Oil Spill

[Choupique]

I’m worried. :grind: This is gonna get bad.

[Branch_Office]

Saying it is 40 miles out and they have all the best oil spill crews working on it. So, let's think positive!

[GreenWave]

I flew over it today. It is absolutely uncontained, and appeared to me to be uncontainable. Too massive a spill over too wide an area. I think our best hope would be sustained north winds, but I don't think those are in the forecast. I'm worried too. The east side of the river would be bad enough, but the Barataria Estuary would be disastrous.

[Choupique]

This only after a few days; with no foreseeable way to close the leak within 2 months time.

[yak-aholic]

can someone post a link? I'm kinda in the dark here

[Branch_Office]

Here is a couple for you.....http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604308.html

http://www.wwl.com/pages/6896022.php?contentType=4&contentId=5990433

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0426/Spread-of-Gulf-oil-spill-puts-fragile-Louisiana-Coast-on-alert

[tumbleweed]

http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12379728

There are plenty of stories on WAFB, where I just saw this report.

It is leaking at a rate of 42,000 gallons a day, it is capable of pumping out 300,000 gallons a day. This is all according to WAFB, not me.

I don't believe that things will be okay, but that is just me.

[yak-aholic]

Yeah, with a spill of that magnitude, it's hard to be optomistic.

[Hobie1Kenobie]

I am on one of the vessel's working to stop the leak. I can't elaborate too much. But will say that there have been multiple failsafe shutoff's that have failed.

[Branch_Office]

Thanks for the news although not very encouraging at this time. Please keep us posted as you can.

[dut]

I unfortunately work directly w/ BP and know a few of their supervisors in our region. This \has been ugly from the start and looks to only be getting worse as the oil keeps flowing. This could put a big burden on our state's oil driven economy for many years to come and you could possibly even see giants like BP go Bankrupt.

I pray for the families who have been hurt by this and those who will be hurt by it in the future.

[bigredbobber]

I pray for the lost and injured workers and I'm praying for all of the Gulf Coast. This will impact everyone down here if it hits the beaches.

[swamppro]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_edvxM1dkFlo/S9W8XkDmbeI/AAAAAAAAAaM/9NBya8PW6dg/s1600/SkyTruth_dhrig_spill-modis-25apr10-aqua-interp.jpg

[ecb]

Yep, Tragedy on multiple levels.

Sad, very sad.

[Branch_Office]

Oil spill is reported to be 40 miles wide and 100 miles long today and 20 miles from Venice and leaking 42,000 gallons of oil a day which is $85,000 a day. BP is spending aprox. 6 mil a day to try and stop the leak. It is reported that they are going to "light the spill on fire" to burn off some excess which they have done before.

[Branch_Office]

They reported the burn could take care of 60 to 90% of the oil spilled at this time.

[kevmoe]

I work in the oil field and scared to death what this could do to the future of Louisiana's economy. From oil to fishing this could be worse than Katrina

[Choupique]

I would think that if anything Louisiana’s oil economy would be fine, as other states like FL would shy away from drilling after this. Very sad situation on all fronts though.

[dut]

The oil industry will bounce back due to the fact their are no cost effective alternatives to it. We will see some new regulations and precautions that will push gas prices up to the 4 dollar range again though. People will complain, but all the while it is our way of life as human beings until an alternative is discovered.

The fishing industry will take a harder hit in the short run. If the leak is not controlled soon the gulf coast as we know it could be doomed. The slick is almost doubling in size daily and the only think keeping it from land now is the north wind and high mississippi river. This weekends weather is the make or break point. If the oil gets inland the clean up effort will be much harder and it could spread much faster through channels canals and cuts.

[Branch_Office]

They are reporting now that this could be worse than the Exxon Valdez spill years ago.

[bigredbobber]

if we get that south wind like they're talking about, it will be worse.

[dut]

We won't see nearly the amount of oil, but I think the area effected will be much larger and the clean up will be much more difficult considering the marshes will want to hold the oil once it comes in contact. Predictions are saying the outer sheen will make landfall in La sometime Friday and Miss, AL, and FL could see it on their beaches as early as Sunday. Then the inshore tides and currents will just spread it as they please. Hopefully the burn today will reduce a good amount, but with the way things have been going I'm not to optimistic at this point. Hopefully it will stay to the East of the river and minimize the damage we take as a state, but it's to hard to predict the path at this point. On that same note we don't need it getting into Lake P only to spread to maurepause and the surrounding waterways.

CCA sent out an e-mail this evening regarding the spill and they are watching it closely. I wouldn't be suprised if you start seeing water closures within the next week to keep fisherman out of the way of the clean up crews.

[MDR]

I am on one of the vessel's working to stop the leak. I can't elaborate too much. But will say that there have been multiple failsafe shutoff's that have failed.

Please keep us posted with what you can share. I am pretty certain all of us understand the privacy restrictions, etc. I am interested to see if the "burn" can/will be as effective as they say.

[LSUsoccerbum]

First they said don't worry, it's not leaking. Then they said nothing. Then they said it's leaking 1,000 barrels a day. Now they say it's leaking 5,000 barrels a day. Is anyone else really worried about what this will become?

[ReelThrill]

This actually makes wind power look appealing. I hate to think how this is gonna turn out. Oil companies just don't have what is needed to properly handle and contain a spill this size (and it's still growing). The fishing industry in Alaska has never been the same since the Exxon Valdez, and they did not have the marsh systems like we do. I really hope the outcome will be better than it looks but so far it's not looking good. Hopefully they are able to cap it soon and stop the constant flow, at least then they can focus entirely on containment and management. Worked on a few spill cleanups in the Caribbean and with the marsh systems here it would be a tough fight. I'll be there with my shovel and bucket if it comes to that though.

[Branch_Office]

Yep, here is the other thread we have going on this issue as well..http://www.bckfc.org/showthread.php?476-Oil-Spill&highlight=spill

[Speck Tackler]

Reel thrill

Where are you getting your information concerning the catch numbers in Alaska?

[Hobie1Kenobie]

Update...I think they are finally let me and my guys go in and shut it down. We have been on monitor duty primarily up til now. One of our competitors have been trying to shut in the well. No dice. I'm about to be really busy for a while. I will repost when I can (if you don't hear about it on the news first) and let everyone know if we got it or not.

[dut]

I spoke w/ the wife last night about helping w/ volunteer work. She and a few of our friends are all for it. I don't want to jump to conclusions early, but if this thing does get bad would the club be interested in helping out for a day or two? Alabama and Mississippi are already asking for volunteers to sign up.

[bigredbobber]

I'm in. Here's a contact for animal rescue and rehab. I hate to say I'm sure they will need plenty of volunteers. If interested in volunteering, please contact Rhonda at rhonda@wildliferesponse.net.

God be with you and your boys down there Hobie1Kenobe.

[dut]

My wife is a vet so her motivation is the animals down there. I'll do anything to help the situation, as they will need all the help they can get. Thanks for the link and I encourage anyone else who may have spare time to help out.

[Kingfish]

I hope you guys can get it done, Hobie1.

I also hope this doesn't turn out to be more of a disaster than it already is. I knew one of the 11 lost-great guy, young wife is having a baby this week.

Somebody needs to review those "failsafe" measures.

[Speckled_Tiger]

Hobie1 may be able to correct me, but word around my office is that many of the failsafe options had not been attempted at those depths before and what worked in lab/theories is not proving true in real life. Can anyone confirm this?

[ijuswannafish]

Stay safe Hobie1 and you guys get it done. Keep us as informed as you can.

[Bighead]

I spoke w/ the wife last night about helping w/ volunteer work. She and a few of our friends are all for it. I don't want to jump to conclusions early, but if this thing does get bad would the club be interested in helping out for a day or two? Alabama and Mississippi are already asking for volunteers to sign up.

I'll see if I can get a contingent from Texas to go help if needed.

Bighead

[ReelThrill]

I have no data on the specific catch numbers, but recently watched a full documentary on the Exxon Valdez spill. It was a look into the containment and clean up efforts made after the spill. There were interviews conducted with the local fisherman showcasing how their lives have changed since the spill. One of the major fisheries affected were the Salmon fisherman. I will search to see if I can find any information on how the fisheries were affected.


Reel thrill

Where are you getting your information concerning the catch numbers in Alaska?

[ReelThrill]

Here is a full report of the incident. The accident happened in 1989 and in 2007 a survey was taken from 96 sites to see if any oil remained. Minimal oil was found on the surface of the shorelines, but just inches down significant amounts of oil were still found in 58% of the sites surveyed.


http://www.eoearth.org/article/exxon_valdez_oil_spill

http://www.ngoilgas.com/news/worlds-largest-oil-spills/

[bigredbobber]

I hate to think of what that means for Louisiana. I know we won't be the only ones affected by this but no one has the extensive and broken up marsh habitat like we have, no one has the "estuaries of America" in their backyards as big as ours.

I can't imagine not fishing saltwater for 20-30 years. Anybody ever paddled Bayou Trepagnier (sp?) near LaPlace? Ever drive by Murphy Oil in Chalmette after Katrina?

This is what we have to look forward to for a mighty long time, if something doesn't happen soon.

Please Pray for favorable winds y'all.

[dut]

Speaking of the Valdez, a co-worker of mine has a brother who chartered salmon fishing in the area. Even though the spill ruined his career Exxon pays him a sweet check of 17,000 every 4 years. If you've ever been to Alaska you know thats equates to like 5k every 4 years down here. Our future is going to be much different than we were thinking a few weeks ago.

