Category Archives: gulf of mexico clean-up

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

CBS Evening News: Four years after devastating BP oil spill, scientists search for life in the Gulf

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/four-years-after-devastating-bp-oil-spill-scientists-search-for-life-in-the-gulf/

CBS Evening News

By CHIP REID CBS NEWS April 17, 2014, 7:11 PM

It happened four years ago Sunday.

A well drilled by the BP oil company blew out, killing 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig and unleashing a gusher into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days.

Now for the first time since 2010, scientists got a close look at the seabed not far from the capped well.

Fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana we climbed aboard the research vessel Atlantis.
This is where we found Mandy Joye, a University of Georgia oceanographer and the leader of this expedition. She’s been studying the Gulf of Mexico for 20 years.

“People who have never seen the bottom of the ocean can’t appreciate how just phenomenal it is,” Joye said.

Joye and her team of 22 scientists are spending this month diving to the Gulf floor in a Navy research submarine named Alvin. They want to know how the bottom is doing four years after the oil spill.

The answer is a mile down, a two-hour descent into darkness.
“We are on the bottom at 1,607 meters,” Joye can be heard saying.

Alvin landed just two miles from the well that spewed 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.

This is the first time Joye – or any human – has been down here since 2010.

What kind of marine life did she find down there four years ago?

“Four years ago there was nothing,” she said. “I saw one crab in an eight-hour dive. It was gut-wrenching to go down there and see just nothing on the sea floor. ”

And now?

“It’s very different,” Joye said. “Now, we saw eels and skates and a vampire squid, which I’d never seen before.

What does it mean to find a vampire squid in an area that had been dead?

“It means there’s a lot of food,” she said.

That was the good news.

But there was potential bad news in sediment samples collected from the sea floor. The mud contains an oily layer from the spill, and Joye worries the residue could adversely affect marine life in the longer term.

“This material that’s on the sea floor, there’s a lot of it,” she said. “It’s widespread. And it’s just sort of sitting there. And nothing’s happening to it.”

What does it mean to see that life is at least beginning to come back after the devastating oil spill?

“I was prepared to see little recovery and I was so relieved,” Joye said.
But there’s still a long way to go, she said.

“Because, again, this is one spot,” she said. “And you can’t apply what you see at one spot to the entire system.”

Joye and her team plan to keep a close watch on the Gulf with four or five research cruises a year. She said it could be a decade before the full impact of the oil spill is known.

_________________________Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, energy policy, fossil fuels, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

The New York Times OpEd: The Deepwater Horizon Threat By S. ELIZABETH BIRNBAUM and JACQUELINE SAVITZ

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NYTimes Op-Ed 4.17.14
APRIL 16, 2014
image002 5529.jpg 2
Credit Doug Chayka

FOUR years ago this Sunday, BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out, destroying the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers and setting off an uncontrolled oil gusher lasting 87 days. By the time the flow was stopped, an estimated 200 million gallons of oil had entered the ocean.

The harm to gulf wildlife has been long-lasting if not fully understood. One recent study found that dolphins in the gulf region were suffering from problems consistent with exposure to oil: lung damage and low levels of adrenal hormones, which are important for responding to stress. Another study found that bluefin and yellowfin tuna sustained heart damage, which suggests likely harm to other fish as well. Another legacy has been the oiling of marshes along the coast, which has exacerbated coastline erosion by killing grasses that help keep the shoreline intact.

One of us, Liz Birnbaum, had for nine months been head of the government agency that regulated the offshore drilling industry when the spill began. We were both horrified to discover that the best efforts of industry and government engineers could not stop the spill for months.

We would never have imagined so little action would be taken to prevent something like this from happening again. But, four years later, the Obama administration still has not taken key steps recommended by its experts and experts it commissioned to increase drilling safety. As a result, we are on a course to repeat our mistakes. Making matters worse, the administration proposes to expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic and allow seismic activities harmful to ocean life in the search for new oil reserves.

