two tickets to the Jimmy Buffett concert tomorrow evening, so we are going to head that way tomorrow morning. A colleague of mine working in the Orange Beach area said he saw Brooks & Dunn's tour bus in Gulf Shores this afternoon, so it looks like they may be in town to play the concert as well. The "rumor mill" has Alan Jackson and possibly Brad Paisley stopping by as well. Since the concert is going to be shown live on CMT, I expect that some star country talent will be there, Brooks & Dunn would definitely fit that description. Having just left that area yesterday, I sure hate to turn right back around and drive back, but since the Misses holds down the fort while I am gone, I sure owe it to her to turn around and go back. In turn, we'll be west bound tomorrow. A few of these: and everything will be good to go........... Hopefully, by the time we head back Monday, we will all have heard that the new cap worked and most, if not all, of the oil is being recovered..... "Come Monday Everything Will Be Alright", dang, that would make for a catchy tune.......

[Scoop Sea]

We hit the Buffet concert last night and had a good time. The crowd was fairly mellow considering the atmosphere. Although the Brooks & Dunn tour bus was right outside the concert they weren't there. It was basically Jimmy and some of his ol running buddies. I did see Crist at the concert, he was in a cabana next to Governor Riley of Alabama. It was kind of like the kings overlooking their subjects......

The beach this morning looks great even though there are crews out there picking up very minute tar balls. It gives me hope that the beach can look that good in just over 5 days (the last time I was here). Of course, I do know that there is oil below the surface and we'll have to address that when all of the oil stops coming ashore.

I spoke with the crew over at the Command Center and they advised that the capping operation is progressing right on track. Furthermore, the relief wells continue to be a little ahead of schedule. Both updates are positive. Let's hope this is a great month for this response and we do not have any hurricanes or other bad weather to mess up the progress.

[FUTCHCAIRO]

HEY SS, THANKS FOR THE REPORT, HOPE THEY CAN CAP THAT SUCKER IN THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, STILL A GAZILLION GALLONS OF OIL TO RECAPTURE OUT OF THE GULF.
PA SEMPER FI

[Scoop Sea]

I'm with you FC, I'm hoping they can get it fully capped and then get the relief wells completed fairly soon. As you noted, there will still be a lot of oil in the Gulf to contend with, but at least we will have turned off the faucet and have something finite to work with.

I saw a buddy of mine this afternoon and we got to talking about scalloping. He told me that they had noted a lot of "open" scallops at St. Joe, i.e. opened up with no viscera or meat inside. He had heard that this was possibly due to the dispersants that have been used. I told him that it seemed highly doubtful that dispersants were causing this since 1. no dispersants have been used in the State waters off of Florida, Alabama, or Mississippi and 2. sampling has been conducted in the water, air, and sediment, looking for dispersants, and none have been found. He still concluded that it was probably the dispersants (mind you he knows what I do for a living and what my role in the response is). An older gentlemen we know was standing near by and he advised "maybe there is a bumper crop of starfish this year". Good point. I don't know if there are more starfish this year or not, but it just goes to show that even though there may be a logical explanation for something "strange" happening, we will first look at the oil spill as the cause, then look at other possible reasons. I feel confident this will be the case for years to come. Fortunately, funds have already been set aside to pay for long term environmental studies, etc. to help research the effects of the spill, etc. This should allow for plausible explanations to events that take place over the next several years, that may or may not be tied to the oil spill.

I spoke with the folks over at Command a little while ago and they said things are progressing pretty well for the capping (the new cap is on). They are going slow to make sure they don’t have any major mistakes, etc. It will take some time for testing, etc. to determine how well the new cap will work, they don’t want pressure to build up and blow out lines/cap, etc. Hopefully everything will be complete real soon and the flow will be stopped or seriously restricted.

Alright, let’s hope this is a great week full of good news about the oil spill capping, which turns into an even better month, with the relief wells being put into place.

[Jumptrout51]

Fortunately, funds have already been set aside to pay for long term environmental studies, etc. to help research the effects of the spill, etc. This should allow for plausible explanations to events that take place over the next several years, that may or may not be tied to the oil spill.

The study will report what the environmentalists want it to report.
Similar to the grouper and snapper reports.
BTW,did you hear there are no grouper or snapper because they are over-fished?

[Scoop Sea]

JT: I hope that's not the case for the long term studies related to the oil spill. My point in my thread was geared more towards the fact that this local buddy of mine was stating that dispersants were causing the harm to scallops, yet the environmental studies thus far showed no dispersants in these waters. That's where the "plausible explanations" come into effect with the future studies that money has been set aside for. I concur on the fishing studies, they just don't add up in my opinion.