NEW ORLEANS--As state and federal officials displayed increasing displeasure with its response, BP on Friday tried a new approach to protect the Louisiana coast on the 10th day of a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill: using a chemical to disperse the oil as it welled up from the seabed.
But the stakes only increased as Louisiana health and wildlife officials shut down all commercial and recreational fishing east of the mouth of the Mississippi River to protect consumers from tainted seafood.
The closure imperiled the livelihoods of thousands of fishers and related interests.
"This changes everything as we know it," said Glenn Sanchez of Breton Sound Marina in Hopedale. "I don't have a clue how I'll make a living."
Officials including Gov. Bobby Jindal and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano expressed frustration with BP's efforts to far, which have included corralling the oil with booms and burning it at the surface.
"Not adequate," was Jindal's verdict at a news conference at the incident's Robert, La., command center.
Napolitano was more expansive: "It is clear that after several unsuccessful attempts to secure the source of the leak, it's time to supplement their current mobilization as the slick of oil moves toward shore."
Jindal and Napolitano, with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, said the federal government was prepared to add its resources to contain oil from the blowout, 50 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Jindal said 600 Louisiana National Guard soldiers have been activated, the first of a force that could number 6,000, and even prisoners may receive cleanup training.
Pentagon officials said two Air Force planes were dispatched from Ohio to drop dispersant over the spill.
But deteriorating weather conditions threatened the complicated efforts to contain the oil from the accident.
Strong winds and waves
On Friday, strong winds sloshed oily waves over miles of booms deployed like a floating fence to shield Louisiana's multibillion-dollar seafood nursery, which supplies a third of the nation's domestic seafood.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser returned from a flyover to report he had seen booms washed ashore or torn open.
Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production for BP, acknowledged that heavy weather Friday kept a fleet of nearly 300 boats idle.
"When wind and waves come up, there's not much we can do on the surface of the sea," he said.
The forecast called for more weather complications: strong winds of 20 to 25 mph through the weekend, with rain on Sunday as well.
Meantime, another complication may have surfaced. Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor and one of the state's experts on oil spills, said analysis of a single sample indicated the rig is blowing a heavier grade of crude than expected -- less toxic to wildlife, but longer lasting and much harder to clean up.
Overton said he needs more than a single sample to confirm the finding. "We need to know, because this could change how we go about attacking this thing," he said.
Oil rig explodes, sinks into Gulf
Tensions among the public and private participants seemed to mount on the 10th day of the crisis, which began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon, owned and operated by Transocean and leased to BP, blew up and sank in 5,000 feet of water.
The explosion killed 11 workers. The crumpled rig now sits on the seabed, an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil gushing at several points through a broken drill pipe called a riser.
Federal law makes BP responsible for the costs of the cleanup. But Jindal and Napolitano made plain their assessment that BP needs to ramp up its effort.
"Today the situation is still a dangerous one," said Salazar who, with Napolitano and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, was dispatched to Louisiana by the White House. He said the Interior Department has ordered safety inspections on all deep-water rigs operating in the Gulf.
Suttles, the BP executive, said the company is seeking ideas from every industry quarter -- and in fact collected the subsurface dispersant idea from outside BP.
Jackson said the EPA has begun stepped up air and water monitoring.
She said test results, with other environmental information about the spill, will be posted online at
www.epa.gov/bpspill. Jindal said the state has opened freshwater diversion projects to flush Mississippi River water into inland marshes at Davis Pond, in St. Charles Parish, on the west bank of the river and far from danger, and at Caernarvon in St. Bernard Parish, somewhat closer to the Gulf.
Jindal's health officials closed oyster beds and shrimping grounds east of the river two weeks before the expected opening of shrimping season. Oysters harvested before the beds were closed are safe to eat, state officials said.
Frank Campo, who runs Campo's Shell Beach Marina, said that since the 1930s he has closed only for hurricanes and Christmas.
"It shuts us down, puts us out of business," he said. "We make our living selling bait, fuel and diesel and launching boats. If they can't fish. ... We're done."
Paradoxically, hundreds of local fishers may now rely on BP for income; unable to fish, many will try to participate in a BP program hiring their boats to spread booms.
Hundreds of fishers from across Louisiana converged in Boothville on Friday for training in hopes of earning money in the cleanup. Many were skeptical that booms will be of much use protecting the state's complicated wetlands coastline.
Clint Guidry, of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, said that after meetings with Plaquemines Parish and BP officials, he has assurances that BP will pay fishers up front for their services .
As further help, Jindal said the state has asked the Small Business Administration to extend loan relief to struggling fishermen still paying off loans from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.
Meanwhile, a Texas contractor asked the Louisiana Work Force Commission for applications from 500 sturdy manual laborers who will be paid a per diem to work in the cleanup. Applications will be taken today and next week at 2330 Canal St., said Cynthia Bentley, of the workforce commission.
And environmental groups put out a call for skilled and unskilled volunteers who may be needed to clean tainted birds and other wildlife.
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana said it is coordinating with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and other agencies, said Executive Director Steven Peyronnin.
Volunteers with no specialized skills will be needed, too, he said. Anyone interested in helping can fill out the volunteer form at
www.crcl.org or 225.767.4181.
Port officials said the mouth of the Mississippi River remained open to commerce through Southwest Pass, although traffic was urged to avoid the slick if possible. A tour ship, the Carnival Triumph, was expected to reach the mouth of the Mississippi River late Friday and to dock at the Erato Street Cruise Terminal on Saturday morning.
While fishers, volunteers and paid workers bent at the task of containing the spill, others said they would add prayers to the effort.
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond asked Catholics in Southeast Louisiana to pray for the welfare of those affected. And the archdiocese said the Rev. John Arnone, pastor of two Catholic parishes in St. Bernard, would conduct a prayer service Saturday at 5 p.m. at Breton Sound Marina.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, May 1st 2010 at 5:35PM
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