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Ixtoc oil again threatens US
Volume 1 ! / N u m b e r 3/March 1980
" I f they don't soon lick pollution we'll be extinct before anyone can prove we exist."
currents for about 70 km, before eventually grounding in Kendrick Bay, Alaska. A large rescue team was called in for salvage and clean-up operations, and efforts were made to tow the freighter through Canadian territorial waters. But the vessel sank in the Dixon entrance about 30 km west of Dall Island, and a heavy slick surfaced. The USFWS believes that about 200 000 gallons of oil was on board the ship. The USFWS has been working with other government agencies to assess the environmental damage resulting from the spill, which had affected 1200 km of shoreline by midJanuary. They are particularly concerned because the vessel sank about 13 km from Forrester Island, where a National Wildlife Refuge protects a marine bird nesting area. Prevailing winds have so far carried the oil in the opposite direction, but the USFWS are conducting overflights to monitor the oil movement for any directional changes.
Ixtoc Oil Again Threatens US Oil from the Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) 'Ixtoc I' could once again pollute American beaches in April if the well is not capped, Jerry Gait of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reported. The Ixtoc I well, which blew. out in the Bahia de Campeche on 3 June 1979, is currently spilling out about 2000 barrels of oil per day. The slick was last reported to be about 8 km wide at its head and about 6 km wide 8 km downstream from the well. The US Coast Guard said that the slick did not seem to have varied since last summer, when oil reached Texan beaches during August and September. But PEMEX said that the flow rate last summer was about 30 000 barrels of oil per day, and was now reduced to about 2000 barrels per day, and the well was finally capped in February.
Mr Gait said that the arrival time of the Ixtoc I oil in US waters will depend on both the current reversal along the Mexican and Texan coasts- which is northward between approximately February and September- and the current speed; but the latest model indicates that oil may once again reach Tampico, Mexico, in late February, and US beaches by April.
Arctic Oil Spill Talks A 3-day Oil Spill Workshop, held in Inuvik late last year, reviewed recommendations made by the 1977 Arctic environmental workshops on shoreline protection, and discussed clean-up operational planning. The workshop, organized by Dome/Canmar, was attended by Canadian and US government agencies plus various petroleum agencies. It concentrated on the Beaufort Sea coast and involved a series of lectures and field trips. The recommendations for future work in shoreline counter-measures were divided into three categories: general, shoreline protection, and shoreline clean-up. The general suggestions made included the production of manuals on all areas of exploration; more detailed training for those working on shorelines, and regular assessment of the effects of oil slicks. The recommendations concerning protection included: the determination of the effects of dispersants in the nearshore zone; and the assessment of the impacts of dyking in sensitive backshore areas. Finally, the suggestions about oil clean-up included the study of the influence of frost tables on clean-up; the further study of the use of in situ burning as a shoreline dean-up technique, particularly with reference to the removal of emulsions, the effects of beach slope, residue toxicity, and the trade-offs or rationale for burning; the use 59
" I f they don't soon lick pollution we'll be extinct before anyone can prove we exist."
currents for about 70 km, before eventually grounding in Kendrick Bay, Alaska. A large rescue team was called in for salvage and clean-up operations, and efforts were made to tow the freighter through Canadian territorial waters. But the vessel sank in the Dixon entrance about 30 km west of Dall Island, and a heavy slick surfaced. The USFWS believes that about 200 000 gallons of oil was on board the ship. The USFWS has been working with other government agencies to assess the environmental damage resulting from the spill, which had affected 1200 km of shoreline by midJanuary. They are particularly concerned because the vessel sank about 13 km from Forrester Island, where a National Wildlife Refuge protects a marine bird nesting area. Prevailing winds have so far carried the oil in the opposite direction, but the USFWS are conducting overflights to monitor the oil movement for any directional changes.
Ixtoc Oil Again Threatens US Oil from the Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) 'Ixtoc I' could once again pollute American beaches in April if the well is not capped, Jerry Gait of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reported. The Ixtoc I well, which blew. out in the Bahia de Campeche on 3 June 1979, is currently spilling out about 2000 barrels of oil per day. The slick was last reported to be about 8 km wide at its head and about 6 km wide 8 km downstream from the well. The US Coast Guard said that the slick did not seem to have varied since last summer, when oil reached Texan beaches during August and September. But PEMEX said that the flow rate last summer was about 30 000 barrels of oil per day, and was now reduced to about 2000 barrels per day, and the well was finally capped in February.
Mr Gait said that the arrival time of the Ixtoc I oil in US waters will depend on both the current reversal along the Mexican and Texan coasts- which is northward between approximately February and September- and the current speed; but the latest model indicates that oil may once again reach Tampico, Mexico, in late February, and US beaches by April.
Arctic Oil Spill Talks A 3-day Oil Spill Workshop, held in Inuvik late last year, reviewed recommendations made by the 1977 Arctic environmental workshops on shoreline protection, and discussed clean-up operational planning. The workshop, organized by Dome/Canmar, was attended by Canadian and US government agencies plus various petroleum agencies. It concentrated on the Beaufort Sea coast and involved a series of lectures and field trips. The recommendations for future work in shoreline counter-measures were divided into three categories: general, shoreline protection, and shoreline clean-up. The general suggestions made included the production of manuals on all areas of exploration; more detailed training for those working on shorelines, and regular assessment of the effects of oil slicks. The recommendations concerning protection included: the determination of the effects of dispersants in the nearshore zone; and the assessment of the impacts of dyking in sensitive backshore areas. Finally, the suggestions about oil clean-up included the study of the influence of frost tables on clean-up; the further study of the use of in situ burning as a shoreline dean-up technique, particularly with reference to the removal of emulsions, the effects of beach slope, residue toxicity, and the trade-offs or rationale for burning; the use 59