Oil is here

T

thataway

Active member
Unfortuantely at 4:30 AM this morning (June 4) the first oil balls and moose was discovered on the beach. BP didn't appear on the scene until about 1 PM. The oil has been seend from Gulf Shores AL to Navare on the beach. So far the passes are not blocked, and thus there will be some oil getting into the ICW thru the passes. There are plans to close the passes in the next day or two. Unfortuantely there are 3 masters: the Country--who wants all passes and ICW closes. The Coast Guard--who says you cannot restrict navigation (even in the 17 Bayous which are to be protected (including the one where I live). BP--says "let us handle it", but no one can move until an order comes from above. Our county commissioners were on the beaches telling the workers what to do. Not the best chain of command, but we have a lot of expertise with beach clean up due to hurricane. It is an endless task--trying to pick up tar as more comes in. Not a

Just reported that there is lots of heavy oil at Gulf Shores. So far we had avoided it--not now. The pictures of oil covered wild life is heart breaking.

I pulled the Caracal out of the water yesterday. Tom Cat and Duroboat are on lifts/davits.--Our booms go out tomorrow.
 
I am very sorry to hear that.

What a horrible and tragic disaster this is. I wonder how we will ever recover from it...
---
mike
 
Bob,

I am so sorry to hear this. With over 45 days of inaction or non-productive action, I'm afraid this is just the beginning. I hope the booms help. Those of us who live on the Gulf know what this means to the economy and the beautiful shores we call home. This has been like watching a slow motion train wreck. Our hearts go out to you.

:cry:
Jim
 
Dr Bob sorry to hear it I thought by now BP would have capped it but I think they are still trying to figure what to do . You would think they would have some plan before this happened .

We here that tar balls are floating into here (Naples)I dont know this for a fact I will go out this week into the gulf and take a look . They say that the currents will take this sludge and oil out to the East coast . Lets hope and pray that the powers that be get a hold on this and can clean up this mess.before this gets a lot worse .
 
It is sad indeed.

Poor response from what I see on the beach and on the water around Destin.

News is we are supposed to start seeing it on the beach tomorrow afternoon.
 
Thanks for the on site reports. Seeing the pictures of the birds suffering breaks my heart. What we can't see is probably worse.
Our government in Washington should let you folks on the front line decide what is the right way to clean up and protect your area. The one quote from DC that really got my dander up was about not letting sand be dredged and placed as barriers. They said they were not sure what the invarimental impact would be. What do they think the oil is doing.

Our President sent his lawyer- what does he know?

We will pray for you and your area.

Fred, Pat and Mr. Grey
 
Bob,

When I saw that oil was washing up on the beach in Pennsicola, I thought of you guys. This whole mess is sickening. What's most amazing to me is that none of these problems were apparently anticipated so that none of the attempted fixes had "ever been tried before at this depth". It seems to me that if this were say a NASA operation, all of the worst case contingencies would have been thought of and many possible fixes attempted at depth PRIOR to a disaster occurring.

Also, I can't help but notice that many of the people in the regulatory roles were industry insider who were put in place over the past many years. In the short to medium run, we have to depend on better regulation of these industries as we are going to be running on oil for the foreseeable future. It's abundantly clear that we will have to require additional safety measures (perhaps the relief wells should be dug at the same time the main well is dug, perhaps we need redundant blowout preventers etc?) for this industry to continue which at present, it must.

Hopefully, the gusher is mostly stopped today or tomorrow and the clean up efforts proceed as best they can.
 
Bob sorry to hear the oil has reached you. I expect before it's over we will be dealing with it in NE Florida. On the news tonight the local volunteer bird rescue organization "Beaks" said they had 200 volunteers ready to deploy to help clean up the birds. They gave this number for anyone who was interesting in volunteering in the clean up effort. 866-448-5816.

Ditto on Rogers comments.
 
As soon as this disaster occurred I thought of the beautiful beaches you took us to and that we explored during our winter in Florida. What a tragedy for all of us.

Warren
 
That Mayan prediction seems more plausible every day! Bob, I thought I had heard they were going to try and protect the ICW by fashioning some sort of locks and cleaning the boats on entry...?I'm near the Sebastian Inlet on the East coast...cant imagine how the oil can be stopped from flowing in here without closing it off to prevent tidal flow. Very fast and treacherous currents. I haven't heard our county's contingency plans yet....are there no booms around the inlets on your side? This just makes me :crook :amgry
 
Any predictions for how bad this is gonna get? We have plans to vacation on the Weeki Wachee the 2nd week of July. I wouldn't imagine that the mess would make it into the river unless a storm pushes it, but we're trying to decide whether or not we should take the C Dory for gulf coast day trips from a canal home that we have reserved.
 
Bob,

I hope the booms work for you, most of us don't live so close to the damage that is being done. My heart goes out to those who are having their home and living damaged by this slow moving monster. In the longer term, anything that limits the damage will also speed the recovery.

On the subject of limiting the damage, I couldn't believe it when the idiot bureaucrats tried to veto dredging sand up to protect the wetlands! Just because there was no environmental impact study! What next with those clowns, an environmental study to see if it is a good idea to let the fire department put out the burning house down the street? Even if they could plug or capture every additional gallon starting right now, it will be decades before all this junk is out of the wetlands and the estuaries it has gotten into around the Gulf.

Kerry
 
Bob - we were thinking of you too when we heard it was getting close to Pensacola. Out here many of us can barely imagine what it must really be like. Here's hoping that somewhere down the road this all has an acceptable if not happy ending...
 
I read an interesting (but unverified) report about an oil spill that the Saudis managed to keep a secret. Apparently one of their wells developed a leak. Their response was to round up a whole bunch of tankers, suck up all the oil from the water (with much water, of course) and take it ashore, where the oil was separated and refined, and the water returned to the ocean. Wonder if that would have worked in the Gulf, or if this account is even true.

Warren
 
Bob - We are sick about what is happening to the gulf coast. Edna is from that area, and we boated a number of times in Florida waters. Your assessment of what is happening there will certainly be helpful. Keep it going. John
 
hey dr. bob,
thanks for the update. don't have the words to describe my feelings regarding this subject, at least words that i could print.
best regards and good luck,
pat
 
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