http://www.galvestondailynews.com/free/article_6340123e-b1fc-11e3-987d-0017a43b2370.html
“Collision between barge and ship Saturday near Texas City Dike spilled 160,000 gallons of heavy oil into Galveston Bay.”
Is Offats Bayou protected enough from this? Not looking forward to a duathlon.
Hmmm…
I sent one of the story writers (Wes Swift) asking how it will affect Offats Bayou & the race. He said he’ll ask that question during a 2 pm briefing today. I’ll post back here.
Hope it is contained and cleared up. Please.
It is only about 8 miles between the Texas City Dyke (where the collision occurred) and Offats Bay (where the IM swim occurs). There is a lot of tidal current in these bays. West Bay is due west of the collision and Offats comes off of it. You get lots of barges and boat traffic in West Bay. You get those and large cargo ships and oil tankers in Galveston Bay.
Initially the tide was pushing the oil to the north, away from Offats Bay. But by late afternoon the tide and wind had pushed it south of the Dyke towards Offats Bay.
24 hours later the ship channel, which leads to the port which is the 3rd or 4th largest in the U.S. remains closed. As is the ferries and everything else. Fishermen are reporting that oil sludge is coating their boats from traveling in the bay.
Any updates?
What are the odds we swim?
Pretty sure when I swam there last year there was a boat idling, leaking oil by a turn buoy, I got a solid mouthful, it was no big deals.
And oil is slick anyways. I am sure swim times would be 3-4 minutes faster if this is the case.
Seriously, they better not cancel this.
Which do you recommend, a long sleeve wet suit or sleeveless in an oil slick?
You’ll be to hot in sleeves. Go sleeveless. I’m most likely going speedo only.
Which do you recommend, a long sleeve wet suit or sleeveless in an oil slick?
Just coat yourself in Dove so that the oil doesn’t bond to you. Wait … this is what they call ‘thick, sticky oil’. You better double up on the Dove. Goggles. Hmmm. Coat them in Baby Shampoo so that it doesn’t sting your eye. There you go.
You’ll be to hot in sleeves. Go sleeveless. I’m most likely going speedo only.
That’s probably a good idea on the speedo, as you could just reach down and grease both sides quickly and not have to apply chamois butter before the ride.
Any updates?
As of 3pm Sunday …
According to Bruce Clawson, Texas City’s Emergency Manager, the barge is partially sunk.
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“It has a type of bunker fuel, a very heavy oil. Some of it has leaked out,” Clawson said. “It has not been contained. They are working on that now. We anticipate it will move around for the next day or day and a half before it actually comes ashore.”
According to the Coast Guard, the collision did release a significant amount of oil and that oil is not only in the Galveston Bay but is moving further out into the Gulf of Mexico due to the wind and tides.
Here is another local report on the spill as of 6pm Sunday. I have edited it down. The bad news … it is sticky, gooey, thick, tarry stuff." If it is now 12 miles out into the Gulf … and the Gulf is 5 miles from the spill site. Offats Bay, where the swim is held is only 8 miles away.
The Associated Press TEXAS CITY, TX – A barge that once carried some 900,000 gallons of heavy tar-like oil was cleared Sunday of its remaining contents, a day after the vessel collided with a ship in the busy Houston Ship Channel and leaked as much as a quarter of its cargo into the waterway.
Coast Guard officials said that up to 168,000 gallons were dumped and that oil from the ruptured barge had been detected 12 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico as of Sunday afternoon.
“This is a significant spill,” Capt. Brian Penoyer, commander of the Coast Guard at Houston-Galveston, said. But he said the emptying of the barge Sunday, a process known as lightering as contents are transferred to other vessels, was equally significant. “The remaining risk of pollution, we’ve removed that,” he said.
Over 380 people - “and we’ve ordered more,” he said - plus a fleet of oil-retrieving skimmers and other vessels deploying containment booms around environmentally sensitive areas worked to mitigate the damage.
Officials said they had scattered reports of wildlife damage but no specifics. Some black tar-like globs, along with a dark line of a sticky, oily substance, could be detected along the shoreline of the Texas City dike, a 5-mile-long jetty that juts into Galveston Bay across from a tip of Galveston Island.
The channel, one of the world’s busiest waterways for moving petrochemicals, was shut for a second day Sunday. As many as 60 vessels were backed up both trying to get out and get in. Penoyer said at least one cruise ship, initially socked in by fog Saturday, was being allowed to end its trip and return to Galveston. He said others would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Its path into Galveston would take it through a safety zone defining the oil cleanup area.
There was no timetable for a total reopening of the channel, which typically handles as many as 80 vessels daily.
The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating what happened. “It will take quite a bit of time, given the complexity of the vessels and a very busy waterway,” Penoyer said. The contents of the torn tank, equal to about 4,000 barrels, were lost or displaced into other vacant areas of the barge. Penoyer said currents, tides and wind were scattering the spill. “Containment was never a possibility in this case,” he said.
Crews were skimming oil from the water and deployed some 60,000 feet of containment booms to protect environmentally sensitive areas, the Coast Guard said.
The spill site is 700 yards offshore from the Texas City dike. A crane and several small boats could be seen at the cleanup site, and dozens of trucks were at a staging area along the beach.
Jim Suydam, spokesman for the Texas’ General Land Office, described the type of oil the barge was carrying as “sticky, gooey, thick, tarry stuff.”
Hopefully we’ll get an official descision soon in order to start making alternative plans if need be.
Hopefully we’ll get an official descision soon in order to start making alternative plans if need be.
I doubt you will get it quickly. All kinds of regulatory agencies from the CG to state agencies have a say in whether the public waterway can be used. Even then, if there is sludgy oil in the water at all … what do they do about it getting on the goggles. How would the swimmers see?
There are lots of issues and it will take some time for them to settle out.
You’ll be to hot in sleeves. Go sleeveless. I’m most likely going speedo only. Who knows, you might be hot in speedo. I know I am.
Just heard back from the reporter: “So far, it looks like Offatts should be spared. The winds are coming from the northeast and blowing the oil through the jetties and out into the gulf.”
Would it be possible to transfer to New Orleans 70.3 at no charge?
Even though WTC introduced the transfer program for N American races this year, there are 3 things going against you according to their policy.
1.) It’s a $50 transfer plus the price difference in the race if greater.
2.) It must be done 45 days prior to the race.
3.) New Orleans is excluded from the list of eligible races.
That’s the 30 sec summary. Google to find the complete list of rules if you want to see all the details, but those are the ones I found that are applicable to your post. If the swim is cancelled, it won’t be the first one in WTC’s history. I can’t imagine them allowing a mass transfer.