Following the spill, the administration promised that it would do what was necessary to make drilling as safe as possible. A presidential commission recommended numerous measures to increase drilling safety. The Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior and the National Academy of Engineering subsequently identified more problems that contributed to the spill. Though some recommendations have been acted upon, including restructuring the regulatory agency that oversees drilling and increasing training and certification for government drilling rig inspectors, threats remain.

One huge concern centers on the blowout preventers, which seal wells in blowouts and are the last line of defense for events like the one at Deepwater Horizon. It’s unfathomable that the administration has failed to act on the findings of the December 2011 report of the National Academy of Engineering, which gave us some very bad news about Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer.

Its massive cutting blades were supposed to slice through the drill pipe to stop the flow of gushing oil. But it turned out that these huge pieces of equipment were not adequately engineered to stop emergency blowouts in deep water.

The academy’s report was detailed and damning. Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer “was neither designed nor tested for the dynamic conditions that most likely existed at the time that attempts were made to recapture well control,” the report said. More troubling, the shortcomings of Deepwater’s equipment “may be present” at other deepwater drilling operations, the report said.

Administration officials promised an immediate response to the N.A.E. report, including regulations to set new standards for blowout preventers by the end of 2012. Today, 16 months after that deadline and four years after the blowout, we still have not seen even proposed rules. Deepwater drilling continues in the gulf. New leases are being offered by the government and sold to energy companies each year. Yet the N.A.E. report warned that a blowout in deep water may not be controllable with current technology.

The risk of another blowout is real. Offshore wells have lost control several times in the past year. In July the Timbalier 220 well spewed natural gas for two days in the gulf, setting a drilling rig on fire, before it could be stopped. Its operators were fortunate that the blowout took place in just 154 feet of water, where the pressure is lower and underwater access is easier, and that the spill was mostly natural gas. But the same lack of control could easily lead to another oil blowout in deep water.

This continuing threat to the oceans is compounded by the administration’s recent proposal to allow the use of seismic air guns to search for oil along the Atlantic coast. Scientists use these blasts to map the subsurface of the seafloor. But they harm a wide range of species, and the Interior Department’s own analysis indicates that they may kill large numbers of dolphins and whales. Rather than waiting for pending scientific guidelines that would determine whether this acoustic testing could be done safely, the administration has rushed to allow the oil industry to move forward.

We have seen this pattern before. The expansion of drilling into deeper water and farther from shore was not coupled with advances in spill prevention and response. The same is true as we push into new territory in the Atlantic. As we commemorate one of the worst environmental disasters in United States history, we hope our leaders can rethink the expansion of offshore drilling, put real safety measures in place in the gulf and chart a course for safer and cleaner solutions to end the need for this risky business in the first place.

_____________

S. Elizabeth Birnbaum is a consultant at SEB Strategies, and was director of the Minerals Management Service at the time of the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Jacqueline Savitz is vice president for U.S. Oceans at Oceana, an international conservation group.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on April 17, 2014, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: The Deepwater Horizon Threat.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

Nola.com: Study finds high rates of depression, anxiety among Gulf oil spill cleanup workers

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http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2014/04/study_finds_high_rates_of_depr.html

By Jennifer Larino, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

on April 11, 2014 at 4:23 PM, updated April 11, 2014 at 4:25 PM

Researchers studying the health of nearly 33,000 people who did clean up work during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill say it’s still too early to tell what impact exposure to oil and dispersants will have on their bodies in the long-term. But early results show widespread symptoms of depression and anxiety. Researchers hope a second phase of more intensive health tests conducted over the next year will help paint a more detailed picture of the spill’s health impact.

Scientists with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on Friday (April 11) provided an update on the study, known as the Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study, or GuLF STUDY, in a conference call with reporters. Researchers have enrolled close to 33,000 who were hired or volunteered for cleanup work since the study began in 2010. About 24 percent are Louisiana residents. In addition to more than 12,000 telephone interviews, researchers have completed in-home health screenings with 11,000 participants, collecting blood and home dust samples and doing basic blood pressure and diabetes screenings.

