Huge Oil Mat Washes Ashore in Orange Beach
December 4th, 2010 Clearly BP’s Oil is Not Yet Gone, or ForgottenWKRG.com News A giant oil mat, nearly an eighth of a mile long, is washing up west of Cotton Bayou in Orange Beach, Alabama, according to a local television news crew.
BP clean up contractors came to the scene when they were notified and brought in heavy equipment to remove the oil. A clean up crew supervisor told WKRG News 5 the tar mat was “submerged,” and wasn’t visible until the incoming tide pushed it on shore.
“When we arrived, we could smell the petroleum product hundreds of feet away,” broadcast reporter Pat Peterson said. “Workers covered their mouths and noses and coughed because of the overwhelming smell.”
The tar mat removal will be an all-day process. Crews will be removing oil until dusk, according to this report.
Is this going to happen every few months? How many more of these mats are still out there?
ReplyDeleteClearly it will be a LONG time before we ever see a healthy Gulf again. From what I personally observed, it is my belief that we have many years of rogue mats and slicks to come.
ReplyDeleteOily slime balls weighing over 1,000 pounds have been brought up in shrimp nets recently. Those were deep water trawlers.
80Sq. miles of ocean have at least 3 to 4 inches of this slime yet to come.