BP to Try ‘Anything, Everything’ to Stop Gushing Gulf Oil Well
The attorneys-general from Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana met yesterday in Mobile, Alabama, to discuss legal options and strategies. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said the uncertainty of the oil slick’s size is the biggest concern.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King said the fund created after the Exxon Valdez tanker spill may need changes to meet the damages from the current incident in the Gulf.
BP has released 156,012 gallons of dispersant so far to break up the oil, said Bill Salvin, a BP spokesman. The company hasn’t been able to fully assess the efficiency of the method, Abendhoff said. BP was unable to spray dispersants yesterday because of weather conditions, said Steve Rinehart, another spokesman.
Strong Winds
Strong winds and 7-to-10-foot waves make it impossible to measure whether the dispersants lowered the volume of oil emerging on the sea surface, Abendhoff said. The response teams opted against conducting flyovers yesterday due to continued foul weather, Rinehart said.
Surface estimates of the size of the slick and skimming efforts were hindered as the Coast Guard ordered boats and aircraft back to port because of stormy weather. Salvin said 23,968 barrels of crude and other material has been picked up by skimming boats.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration previously estimated the well is spewing 5,000 barrels of oil a day. At that rate, the volume of the spill would exceed Alaska’s Exxon Valdez accident by the third week of June.
While BP has begun an investigation into the cause of the explosion and resulting leak, it hasn’t set out a timeline for the project, Rinehart said.
BusinessWeek
5/1/10
Magnolia Tribune