Dale Sandler, a principal investigator with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences epidemiology group and leader of the research effort, said early data show symptoms of depression are prevalent among cleanup workers. The study group reported symptoms at a rate 30 percent higher than other people in areas affected by the oil spill.

Sandler said the findings are “not a surprise” given the stressful and dirty work most cleanup workers were involved in. Most were residents of communities impacted by the spill, which prior research show are prone to higher rates of depression and anxiety, she said. Still she said there is no definitive link between the spill and mental and physical health problems. Sandler said her team is still gathering key data, including how much oil and dispersants each participant was exposed to. “It will be many years before we can know if the oil spill had an impact on the risk of developing chronic disease such as lung disease or cancer,” Sandler said.

BP, the owner of ill-fated Macondo well that was the source of the spill, responded to the early findings by underscoring its role in ensuring the health of and safety of cleanup responders. BP said in statement it collected 3,000 air monitoring samples evaluating dispersant and oil compound exposure in addition to providing training and protective equipment for each worker. “BP worked closely with OSHA, the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and other U.S. government agencies to take extraordinary measures to safeguard the health and safety of responders,” BP said.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences research team is now partnering with the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and the University of South Alabama in Mobile to complete a second phase of the study, which includes in-depth research exams with some 4,000 participants within a 60-mile radius of each testing center. The research exams will include a battery of tests measuring proper lung and neurological function and heart health. In addition to blood and urine samples, researchers will use saliva samples to test for stress hormones. Participants will receive $150 for their time and additional funds for travel.

Sandler added participants who are found to have chronic diseases such as diabetes will be eligible to receive health care at the network of clinics being funded by the multibillion-dollar Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits settlement. Sandler said a key hurdle moving forward is ensuring participants remain engaged in the study, which could last decades. “The issue of keeping people in Š is a very big challenge,” she said.

Sandler said being able to plug into cancer registries and scour other long-term data is key to getting a full picture of the health impact of the oil spill. She added long-term data prevents results from being skewed by economic or social factors – someone playing up their medical problems in order to get a bigger pay out from the settlement, for example.

She said her team is getting creative to make sure those who enrolled in the study keep in touch with researchers, in some cases going door-to-door to maintain contact with participants.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

The Legal Examiner: BP & The Real State of the Gulf – Pollution Report for Friday, April 11, 2014

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http://neworleans.legalexaminer.com/toxic-substances/bp-the-real-state-of-the-gulf-pollution-report-for-friday-april-11-2014/

New Orleans, Louisiana

Posted by Tom Young
April 13, 2014 8:30 AM

Pensacola Beach was searched by Florida Department of Environmental Protection specialist Joey Whibbs on Friday, April 11, 2014. Whibbs collected 110 BP Deepwater Horizon tar balls weighing nearly three pounds. Photos courtesy FDEP.

The following is a summary of the 4/11/14 daily beach oiling report issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). I will endeavour to publish this summary each day the FDEP issues such a report. While the media and public believe that the effects of BP’s Deepwater Horizon Blowout and Oil Spill have been largely eradicated, this data suggests otherwise.

It is important to note that these reports of daily oil discoveries come at a time when BP is attempting to renege on its oft-stated “Commitment to the Gulf.” The company is repudiating the Contract it made with area businesses and individuals that compensates them for economic and environmental losses associated with BP’s spill.
Now BP claims that it is the victim. You be the judge, and if you are outraged, sign our petition to hold BP accountable, nearly four years after the company’s disaster.

My Summary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Oiling Report
Friday, April 11, 2014

On Friday, FDEP environmental specialist Joey Whibbs conducted a post-response monitoring survey on Escambia County, Florida beaches, with a focus in the Pensacola Beach area.

Numerous Surface Residue Balls (SRBs or “tar balls”) were found throughout the area.

These hardened balls are often filled with deadly, flesh-eating bacteria. Do not handle without protective gloves.

Friday’s findings indicate that oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill is still quite prevalent. A total of 110 tar balls were collected during the survey, amounting to nearly three pounds of Deepwater Horizon oil product removed from these sections of beach – by one person.