[pedalmedic]

Speaking of the Valdez, a co-worker of mine has a brother who chartered salmon fishing in the area. Even though the spill ruined his career Exxon pays him a sweet check of 17,000 every 4 years. If you've ever been to Alaska you know thats equates to like 5k every 4 years down here. Our future is going to be much different than we were thinking a few weeks ago.
Lived in Fairbanks, Ak for 4 years and fished in Valdez after the Tanker hit the rock, Saw the rock, 5 ft away. Unreal how much water was around something that was 3 feet deep. If you are and Alaskan citizen you do get a "dividend check" from the oil companies. It depends on how much oil profits were made. Cool deal. The chartert that we used said that alot of the oil was consumed by micro organisims... we also called him Capt Ron. :) Don't know if there is any truth to the mirco's. In all reality I did a charter in 92/93 and the evidence was not so bold as to say man this place is destroyed, of course there is a lot of rock in alaska, and the marsh will not be as forgiving fo the clean up. A buddy of mine from Rhode Island is even concerened. I pray that it does not become a mess and am keeping my fingers crossed.

[bigredbobber]

Considering we supply 30-40 % of all consumed seafood in America, everyone's gonna suffer. If we had better politicians, we'd be getting dividend checks, too.

[swamppro]

Yeah you know who's wallets would get fat in La. Its depressing seeing this unfold on the news. I pray to God that its not as bad as it can be. I hope yrs. from now I am not telling my boys how good the fishing USED to be. Scary scary situation guys

[yak-aholic]

VERY scary...
What's worse is that there's nothing we can do to stop it. This isn't something we can vote on or even all get together and try to stop. The only thing we can do is pray and wait. And the only thing we can pray for is some unseasonal North winds to push this back out in the Gulf until they get a better handle on it.

[dut]

The scary thing is the proposed fixes taking up to 3 months......I hate to say it, but what SP is saying may be a reality, and we could be talking about "what used to be" in our future.

[Hobie1Kenobie]

Hobie1 may be able to correct me, but word around my office is that many of the failsafe options had not been attempted at those depths before and what worked in lab/theories is not proving true in real life. Can anyone confirm this?
True but have not been "tested" before real world. The primary shut in works off of a pressure differential system that should trigger and slam shut. After looking at this thing for a week we don't have a clue as to why it didn't work but that has not been our number one objective so far either.

We are having success by the way. I am getting her shut down. I have visual confirmation that the flow is decreasing (approximately 50% at the worst spot).
Very tired.

[Choupique]

SWEEEET! get that baby closed!

[Red Slayer]

Go Hobie1!!!!

[derrelt]

May the force be with you, Hobie1.

[yak-aholic]

Be sure to give our support to all workers who are involved in this.

[MDR]

Thank you for the update Hobie1. Congrats and thanks on the progress thus far. All of us are hoping the progress in shutting it off continues and that some of the mitigation efforts will work. I guess the only real question we have at this point is just how wide spread the damage is going to be and how severe it will be.

What a horrible deal for all involved. None worse of course than the family and friends of the 11 lost. Thank goodness I'm not Mr. B.P.! The only guy happy about any of this is Mr. Toyota.

[bigredbobber]

May the force be with you, Hobie1.

+1,000,000

I pray you guys stop that oil flow. Once it's stopped leaking, at least we can get a better handle and catch up on what's out there already.


GOD SPEED!!!

[Laidback]

Glad to hear that they are getting the BOP to shut at least partially. The company I work for is actively engaged with BP in the management of the cleanup. Every available resource is being used to recover, treat or burn the oil before it hits land. But as the news reports, they are going to have shoreline impact. I've been working another incident in Venice and will be working on this one by the end of the weekend.

One thing I can tell you. The news reports and photos you see on the news are not necessarily correct. Many of the photo's are from other spills that have occurred over the years. The initial impact to shore on this spill will mainly be sheen, not the heavy, thick black crude a lot of the news would have you believe. It's going to be a mess, but with luck it won't be near as bad as the news media is making it out to be.

So, GO Hobie1. Good luck with getting the BOP activated.

If some of you want to get involved in the Wildlife Rehab effort, send me a pm. I know Rhonda and will get the information to her asap.

[Laidback]

The latest NOAA trajectory shows the impact to be to the east of SW pass so fishing to the west should not be impacted. Crews are attempting to boom of Pass a Loutre, the Breton and Chandeleur Island and other areas as fast as they can.

[RedFinn]

could napalm have been used to to burn the surface oil ???

[Laidback]

It will burn on it's own, but has to be pretty thick on the surface of the water to burn effectively. I know they tried burning it, but not sure if they plan to keep burning. The best thing to do would be to get the burn going where the oil is surfacing and keep it burning if possible. That's what they did on the Ixtoc blowout in Mexico years ago and it still oiled the beaches in South Texas miles to the north.

[Speck Tackler]

Thanks for the links to the information. This is probably as bad as it gets. When you combine the deaths of the workers and the environmental impact of the oil. Hopefully the folks out there will be able to isolate this leak sooner than later. Once the oil gets in the marsh I can only imagine how difficult it is going to be to get it back out.

[Paulup]

Image is kinda small, but here for those who don't feel like finding it on noaa.gov. The light orange color is tomorrow's projected impact.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i102/Gromann/projection.jpg

[MDR]

Laidback, I sure hope you are right on the impact of the crude. None of it is good, but that thick stuff could only be worse.

Don't get me wrong, there is NEVER a good time for an incident like this, but it sure sucks that the south winds that would have returned somw ater and bait to the marsh are going to push the oil that way too. As I said earlier I hope the mitigation efforts have success.

I guess I should not be surprised to see that this is already being politicized in the media. Without some kind of clear cut evidence I have to assume that this was simply an accident. A horrible one no doubt, but still an accident. I am sure the folks involved will look at what went wrong and take the steps needed to try to prevent it in the future. Yes, the loss of life, economic impact, environmental impact, etc are on a scale that we have not seen in the gulf for a long time, however for the folks on either side to jump to knee jerk conclusions is just plain goofy.

With the desire for great things there are often great risks. As far as I know the only way to completely eliminate the risk is to never undertake the action.

[Branch_Office]

I am going to try and merge these two post on "Oil Spill" instead of having two going on at the same time if that is ok? Any objections speak up real fast!

[Paulup]

Do it

[bigredbobber]

Here's the link for those with bad eyesight like myself.

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/book_shelf/1884_cumlative4_29_trajectories.pdf

Thanks Paulup.

[Yak-a-Lou]

* CRISP SALUTE * to Hobie1Kenobie.

Kick same arse dude!

[Branch_Office]

I am going to try and merge these two post on "Oil Spill" instead of having two going on at the same time if that is ok? Any objections speak up real fast!

Done!

[bigredbobber]

Laidback, I sure hope you are right on the impact of the crude. None of it is good, but that thick stuff could only be worse.

Next time you're in Leeville. Go by the old Texaco Docks and kick around the rocks near the road. You'll see little clumps of crude oil that was obviously washed off a rig or something nearby. That stuff is super sticky and grabs everything it touches. Imagine that possibly covering vegetation and land below the high tide line. THIS won't be pretty, man. Sheen is better than crude any day! It ain't good, but better than the other negative possibilities.

[Yak-a-Lou]

Well done BRB!

[ghack]

Goodl Luck Hobie 1 . To report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, please call 1-866-448-5816.

[ijuswannafish]

Great job Hobie 1. Thank you and your crew for all the hard work you are putting in to stop the flow.

Thanks to all who have posted info for those of us that do not know where to look to find it. Please keep us informed.

When the time comes for clean up efforts you can count me in to help as much as I can.

[MDR]

Admittedly lame excuse of not having the time to call, but I haven't. Has anyone called any of the suggested numbers and if so what kind of help are they looking for? I agree with an earlier post that this is a good opportunity for the club to get involved.

Just to prove I think it is a good idea I'll stir up the pot by not knowing the new by-laws well enough, but still make an online motion that we get involved. Or will a simple majority decision of the board suffice? And just because I enjoy typing drivel so much, lol, would an executive decision be sufficient?

Boogity, boogity, boogity let's go cleanin' boys!

[MDR]

Done!

Thank you Steve. I was going to object to any objections.

[dut]

I've came across 2-3 other unconfirmed reports from those either working the area or know someone working the area stating what Hobie1 mentioned last night. Lets hope this thing can get shut down today!!!

[Glwlsu]

Great news Dut keep us posted.

[Speckled_Tiger]

anyone else anxiously awaiting Hobie1's next post??? trying not to get my hopes up but just saw that they are getting the first few oiled birds rescued. I also just found out that while my employeer will grant special paid leave for employees to twiddle thumbs while waiting hours on end for truck loads of ice as a hurricane volunteer, they are not allowing us to take special leave to volunteer for clean up crews for the biggest oil spill this state has ever seen. Wanna know who my employer is, LA Dept. of Natural Resouces. Glad to see they are doing "everything possible". Sorry, just annoyed at the moment.

[bigredbobber]

I don't blame you ST. That's despicable. Who are they waiting for?

[Choupique]

This **** is depressing.

[ijuswannafish]

This **** is depressing.

I am thinking the same thing.

[ReelThrill]

For anyone interested, here is a recent news post in the incident.

[Tigerfish]

uh? no link.

[swamppro]

This **** is depressing.

its scary

[ijuswannafish]

That is one hell of a story. Thanks for posting that Fred.

