U.S. Coast Guard Sets Oil Slick Ablaze
April 29th, 2010Via: Reuters:
The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday set a “controlled burn” to battle a giant oil slick from last week’s deadly offshore drilling rig explosion, as the spill threatened wide-scale coastal damage for four U.S. Gulf Coast states.
The leaking well, 5,000 feet (1,525 metres) under the sea off Louisiana’s coast, has created an oil sheen and emulsified crude slick slightly bigger than the U.S. state of West Virginia, the Coast Guard said.
Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. Swiss-based Transocean Ltd’s (RIGN.S)(RIG.N) Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22, two days after it exploded and caught fire while finishing a well for BP Plc (BP.L) about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The burn began at 5 p.m. CDT (2200 GMT), an agency spokesman said. Workboats were to pool segments of the spill inside a fire-resistant “boom,” essentially a floating corral, to be towed to a remote area for burning, the Coast Guard said.
The agency said it planned “small, controlled burns” of several hundred gallons each lasting about an hour and invisible from shore.
BP, which owns the well, is spending millions of dollars a day on what it has called the largest oil spill containment operation in history, involving dozens of ships and aircraft.
More: 42,000 Gallons and Now Greater Than 2000 Square Miles
Research Credit: RS
In light of this catastrophic oil spill, and its horrific pollution consequences, is it a coinkeydink, that Interior Secretary Salazar approved the wind farm off of Massachusetts today?
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-28/u-s-approves-first-offshore-wind-farm-near-cape-cod-update3-.html
I do not know how far one can see across the ocean with a clear view. Five miles, to me, seems like a REALLY long view. Does anyone know if one could see the wind farm from five miles out with the naked eye?
As far as fishing is concerned, on a dive trip to the Dry Tortugas many years ago, many of the most interesting dives were around the old towers built for the U.S. Navy. In the olden days, before digital and satellite, they used to string the wires across miles of ocean connected to towers.
One of the old towers, was called “Grouper Church.” For some reason, sharks, groupers, and other sea life loved to flock around those towers. It was beautiful to behold.
I guess I have posed more questions than answers here. But my preference would be to stop sucking the earth dry of its oil – for all we know – oil is the Earth’s bodily fluids, so I say lets give the wind a try.