Goal For The Green

There may be a glimmer of new hope, for cleaning up the Gulf Coast spill.
A ship, billed as the world’s largest skimming vessel, form Taiwan, continued testing its abilities in the Gulf of Mexico, on Sunday.

It is called, A Whale, and if tests in a 5-by-5-mile area, north of the underwater gusher are successful, the massive ship could play a key role in oil cleanup efforts.

The boat, which swallows water with oil, then separates it, can skim about 21 million gallons of oil a day. That’s at least 250 times, the amount that modified fishing vessels, currently are able to do.  At present, there is a floatilla  of about 550 skimming vessels, that were out in the Gulf on Sunday, conducting skimming operations.

Initial results from tests are expected Monday, TMT spokesman Bob Grantham said.

Meanwhile, a shift in winds began Sunday, and could send more weathered petroleum, toward sensitive shores in Mississippi and Louisiana, the Coast Guard said.  Bad weather, over the past few days has significantly hampered cleanup efforts, due to Hurricane Alex.

“The weather is one challenge you can’t defeat,” Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zunkunft said.

Ribbons of oil, stripe the water for miles, but waves Saturday, were still too high ( 5-6 ft), for the 550 boats that were  ready, to skim oil off the water.

“At the Coast Guard, we do take it personally.  It is portrayed, as mission failure, any time oil washes ashore,” he said.

Zunkunft said, he will put the skimmers back to work, as soon as the sea calms.

Researchers have estimated that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels (1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons) of oil, have been gushing into the Gulf daily, since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, and sank off the coast of Louisiana.  We are now, on day 75, since this disaster began.

The A Whale, arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday, last week, and has been awaiting, approval from the Coast Guard, to join in cleanup efforts.

The skimmer, works by “taking in oily water through a series of vents, or jaws, on the side of the ship and then decanting the intake,” Grantham said.  “In many ways, the ship collects water like an actual whale, and pumps internally like a human heart.”

Zunkunft said, he is also calling in reinforcements, including 300 new skimmers, in the next two weeks.

For the 12-hour period from midnight, until noon Saturday, approximately 7,980 barrels (335,160 gallons) of oil were collected and about 4,155 barrels (174,510 gallons) of oil, and 28.3 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared, BP said.

The company said about 25,290 barrels (1,062,180 gallons) of oil were recovered Friday.

As many as 60,000 barrels a day, however, are still spewing from the well, according to government estimates.

The ultimate solution to stopping the leak,  by drilling a relief well, is seven to eight days ahead of its mid-August target date for completion.  But, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, said Friday: “I am reluctant to tell you it will be done before the middle of August, because I think everything associated with this spill, and response recovery, suggests that we should under-promise, and over-deliver.”  I think, we all can agree, with that statement.

As vast as this spill is, it would seem that even with A Whale, it would take at least as many days, to clean up the waters, as it has, since this tragedy began, 75 days ago.  So, patiently we wait, and pray for New Hope!