[dut]

Most of the information i have found over the last few hours is not good....considering the way the press conference just went I'm thinking they are holding some information back. Up until this point a lot of info was being released regarding the BOP and continued efforts. The 2 things I have heard multiple times today that worry me the most: 1) the pressured sand and oil is eroding the pipe and may enlarge the leak on the side the pipe just past the BOP and increase the flow. 2) the BOP and it's rams were damaged when the gas forced it's way through and they won't be able to completely shut.

Disclaimer: This is just information I have been digging up and none of it has been validated by any of the major parties involved.

[Shankapotomus]

Great story......check it out!

http://www.mudinmyblood.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6104


Amazing!!!! I would have had to change my underoos before I stopped to catch more fish. Great story and pictures.

[Red Slayer]

Thanks Dut for the info. I am sure what we are getting here is more accurate than what is in the news. I feel sorry for people in the seafood industry who are being hurt already. I heard a dumb broad on the weather channel ask a man in new orleans if the seafood that is on the shelf now is safe. I pray for all of you down there in the thick of it that make your living off the water.

[swamppro]

I am heading down to Hopedale in the am. We are going to be cooking up enough Blue runner beans for 1500 workers. If we need more we have a trailer that has enough for 25,000. There will be plenty marsh gas in the evening!

[Lowe Tech]

I just don't even know how to respond. I'm really upset about the whole thing. Nothing sounds good. Even when/(if?) we ever get any good news about this it still is just bad bad bad.

I am all for helping in whatever fashion I can and support a club sanctioned effort. I don't have a boat to lay booms but will be out there with my shovel and bucket when needed.

[Red Slayer]

Just saw a live shot on the news showing the waves washing over the booms because of the wind.

[dut]

Yeah with this weather the booms themselves aren't holding much oil back. This is also keeping them from skimming and from burning.

[Laidback]

The seas are too rough and all skimming resources are in Venice waiting for the seas to lay down before they can get back to work. The booms that have been deployed along the passes at the Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area and the barrier islands are ineffective due to the high seas washing over them, tearing them apart or washing them up on shore. So far, the good news is that the only impact has been sheen and the rough seas and wind will "burn" the sheen off and help break the oil up in much the same manner as dispersants.

If they don't get it shut in, the sand will continue to wash the BOP and the riser pipe and the leak will probably get much worse. They have a plan to introduce dispersants into the oil near the source point. This has not been done before, but since dispersants have been effective on the surface, it is a good try on their part to at least eliminate some of the oil before it gets to the surface. The sooner the weather improves, the sooner the skimmers and booming operations can get back into operation to do their part.

Right now it's a big mess, but not as bad as the news media is making it out to be. I'm in Venice and the media is all over the place talking to whoever will talk to them so their reports are not very accurate.

I talked to Rhonda with the Wildlife Rehab section and she said her email is getting overloaded with messages. She said that if there is a wildlife impact, one of the things they would be looking for is volunteers with boats capable of going out and transporting the captured birds back to shore for cleaning. Also, may have to train people to assist in cleaning and caring for the oiled birds.

[ReelThrill]

Laidback if you have any intformation on how to volunteer for the wildlife cleanup can you post it please. Would like to offer some help for the days I can.

[Red Slayer]

Just saw on FOX news Shimp Smith said you can smell the oil in the streets of New Orleans. According to them we cannot stop the oil for three months. We are already hearing that this is worse than Valdez.

[dut]

I sent an e-mail to rhonda yesterday, but never got a reply yet (which is totally understandable). My wife is a vet and I own a boat (not sure if it'll do the job). We have a few others willing to come help but we wanted to get more info before just taking off. From what i understand the volunteer efforts are extremely unorganized at the moment and the staging areas are complete chaos. I'm sure as things unfold things wil be more organized.

[dut]

Laidback if you have any intformation on how to volunteer for the wildlife cleanup can you post it please. Would like to offer some help for the days I can.

i'm sure if you just show up they won't turn you away, but you may be running around for a few hours to find the right location. This may still be quicker than dialing numbers and sending e-mails.

[swamppro]

Just heard that CT Williams had boats run from Breton Sound all the way to Redfish Bay. They ran over 20 miles and never found a single oil boom. He is very upset as everywhere from Lake Pontch to St. Bernard is vulnerable. We are trying to organize something now

[dut]

Unfortunately they won't be able to string the coast w/ booms no matter what the media tells you. A graphic shown earlier today says roughly 5-10% of the coast from the Miss river to Pensocola can be protected by booms at most. Miss and Ala have already started stringing them in the inlets and are just planning on sacraficing the beaches. The sand will be easier to clean and renew, but once the oil makes it inland into marsh and grass it's almost impossible to remove. Unfortunately Louisiana doesn't have much of a beach to sacrafice and we have way more coast line than what could ever be protected by floating tubes of plastic. With any luck this will stay West, and can at least keep the destruction to a limited area. If it was to spread east into barataria the problems would just get that much worse.

Their was a decision made this morning to open the river control structures to try and get some help from the mighty Miss to keep it at bay. No word on opening the spillway yet to try and keep it out the Ponch, but I could see it hapening in the near future. We don't need oil in the ground water in and around N.O.

[Laidback]

The beaches are easier to clean. When oil impacts a marsh environment, often the activities done to remove the oil destroy more of the marsh than just letting the oil naturally degrade over time. The best option for cleaning a marsh is often burning it to remove the oil. Crews in Venice are deploying booms as fast as they can, but because of the sea conditions it isn't working very well and a lot of the areas are impossible to get to. BP is throwing everything available at the spill and I have seen cleanup contractors from as far away as Washington State in Venice working to deploy booms.

It's a total mess. What we really need is for the wind to shift from the north and blow the stuff back offshore.

[Laidback]

I also talked to Rhonda today. Her email has been swamped and she is getting so many messages she cannot handle them all. I have received one message and have passed it on to her. She said that they might be looking for boats and people to help transport wildlife to the cleaning stations. To do the cleaning, you have to be trained and if the numbers of oiled birds exceeds the people they have, they might conduct some training classes for the volunteers.

[Yak-a-Lou]

Every time this topic arises (many times each day) I end up with the physically "empty" feeling that I've only felt before when someone I love has died. Mostly, I'm kind of numb. Not knowing just how terrible this very well may end up being is gnawing at my innards.

[bigredbobber]

YAL, you mean it feels like Katrina X 10? you're not the only one with those feelings,my friend

[tefishmaster]

Everyone knows this is going to be the worst possible thing that could happen to La. and the whole gulf region. It makes you wonder if something like this happened during a hurricane what would the impact be. :shocked: :shocked:

[Red Slayer]

Just saw another report, there is no way to stop it. It looks like it will continue to full flow for at least 10-14 days before the next stop gap measure of this box idea comes into play again that has never been tested. BP is just starting today to drill the relief well and say it could take 3 months to hit the target of a 7 inch drill hole. They are also now saying the estimate is not 5000 bbl a day but rather it looks like 25k bbl per day.

[Racechaser]

Every time this topic arises (many times each day) I end up with the physically "empty" feeling that I've only felt before when someone I love has died. Mostly, I'm kind of numb. Not knowing just how terrible this very well may end up being is gnawing at my innards.

Aren't you glad we took that once in a lifetime trip to the Chandeleur Islands and fulfilled that dream last year. It may not be the same ever again. Talk about a fragile ecosystem. I was supposed to go again in three weeks and am totally bummed now. I bought new topwater reels and everything. :(

[Kingfish]

Every time this topic arises (many times each day) I end up with the physically "empty" feeling that I've only felt before when someone I love has died. Mostly, I'm kind of numb. Not knowing just how terrible this very well may end up being is gnawing at my innards.

Same feeling I had when i realized New Orleans was filling up with water after Katrina. Watching it unfold with no ability to change it. I'm still trying to hope for the best until we know exactly how this plays out. If they don't stop the flow of oil however, I can see this being catastrophic for vast areas of the gulf coast and all the people, industry, and wildlife associated with it.

[Paul Barnard]

Same feeling I had when i realized New Orleans was filling up with water after Katrina. Watching it unfold with no ability to change it. I'm still trying to hope for the best until we know exactly how this plays out. If they don't stop the flow of oil however, I can see this being catastrophic for vast areas of the gulf coast and all the people, industry, and wildlife associated with it.


I said the same thing to someone yesterday. I had been out of the area for a while. When I made it to Slidell and smelled the oil, it personalized the experience for me. This is BIG. I was a part of the largest natural disaster in our history and now I am going to be a part of the largest environmental disaster.

[Paulup]

Fishing closures can be found HERE (http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/pdfs/news/FISHING%20CLOSURE.pdf)

[Dmax007]

Any way this thread can be moved to the non-members only area? There are lots of folks that would benefit from this information but are not members. Especially if this forum can ignite volunteers - as appropriate. Just an idea...

[swamppro]

I will be taking the saftey and hazmat classes this evening. Right now a crew is being trained for hopedale/shell beach.

[revredfish]

Picked up the paper in Bangolore India two days ago found this in the news. Today several folks I talked about were able to know where I lived by me saying - you know where the Oil Spill is. I guess I'm fairly glad to be 7,000 miles away from the crushing reality.

[ReelThrill]

Swamp where are you taking the class? Where can you sign up for it?

[Branch_Office]

Any way this thread can be moved to the non-members only area? There are lots of folks that would benefit from this information but are not members. Especially if this forum can ignite volunteers - as appropriate. Just an idea...

I will see what I can do!

[swamppro]

I am waiting to hear more when the next classes are. I will let everyone know when the next one is for sure.

