Five years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed more than 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, officials in Gulf Shores are pressing federal agencies for clearer guidance on how to handle oil-laden debris that could wash ashore if a storm disturbs oil still resting on the Gulf floor.
Since the 2010 spill, more than 55 million pounds of oily material have been cleaned up along Alabama’s coast, according to U.S. Coast Guard statistics. The volume collected has dropped sharply since the disaster, falling from roughly 4.6 million pounds in 2011 to 320,215 pounds in 2012, 9,100 pounds in 2013 and just 530 pounds last year. But officials remain concerned about oil that settled to the bottom of the Gulf in the form of tar mats, which could be stirred up and pushed ashore during a hurricane.
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said the city is “deeply engaged” in seeking a definitive answer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard about how to respond if storm-churned oil debris covers local beaches, timing that carries added urgency with hurricane season arriving.
“If a tar mat turns loose in a storm and the debris on our beaches are covered with oil, which will potentially happen … what do we do with the debris?” Craft said. “Who makes the call as to whether it’s hazardous or not?”
While BP, the owner of the Macondo Prospect well that blew out in 2010, cleaned up oil that washed ashore between Florida and Louisiana in the disaster’s immediate aftermath, other crude settled on the Gulf floor and has remained there since. City officials say the existing BP-issued oil response plan is outdated and no longer reflects how federal response efforts are actually structured.
Gulf Shores Emergency Management Coordinator Brandan Franklin said the city has spent three years trying to get updated guidance incorporated into the plan. “It’s really outdated,” Franklin said. “The verbiage doesn’t really apply to today’s situation.” As one example, Franklin noted the plan references a federal on-scene coordinator position that no longer exists. Mayor Craft signed a letter this week formally requesting clarification from FEMA on the issue.
“It’s something that we’ve been pushing for every year and … they send out just enough (information) to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take care of it,’ but they’ve never put enough in writing to give that warm and fuzzy feeling that they are going to take care of it,” Franklin said. City officials say they simply want clear, written protocols in place before another storm potentially forces the issue.