Oil Enters Pensacola Bay: Plans to Protect Inland Waterways Fail

We are at Day 53 of this slow motion catastrophe creeping toward our shores. To date, only tar balls and sheen have arrived inside of Pensacola Bay; not the oozing, mucky oil that has destroyed areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. So far, Pensacola Bay and the adjacent waterways, estuaries, bayous, canals and marshland, have been somewhat safe, but I fear the the damaging oil is close. Optimists in the Pensacola area wanted to believe that there was a plan in place to head off the oil at the pass, the entrance from the gulf to our inland waterways. That dream is all but dead. Oil has entered into Mobile Bay and to our west, Perdido Pass, the place with the best opportunity to thwart the spewing oil from the gulf, was breached, thick oil is now wreaking havoc in Alabama's inland waterways.

On June 9th, Ryan Dezember, Press-Register reports:

"Oil made its way through Perdido Pass overnight, invading the inland waterways of Orange Beach. Some oil traveled as far as Bear Point, soiling the grassy shoreline three miles down current from the pass.

Dezember also reports:

Though BP and government officials have tried for weeks to protect the pass, their efforts proved fruitless.

"It's been like a Chinese fire drill," Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said. "It was a very discombobulated and discoordinated effort.

"It still is and they've had five weeks to plan this."

Kris Sliger, a BP representative, said at a public forum in Orange Beach today said that a multimilion-dollar plan to keep oil out of the pass with a mechanical system is in the works, but that it may be three weeks before it's operable.

_{FULL STORY HERE: Oil enters inland waters north of Perdido Pass in Orange Beach}

_{Published: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 Ryan Dezember, Press-Register}

Oil is still looming outside of the Perdido Pass

My question is, "Where were the skimmer boats? And, why didn't they protect the pass?"

One report is that local officials were required to remove the protective boom so that boats could pass through. They were told by federal officials to leave the boom open. As a result, oil entered the inland waterways. It's also important to remember that rough weather renders the boom option all but worthless, as waves and wind drive the oil over and under the floating barrier.

BP and the Federal Government tell us that thousands of vessels have been deployed to help with the clean up.

Rena Havner Philips, Press-Register reports:

Dozens more private boats were deployed in Alabama waters Friday to search for and skim oil, and many more were on standby as their crews awaited hazardous-materials training.

Gov. Bob Riley has said that such boats will form a critical line of defense along Alabama's coast.

The new boats bring to 220 the number primarily working the Alabama coast, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials. There are another 158 in Mississippi and 112 in nearby areas of Florida.

Most boats are seeking to locate and report oil -- be it in sheens, tarballs or other forms -- and the others are skimming, said Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Murphy with the Coast Guard.

_{FULL STORY HERE:More skimmer boats deployed to fight oil spill; many more on standby}

_{Published: Saturday, June 05, 2010, By Rena Havner Philips, Press-Register}

Can eBay Save the Day?

The problem is, as stated by said Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Murphy with the Coast Guard, that most of the boats are locating and reporting the oil. Other boats are actually skimming the oil. Skimmers aren't as plentiful as the federal government and BP want us to think. Local Charter Boat Captains and fisherman have stated that when they spot and report oil it can take hours before the skimmer boats arrive, if they arrive at all.

Someone is taking the desperate need for a skimmer vessel into their own hands.

ALAN SAYRE - AP Business Writer reports:

A Florida company seeking a specialized boat for oil spill cleanup duty in the Gulf of Mexico found one at the eBay on line auction site.

Midway Auto Inc. of Morganville, N.J., said it sold the 27-foot skimmer this week. Spokesman Dan Velba said the buyer will use it in Louisiana where oil is washing ashore from the BP spill.

Velba said Wednesday he'd received a deposit from the buyer, who he would not identify, and was waiting for the rest of the $89,000 price.

_{FULL STORY HERE: Oil skimmer headed to Louisiana via eBay By ALAN SAYRE - AP Business Writer}

I'm sure that California Gubernatorial candidate, Meg Whitman (R) would be pleased to know that the company she helped build, eBay, is helping gulf coast citizens find the equipment needed to protect their wildlife and habitat on eBay. It's a gift to know that we can secure specialty equipment through online auctions. It's a shame that we have to resort to this when our own government has let us down.

Gulf Coast Residents Tire of BP & Federal Government Interference

Giving the fight everything we've got is indicative of the amazing spirit of gulf coast residents. We won't sit back and wait to be rescued by the government, and we won't sit down and shut up any longer; we're attacking the problem head on. Fairhope, Alabama's Mayor Tim Kant is a prime example of the gulf coast spirit.

Bill Riales, a Digital Journalist for WKRG.com / News 5 reports:

Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant finalized plans today for a double layer of oil boom to protect sensitive areas of the Eastern Shore.

The boom was already being laid, south from Point Clear around the Grand Hotel, northward to just south of Montrose. The move comes just days after the Fairhope City Council approved the mayor's request to spend some $650 thousand to get the boom. It also comes in the wake of a month-old plan by BP and Unified Command to protect the Eastern Shore that should have already been in Place.

