May 4, 2010 Oil Spill Update

May 4th, 2010

RADM Jim Watson at the Joint HQ in Robert, LA, provided today's update covering current operational status, and fielded questions.

He stated there has been NO LANDFALL of the oil as yet.

For the Mobile area (MS/AL/FL), landfall projections remain out to Thursday. Of note: they have 4,800 people involved in the operation (MS-AL-FL). This includes the hired private vessels and state National Guards.

Mobile has 4,200+ feet of boom in-place today, and (as mentioned yesterday) berm construction, lagoon pass plugging, and special materials boom construction are ongoing.

Offshore:

1 of 3 leaks are secured (shutoff), but the outflow is still 5,000+/- bbls per day. ("bbls" = "barrels") 20,000 bbls have been "recovered".

Dispersant released in the deepwater oil flow has been productive and is helping the oil begin to degrade while rising through the water column.

They will conduct in-situ burning as soon as sea conditions allow. It needs to be near calm. Flight operations are ongoing, tracking the plume, tracking operations, and releasing dispersant.