[Branch_Office]

Tried to move thread to area that would be able to be accessible to members and non-members and it will not let me do that! I do not have the power (lol). Possibly Quas could do that since he set it up. Sorry..

[noahvale]

Got it Steve.

[who-yak]

I just got off the phone with a friend who lives in Pensecola. He said there is a research vessel in P-Cola bay that intends to deploy to area of the leaks as soon as weather allows.
Suposed to be 160 ft. or so catamaran with several robotic subs on board. Hopefully this is accurate info. and these subs will have ability to try some new ideas on the BOP.

[MDR]

Every time this topic arises (many times each day) I end up with the physically "empty" feeling that I've only felt before when someone I love has died. Mostly, I'm kind of numb. Not knowing just how terrible this very well may end up being is gnawing at my innards.

Shared sentiments almost to the "T". Kind of a combination of "wow", "Damn", and SOB several times throughout the day. And as I believe a couple of others have said in a different way; it is just the conflicting emotions of how much we care about our marsh, et al, and the knowledge of how important the oil and gas industry is to the state.

[Branch_Office]

Got it Steve.

Thanks Butch.

[who-yak]

mdr yea, I know just how your feeling. Been feeling the same way since they revised estimate of spill and reported 90 days to drill and plug the leak.

[snake doctor]

Holding our marsh for now..... doesn't look like much moved in today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skytruth/4569237958/sizes/l/in/set-72157623909364472/

[theoldcaster]

OK guys, I know nothing about oil rigs, but we are getting plenty of information on how to try to prevent the oil from reaching the marsh, but no information on what is being done to try to cap off or stop the flow of oil. Anyone know what actions are being taken,

[snake doctor]

Re: spill control measures

Here is a link to the Mobile paper that is running a big series on the spill and some "control options" today.
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/officials_consider_high-risk_o.html

They too are reporting that more oil has leaked than "official sources" are letting on. Their stories also suggest that the leaking pipes may be analogous to a crimped garden hose, and if they break or become un-crimped then the rate of the leak could go up dramatically.

[snake doctor]

Link to animated tracking of the oil slick.....

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_anima.html

[brkayaker]

Lowering the underwater domes over the three leaking areas seems the most promising short term containment mrthod. Hopefully they can have these domes built and lowered relatively soon. Does anyone know if these domes have already been built, and the time frame of getting these put into place?

[dut]

Lowering the underwater domes over the three leaking areas seems the most promising short term containment mrthod. Hopefully they can have these domes built and lowered relatively soon. Does anyone know if these domes have already been built, and the time frame of getting these put into place?

Everything i have read says 2 weeks to get them in place. The bad thing is that procedure has never been done in this depth of water and stabalizing and postioning the things can be quite difficult.

[who-yak]

On April 28th engineers said dome or domes could take as long as a month to build, then it would have to be installed (aditional time) I read something today about building taking 2-3 weeks, so who knows. I know it has worked in shallower water, but has never been tried any where near this depth.

[brkayaker]

Damn, I was hoping that it would not take that long. By that time, the damage to our coast and fisheries could be off the charts. This is really depressing. Hopefully the robotic submarines can complete a hail mary and make some great progress on the leaks.

[Laidback]

Pollution domes have been used successfully for years on pipeline leaks in shallow water. i think the biggest problem they will face besides anchoring them in the correct place will be how they will handle the large volume of fluids they will have to process and store on the surface. They might have to keep a tanker on station to handle the recovered oil. Of course, compared to the other problems they are facing, that is probably one that can be easily overcome.

[Speck Tackler]

I would think lowering the cone with 5000 foot of pipe may prove somewhat of a challenge. Once in place they will have to figure out a way of anchoring it to withstand offshore currents. Should be an interesting feat if they can pull it off...........

[Red Slayer]

last report I have heard in the news is somewhere between 6 and 9 months before it is totally under control. It is coming out at a pressure of 1 ton/inch, so even if they do get a dome built, that is a lot of pressure to try and cap, and if they apply pressure, could it cause underbed fissures and continue to leak?

[Red Slayer]

http://emergency.louisiana.gov/

[Choupique]

a little good news: http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/gulf_oil_spill/bp-says-it-has-slowed-the-oil-leak

[CwitdeR]

Dome is built. Putting the finishing touches on now at Fourchon. 5-6 days befor it is deployed.

[Mung]

a little good news: http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/gulf_oil_spill/bp-says-it-has-slowed-the-oil-leak

Wait, the update refutes the claim. Guess the guy spoke too soon. Hard to believe anything on FauxNews anyway. :-p

[CwitdeR]

You can either watch Fox or be bottle fed unicorn milk by the rest of em.

[snake doctor]

Ahhh....this week, next week. What's a few million barrels of oil among friends at this point anyway?

[Racechaser]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/us/04spill.html

Story on dome

[Yak-a-Lou]

Upsetting tidbit in the article posted by Racechaser...

"federal law sets a limit of $75 million on BP’s liability for damages, apart from the cleanup costs.

“It’s going to be extremely tricky” to reimburse fishermen and others if economic damages tally above $75 million, said Stuart Smith, a New Orleans-based lawyer who is pushing for Congressional action to amend the law. “They may not be obligated to pay more than that unless they agree to do it.”

There is a federal fund, generated from a tax on oil, that may cover as much as $1 billion in damages."



HMMMMMPH!!! I wish I had a cap of 1/10,000th(?) of my net worth in case I'm ever sued. Must be nice.

[Speckled_Tiger]

as soon as you have enough money to buy half of congress you can have all the government insurance you like YAL. And you also need to be able to go before congress and somehow make a 14 billion dollar profit sound like a bad thing.

[Tigerfish]

This part wasn't much better either:

"The impact of chemical dispersants on deepwater ecology is unclear. "

[brkayaker]

This part wasn't much better either:

"The impact of chemical dispersants on deepwater ecology is unclear. "

This really bothers me as well. It could be very bad if the marine food chain starts out with toxic chemicals from the dispersants and builds up into the larger fish like Mercury does. I can't imagine having to throw back a tuna, snapper, or cobia due to health hazards.

[Racechaser]

They will have to reinburse charter fisherman what they lost in revenue. But if you signed up for "vessels of opportunity" they are getting paid nicely through that. I heard a 20 ft boat with captain is getting $600.00 a day. Plus every guide that has a lodge is fully booked right now. So all that income has to be includded in the tally of "lost" revenue. I think very few people will eventually "lose" in this deal.

I know long term effects yada yada and all I'm just saying BP will not break the bank paying personal damages to shrimpers and charter captains. Oystermen is another story.

Exxon built all kinds of nice things in the spill area for the community in Alaska. Venice may end up being a redneck riviera when it is over. One thing is for sure, everyone in the world now knows there is a town called Venice,La and the fishing is pretty good down there.

[Danglin]

Hello All from California,

I have been researching your area per I'm coming out there in a few weeks for Hero's on The Water Conference out at Grand Isle. Been so Stoked about what I have been seeing and reading about your amazing fishery. Never been to LA or the East Coast....

And now, I'm studying this slow moving nightmare... My hopes and prayers are with you all that damage is minimal and you still have your way of life....

Come On Hobie1Kenobi !!!!!!

and Good Luck to you All....

We're thinking of You..... NorCal Kayak Anglers.com

[ijuswannafish]

Thanks for the support. We hope everything works out also. Maybe some of us will have a chance to meet you.

[ijuswannafish]

This really bothers me as well. It could be very bad if the marine food chain starts out with toxic chemicals from the dispersants and builds up into the larger fish like Mercury does. I can't imagine having to throw back a tuna, snapper, or cobia due to health hazards.

That would really suck. I have never caught either but hope to do so one day and I don't want to have to throw it back due to them being tainted.

[Yak-a-Lou]

This part wasn't much better either:

"The impact of chemical dispersants on deepwater ecology is unclear. "

Agreed X 1,000,000

Additionally, the dispersants reportedly help some percentage of the oil never reach the surface. 10%? 40%? 80%? Who knows. It sinks tothe bottom and gets washed away hither and yon.

Ecologically that's (probably?) a good thing since there is typically more life near the surface as opposed to the amount of life on the bottom in 5000' of water. However, it helps to hide the scope of the leak. It becomes impossible to know how many gallons are really leaked since the info they use, estimated square miles covered X average thickness = gallons leaked. Inaccurate surface measurements = inaccurate reporting of amount leaked.

I don't know a better solution... I'm just sayin... something to be aware of in the weeks or months to come when claims are later made that "Only _ _ _,000,000 gallons leaked."

[Yak-a-Lou]

Hello All from California,

I have been researching your area per I'm coming out there in a few weeks for Hero's on The Water Conference out at Grand Isle. Been so Stoked about what I have been seeing and reading about your amazing fishery.

If you and your soldier plan to pass through Gonzales, LA on Interstate 10, keep me apprised of the time and date. There's a Cabela's here and a decent restaurant nearby. I'd be honored to buy lunch for y'all. (Oops... translation: "y'all = 'you all', as in you and the soldier. ;) )

[snake doctor]

The common dispersants don't bio-accumulate. The hydrocarbons from the oil do accumulate in species that are higher in the food chain. Hard to tell exactly what is in their particular dispersant since it is proprietary. Dispersants are typically detergents (like Dawn dishwashing soap) and chemicals like 2-butoxyethanol (aka Simple Green). Dispersants are acutely toxic to the fish and other critters at high concentrations, but are not too bad once they "disperse."

[swamppro]

Some of the guides and fisherman are making good money right now. You can make over a grand a day right now using your boat for sure.