Since the end of BP’s official cleanup efforts in June 2013, over 40,000 tar balls and 1,984 pounds of Deepwater Horizon oil have been documented and removed from Florida’s beaches alone (not including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas). On an average survey day, the FDEP team covers no more than 1,000 yards of beach, less than 1% of Florida’s shoreline that was impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Therefore, these numbers represent a very limited snapshot of residual oiling on Northwest Florida’s beaches.

For instance, this is an example of the ground covered in an average survey:

From this data, it appears BP has left town well before the job was done. So much for the company’s “Commitment to the Gulf.”
See below for images of some of Friday’s collected oil.

FloridaBPOilSpill4=11=14

Portion of BP oil observed Friday, April 11, 2014 on Escambia County, Florida beaches. These hardened balls are often filled with deadly, flesh-eating bacteria. Do not handle without protective gloves.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration, marine pollution, offshore oil, oil pollution

Common Dreams ‘This Is Not Over’: Gulf Life Still Reeling From Toxic BP Spill

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/09-6
Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Report on four year anniversary of worst oil disaster in US history details fourteen ailing species
– Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer

See powerpoint slide show at: http://www.slideshare.net/NationalWildlife/deepwater-horizonfouryearslater-nationalwildlifefederation?utm_source=slideshow02&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=share_slideshow

sea turtle
Photo: Jacqueline Orsulak / National Wildlife Federation

Nearly four years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe, plants, animals, and fish in the Gulf of Mexico are still reeling from the toxic spill, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Wildlife Federation.

The report, which arrives just ahead of the disaster’s anniversary, examined 14 species of wildlife in the Gulf and found ongoing impacts of the disaster that could last for decades.

“Four years later, wildlife in the Gulf are still feeling the impacts of the spill,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation. “Bottlenose dolphins in oiled areas are still sick and dying and the evidence is stronger than ever that these deaths are connected to the Deepwater Horizon. The science is telling us that this is not over.”

According to the findings, in 2013 dolphins were dying at three times normal rates, with many suffering from “unusual lung damage” and immune system problems.

In addition to the ongoing plight of dolphins in Gulf waters, the researchers found that every year for the past three years roughly five hundred dead sea turtles are found near the spill, “a dramatic increase over normal rates.” These sea turtles only recently recovered from near extinction—a recovery that has now been drastically threatened by the spill.

“The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle has long been the poster child for the possibilities of restoration in the Gulf,” said Pamela Plotkin, associate research professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University and director of Texas Sea Grant. “Once close to extinction, it has rebounded dramatically over the past thirty years. But four years ago, the numbers of Kemp’s ridley appear to have flat-lined. We need to monitor this species carefully, as the next few years will be critical.”

According to the report, sperm whales in the area are showing higher levels of “DNA-damaging metals” than others in other parts of the world—”metals that were present in oil from BP’s well.”

In addition, deep sea coral colonies, which “provide a foundation for a diverse assortment of marine life,” within seven miles from the site of the spill, were still “heavily impacted.”

Other findings, as stated by the group, include:

Oyster reproduction remained low over large areas of the northern Gulf at least through the fall of 2012.
A chemical in oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats in bluefin and yellowfin tuna that can lead to heart attacks, or even death.
Loons that winter on the Louisiana coast have increasing concentrations of toxic oil compounds in their blood.

“Despite what BP would have you believe, the impacts of the disaster are ongoing,” said Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior policy specialist for Gulf and coastal restoration. “Last year, nearly five million pounds of oiled material from the disaster were removed from Louisiana’s coast. And that’s just what we’ve seen. An unknown amount of oil remains deep in the Gulf.”

The Gulf oil disaster—which is the worst in U.S. history—”will likely unfold for years or even decades,” NWF writes. “It is essential that careful monitoring of the Gulf ecosystem continue and that mitigation of damages and restoration of degraded and weakened ecosystems begin as soon as possible.”

Despite the ongoing travesty the Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that it removed its ban on BP contracts in the U.S. and new drilling leases, including in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shortly after, the oil giant won bids to start new drilling operations in two dozen separate locations, a total pricetag of $54 million.