Hurricane Alex and Gulf Oil Spill

Hurricane Alex Continues to Interrupt Cleanup

According to the shipping company that owns the clenup vessel, initial tests on a supertanker adapted to skim large quantities of oily water from the gulf’s surface were inconclusive. The supertanker A Whale was billed as the world’s largest oil skimmer. It is supposed to be able to suck up 21 million gallons of oily water a day, but stiff winds and choppy seas have made that impossible so far. Offshore oil skimming along the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida came to a stop early last week because of choppy seas stirred up by Hurricane Alex. The weather also prevented a flotilla of smaller skimmers from working.

British Petroleum’s Costs for Oil Spill Response Pass $3 Billion

For work on cleaning and capping the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and for payouts to individuals, businesses and governments, BP’s tab has climbed to just over $3 billion. The total of $3.12 billion was up from $2.65 billion a week earlier. The figure does not include a $20 billion fund for damages that BP created last month.