[Racechaser]

OK so I thought all along the explosion could be eco terrorism. Here is a very plausible report about North Koreans attacking the Horizon.
This is for entertainment and to make you think. If you think it's stupid that's fine too just don't start bashing me. LOL

http://www.theshanksdimension.com/2010/05/deepwater-horizon-target-of-north-korea-special-ops-service/

[dut]

So after tracking this thing since day 1 I am begining to believe the leaks were contained sometime late Thursday or early Friday as our fellow kayaker was reporting....I'm just using judgement and a few things I've heard, but it also looks as if the slick has not been growing like it was over the first few days. The NOAA predictions have been revised drasticly over the past 3-4 days and their has been minimum land impact during a time where containing the spill was almost impossible due to weather. Am I the only one noticing this? Every new prediction that comes out looks better and better and it appears the slick has not grown much if any.

I hope this is the case, but at any time this thing could come back to life with the amount of pressure being put on it. I also think this is why BP made the statement yesterday about shutting off 75% of the flow, but then retracted the statement hours later. They were wrong about the initial flow and the media drilled them for it. They are trying to avoid that again in the event that the pipe does erode or the anulars don't hold the flow for a new well to be drilled.

Just a thought....

[Yak-a-Lou]

Thanks for the education on dispersants Snake Doctor.

Race Chaser, that was... uh... er... entertaining?

Yea, we'll go with that.

True enough though that SEALS have been training for a long time for anti-terrorist activities on rigs. Back in 1981 I was a in Grand Isle and got to witness six or seven SEALS having a little bit of fun with about twenty of the locals yahoos at a particular watering hole. At 7(?)/SEALS vs. 20(?)/locals, the locals were badly outnumbered. It was very entertaining. Justice was served, quick and cold. They were just "having fun" after one of the locals started the whole mess over local politics. They didn't put anyone in the hospital.

[noahvale]

I worked construction for several years in the Gulf. Rigs don't have a whole lot of people on them, even the big ones. You spend 24 hours a day for at least 7 days straight on them with the same bunch of people. You get to know each other very well. Everyone is aware how dangerous even small mistakes can be and everyone looks out for each other. Saying that eco-terrorists could blow up a rig makes about as much sense as saying that there are eco-terrorists working in Fire and Rescue.

[kevmoe]

I've worked in the gulf for a long time. Depends on the rig or platform but you could have anywhere from zero to over 100 people on them. Drilling rigs will have 80+ people most of the time because drilling operations require many more people. The TWIC card is supposed to be like a passport and keep unwanted people off the rigs...but, I worked in Brazil for 2 years when this mandatory TWIC card thing started so I didn't need one. When I started working back in the U.S. I did not have my TWIC card and was still able to go offshore out of Venice just a few months ago.

[Dmax007]

So the bad news is that the slick is spreading and the currents are projected to potentailly take the slick around to the east coast. Ok... trying to find the good in this... Hopefully as a greater number of voters are effected the politicians will increase their efforts. If enough congressional votes are at stake... who knows... This may become a true priority???

[Speckled_Tiger]

Dmax, at the current time the slick is actually shrinking because of the various conditions. And the projections showing it going around the east coast is an extreme doom's day scenerio that is not likely.

Current projection for May 4:

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/book_shelf/1898_TM-2010-05-03.pdf

[Dmax007]

Spec, Thanks for the update!! The link did not work.

[Speckled_Tiger]

Fixed the link.

[dut]

According to the new map the area of forecast for May 4th is roughly half the size of the area on April 30 and May 1. What are the conditions causing it to shrink? Is it just becoming more concentrated in that area or were the rough seas this weekend a blessing in disguise? I'm still convinced this thing is under control for the most part and we'll be back to fishing within weeks or months, not years. :biggrin:

[Dmax007]

This is a stipud question -- but for you guys that know -- Why can't the military detonate several powerful charges around the well site far enough in the earth and strategically place around the pipes allowing the pressure of the explosions to crush the pipe and seal the well

[Speckled_Tiger]

the article I read said it was because of dispersants (so yes, sinking) and logically thinking here (could be wrong) oil has a certain cogulative property so maybe with the winds not trying to spread it out on the surface it is just concentrating in a smaller area. The second part is just a thought nothing to back it up.

[dut]

If the oil is sinking like some sites report, simple math calculates roughly 70% of the oil is below the surface or has been removed. Thats based on 5000 barrels/day. I'm sure the rough seas did push some down and the dispersants have also aided in the sinking/shrinking, but 70% just doesn't seem possible. On the other hand the slick could just be shrinking and becoming thicker at the surface as you stated ST.

Maybe a combination of both? Just think it's odd their has been no press release from BP or NOAA on this considering everyone can notice it just by looking at the maps. The longer this goes on it seems the less information is being released to the public.

[Glwlsu]

They got jumped on with what they released earlier (most of which was way off from the truth) I hear they are not releasing as much info to keep the heat off . Most of which would probably be incorrect anyway. Hopefully today they will use everything at hand to get rid of as much of the gas/oil as they can because the weather looks to be pretty good in the next few days.

[Tigerfish]

I worked construction for several years in the Gulf. Rigs don't have a whole lot of people on them, even the big ones. You spend 24 hours a day for at least 7 days straight on them with the same bunch of people. You get to know each other very well. Everyone is aware how dangerous even small mistakes can be and everyone looks out for each other. Saying that eco-terrorists could blow up a rig makes about as much sense as saying that there are eco-terrorists working in Fire and Rescue.


I don't think it would have to be someone that was actually working on the rig for it to be eco-terrorism. It could be damage cause by an outside entity below the surface. That being said, I think it unlikely that it was eco-terrosim, but since no one in BP or the government can develop a hypothesis either, I guess it is as good a guess any right now.

[Dmax007]

A good article, more from a Florida perspective but it does discuss potential paths for the slick: http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/glimmer-of-progress-to-stem-leaks-as-oil-spill-spreads/1092329

[GreenWave]

I did some aerial recon today. There is oil washing up on the eastern and northern outer islands of the Biloxi marsh. The interior of the marsh is still pretty clean. Booms appear to be effective where placed, but there are not nearly enough of them to keep the oil out if the flow continues. Oil has made it as far as the mouth of Lake Borgne, but I did not see any in the lake itself. There is also a LOT of oil within 1/2 mile of the south shore of Cat Island.

[Shankapotomus]

Thanks for the report GreenWave. How does the slick look from the air? Does it apear to be thinning?

[GreenWave]

I did not notice the oil to be thinning, but I only flew over the perimeter of it today. If the dispersants are causing thinning, I would expect that to be more noticeable towards the center of the slick. If I get a look over that way, I'll report what I see.

[Laidback]

This is the latest information I have on the trajectories for the spill.

[Racechaser]

I don't think it would have to be someone that was actually working on the rig for it to be eco-terrorism. It could be damage cause by an outside entity below the surface. That being said, I think it unlikely that it was eco-terrosim, but since no one in BP or the government can develop a hypothesis either, I guess it is as good a guess any right now.

That's what I meant. Someone not on the rig but under the surface. I am not saying that is 100% what I think I just keep the mind open unlike my President. When the sabotage question comes up in press conference Gibbs shuts that down and says we are not going to speculate on the cause. But then says in next breath that BP is responsible because it's their fault.

I just posted the article as something to think about. I called it "entertainment" because I'm not claiming it to be substantiated news. I just find it funny that we now have SWAT teams on the rigs in the GUlf, placed by Obama, to investigate.

Do I trust US government? Not really. Do I love my country? ABSOLUTELY!!! I just think that if terrorists or North Korea attacked South Korean property off the US shore that Obama would absolutely tank in poularity. He would look like a fool for offering an open hand to N Korea and Iran. Both of who have slapped his hand in public and made him look foolish already. Plus BP would no longer be a villain and the poster child for "clean energy".

I'm not in the oil business so I don't pretend to know what causes a rig to explode. But I have never heard of an instant explosion. Not saying it can't happen, but as many safety features are built in to Operating Systems these days I find it hard to believe.

I know our data points are tracked every three seconds on all instrumentation out here at the plant. If we have our process acting funny we can trend those points and you can recreate and diagnose any actions that happen by analyzing these trends. I find it curious how everyone is silent about what happened.

[GreenWave]

Well, we made it 17 pages without politicizing this disaster. I guess that's pretty good.

[Shankapotomus]

Anyone know enough about these rigs to know if there are similar rigs that may or may not have similar faulty equipment on them that could possibly fail in the same manner as the Deep Water Horizon?

If so, I imagine all the other rigs are scrambling to test / fix their equipment at this time.

[Speckled_Tiger]

better than most

[Racechaser]

Well, we made it 17 pages without politicizing this disaster. I guess that's pretty good.

I can hit the edit button if need be. I don't want to be the bad apple. :)

P.S. I never blamed Oboma for response. I just said that BP was the villain without any evidence yet. We can have that discussion tomorrow if you still want to see those glasses. LOL

I'll be by the airport between 10 and 11 most likely if you are on the ground then. I'll text you when closer.

[GreenWave]

Holy cow! Between 10 and 11 might actually work. Text me.

I flew over Breton Sound this afternoon. Lots of oil there. The good news was there were many shrimp boats dragging what appeared to be oil booms from their own net booms. It actually looked effective at corralling some of the oil, albeit at nowhere near the scale to make a sizeable dent in the stuff. Also, I observed for a while, but still don't understand what becomes of the oil they catch. I didn't see any type of collection vessel nearby. Do they just hit it with dispersant? Anybody know?

