Gulf Stream Current
The Gulf oil spill is a devastating disaster, and the threat of damage from the oil is spreading everyday. The possibility of the oil spill in the gulf hitching a ride on the Gulf Stream and arriving along the North Carolina coast is being discussed, but the likelihood of such an event is still an unknown. However, the Coast Guard has trained for these types of scenarios and is ready to act if needed.
In most cases, oil moving up the Atlantic Coast would stay well offshore, but the Coast Guard isn’t taking any chances. The Coast Guard is currently taking all the necessary measures to plan for the possibility of the oil turning towards the coast. Every three years, the coast guard practices for the event of a full-scale oil spill. Two years ago a diesel fuel spill was simulated from a barge in the Cape Fear River. In the 1980s, an oil spill washed up on the shores of Dare County. Oil that washed up on shore came from an unknown source, but ended up covering four miles of beach.
Dare County emergency management coordinator N.H. “Sandy” Sanderson is not overly anxious about gulf oil. In a recent interview with the Bellingham Herald, Sandy mentioned that “This spill is going to get so much attention, and there are so many trip wires in place, that there will be plenty of time to coordinate the response.”
In the same article, a representative for a company that handles oil cleanup in North Carolina mentioned that they “don’t really have a lot of faith that (Gulf oil) will come ashore here, but if it did we would have full capability to respond to it.”
Cleanup crews use an array of boats, skimmers, soak-up gear and other equipment, including more than two miles of booms to contain oil. Computer software that simulates the force of tides and wind helps predict where an oil plume will go, giving responders an edge.
Update: Here’s a post from 6.4.10 with an FAQ from the Outer Banks Visitor’s Bureau about the potential for oil to hit the Outer Banks from the Gulf spill; at this point, the OBX beaches are clean.
While watching the latest news about the BP Oil spill, a frightening thought came to mind: what if we can’t stop the oil? I mean, what happens if after all the measures to cap the pipe fail, (i.e., “Top Hat”, “Small Hat” and “Top Kill”). What then? An accident this problematic is new territory for BP. The oil pipeline is nearly a mile down on the ocean floor, accessible only by robots. Add on top of that the extreme pressure at which the oil is flowing out of the pipeline and there you have it: the perfect storm.
Moreover, scientists also claim that they’ve found an enormous plume of oil floating just under the surface of the ocean measuring approximately 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. (I’m no math genius, but I bet one of you reading this could figure out just how many barrels of oil that is…)
There are new estimates that the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico is anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil a day: that’s a far cry from BP’s estimated 5,000 barrels a day. If BP’s estimates are correct, the total amount of oil now in the Gulf would be approximately 150,000 barrels (or 6,300,000 gallons). That’s barely enough to fill 286 swimming pools: sixteen feet, by thirty-two feet, by eight and a half feet deep. That wouldn’t cover an area the size of New York City, let alone an area the size of Delaware. Obviously, the spill is much larger than we are being led to believe. If the leak can’t be stopped, in a year’s time, we’ll have roughly 18,250,000 barrels of oil (or 766,500,000 gallons) in our oceans, killing our marine and animal wildlife. Such a calamity would be environmentally and economically disastrous. Pray that BP and our government work fast to end this catastrophe.
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I think it is totaly wrong what BP is doing to our waters. This month will be the first time for me to be vacationing in the outer banks. I just hope my days on the beach wont be spent picking up tar balls……..