"That plan, as Governor Riley found out, for whatever reason, went into the trash can," said Kant.

_{FULL STORY HERE: Fairhope Begins Putting Out Its Own Boom to Protect Eastern Shore by Bill Riales}

_{Published: Wed, June 09, 2010}

Mayor Kant provides timely updates for his community through his Facebook page. Here is his latest post:

BP Oil Spill June 11th Update - Today at 1:30pm

The deployment of containment boom by the City of Fairhope contractor continued again this morning. To date, there has been 15,500 feet deployed and plans are to complete an additional 2000 feet today. After today's work, there will be approximately 3000 feet of containment boom left to deploy. All channel openings in the boom will be marked with 27" yellow floating buoys with white flashing strobe lights.

As of Monday morning of next week, 25,500 feet of 8" absorbent boom will be staged nearby....ready for deployment by our contractor should oil or sheen commit itself to Mobile Bay. This boom will only be deployed should the threat of sheen threaten our shores, primarily due to its relatively short "shelf life" once deployed in the water.

We need more leaders like Fairhope Mayor Kant, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, and Governors Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, and Bob Riley, Alabama. This oil spew and the resulting failure of the federal government to provide qualified leadership or competent coordination to protect and clean our coast has been eye-opening for residents.

So, where are the skimmer boats?

So much more could have been done to protect our coastal communities from the spewing oil. Especially enlightening is what's being discussed in other countries about our oil response efforts. RNW - NEWS Netherlands includes a story by Johan Huizinga that states:

"Two Dutch companies are on stand-by to help the Americans tackle an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The two companies use huge booms to sweep and suck the oil from the surface of the sea. The US authorities, however, have difficulties with the method they use.

What do the Dutch have that the Americans don't when it comes to tackling oil spills at sea? "Skimmers," answers Wierd Koops, chairman of the Dutch organisation for combating oil spills, Spill Response Group Holland.

The Americans don't have spill response vessels with skimmers because their environment regulations do not allow it. With the Dutch method seawater is sucked up with the oil by the skimmer. The oil is stored in the tanker and the superfluous water is pumped overboard. But the water does contain some oil residue, and that is too much according to US environment regulations."

US regulations are contradictory, Mr Knoops stresses. Pumping water back into the sea with oil residue is not allowed. But you are allowed to combat the spill with chemicals so that the oil dissolves in the seawater. In both cases, the dissolved oil is naturally broken down quite quickly.

_{FULL STORY HERE: Dutch oil spill response team on standby for US oil disaster, Published May 4, 2010 By Johan Huizinga}

Our US regulations are contradictory. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows BP to use a toxic chemical dispersant to "disperse" 100% of the oil it is sprayed on, absorbing that oil into the environment. But, the EPA will not employ the use of the Dutch skimmers because they collect the oil/water mixture, capture 50% of it and pump 50% of what they collected back into the environment in a residue dispersed form. In both approaches the dissolved oil is naturally broken down quite quickly. The EPA favors a 100% dispersed over a 50% dispersed option. It doesn't make sense. Capturing as much oil at sea as possible should be a priority. Once oil reaches the shores it's much more damaging and difficult to clean up.

Talking about Louisiana's coastline, RNW - NEWS Netherlands Johan Huizinga also reports that, "A team of around eight men are on stand-by and four skimmers and extra material are ready to be loaded. The local senator is already convinced and is trying to talk the admiral who is coordinating the operation into accepting help from the Netherlands. The answer may be given today."

I'm not hopeful that an answer is forthcoming. In a press conference today, Admiral Thad Allen announced that he was unaware of any Jones Act waiver requests that would allow non US Flagships to participate in the clean-up activities. It appeared as if he passed the buck, framing the waiver request as "a customs issue." It appears that no one is granting a waiver to get us the help we desperately need here on the gulf coast.

I have an answer when friends and neighbors ask "Where are the skimmer boats?" Some are out there working. Others are in the Netherlands.

Online Sources:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/oil_enters_back_bay_inland_wat.html

Oil enters inland waters north of Perdido Pass in Orange Beach

Published: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 Ryan Dezember, Press-Register

More skimmer boats deployed to fight oil spill; many more on standby

Published: Saturday, June 05, 2010, 6:20 AM By Rena Havner Philips, Press-Register

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/more_skimmer_boats_deployed_to.html

http://www.sunherald.com/2010/06/09/2245866/oil-skimmer-headed-to-louisiana.html

Oil skimmer headed to Louisiana via eBay By ALAN SAYRE - AP Business Writer

http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/fairhope-begins-putting-out-its-own-boom-to-protect-eastern-shore/894692/Jun-09-2010_6-28-pm/

Fairhope Begins Putting Out Its Own Boom to Protect Eastern Shore by Bill Riales

Published: Wed, June 09, 2010

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-oil-spill-response-team-standby-us-oil-disaster

Dutch oil spill response team on standby for US oil disaster

Published on : 4 May 2010 - 12:44pm | By Johan Huizinga