[MDR]

Question for SnakeDoc, laidback, and I guess anyone else with any learned info: What value/effect (good or bad I guess) would the bio dispersants have. I know one of the BR tv channels showed the Denham Springs guy that has his stuff. I also have a friend that actually became a multi-millionaire with his environmental remediation stuff. I do not profess to understand much, if anything about it, but basically it is using micro-organisms to "eat" the sludge and junk. Pete sold a lot of his stuff to restaurants and the like to clean their grease traps and what not. As I understand it this process does not cause harmful side-effects so to speak.

From what I have been reading it appears that the stuff being used now, and I do not know if it is bio or not, is likely to have some fairly nasty unintended consequences. Like YAL and others have said, just pushing it to the bottom is not necessarily the answer. It may keep it out of the marsh and as such not be a "visible" consequence, i.e. little birdies covered in oil on the news, but it sure as hell is going to affect the ecological/food chain balance.

We already have some understanding of the mercury levels in our "big" fish. I can only imagine what oil along the bottom is going to do to our reds. Those suckers already eat anything along the bottom.

[marshdaddy]

Anyone know enough about these rigs to know if there are similar rigs that may or may not have similar faulty equipment on them that could possibly fail in the same manner as the Deep Water Horizon?

If so, I imagine all the other rigs are scrambling to test / fix their equipment at this time.

Heard today from a guy that works for the company that is building the Domes that they have been ordered to make 90 more.

[Yak-a-Lou]

Michael,

I THINK that oil has a small bit of mercury but most of the mercury in fish at the top of the food chain is the result of mercury that was introduced to the ocean floor when they used to dump the old type of drilling muds. Drilling muds are mercury free now and the muds are recycled as opposed to simply being dumped on the sea floor.

Someone pipe in if I'm off base here.

[derrelt]

I was a Mud Engineer (Drilling Fluids Engineer) some years ago (that is how I got to New Orleans) . From all the information I have seen the rig took one hell of a kick (pressure return). They had just set the last string of casing and Haliburton mixed and pumped cement to set the bottom of the string that normally takes 18 to 24 hours to set. The kick came 20 hr after the cement was pumped down the hole. The cement may not have been the correct mix or did not set, the drilling fluid (mud) could have been too light causing the weight of the fluid column not to hold the pressure back and allow reverse flow, or there could have been a pressure fracture from a very high pressure pocket. Any of these could have caused the blow out. That being said, the blow out preventer's should have stopped the flow completely before it got to the fire stage if they had worked correctly.

Haliburton would have responsibility for any concerns with the cement, the mud company and the drill crew would be responsible for maintaining the mud weight and condition, and the good Lord for any pressure conditions. The BOP's are usually rented from a service company which could have to share in the responsibility because they did not work. After all this, BP is ultimately responsible because all of these company's were hired by them. The sad part is that we may never know what really happened and we still have all this oil trying to screw up our fishing.

[ecb]

Here is a link to a survivor radio interview, if it works

http://www.marklevinshow.com/article.asp?id=1790422

[MDR]

YAL, you know I really never knew what it was that gave tuna, etc the higher mercury levels other than they ate smaller fish that higher levels and so the cycle continued. I never knew it came from the drilling mud. I did not know if was just a by-product of them being bigger and thus eating more fish or what it was. Now I know, thanks.
I guess one of the things I am wondering is what kind of effect the oil is going to have on "toxin levels" in our fish. Not sure if I am wording that correctly or stating it the way it should be, but maybe folks get the point. I know I'm not a complete moron (no comment by those that know me or know I scheduled a BR area Friday lunch at an extremely busy place with almost no parking, but that is a different story). I mean, I know the oil is going to kill a bunch of fish. I am just wondering what the accumulation of smaller amounts is going to do and especially what we may be looking at for years to come as far as genetics goes.

I am really interested in the bio-dispersement stuff though. If it is as harmless as advertised then how come they are not using it? Of course they may be and I am just more confused than normal. Then again I was dropped on my head a lot as a kid.

[derrelt]

Thanks ecb. That's more information than I thought we would ever get.

After listening to this interview a couple of times, it would seam to me the cement did not hold. It should have closed off the bottom of the hole to hold back any pressure. After they took the mud out of the riser and let the sea water in, the weight of the column would not have been enough to hold the pressure down hole. When they reopened the BOPS after the test, every thing in the well bore came up.

[MDR]

Hey Derrelt, or anyone else for that matter if you beat him to it; I tried listening to the interview a time or two and still did not get it. Even after reading what Derrelt posted above I guess I am not getting it. So, can anyone give it to me in plain English? Remember; I was dropped on my head a bunch as a kid and I was a cop for 20 years so engineering kind of stuff is a mile or 2 over my head.

I probably need sumthin wit pichers, lol

[tumbleweed]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iVNVeMfuCwj2czHaHxFe8RJAwsvwD9FG7PGO0

I hope this link works. It is an article I found, I have not seen it posted here if it is sorry, but it is about the 11 people who died in the accident. Just to add the human element to this thread. It is a dangerous job, but one that is necessary. I read once, it is estimated, that if America stopped using oil for gasoline, we would still need at least 5 million barrels a day for other needs. The Oil industry is one of the only industries left in America that actually makes product. These workers help this country operate.

When I can actually stay on the forum long enough to post something, i cant get the option to post links to work.

[GreenWave]

No problem T-weed; copy and paste worked just fine. Thanks for posting that.

[Branch_Office]

Wes, fixed it for you!

[MDR]

Thanks Wes. The article is correct and your posting the link to it is also. Unfortunately. I have to admit that my thoughts the first couple of days were about those guys, but as the days went by and the news of the leak became more prominent I did not think of them. Sadly I did not think of them until your post.

I have not read anything on here so far that leads me to think we have any members that are directly impacted by this incident. Yes, we are or may be impacted to some extent in that we can not currently fish in some of our favorite spots and so forth, but I'm not aware of any of us that faces the reality of the death and injuries to loved ones in this deal. And hopefully none of us are in the situation that the folks along the coast are in. Whether they are shrimpers, crabbers, charter boat capt's, motel owners, whatever, they are facing a much more uncertain future than any of us. Thankfully we have the option of finding somewhere else to do what we love to do. Those folks don't.

While I have been thinking about those folks and concerned for their livelihoods, etc, I have still to often thought of how it may impact me with restricted fishing area, higher seafood costs, etc. Thank you Wes for redirecting my thoughts to the folks that have either lost more or risk more as a result of this incident.
oh, and yes, I am calling it an incident or even an accident. I am having a tough time getting my my mind wrapped around North Koreans or some eco-terrorist group being behind what happened. But then again I am still pretty dang sure Elvis is really dead too.

[tumbleweed]

Thanks Steve for the fix. I feel for these families, I know what it is like to see a family member go off to work and never see them again. It is a terrible situation for these families.

Your right Michael, it is an accident, a terrible accident. What really made me stop, while I was reading the article, was the woman who said that she could not even go out to the last place her husband was, because of all the oil.

[bigredbobber]

http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs352.snc3/29198_1313762277743_1041240068_30737166_638108_n.jpg

There is no really simple way to explain the driling process, unfortunately. But here goes:

Once a well is successfully drilled and the pipe, which lines the hole drilled, is in place, they basically put a cement cap on it with a pressure shut off valve (kinda opposite a pressure release valve on an air compressor with a tank. Instead of letting gas out, this valve is made to shut off when pressure reaches a certain level.) And just like cement poured on a driveway, that underwater cement cap needed time to cure to be as strong as it should be.

Supposedly, either while the concrete cap was curing (drying) or shortly after when they re-opened the well, a huge gas bubble burped up from the pocket of oil down below the well head. These gases are typically methane and natural gas, which are highly explosive. It is typical for some gases to escape and some pressure to be relieved from the wells while extracting the oil. Think of it as a controlled burp. That's one reason why rigs are often noisy and sometimes flare off those gases, like what you'd see at plants from Shell or Exxon, Chevron, etc. at night. As long as it's done in a controlled way, everything is fine. The guy said sometimes the pressure is just too big. Even the best made pressure valves could fail. The gas pushed out the mud that was supposed to help hold it down or at least help control its release. Then seawater began to shoot up the well pipes and out the top of rig.


I didn't listen to the second part yet, but I can break it down for you, too, if need be.

I hope this helps.

[Hobie1Kenobie]

The picture bigredbobber put up is exactly correct except for the fact that there are four vessel's on site with two R.O.V.'s per and two vessel's on site with one R.O.V. per. It's like a parking lot of 300'+ hard core construction vessel's out here. The problem is not a failure of the R.O.V.'s, nor of lack of skill "flying" them. The problem is the damaged b.o.p. (blow out preventer). We have not been able to actuate any of the fail safe's that should shut the b.o.p. in, closing off flow. Which would eliminate all leak sources. Me and my guy's did manage to close one of the rams which act as a guillotine inside the b.o.p. but that only slowed the flow down. With every move we make being closely scrutenized and specifically directed by "the man" we can't work our usual cowboy up magic to get this done.

I can not confirm nor deny that I have any pics, but if I did I might be inclined to bring them to PP7 (look for the bald guy in a green ford).

[MDR]

Thanks gentleman. That does help me understand it better. I thought that the initial cause or whatever you want to call it was from a "gas" bubble of some sort. Rashid keep us as up to date as you can and above all else be careful. I cannot imagine the scrutiny anyone working out there is under. I look forward to meeting you at PP7. Look for the short, deaf dude following Choupique everywhere on the water, lol.

[ecb]

Does anyone know why they are not burning it off? I thought they stopped because of the high winds, which have now laid down.

