The Gulf oil spill has been a national concern for weeks, and now that the well has been capped, some more positive news is beginning to develop.
Outer Banks enthusiasts can start to breathe a little easier knowing that indicators are beginning to demonstrate oil on the OBX is unlikely.
North Carolina State University associate professor Roy He, an expert on marine sciences and coastal circulation, says it is unlikely that oil from the Gulf spill will make its way to the East Coast….and the Outer Banks.
The Virginia Pilot is reporting that Professor He said the chances are low because the damaged oil well is capped, the oil is undergoing continuous dilution and degradation, and large amounts of oil have not been seen in the Loop Current, which has the potential to carry the oil around Florida and up the Eastern Seaboard.
Description: A day of peace, music and awareness for the OBX. An attempt at raising money for the National Wildlife Federation in their efforts on cleaning up the oil spill. There will be great music and food all day and a raffle with some pretty cool prizes.
Save Our Seas - Outer Banks
The Outer Banks Brewing Station is a great venue, and the event is free, family friendly and open to the public.
Local artists will be performing, including: Dazzl, Rich Bungrad, Rick Agudelo, Ty Felming, Rubber Pants, Soulone, Christian Benedi, and Frozen Head & the Squirrels.
At 9:30 PM the festivities move inside for headliners, Mojo Collins and Triple Vision.
The Outer Banks Visitor’s Bureau released a very informative FAQ about the potential for oil from the Gulf oil disaster reaching the Outer Banks. The Q & A answers the most asked questions with the most up-to-date information available. The FAQ is below in its entirety.
Q & A Concerning the Gulf Oil Spill
I have seen computer models on TV and the Internet, which show the oil moving up the East Coast. Should I be concerned?
The visualization is illustrative — not predictive — of what could happen. Circulation on the continental shelf is strongly influenced by weather, which cannot be accurately modeled beyond a week (or less). The visual of the model, and its yellow color, tells you something about the dilution that’s happening too. This model, although sensational, is basically showing fairly low concentrations of the oil.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) recently released six models utilizing traceable dye, not oil, and showing how currents might move the dye through the Gulf Stream. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington cautioned against making too much of the new scientific models from NCAR. NOAA officials pointed out that the dye doesn’t evaporate or break down at the same rate as oil. “It represents a big picture look at how the oil will enter the Gulf Stream,” said NOAA spokesman Chris Vaccaro. “As oil weathers, it changes characteristics and no longer behaves like a fluid, making it harder to do long-term forecasts.”
What are the chances of oil landing on the shores of the Outer Banks?
The U.S. Coast Guard, which is the lead agency in oil spill response in coastal waters, has said there is less than 1 percent chance oil will make its way to the North Carolina coast. NOAA and other officials say the kind of impacts the east coast might experience would be much different than what is transpiring in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Most oil spill experts say any oil carried by the Loop Current would be more dispersed and highly weathered by the time it even gets to the Florida Keys, which is some 500 miles from the spill site (the Outer Banks is roughly another 1,000 miles from the Keys).
Distance is just one of several influencing factors. First for the oil to get to the western Atlantic, it must get out of the Gulf, riding in the loop current. Recently the loop current broke off a large eddy, which contains some of the oil. That is now headed towards Texas. So for now the oil remains trapped in the Gulf. When the loop current begins to move further northward in the Gulf, it will be intercepting some of the oil, perhaps more aged, and then it will be carried in some concentration and some form (such as small tar balls) through the Florida Straits and into the Gulf Stream. By the time the oil carried along by the Gulf Stream reaches the Carolina area, it will clearly be well diluted and aged. Meanwhile, the Gulf Stream is 12- 15 miles off the coast. To reach the shore, there will have to be a number of events to occur, such as significant onshore winds, shedding of eddies and the like. This explains the Coast Guard’s projection of less than 1%.
What is the Loop Current?
The Gulf Loop Current is a dynamic, clockwise warm-water current that carries water from the Yucatan Channel north to the Gulf of Mexico, then eastward and looping back down south off the Florida west coast, past the Dry Tortugas and into the Gulf Stream.
OUTER BANKS VISITORS BUREAU One Visitors Center Circle, Manteo, NC 27954 Phone 252- 473-2138 Fax 252- 473-5777 877-629-4386 www.outerbanks.org Duck • Southern Shores • Kitty Hawk • Kill Devil Hills • Nags Head • Roanoke Island • Hatteras Island • Dare Mainland
Here’s a post that discusses the Coast Guard’s readiness and preparation to manage the potential of the oil reaching the Outer Banks.
The essence of the Outer Banks is contained in its pristine, natural setting, and the area depends on healthy estuarine and ocean ecosystems to survive. If the OBX environment is threatened, so too is the OBX way of life.
The recent lifting of the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling and horrible environmental catastrophe plaguing the businesses, livelihoods and ecosystems of the Gulf Coast are raising serious questions and concerns for all Outer Banks enthusiasts. As a result of these concerns, the Sierra Club and the Outer Banks Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation have organized a “Hands Across the Sand” event for the OBX to protest offshore oil drilling in North Carolina.
June 26th at
11 AM at the
Bonnet Street beach access
This very same protest led Florida to ban off-shore oil drilling in their state before the recent debacle in the Gulf Coast. The hope is that the same can be accomplished in North Carolina. Please invite your friends, families and neighbors to join. This can help send a clear message of opposition to an industry that places the people, places, wildlife and businesses in jeopardy….and preserve the Outer Banks natural wonders for generations to come.
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.
