I participated today in a Gulf Oil Incident Briefing regarding the initial success of the newly installed sealing cap, the continuing clean-up efforts, the on-going biological concerns and the status of the claims process for those individuals, businesses and local governments affected economically. Beth Marietta Lyons of Lyons & Crane and the local Mobile Legislative Delegation organized the briefing, which was held in Mobile, although many of us, unable to be in Mobile this morning, participated by conference call. We heard from Dr. George Crozier of Sea Lab, USCG Captain Steven Poulin of the Unified Command, Kris Sliger an EVP for BP and various local coastal officials.
This briefing was very informative and free of the media clutter that has sometimes accompanied reports on this historic oil leak. My intent is to share with you the factual statements and information I took away from the meeting. I hope you find this report informative and interesting.
The Good News
As the briefing concluded shortly after 1 pm today, the 87th day following the incident, the newly installed sealing cap had successfully contained the oil leak from the well for almost 22 hours. Kris Sliger of BP Oil reported that there was zero leakage thus far. He also made it clear that the important pressure testing was not yet underway and that the sealing cap containment would be measured continuously and reevaluated every six hours.
Sliger also made it clear that the sealing cap is not a permanent solution to eliminate the oil leakage from the well. The relief well approach remains the final fix to kill the well and seal it with cement. As of today, one of the two relief wells has only 30 feet remaining to be drilled and is only 4 feet from the original well. The process to complete the remaining drilling becomes more tedious and slow as engineers work to complete the relief well on target. This relief well, barring weather delays, is hoped to be complete by the end of this month.
We also learned that, although still not perfect, the process for handling some 120,000 financial claims was improving. The first checks were released around May 5th and primarily to those directly impacted by the oil leak, such as commercial fishing operators and shrimpers. My recollection is that some 65,000 claims had been processed to date along with some supplemental claims. BP’s Sliger admitted that, while improvements to the claims process were being made, much remains to be done over time.
Unified Command and Assets in Place
Captain Poulin gave an overview of the Unified Command Structure and the enormity of assets in place along the Alabama coastline. With 45,000 personnel in place, this is the largest response to an oil incident in history. In Alabama waters alone there are 660,000 feet of boom deployed. The entire gulf incident operation is made up of the following assets (partial list):
6,300 vessels
600 skimmers
120 aircraft
1,900 miles of boom
On-Going Concerns
According to Dr. George Crozier, Executive Director of Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the biological effects on marine life are not yet well known. In terms of the Gulf of Mexico he believes the greatest risk is to the area known as the Mississippi Bight (Mobile Bay to Bay St. Louis) and the estuarial region in this area.
Dr. Crozier was quick to point out that the oil is less a concern than are the chemical dispersants used at depth. The science behind using chemical dispersants at the wellhead is based on the advantages of breaking up the crude oil into smaller parts and allowing the microbial community to attack the particles. What is unknown is the effect the use of dispersants at depth may do in terms of the toxicity to the food chain. The fish today are free of toxins. The fish over the next year may or may not be free of toxins. Continued testing will provide the answers.
Adult fish in open sea are better able to deal with the oil. The juvenile fish and eggs found in the estuaries are more sensitive. A primary estuarial concern is the bay anchovy – as a key part of the food chain, these tiny fish are most sensitive to toxins. The Sargasso grass found in the Gulf of Mexico grows at the surface and acts as a shelter to infant fish, crab and shrimp. It creates a floating cover that they use to move into the estuaries to live their juvenile lives before returning to the sea as young adults. A fear has been that oil would foul the Sargasso grass and kill the young seal life that depends on it for shelter. One possible positive sign in this regard is that these young creatures have been observed floating under fouled grass and spots of weathered oil and surviving under them.
Dr. Crozier stated that the Gulf and its biologic system can eventually heal itself and recover in several years.
