BP Whiting Refinery Spill: Latest Update

An assessment of yesterday's cleanup operations found small amounts of oil on the beach and along the east shoreline of the cove. A BP cleanup crew repositioned the boom to prevent the sheen from spreading outside of the cove and will remove the remaining traces of oil, inform the US Coast Guard.

A shoreline cleanup and assessment technique team, comprised of members of the Coast Guard, EPA and BP, proceeded further northwest along the rocky wall of the cove this afternoon to determine the full extent of the oiling along the shore. Those efforts are ongoing.

In addition, the SCAT team is scheduled to conduct a comprehensive survey on Friday of the path of discharge in search of potentially submerged oil.



During the past two days, response and cleanup crews contracted by BP worked to clean up and remove oil in the water and along the shoreline. Cleanup crews placed more than 3,000 feet of boom on the water after the initial discharge in order to contain the oil.

BP has updated the estimated amount of oil spilled to 15-39 barrels, which is equivalent to 630-1,638 gallons. That estimate is based on the amount of oil that has been recovered by the vacuum trucks, from the booms, or by hand on shore.

Air monitoring around the area has not indicated any air contamination related to the spill.