Oil-Spotting Blimp Arrives In the Gulf 109
GAMP writes "A Navy blimp to assist oil skimming operations will be arriving to the Gulf Coast Wednesday evening, according to the Unified Command Joint Information Center. 'The airship will operate relatively close to shore, primarily supporting skimmers to maximize their effectiveness,' said US Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Sareault."
Re:Wonderful (Score:5, Informative)
Blimps are cheaper to operate then helicopters or fixed wing airplanes. At least manned ones. Not sure if they are cheaper than drones.
Blimp details (Score:5, Informative)
The article doesn't mention that this is the MZ-3 [wikipedia.org]. It is currently assigned to Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1), based out of NAS Patuxent River, MD. It was being tested in Yuma, AZ until its recent assignment to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup efforts. Its crew are contractors from Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc. -- they have a website, but it's too crappy to bother linking here. The crew includes Commanding Officer Cmdr. Chris Janke, Burt Race, a retired Navy pilot, Chief Pilot Peter Buckley, second pilot Russell Mills, and up to five other positions available.
For those of you wondering if reporters are going to be on this blimp -- probably not. It is not a civilian vessel, and space for personnel is at a premium. As well, as a fully vetted and operating Navy aircraft, it also contains military communications equipment. Very little in the way of surveillance equipment has been fitted on the airframe; Weight is a major concern for such a craft.
Remediation Theatre (Score:5, Informative)
Why does this seem like something that would appear in the plot of a Simpsons or South Park episode?
Because they're not really trying to clean up the oil leak.
They've rejected [financialpost.com] the best available technology for cleaning up the oil because the water it returns, in situ, isn't quite pure enough for EPA regulations.
Instead, they're attempting to pump the Gulf of Mexico into ships and cart it to land, for storage and later processing.
It's so absurd it can't be due to ignorance.
Re:Isn't it a little too late? (Score:2, Informative)
Your 'British' oil company has around 60% of its shareholders living in he USA... this has nothing to do with geography of the HQ.
Besides, didn't ALL of the major oil companies have the same emergency plan?
Minor difference between AU and GoM (Score:3, Informative)
It bears pointing out that the cane toad was imported from outside the Australian ecosystem, whereupon it became a runaway success as an invasive species. Meanwhile, the bacteria mentioned here are already present as a natural part of the Gulf ecosystem, and they thus present zero risk of invasiveness.
Mind you, I'm not saying that guarantees there'll be no problems -- I certainly don't know enough to say one way or the other. But we can be reasonably sure that the oil-munching bacteria in the Gulf are safer than the cane toad, simply because they're already there.
Cheers,