News stories are getting a real Friedman Unit feel right now. Corners are being turned and lights appearing in tunnels. If you were to read the headlines and first paragraphs in the Times-Pic this morning, you'd heave a big sigh of relief and order up some redfish, content that the blackening was supplied by the chef alone.
If you were to go down a few grafs in those stories, you'd see a whole lot of "buts."
The front page leads with the news that the Big Box has arrived on the site of Deepwater Horizon's demise and the process of lowering it through a mile of Gulf water onto the main leak will begin soon. Reading down-column, it quickly becomes clear that the whole process is a crap shoot hitherto untested in deep water and, if they can box the spill, and if they can get the oil up the relief pipe, once it reaches the surface, they're going to have to deal--immediately--with the same highly flammable mixture of gas, oil and water that doomed the Horizon.
They are also worried about volatile cocktail of oil, gas and water when it arrives on the ship above. Engineers believe the liquids can be safely separated without an explosion.
. . .
Asked to handicap the odds of success, Bob Fryer, a senior executive vice president for BP's Deep Water Angola, offered up this assessment: "This has never been done before. Typically you would put odds on something that has been done before."
Fryer also said BP is exploring a technique in which crews would reconfigure the well that would allow them to plug the leak, but that effort is a couple weeks off.
Meanwhile, the trade groups representing the state's seafood producers are all over Capitol Hill and any airwaves they can net to get out the message that there's plenty of safe, delicious Louisiana seafood available. Not everyone's buying the message, though they're buying the product. As fast as they can.
Interviews with some seafood chefs and food market managers around the country indicated that Pearce has some more reassuring to do.
"We're praying and buying up what we can of shrimp and other Gulf seafood products," said Jeremy Marshall, chef and owner of Aquagrill restaurant in New York City. "Right now we're taking a wait-and-see attitude, but I can't see this being anything short of devastating to the industry."
Joe Mokry, sous chef at the Blue Point Grill in Cleveland, said he's been buying Gulf shrimp for the past month because "we got a good price," but he worries supplies and prices will soon rise dramatically.
It's a reasonable worry. A week ago, the nightmare was that the spill would get into the oyster beds in Breton Sound. And that's just what it did. Since then, the industry has been reassuring customers that the spill was so far limited to the areas east of the river, and that waters to the west were yielding a safe catch. That changes today.
Gov. Bobby's dealt in another 500 soldiers from the state National Guard, and DOD has authorized a lot more communications and transportation resources. We saw a line of three transports hauling small, off-road utility trucks over the river today, presumably headed to Venice to help with booming operations.
The booms, while certainly a good visual for news photographers, are, most experts admit, pure placebo.
"In open turbulent water, you can't catch the oil," said Robert Bea, a former oil tanker captain turned professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. "There is intense wave action out there most of the time. To expect that you can trap oil on the surface in open water conditions, I'd say, 'Prove it.' "
Bea said that the images of orange or yellow boom linked together by fishers and shrimpers who are employed for the cleanup have value in the face of disaster.
"Window dressing is not necessarily bad. With that window dressing comes hope, and maybe we will learn something new," said Bea, a 48-year veteran in the design of offshore platforms and other marine systems. "Don't get your expectations too high."
Pretty much the same sentiment expressed last week in a letter to the editor from a veteran of the Exxon Valdez:
As much as you would like to believe that the efforts from boom-towing craft are helping clean up spilled oil, they simply are no match for the power of the seas. You will pick up some oil and feel better, but it will be of little consequence.
Ditto with dispersants.
"Window dressing." "Hope." "Maybe we'll learn something new."
Sort of wish they had something a bit more concrete.
The usual PS: Links to organizations coordinating volunteers for cleanup efforts. Got a new one today: Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is registering and coordinating volunteer cleanup efforts. Others can be found at links below.
http://content.usatoday.com/...
http://www.tonic.com/...
Some more volunteer info:
BP and the federal government have established a hotline forvolunteers. Please call 1-866-448-5816. We anticipate that there will an ongoingneed for volunteers in the environmental cleanup effort. If you wantto register your desire to help and receive updates click here
http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/...
For up-to-date information about the spill, please visit
http://emergency.louisiana.gov/ andhttp://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
More at volunteerlouisiana.gov
For those in the area seeking paid employment on the cleanup (probably the only dough you'll see out of this), here's some info:
JOB1 Business and Career Solutions, 2330 Canal St., New Orleans, LA on Saturday 5/1/2010 from 9:30am to 3pm. and Monday-Friday 9am to 3pm.
Must be at least 18 years old. Must have own transportation. Will live in a shared hotel environment. Will be paid a per diem.
In addition to our application, each applicant will need to complete an I-9 Form and W-4.
Pre-Screen Requirements:
Must be able to lift 40lbs Must be able to work 7 days a week Must have a valid U.S. I.D. Must NOT have a Class X Felony under 20 years (Class X Felony being murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter) Must NOT have a violent felony conviction within the past five years (aggravated assault or aggravated battery)
Job Description:
General Labor positions will be responsible for: Debris Removal; Placing protective barriers along shorelines and beaches; Basic menial tasks; $10 - $12 DOE
Crew Leader positions will be responsible for: Supervising up to 10 people; Debris Removal; Placing protective barriers along shorelines and beaches; Basic menial tasks; $12 - $16 DOE
Site Supervisor positions will be responsible for: Supervising up to 10 Crew Leaders • Debris Removal • Placing protective barriers along shorelines and beaches • Basic menial tasks • $14 - $18 DOE
Site Safety Representative positions will be responsible for: • Enforce safety scope of project • PPE oversight • OSHA enforcement • Basic knowledge of EPA and environmental issues • HAZMAT experience • HAZWOPER experience
Lead Safety Representative positions will be responsible for: • Manage Site Safety Representatives • Develop overall safety scope of project • Define all PPE requirements • Strong understanding OSHA requirements • Strong knowledge of EPA and environmental issues • Ability to train HAZMAT • Ability to train HAZWOPER
For more information contact Louisiana Workforce Commission - JOB1 Business and Career Solutions at (504) 658-4500.