Esri News Feed

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Mapping the Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico

Given the wealth of information that is developing around this uncapped oil spill - I put together some NOAA and Twitter updates for review.

The latest report from NOAA:
Quick "Cut & Paste" from site:

" ... Oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico at an estimated to 5000 barrels (210,000 gallons) per day from three leaks in damaged piping on the sea floor. The Unified Command decided to test a new technique to apply dispersants to oil at the source - 5000’ below the surface. Another test and follow-on analysis of the effects of dispersant and dispersed oil in the water column are necessary before the technique is operational, but if successful it could reduce or prevent an oil plume from forming at the surface...."



".... Preparation for drilling of a relief or cut-off well is underway - one drilling rig is on site and one should arrive this weekend, but the process will not be complete for several months. Work also continues on a piping system designed to take oil from a collection dome at the sea floor to tankers on the surface; this technique has never been tried at 5000’. High winds and seas curtailed surface skimming and application of dispersant by air today, but production of dispersant has ramped up to 70,000 barrels per day...."


"...Hundreds of thousands of feet of boom have been deployed to contain the spill, with hundreds of thousands more assigned. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the closure of both recreational and commercial fishing in areas of likely impact and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals closed molluscan shellfish (oyster) harvesting areas in the coastal parishes of Plaquemines and St. Bernard...."


Some Additional Resources:

EPA: Federal Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
This site tracks EPA's ongoing work in the area and help answer questions about the incident.


Deepwater Horizon Response on Facebook
This site is providing information regarding the April 20 incident in the US Gulf of Mexico involving a Transocean drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon.
 
On Twitter: Oil_Spill_2010
This site is providing information regarding the April 20 incident in the US Gulf of Mexico involving a Transocean drilling Rig Deep Water Horizon.

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