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 oil
archives1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 III-2004: 03 IV-2004: 06 |
oil 6 last updated 23.02.2003 |
Reporting in progress - expect updates
Thus, two-fifths of the oil that has leaked so far from the Prestige still has to be recovered. It is estimated that about 1,000 tonnes of oil/water emulsion are being collected daily by various ships and fishing boats – 900 tonnes by the Spanish and 100 tonnes by the French. But 2.2 miles, 3,500 metres, is a long way down. At that depth, the Prestige and its oil-containing holds are under a pressure of 350 atmospheres. (At sea level, pressure is one atmosphere, or 1.033 kg/cm2.) This Spanish animation shows what happens. It will only be a matter of time before new cracks appear and the oil again escapes in large quantities.
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Related material The politics of irresponsibility (Jan 1003) The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002) The politics of irresponsibility (Nov & Dec 2002) The Prestige debacle, part 2 (Nov. & Dec.2002) Another potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002) World oil reserves and oil-based fuel development |
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16.02.03 The cleanup makes
progress A further 75 tonnes was recovered from off the French coast, principally off southern Landes. IFREMER, the French research organisation in charge of the operations of the submarine Nautile, report that after 100 hours and 20 dives, they have definitively blocked 15 of the 20 leaks. Of the other 5, three have been “reduced substantially” and two partially. So now 2 tonnes of fuel oil are leaking each day. IFREMER is very clear that what they have done can only be a temporary measure. On the land Over 5,700 people are reported to have worked yesterday, cleaning Spanish beaches, of whom four-fifths were on the Galicia coastline. The Galician authorities report that 70 beaches are “completely clean”, 326 are partially so, 224 ‘sandy areas’ have iridescent leftovers, 10 have lumps of oil, and there are 137 rocky areas that will need more specialist work. Meanwhile, on the French coasts, some beaches in Gironde have been reopened to the public, while the cleaning of beaches further south is repeated and repeated. 06.02.03 I
will make you fishers of oil, saith the Spanish government
Prestige oil arrives not just in the sea, on beaches and rocks, but also on seaside quays. 180 Spanish fishing boats and dozens of French ones go fishing off the French Aquitaine coast and the north Spanish coast. They fish for viscous, poisonous, emulsified fuel oil with .... shrimp nets, or similar tools, a heavy, tiring job. Others gather oil in fine nets, hundreds of metres long, which are reeled back on deck, spreading mess everywhere. The larger pumping ships suck the thick oil out with much water, to make the oil flow, then strain the out as much water as they can. Today’s figures for Pyrennees Altantiques ‘fishing’ were:
By the way, the reports that all the leaks from the wreck of the Prestige have been blocked was premature. The crew of the Nautile have found that three of the fissures just cannot be stopped up. So oil leaks as ever, be it slowly, while the wait continues for the problem to be solved. But will the Madrid government act? |
05.02.03 the good news: All the current escapes from the Prestige have been blocked by the French submarine Nautile. The bad news: Three days of clearing ever larger sheets of emulsified oil from French Atlantic beaches, and now a 200 km long slick has been observed, in places, merely 10 km from the French coast. And.... : The Galician regional government has given local fishermen permission to start limited fishing on the shoreline and in ‘shallow waters’ for shellfish.The authorities say they ‘believe’ that, in shallow waters, they can inspect water quality more easily. Currently, tests show that, for practical purposes, there is no hydrocarbon pollution. The fishermen are chary of the situation, only one ship has returned to work. As well as the worries about whether the seafood fished will be clean, there are also concerns that if everyone returns to work, there will be a glut on the market and prices would drop. There is also the problem that many of the fishing boats are covered in oil from helping the sea cleanup, and so unusable for fishing. 04.02.03 Beaches along Les Landes and Pyrenees Atlantique have been badly hit by emulsified oil, driven by west winds of up to 110 km/hour (about 70 mph). A foul viscous mass, 15 metres wide and a kilometre long, is chopped into manageable pieces with spades, then is hefted into the scoop of a digger by four or five military personnel, using the spades. Elsewhere, it is a matter of filling black bin bags with scrabbled together handfuls of tarballs. The muck sticking to rocks at will be left until later. Why? Because it will not wash back into the sea. Oil not cleared up goes out with the tide, only to return and pollute somewhere else, perhaps less accessible, on the next tide. Experimental nets laid out on the shores are being successful. They enable the collection of oil with only minimal amounts of sand. The cleanup ships are returning to sea, anticipating the improved weather conditions forecast for the next few days. 02.02.03 The current bad weather has blown swathes of oil, with black pancakes a metre in diameter, onto southern Landaise shores, as well as beaches in French and Spanish Basque country. Cleanup teams are hard pressed to remove one lot before the next arrives. Because adverse sea conditions have currently stopped the removal of muck out at sea, it is feared that the next big tides, due later this month, will bring large amounts of the tarry filth onshore. |
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© abelard, 2003, 11 february the address for this document is https://www.abelard.org/news/oil6.htm 10 words
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