[tumbleweed]

Which would eliminate all leak sources. Me and my guy's did manage to close one of the rams which act as a guillotine inside the b.o.p. but that only slowed the flow down. With every move we make being closely scrutenized and specifically directed by "the man" we can't work our usual cowboy up magic to get this done.


I realize that you can not confirm or deny this, and if it existed you would not have any knowledge of the events. My father in law, who worked offshore for 30 years. He was a boat captain, his brothers both worked for Shell all thier lives on oil rigs around the world.n So they have lots more experience than I do.

We were having breakfast this morning and all 3 agreed that maybe there is cement in the BOP which is not allowing it to close. Is this a possiblity? I have no idea, but between the 3 of these gentelemen they seemed to agree that is the root cause.

They said that is the reason the for the huge Gas Burp which initially caused the explosion. I had to leave breakfast a little early so I did not catch the rest of the conversation. Any thoughts.

[Speckled_Tiger]

how is this cement delivered to the well head? I think that would be an important factor in that theory.

[Tigerfish]

probably not with a shovel and wheelbarrel.

[Paul Barnard]

Upsetting tidbit in the article posted by Racechaser...

"federal law sets a limit of $75 million on BP’s liability for damages, apart from the cleanup costs.

“It’s going to be extremely tricky” to reimburse fishermen and others if economic damages tally above $75 million, said Stuart Smith, a New Orleans-based lawyer who is pushing for Congressional action to amend the law. “They may not be obligated to pay more than that unless they agree to do it.”

There is a federal fund, generated from a tax on oil, that may cover as much as $1 billion in damages."



HMMMMMPH!!! I wish I had a cap of 1/10,000th(?) of my net worth in case I'm ever sued. Must be nice.

As it stands right now, a relatively small area has been affected. I would think the impact would have to be spread much wider and over a much longer duration for the damages to exceed 75 million. The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is a 1 billion dollar fund that will kick in if the 75 million mark is eclipsed.

http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/About_NPFC/osltf.asp

Do you think there are any commercial fishermen who might be second guessing their decision to under report income last year?

[derrelt]

Cement is pumped down the drill string to the bottom of the casing. If it did not hold (don't look like it did) it could have came up the bore and lodged in the bops.

[Paul Barnard]

They started burning again today.

[who-yak]

Totally off subject of spill, but totally related to spill.... I was working the Mississippi gulf coast yesterday calling on restaurants. Every owner/chef/general manager I spoke with said their shrimp prices have gone up drastically overnight. Average increase was about $1.25 - $1.50 per pound depending on size. Everyone understood that this was coming, and everyone realized that most of what is available is frozen product and most of that is from last years season. So the packers/distributors who are able to warehouse large stocks will make tons of money on this event. Price Gouging or Good Business ? I guess it depends on which side of the fence your on. All I know is, someone needs to come up with a new name for a shrimp "po-boy" cause this poor boy can't afford a $15.00 samich.

[bigredbobber]

wait till you see the cost of ersters soon.

[who-yak]

Just for kicks I'm following the wholesale price of Domestic Farm Raised Catfish. This product can't be farther removed from this event than it is, but my experience with these markets tells me the price will go up. It's a simple matter of supply and demand. The uninformed general public assumes that all finfish in the gulf will be affected, so they will turn to either domestic or imported farm raised products. This demand in turn drives the price up. Also, many big end users may realize a savings by buying imported products vs. home grown and may stick with them when our fishery returns to normal. (Believe me you eat far more imported product than you think you do) Anyway you look at it this is a BIG BLACK EYE for Louisiana Seafood from the gulf. I realize that only about 15% of the fishing grounds off our coast is presently closed. The buyer in New York or San Francisco or even Atlanta doesn't have the time or talents to research this. I have already heard reports of customers at restaurants in the northeast asking if the "catch of the day" came from Louisiana waters. That's not a good sign of things to come. Locals know the facts about what's closed, what's open, etc. Harland Pierce and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Maketing Board is doing a great job trying to stay in front of the negative publicity, but no-one is going to change the mind of a buyer or chef whose customers are telling them they prefer to "not take the chance" on consuming seafood from our coastal waters right now. This will not be a problem for just La. but as this spill spreads our neighbors to the east will also have there fishery looked at in a negative light. How will BP reverse the negative attitude of a nation concerning our seafood industry???

[Yak-a-Lou]

Do you think there are any commercial fishermen who might be second guessing their decision to under report income last year?

It would probably be inappropriate for me to laugh right now. Will a stifled giggle suffice?

Many guides are probably in the same boat. Pun intended.

[Paulup]

this is a BIG BLACK EYE for Louisiana Seafood from the gulf

What you did there, I see it...

[MDR]

I had not thought of cement in the BOP, but that sounds like a plausible answer for their failure. Then again I do not know the design of the thing so I guess there could be a myriad of reasons for failure.

Nice to hear a little progress being made today.

[Paul Barnard]

Just for kicks I'm following the wholesale price of Domestic Farm Raised Catfish. This product can't be farther removed from this event than it is, but my experience with these markets tells me the price will go up. It's a simple matter of supply and demand. The uninformed general public assumes that all finfish in the gulf will be affected, so they will turn to either domestic or imported farm raised products. This demand in turn drives the price up. Also, many big end users may realize a savings by buying imported products vs. home grown and may stick with them when our fishery returns to normal. (Believe me you eat far more imported product than you think you do) Anyway you look at it this is a BIG BLACK EYE for Louisiana Seafood from the gulf. I realize that only about 15% of the fishing grounds off our coast is presently closed. The buyer in New York or San Francisco or even Atlanta doesn't have the time or talents to research this. I have already heard reports of customers at restaurants in the northeast asking if the "catch of the day" came from Louisiana waters. That's not a good sign of things to come. Locals know the facts about what's closed, what's open, etc. Harland Pierce and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Maketing Board is doing a great job trying to stay in front of the negative publicity, but no-one is going to change the mind of a buyer or chef whose customers are telling them they prefer to "not take the chance" on consuming seafood from our coastal waters right now. This will not be a problem for just La. but as this spill spreads our neighbors to the east will also have there fishery looked at in a negative light. How will BP reverse the negative attitude of a nation concerning our seafood industry???

If the spill remains unchecked and the menhaden fishery is closed, you will darned sure see catfish prices rise. Chicken too. Almost all catfish and chicken food is made with a high percentage of menhaden meal. It's utterly crazy for shrimp prices to be going up now. Much of the area closed to shrimping is closed this time of year anyway.

[jallen355]

...from NOLA.com

http://media.nola.com/tpphotos/photo/oilburnoffjpg-171c84bdadcaf7c9_custom_665xauto.jpg
Oil burnoff Wednesday in the Gulf

Added by James O'Byrne, NOLA.com on May 6, 2010 at 1:56 AM

PHOTO BY U.S. COAST GUARD Oil burns during a controlled oil fire in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday. The U.S. Coast Guard, working in partnership with BP, local residents, and other federal agencies, conducted the controlled burn to aid in preventing the spread of oil following the April 20 explosion on Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon.



Also wishing Hobie1Kenobie and his guys steady hands while trying to position the coffer dam today over the well.

[Speckled_Tiger]

so the dome is supposed to begin dropping around noon today. Does anyone know how long it will take to have it set? And if it is set properly, how long until that piping can be completed to start loading it on the tanker?

[Yak-a-Lou]

It's utterly crazy for shrimp prices to be going up now. Much of the area closed to shrimping is closed this time of year anyway.

It appears that many businesses have been stocking up. I heard that one particular business ( a restaurant with two locations in the BR area) reportedly bought 10,000 pounds of shrimp last week. Their normal purchase would have been something closer to 1000 pounds.

Increased demand = increased price. Such is the way of commerce.

[MDR]

From what I heard this morning the dome may be operational Monday. Maybe one of the more learned guys will know something different.

YAL, I think it was Tony's that made that order. You would think that they would know better, but then again they may be anticipating a "run" by customers who are stocking up out of fear.

[Lttran]

Mercury - about this situation I had to present an article about mercury and fish. The main problem is indeed bio-accumulation but the problem does not start with the small fish it starts with the plankton. Plankton cant escape the mercury so it is absorbed into their bodies and the fish that eat them take in the mercury and so on. I would think that our main concern with the marine ecosystem is the plankton because with out them the food chain basically will collapse.

At the same time they are sinking the oil which really does not say much. How fast is it sinking? I mean oil is floating and they are trying to sink it. Its not like they are dropping lead pellets into the water to sink the oil so the ocean currents would just carry it else where. Which also raise another question. I read that plankton blooms can be triggered by stirring up the ocean floor. So if the gulf stream is responsible for our plankton and we sink all this oil to the ocean floor.
What effects will it have in the gulf? Not to mention the carribean reefs..what if the oil does not sink and gets carried there?

I dont really say much on the forums about this situation but I sure have been thinking about it a whole lot =(

P.S. Isnt some oil mixed in with hydrogen sulfide? That can potentially cause acid rain or raise the acidity of the surrounding water which isnt going to be good either.

[Speckled_Tiger]

ok so I know that the oil is sinking, which isn't really a good thing if it's all in one area. But being that it is basically impossible to clean up all the oil, isn't it better to sink it where it can diluted over a much larger area so that no particular region is severely impacted?

