What Did Scientists Learn from Deepwater Horizon?
April 20, 2020, marks the tenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, the offshore oil industry's biggest environmental disaster.Eleven people died, 17 others were injured, Transocean's drilling rig sank, and an incident caused more than four million barrels of oil to spill into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from the BP-operated Macondo well which spewed oil into the ocean for 87 days before it was finally capped.In a review paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment…
Industry Targets Improved Offshore Leak Detection
Leak detection is a considerable challenge facing the industry, and DNV GL has therefore taken the lead in establishing a new Joint Industry Project (JIP). Twenty key industry players are partnering to develop a best practice for designing and implementing offshore leak detection systems. Over the last few years, following several oil releases, there has been an increasing focus by both operators and authorities on the environmental impact related to offshore oil and gas activities.
Coast Guard Response to Vicksburg Spill Continues
The unified command continues to respond to a crude oil spill in the lower Mississippi River near mile marker 436 in Vicksburg, Miss., Thursday. At 10:05 a.m. response crews removed fuel from the damaged barge MOC-12 after reconfiguring oil-pump equipment. Following completion of the oil removal operations the damaged barge will be inspected and prepared for transit to a maritime facility in nearby Vicksburg. The MOC-15 barge has been moved upriver from the MOC-12 oil removal operation and is waiting for transportation to a maritime facility.
Vicksburg Oil Spill Causes 800 Vessel Queue
Lower Mississippi vessel traffic queue management ongoing as Unified Command continue their response to damaged barge. Following completion of the oil removal operations the damaged barge will be inspected and prepared for transit to a maritime facility in nearby Vicksburg. The MOC-15 barge has been moved upriver from the MOC-12 oil removal operation and is waiting for transportation to a maritime facility. Response crews have deployed 5,300 feet of boom to contain any potential oil releases.
Award to Restore Habitat After 1953 Sinking
State and federal trustees were awarded $16.9m for seven projects to address harm from mysterious oil leaks that killed more than 50,000 California seabirds since 1990. The projects will help species impacted by oil that leaked from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach. The freighter sank in 1953 about 17 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, but was not identified as the source of the oil until 2002 after decades of leaking oil, especially during winter storms, causing massive injury to wildlife. “This funding will go a long way to restore California’s seabird populations that were devastated by oil released from the Luckenbach,” said Stephen Edinger, administrator for the California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.
NOAA and Coast Guard Map Long Island Shore to Prepare for Spills
NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), are partnering to produce an updated survey of Long Island's coastal shorelines to help officials develop hazardous spill response plans for areas at high risk. NOAA will survey the shorelines of Long Island, focusing on shoreline types, natural resources, and historic structures most at risk for a hazardous spill. Long Island is at risk of oil releases due to the sheer volume of oil-related activities and shipping in its coastal waters that are associated with a large offshore oil platform, off-shore lightering operations, bulk fuel storage facilities, pipelines, and a commercial power plant.
