Extent of Oil Spill - Admiral's Update

July 3rd, 2010 1:39pm

NEW ORLEANS -- Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft briefed the media Friday, July 2 on the current weather and its effect on the oil spill response.

Paul Zukunft: As Alex has now moved inland, we're still seeing some of the residual effects of that tropical storm, which has prevented us for the past 48 hours from doing any skimming or in-situ burning both near shore and offshore due to weather conditions.

As a result of the waves that have washed ashore, it has displaced some of the boom.  And in the Gulf of Mexico, the footprint of this oil sheen runs as far east as Panama City, Fla. and as far west as Fourchon, Louisiana.

The more concentrated oil is closer to the well site itself, but we now have a northeast wind direction, and it's going to gradually shift to the east over the weekend.  And so that footprint is going to slowly march  to the west.  And what that means is that some of that oil is going to wash along Mississippi Sound.  And where it first meets a permanent barrier,  that's the Mississippi River Delta and then Chandeleur Sound.

I'm concerned, because as I look at the environmental sensitive areas across the region, besides Barataria Bay, that area is an equally sensitive one and there will be oil impacting that area, in the past probably 24 hours and perhaps in the next 24 hours.

I'm especially concerned with some of the wildlife habitats in Chandeleur Sound and Brush Island, which is a wild bird fowl rookery, and there could be oil impacting that area, as well.

Offshore the seas are now down to seven feet, and that's out at the well site. They're moving out to resume the skimming operations out there.  The supertanker, the A Whale,  has been assigned a five-by-five-mile square area just to the north of the well site, and they'll be working that tomorrow.  We have Coast Guard research and development and strike team personnel to assess the effectiveness of the A Whale and the skimming, as well.

As water enters Lake Borgne, it then goes through an estuary system, through the Rigolets, and then into Lake Pontchartrain.  And for me, that is where I'm losing the most sleep right now, is if oil were to enter into that system and ultimately into Lake Pontchartrain.

I'm not here to say that it's there, but I'm going to look, and if I see even sheen, I'm going to push to make sure that we're moving all available resources to respond.

Now we've got  450 miles of oil-impacted shoreline and ongoing activity in those locations, as well.  But doing this in triage fashion right now,my most critical patient right now is the Chandeleur Sound area.

Posted in: None

View / Add Comment | 0 Comment(s) | Rating: 0 of 5 | Share: Twitter, Facebook