Oil Cleanup Moves To Shorelines

Estimated location of oil on March 30 from the sinking of the Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Image: U.S. Coast Guard

BP plc began the next phase in the clean up of the Gulf of Mexico spill which involves preparing for a major protection and cleaning effort on the shorelines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The oil company’s mobilization to fight the oil spill follows the sinking of the Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Mississippi Canyon 252 block last week.

As a result, it has created an onshore incident command post in Mobile, Alabama, to oversee the onshore response in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. This is in addition to the company’s Houma, Louisiana, command post which oversees the offshore containment effort and onshore response in Louisiana.

Oil leaking from the underwater well is estimated at up to 5,000 barrels a day, according to various federal agencies.

New onshore activity is focussed on five locations in the potentially affected states: Venice, Louisiana; Pascagoula and Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida. Staging posts are in place stocked with people and material, including about 100,000 feet of boom, to protect the shoreline in each area, BP said.

More details on BP's clean up of the oil spill are available from the Houston Business Journal