Oil Spill Enters Loop Current

Oil Spill Ocean Ships

Robert, Louisiana (Hollywood Backstage) -- The fact that BP was granted environmental exclusions was questioned today in a hearing on capitol hill where MMS Director Ken Salazar defended Mineral Management Service by saying that the exclusions were granted because they only had 30 days to approve or disapprove drilling plans. He proposes changing the environmental review to 90 days.

The Deepwater Horizon project was an untested deepwater project. There were high biological impacts if a spill were to occur. It was a hazardous operation. It was technologically experimental. The displacement of mud before the explosion was unusual. The efforts to mitigate the spill with the containment dome, the siphon straw pipe and the relief wells were brainstormed on an 'ad hoc' basis. There may have been undue influence on the approval process. Mr. Salazar blamed the current situation on the previous administration. He is moving forward on changing the system so that the over site and approval of wells are separate agencies within the Department of the Interior and the MMS. Nancy Sutley, Walter Rosenbush, Johnnie Burton and Randall Luthi were former MMS directors who are now out of the spotlight. The 'big unknown' is the amount of oil plume in the water. The MMS has no idea where the oil is under the water. The NOAA is only beginning to study this now.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco today announced that part of the oil sheen has possibly entered an eddy of water headed for the loop current. If the oil enters the loop current, it may show up as tar balls in the Florida Keys and on Florida beaches. However, the bulk of the oil remains at this time north and west of the loop current. A small sheen of oil has entered the area of the loop current and it will be moving with the current. The oil will become very diluted and highly weathered as it travels around Florida and up the Eastern seaboard. The condition that the oil is in will continue to change as it is weathered by the sea water.

Scientists at NOAA are also contemplating the possibility that the oil spill could spread out to other countries.

The fishing ban has been expanded as of 6PM this evening to an area of 45,000 square miles. About 20% of the entire Gulf of Mexico.

"The oil spill is unprecedented and dynamic. This is a time for awareness and preparation, but not overreaction," stated Dr. Lubchenco.

NOAA UPDATE -- May 19, 2010:

NOAA's latest observations indicate that a small portion of the oil slick has reached the Loop Current in the form of light to very light sheens.

In the time it would take for oil to travel to the vicinity of the Florida Straits, any oil would be highly weathered and both the natural process of evaporation and the application of chemical dispersants would reduce the oil volume significantly. However, the oil may get caught in a clockwise eddy in the middle of the gulf, and not be carried to the Florida Straits at all.

Oil entrained in the Loop Current would require persistent onshore winds or an eddy on the edge of the Loop Current for it to reach the Florida shoreline. If this were to occur, the weathered and diluted oil would likely appear in isolated locations in the form of tar balls.

The Coast Guard has confirmed that the tar balls collected yesterday in the Florida Keys did not originate with the BP oil spill.

Both the location of the Loop Current and location of the oil slick are dynamic and constantly changing. NOAA tracks the location of the surface oil daily through analysis of satellite imagery, observer over flights with helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, as well as advanced sensing technology on aircraft.

The Loop Current is an area of warm water that comes up from the Caribbean, flowing past the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico. From there, it generally curves east across the Gulf and then flows south parallel to the west Florida Coast, as it flows between Florida and Cuba it becomes the Florida Current as it moves through the Florida Straits, where it finally joins the Gulf Stream as it travels up the Atlantic Coast.

We also continue to assess the contingency plans in potentially impacted areas, and we are working with our state and local partners, as well as BP, as the responsible party, to pre-stage boom and other resources as we have been from the beginning of this response.

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