Louisiana governor: 'We are seeing sheens' of oil hit coast

Louisiana governor: 'We Are Seeing Sheens' Of Oil Hit Coast
By CNN

Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Obama is expected to visit the area of an oil spill near the Louisiana coast Sunday, as Gulf Coast residents brace for the arrival of a massive oil slick creeping toward shore.

"Now they're saying we are seeing sheens" hitting the coast, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Saturday, citing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "But they expect the heavier oil to be coming by tomorrow and Monday."

The oil company BP -- which operated the rig whose sinking caused the underwater oil gusher -- said two Louisiana communities, Venice and Port Fourchon, will likely be the first places hit by the oil slick.

Nearly a million feet of boom were deployed in an effort to protect precious estuaries and wildlife, even as thousands of barrels of crude oil continued gushing into the water.

"The oil that is leaking offshore, the oil that is coming onto our coast threatens more than just our wildlife, our fisheries, our coast," Jindal said at a news conference. "This oil literally threatens our way of life."

The slick has already taken a toll on life along the Gulf Coast, bringing fishing and tourism to a halt in many places and threatening to cripple those industries for weeks to come.

"I'm pretty much on pause right now. ... It's just a big waiting game," said David Boola, a fisherman who operates boat trips for tourists out of Venice.

"I'm extremely worried because I have customers that [have] already canceled trips," Boola said. "I should be out taking people fishing today and I'm not. I'm not making money today. Or tomorrow. I'm worried about the now factor, you know?"

BP partnered with government officials to hold town hall meetings throughout the region Saturday to respond to concerns about the spill's consequences.

But frustration was growing in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

At a town hall meeting in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Mayor Stan Wright warned fishermen in the audience that outbursts would be met with arrest. The fishermen were told that they were not allowed to ask questions.

Jindal suggested the response to the oil slick has so far been inadequate, saying "we continue to be concerned with BP's ability to respond to this incident."

Jindal said he has been working with local officials to develop cleanup contingency plans, but needs funding approval from BP.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates approved Jindal's request to mobilize 6,000 National Guard troops.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen -- whom the Obama administration designated Saturday to lead the response to the oil slick -- said oil is likely to reach shorelines in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"The real question is when," he said.

Allen said Saturday that the government and BP's top priority is trying to stop the oil leak, but offered no timetable for when that goal might be achieved.

"We don't know how many days the discharge will continue to occur," he said.

Such reports darkened forecasts about the spill's environmental impact.

"This has the potential of being truly devastating," said Tom McKenzie of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Environmentalist Richard Charter of the Defenders of Wildlife organization said the oil leak could cause damage that would last decades.

"This event is a self-feeding fire," Charter said. "It is so big and expanding so fast that it's pretty much beyond human response that can be effective. ... You're looking at a long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multidecade impact."

The oil spill started April 20, after an explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven oil-rig workers remain missing and are presumed dead.

The rig sank April 22 about 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana, and the untapped wellhead is gushing about 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, according to BP and government estimates. Some environmentalists say the amount could be much larger.

About 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the explosion, the Coast Guard said.

Nearly 2,000 personnel have joined the response effort, which includes 68 vessels, among them skimmers, tugs, barges and oil-recovery ships, officials said.

Crews worked through Friday night to dispense 3,000 gallons of sub-surface dispersant, officials said.

The Coast Guard's Allen said that an initial test of dispersant released near the wellhead suggested the method could "significantly mitigate the amount [of oil] that makes it to the surface."

Such tests have never been done before, BP spokeswoman Marti Powers said.

She said that the dispersants attach themselves to underwater concentrations of oil, causing it to sink to the bottom and dissipate.

While the dispersants can help dissipate oil slicks and help birds and other land-based or water-surface wildlife, the chemicals can hurt fish and other underwater species, environmentalist Charter said.

"The scale of the event and the...

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Last Edited by Picatrix on 05/02/2010 10:42 AM