[Lttran]

That is a pretty hard question. Yes and no, yes it is better to dilute the pollution. Actually someone once told me that the solution to pollution is dilution. But the problem is how much is too much. Even then it will still take time for the oil to diffuse. The ocean is pretty sturdy but once you tilt that scale things can go bad very quickly. This is a totally different situation but to give an example. I once owned a saltwater aquarium and everything was doing great and then a couple of snails died and within a week everything died. The snails died and started decomposing. Normally microbes would have neutralized the toxins but there werent enough and it made the water toxic so more snails died and then fish died. It was a smelly mess. I think over the next few months we will find out but until then these are just some ideas i thought about.

[Glwlsu]

Yes that's all great until 5 years from no we start catching those three headed , 40 lb redfish in the marsh that love to eat kayaks !!! Then what !!! Guess we could put a limit of 20 on them and they would be gone in a few months. No biggy.....just saying.

[BayouTiger]

Yes that's all great until 5 years from no we start catching those three headed , 40 lb redfish in the marsh that love to eat kayaks !!! Then what !!! Guess we could put a limit of 20 on them and they would be gone in a few months. No biggy.....just saying.

I can see a new prize category at tournaments coming up...

[dut]

Last projection shows the slick crossing the river tomorrow :(

[Speckled_Tiger]

I saw that too. They show it like a part of the slick is going to break away and come west. Hopefully it's wrong.

[bigredbobber]

anybody know if the oil (sheen or anything) has landed on Grand Isle's beaches? I read about the unconfirmed reports in the Advocate that it made it to the beaches there. From GreenWave's posts, it doesn't appear to be true.

Anybody been there recently and know for sure? I was hoping to try for trout this weekend. I just got my Geaux Pass and I'm ready to geaux south.

[Where Y'ak?]

The offshore shrimping closure area was extended today by the LDWF more towards the WEST. The new closure boundary is now the eastern side of Four Bayou Pass. The Secretary also did not rule out the possibility of extending recreational closures more towards the western parts of the state in the event the oil moves west of the river as some predict it may.

It was also noted that enforcement in all of the closed areas will be strictly enforced. Agents are patrolling by water and air to maintain the off-limits to the closed areas.

[Choupique]

PaddlePalooza Contingency Plans gentlemen please...

[Tigerfish]

Actually someone once told me that the solution to pollution is dilution.

As an environmental engineer I would have to say.......no, no, no, no.

[Where Y'ak?]

Here's the link to the latest NOAA spill projection map.. This is their prediction on where the spill may spread by Saturday 5-8-10.

http://media.al.com/live/other/latestspillmap.pdf

[Speckled_Tiger]

do you have a map for this new fishing closure? I don't know where Four Bayous Pass is.

[Lttran]

As an environmental engineer I would have to say.......no, no, no, no.

:lol: yea thats what i said....

[TidewateR]

do you have a map for this new fishing closure? I don't know where Four Bayous Pass is.

I believe 4 bayous pass is a few islands east of Grand Isle...due south from Port Sulphur

[Speckled_Tiger]

I searched old fishing reports for a reference point that can be found on google map. I believe Bay Ronquille is just north of Four Bayous Pass, is that right?

[Where Y'ak?]

Tidewater is correct. Four Bayou is east of Grand Isle. It's just important to note that the closure was extended for the first time to cover some areas west of the river. Again, please note that this additional closed area ONLY applies to offshore shrimping at this time and does not apply to recreational fishing. All recreational fishing west of the river still remains open at this time. I have not seen a new map issued as of yet.

Here's the text from the Press Release:

L.D.W.F. SECRETARY ANNOUNCES EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF PORTION OF TERRITORIAL SEAS TO SHRIMP HARVESTING

2010-134

BATON ROUGE – Today LDWF Secretary Robert Barham issued an emergency closure of shrimp harvesting in territorial seas from the south pass of the Mississippi River to the eastern shore of Four Bayous Pass, effective at 6PM, May 6, 2010. Latest projections from NOAA indicate that this area may be vulnerable to oil in the coming days.

“We are constantly monitoring and conducting field surveys to ensure all Louisiana’s water that may be impacted by this oil are closed to harvesting. We are prepared and ready to do what it takes to protect Louisiana’s fishermen and seafood consumers,” said LDWF Secretary Barham.

Vessels fishing offshore will be allowed to pass through the closed area when returning to dock.

[TidewateR]

Speckled Tiger...Copy and paste this into Google earth.

N 29 18.65 W 089 51.40

[FatGuyPedaling]

http://www.roffs.com/DeepwaterHorizon/06MAY10NEGOMoil.pdf

another graphic with loop currents added in.

[dut]

The SE wind for next Mon through Wed is what got me worried

[Yak-a-Lou]

The SE wind for next Mon through Wed is what got me worried

Bring the politicians to Venice. Line up 100 podiums facing southeast. Let them speak. The hot air will blow the oil to Cuba. Crisis resolved.

I'm a freakin genius!

[Tigerfish]

here is another good sie to keep handy for all emergencies -- not just this oil spill


http://www.emergency.louisiana.gov

[yak-aholic]

Another link re-capping what happened. I looked back through most of the thread and don't think I'm re-posting anything.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=92823

[yak-aholic]

OK, another link guys... Everyone go out and get your head shaved.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212300041.shtml

[Speckled_Tiger]

so is the "dome" set or what?? Things have been awfully quite about this process the last day or so.

[jallen355]

Probably got their hands full getting it set and plumbed...I hope!

[Choupique]

I heard its to go live sunday night / monday baring no setbacks

[Danglin]

Hey Everyone...

Still got our fingers crossed for ya ...

Is it true that this spill is headed for Grand Isle?

[Laidback]

They are supposed to be setting up a staging area in Cocodrie this weekend. Some of the oil is moving to the west and with winds from the south, it's possible areas between SW Pass and Grand Isle could be impacted. I will be checking in to BP in Houma tomorrow morning, so I will find out where I'll be working then.

[Hobie1Kenobie]

The dome is not set yet. I came in to Fourchon Wednesday afternoon & it was loaded on a boat to go out but hadn't left the dock.

[jallen355]

Damn Hobie. WWL reports the dome is on the sea floor, over the BOP, and they now need to wait 12 hrs. for it to settle into the mud before you guys can hook up the piping. Friggin' press.... We've all been waiting on your report all day. Dude, hate to put anymore pressure on you, but we're all counting on you! Good luck, buddy!! We're all praying for you guys!

[Laidback]

They were not successful with the Dome. They had it in place but had to remove it and reevaluate some issues with it. The engineers are working on it and will come up with a solution to the problem. I wish them all luck.

[Danglin]

I found this article, it seems to be very informative.....

I sure Hope someone figures out how to get this Thing under control.....

Good Luck All ....


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/us/09rig.html?pagewanted=1

[sphinxman_1906]

Well I'm disappointed to hear about the hydrate problems. I was on a deepwater job back in December and we were doing subsea wireline work. We also ran into hydrate problems with the lubricator (which would be like the dome). Each time we would land the lubricator and open the BOPs, gas would bubble up and ice up the lubricator. We used methanol to remediate the hydrates as well as bringing it back to surface to help "melt" the ice, but it took a long time. We had the advantage of being able to close the well in and could basically pump methanol into the lubricator (which is a very small volume compared to "the dome"). In this situation they have no control of the well and can't possibly fill that dome with methanol. They thought they would have problems when they tied in the string to the dome...The press conference this afternoon just sent a chill down my spine. We spent months dealing with weather and hydrates on a controlled well in 3200' of water. This is a completely different animal. Hopefully the "quick fix" will only take a little while longer.

[dut]

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/state_officials_close_fishing.html

[Red Slayer]

I am so glad that I got to take my son down to Grand Isle to fish with Captain Danny. The way things are looking it is not good for the people of Grand isle and Fourchon when it comes to fishing for a living.

[yak-aholic]

I see where they're talking about with Pointe aux Fer, but does someone have a map they can post up or link to that will show exactly how far inland that closure extends?

[swamppro]

Look on the wildlife and fisheries site. I will try and link it here. Grande Isle beaches and Fouchon are shut down

[bernmurd]

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/news/?id=1813

[Speck Tackler]

Are the beaches closed to surf fishing as well or is it just to motor boats? Guessing my tuna trip for June is out.

[bigredbobber]

Today may have been the last time I was able to fish Grand Isle without it being polluted with oil. I saw some booms and plenty of military and parish officials everywhere.

I've heard the stories about WWII and such when oil covered GI and Fourchon, etc, but think how long it took just to get back to this level. How long will we have to wait? I am truly depressed. -BIG DEEP SIGH-

Thanks for the updates guys. :(

[Speck Tackler]

Second hand info is that the beaches are off limit and some of the marsh as well. I am sure yak a Lou will have more info.

[bobjean1]

David Carmadelle, Grand Isle Mayor, on WWL Radio this morning....Said the beaches and marsh on Grand Isle and Elmers Island are open, so far no oil. Please don't stop coming, they need the $s to stay in business in the event the oil prob. gets worse. Would keep checking though, I'm planning on making a trip with my son in about a week.

[Tigerfish]

David Carmadelle, Grand Isle Mayor, on WWL Radio this morning....Said the beaches and marsh on Grand Isle and Elmers Island are open, so far no oil. Please don't stop coming, they need the $s to stay in business in the event the oil prob. gets worse. Would keep checking though, I'm planning on making a trip with my son in about a week.

Well he must not read the Wildlivin' and Fishin' site because the beaches are closed to fishing according to them.

[Yak-a-Lou]

Well he must not read the Wildlivin' and Fishin' site because the beaches are closed to fishing according to them.

Closed to fishing but not closed to other recreational activities such as sunbathing, kite flying, Frisbee, swimming or camping at the state park.