Tests of Gulf oil superskimmer inconclusive: ship owner

Reuters ^ | July 5, 2010 | Mathew Bigg

[ArmstedFragg]

Tests on a supertanker adapted to skim large quantities of oily water from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico are inconclusive because of high seas, ship owner TMT Shipping Offshore said on Monday

[ArmstedFragg]

The real test will come when "skimmer weather" returns mid-week.

On another note, two of the Costner devices have been integrated into skimming activities. In the past, the skimmers had to bring their collected oil in, now they're able to corral it, then let a barge with two of those Costner machines collect it on site.

[gleeaikin]

Fantastic, private enterprise strikes again.

[ClearCase_guy]

I pretty sure I'm right when I say that the ship does what it's supposed to do. The results are NOT inconclusive. It works, and it works well.

But the EPA has set the bar so high, that the federal government is still not satisfied with the purity of the water after cleaning, so the ship is not cleared to operate.

It can remove oil from the water. It can remove A LOT of oil from the water. But it's not perfect -- so it has to sit at the dock.

The way these stories are written (and I've seen quite a few) it makes it seem like the ship isn't quite up to the task -- but the reality is that the government is sabotaging the cleanup effort.

[ElkGroveDan]

Tests of Gulf oil superskimmer inconclusive

Ah darn. Time to give up then and turn to global socialism as the only answer.

[nascarnation]

The Baraqqis are waiting for a solution that is built by the UAW and operated by Teamsters.

[ArmstedFragg]

What I also like about it is that they integrated the Costner devices in the spot in the process where they could do the most good, instead of just freelancing.

I don’t put much weight on the A Whale test results at the moment. Skimming is most effective when there’s a layer of oil to skim. Stormy seas break up the layer and mix it with surface waters.

[ElkGroveDan]

the Costner devices have been integrated into skimming activities.

A new roll for Costner, "Dances With EPA Bureaucrats."

[dennisw]

Sabotage is the key word I have been using. We have 0bama the saboteur in the White House and Lisa Jackson another saboteur heading up the EPA. I would also call them racist saboteurs because the coastal people on the Gulf are mostly white. I would say 95+%. The offshore oil biz in Louisiana must be 99.9% white..... lol

Bush was called a racist over Katrina
You do the same to Obama and Jackson only this time it is true

[ArmstedFragg]

They did a formal test this weekend, gave it a section of ocean near the spill site and turned it loose. Essentially it worked about as well as any other skimmer works in high seas... which is to say, “not”. If there hadn’t been all the political pressure to hurry up and test it, I suspect they’d have waited for better conditions and it would have been fine.

At any rate, they’re going to retry once the seas calm.

[ClearCase_guy]

Quite frankly, I’m not sure I see any need to test anything — just go out and do the job. The testing, at this point, serves more as a delaying tactic than anything else. It’s an excuse for why the problem isn’t being dealt with. I say they aren’t dealing with the problem because they very much do not want the problem dealt with.

[AU72]

By EPA standards all sewage treatment plants should be shut down and we all have to construct slit trenches in our backyards.

[deport]

Photo of the test run

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The way these stories are written (and I've seen quite a few) it makes it seem like the ship isn't quite up to the task -- but the reality is that the government is sabotaging the cleanup effort.

Either sabatoge or mind numbing stupidity....take your pick.

[ClearCase_guy]

This level of incompetence is no longer believable. I don't give an inch. I don't say "Maybe their inexperience is showing". I don't say "Well, these people don't have backgrounds in real world problem-solving".

The time for such excuses is well past. It's not stupidity. It's not incompetence.

It's deliberate.

[Eva]

NO, it doesn’t work. It is being re-engineered to try to fix the problems. The ship is purely experimental at this point.

[ClearCase_guy]

Help me out here — how can you use inconclusive test results to initiate a re-engineering effort?

[scooby321]

Gainesville product will help clean up oil spill
MyCelx gets go-ahead to use its oil-absorbant mat

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/archive/34313/

[B-Cause]

Perhaps a person who is a whiz on this stuff could do a comparison of the size of the vessel versus the current area of the oil slick and come up with some reasonable numbers. My first thought is that it’s effectiveness could be compared to trying to raise the level of the ocean by urinating in it.

[Eva]

You’ll have to take my word for it. Sorry.

I have a question for any of you from New Orleans, What happened to all the federal money from Katrina? I hear that New Orleans still looks like a war zone, with an abandoned building right across the street from city hall and holes in the sidewalk that are so bad that it’s dangerous to walk on them. Where’s the money?

[justa-hairyape]

The real test will come when "skimmer weather" returns mid-week.

Actually, Wednesday could see some of the worse sees over the oil gusher site since it started gushing. Over 10 feet predicted now. Wont get to good skimming seas until Friday. Here is the latest sea height predictions for near the oil spill site. Courtesy of stormsurf. Buoy location 29.18N 88.30W

We are in Hurricane season now. Bonnie is probably gonna develop from the storm system just to the east of the Yucatan later on Tuesday. Too much shear today. It is predicted to take a more northern track then Alex. Will head towards the Texas/Louisiana state line. The Oil Gusher site will get exposed to much stronger winds and seas because Bonnie will be closer. There are currently three tropical waves lined up to enter the Gulf and a low pressure system currently south of Louisiana. Seas are gonna be fairly rough most of the time. Best shot for skimming right now is the coming weekend.

Tropical Development Possible Later this Week