The US Coast Guard now fears the underwater oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of liters of oil per day, the Mobile Press-Register reported yesterday, as the oil spill reached precious shoreline habitats and documents emerged showing British Petroleum (BP) downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the offshore rig that exploded.
Citing a confidential National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report on the unfolding spill disaster, the Alabama newspaper said two additional release points had been found in the tangled riser.
“If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought,” the paper quotes the report as saying.
PHOTO: EPA
In this case, it would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now, the Press-Register concluded.
That would mean 50,000 barrels, or 7.9 million liters, a day.
The region threatened by the looming oil spill is a prime spawning ground for fish, shrimp and crabs, home to oyster beds and a major stop for migratory birds.
“For birds, the timing could not be worse; they are breeding, nesting and especially vulnerable in many of the places where the oil could come ashore,” said Melanie Driscoll of the Audubon Society, a nature conservancy group.
The first known wildlife casualty of the massive oil spill threatening the US Gulf Coast was a single Northern Gannet seabird, found alive, but coated in the toxic grime creeping ashore along Louisiana’s coast.
That bird, recovered offshore on Friday and taken to an emergency rehabilitation center to be cleaned up and nursed back to health, is only the tip of a potential calamity facing the region’s birds, sea turtles and marine mammals.
Besides the rescued Gannet, several sperm whales have been seen swimming in and around the oil slick.
“We are expecting many more [casualties] in the days to come. We hope that number is not catastrophic. We’re ... hoping for the best but planning for the worst,” said Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian overseeing some of the wildlife rescue teams in the region, in a telephone interview from Houma, Louisiana.
Meanwhile, documents emerged showing that BP suggested last year in an exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well that an accident leading to a giant crude oil spill — and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals — was unlikely, or virtually impossible.
The Coast Guard estimates now that at least 6 million liters of oil have spilled since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers. The amount already threatens to make it the worst US oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez spilled 42 million liters of oil off Alaska’s shores in 1989.
“The sort of occurrence that we’ve seen on the Deepwater Horizon is clearly unprecedented,” BP spokesman David Nicholas said on Friday. “It’s something that we have not experienced before ... a blowout at this depth.”
The plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, said repeatedly that it was “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities.”
The company conceded a spill would impact beaches, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas, but argued that “due to the distance to shore [77km] and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected.”
Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs, Mississippi-based environmental lawyer and board member for the Gulf Restoration Network, said he doesn’t see anything in the document suggesting BP addressed the kind of technology needed to control a spill at that depth of water.
“The point is, if you’re going to be drilling in 5,000 feet [1,500m] of water for oil, you should have the ability to control what you’re doing,” he said.
The company has as yet failed to contain the spill.
British energy giant BP said it is “taking full responsibility” for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and will pay for “legitimate claims” stemming from the disaster.
“It was not our accident, but it is our responsibility to clean it up,” BP chief executive Tony Hayward told the Financial Times. “Where people have legitimate claims for damages, we will absolutely honor them.”
The Pentagon meanwhile authorized the deployment of the Louisiana National Guard, some 6,000 troops, to respond to the crisis.
US President Barack Obama said some 1,900 federal response personnel were in the area with 300 boats and aircraft and the southern states of Alabama and Mississippi yesterday declared a state of emergency because of the imminent threat of the oil slick.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College