Hurricane Alex Could Halt Oil Spill Cleanup

Posted in Alabama Maritime News,BP British Petroleum,Environment,Florida Maritime News,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News,Mississippi Maritime News,Texas Maritime News on June 30, 2010

BROWNSVILLE, TX – Hurricane Alex, the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2010 season, was bearing down on Mexico and the southern Texas coastline, far from the spill but generating waves big enough to hamper the cleanup effort 500 miles away.

Oil cleanup workers were evacuated from the beach in Port Fourchon, La., on Tuesday because of high winds and lightning. Dozens of vessels used for skimming and supplies were halted. Rough seas make it impossible to contain oil so that skimmers can pick it up or it can be ignited.

However the storm was not expected to delay efforts to plug BP’s runaway well 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, and it could help disperse some of the tens of millions of gallons of oil that have spewed into the gulf since late April.

The turbulent weather was expected to last through Thursday.

High waves at the well site delayed surface work to prepare for the next phase of BP’s system to collect oil at the wellhead, said Toby Odone, a company spokesman. That phase, in which up to 25,000 barrels of oil a day would be collected through a free-standing riser pipe that could be quickly disconnected if a hurricane threatened, is now expected to be completed in early July.

But BP said existing systems that are collecting about 25,000 barrels a day were not affected by the rough seas, nor were efforts to drill two relief wells that are considered the ultimate solution to plugging the well.

Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said winds from the storm might tend to push oil toward the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts. But there was little possibility of oil being pushed inland.

“We’re not dealing with a situation where we’re running the risk of having a storm surge with oil in it,” he said.

Mr. Vaccaro said the winds and higher seas may help “weather” the oil, breaking it up into smaller droplets that are more easily consumed by microbes. While some weathering occurs in all conditions, he said, a major storm “helps by stirring up the water and literally pounding away at it.”

In addition to higher winds and waves, the gulf was due for heavy rains as moisture brought into the region by the tropical storm encountered a cold front from the north, said Eric Wilhelm, a meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College, Pa.

The rainfall may flush marshes and other sensitive coastal areas, Mr. Vaccaro said.

Source:
The New York Times.