Shell Oil Spill - Moving Toward Nigerian Coast

Yesterday's MODIS satellite images were a bust, but today's were slightly less cloudy/hazy.  Both the Terra and Aqua images show a pale patch of ocean water about 18 kilometers offshore, covering a total area of about 678 square kilometers.  But this is a tough call - the image quality really isn't very good.  The closest sizable populated area near this part of the coast, according to Google Earth, is the town of Burutu located at top center on this graphic:

MODIS/Terra satellite image taken December 23, 2011 at 10:10am local time. Possible location of oil slick noted. Image data courtesy NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team.

This fuzzy patch that may or may not be the remnants of the oil slick is located about where we would expect to see it, given the wind speed and direction over the past couple of days (blowing from the south-southwest at 5-10 knots). Radar imagery would give us a better look but we haven't seen any new radar images since December 21.

 [READ MORE]

[[Location:4.554,4.618]]

Shell reports Up to 1.7 MIllion Gallon Oil Spill in off Nigerian Coast

Envisat ASAR satellite radar image showing large slick (outlined in yellow) from major oil spill off Niger Delta.  Image courtesy European Space Agency.

Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian drilling operations in the highly productive Bonga Field were officially brought to a halt yesterday after "less than 40,000 barrels of oil" (1.7 million gallons) were reportedly leaked during a transfer of crude to a tanker. We've just processed a radar satellite image taken this morning (December 21, 2011) of the field, with the spill clearly visible.  Here it is showing the slick outlined in yellow; it is about 70 km (45 miles) long, 17 km (10 miles) wide at it's widest, and covers 923 square kilometers (356 square miles) of ocean: 

Another, much smaller oil slick appears at lower right; this looks like a bilge dump from a passing vessel, not related to the Shell spill.

[READ MORE]

[[Location:4.554,4.618]]

Envisat ASAR radar image taken December 6, 2011. Image courtesy European Space Agency - click for larger version.

The radar satellite image above, taken on December 6, 2011, shows a very small slick originating near the location of Transocean's SEDCO 706 drilling rig that was installing Chevron's failed well. The slick is about 7.3 miles long and a few hundred yard wide, comparable to the slicks created by natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico.  Wind conditions were good for slick detection at the time, blowing at about 10 knots (5 meters per second).  Several other small slicks are visible near a cluster of oil platforms (bright spots) about 50 miles south of the SEDCO 706.  This is within the southern Campos Basin, and these slicks may be the result of minor spills or leaks from platforms, pipelines, or vessels operating in one of the many offshore fields in the region. [Read more...]
 
[[Location: -21.901,-39.822]]

Taylor / 23051 Chronic Leak Site in Gulf: Oil Analyzed

Back on September 15, a team from National Wildlife Federation piled onto a small boat on the Louisiana coast.  Their destination: the chronic leak site about 12 miles offshore where a cluster of wells operated by Taylor Energy has been steadily spilling oil into the Gulf since 2004.  Check out this aerial video of the site, shot by On Wings of Care on December 9, 2011.

Their objective: to collect samples of the Taylor oil slick for analysis, to see if it's chemically distinguishable from the oil that gushed from BP's infamous Macondo well about 30 miles away.  We wanted to know if other samples of oil collected in this region of the Gulf, on beaches and barrier islands and from slicks observed offshore, could possibly be coming from the Taylor site since it's a well-documented source of oil pollution. 

The upshot:  oil leaking from the Taylor site should not easily be confused with relatively unweathered oil from the Macondo disaster.  But it would be very helpful to collect more and better samples from the slicks being observed in the vicinity of the Macondo well site. [Read more....]

 [[Location: 28.938022, -88.970963]]

EOG Resources Pays for Damages in Pollution of PA Creek

Drilling company EOG Resources has agreed to pay a financial settlement to Pennsylvania's Fish and Boat Commission following accusations that their extraction operations in the Marcellus Shale formation resulted in the pollution of Little Laurel Run in Clearfield County, PA.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time EOG Resources has been forced to shell out for contaminating important trout streams in Pennsylvania, leaving many to again question the intrinsic "safety" of intensifying gas drilling operations in and around our nation's most prized natural areas.  

[[Location:40.9156130,-78.2489031]]

Gulf of Mexico Overflight Yesterday - Old Slicks, New Slicks

Jon Henderson of Gulf Restoration Network did an overflight over the Gulf yesterday, thanks to our Gulf Monitoring Consortium partner SouthWings. They documented two small slicks in Breton Sound, and a larger slicks from the Taylor Energy site where a cluster of hurricane-damaged wells have been leaking since 2004.  Read all about it and check out the excellent pics. 

Jon filed three reports with the National Response Center, as all citizens who witness a suspected oil or hazardous materials spill are encouraged to do.  His reports should appear soon in the SkyTruth Alerts system, which you can subscribe to if you'd like to get automatic notifications any time a spill is reported. But in the meantime you can see Jon's two Breton Sound reports here and here, and the Taylor report here.

Oil slick at Taylor Energy / 23051 chronic leak site in Gulf of Mexico, December 8, 2011. Photo courtesy Jon Henderson / Gulf Restoration Network.

Judging from the pics, it looks like both Breton Sound slicks are being caused by a slow point source of leakage underwater, probably on the seafloor.  The first is similar to what you'd see at a natural oil seep location; the second contains heavier brown material that suggests a larger/faster leak.  Given the maze of pipelines and abandoned wells on the seafloor in the Sound, both might be from leaking infrastructure.  We'll check the NRC to see if any potential responsible party has come forward. 

The slick at the Taylor Energy / 23051 site is similar to what we've been seeing since we first "discovered" this chronic leak in early 2010. A work boat of some kind is on the scene, but the Ocean Saratoga rig that was working to plug the leaking wells is obviously not. Apparently fixing these wells and stopping this leak isn't a high priority. Check out a chronology of information and observations related to this leak. You can monitor this location on the SkyTruth Alerts, or subscribe to get automatic notifications.


[[Location: 28.938022, -88.970963]]

Campos Basin Oil Spill, Brazil - Small Slick November 25

We've just processed an Envisat ASAR radar image of the Campos Basin that was taken on November 25.  As expected, it shows a much smaller apparent oil slick originating from the location of the SEDCO 706 drilling rig, operated for Chevron by Transocean, than we observed back on November 12:

Envisat ASAR satellite radar image taken November 25, 2011. Slicks are dark streaks and patches. Location of SEDCO 706 drill rig is marked. Image courtesy European Space Agency.

Surface wind speed over the leak site was good, about 5-15 knots (3-8 meters/sec), blowing from the north-northeast.  A very narrow slick about 120 meters wide and 50 kilometers long extends south from the rig location, covering about 6 square kilometers.  Assuming the slick is 1 micron thick, we estimate it holds about 1,584 gallons (38 barrels) of oil.

There are other small slicks in the area to the west and southwest of the Chevron leak site.  Some of these may be from natural oil seeps in the basin, other sources of natural surfactant such as phytoplankton, or leaks and spills from vessels and other offshore facilities.


[[Location: -21.901,-39.822]]

Campos Basin Oil Spill, Brazil - Slicks Dissipating?

Envisat ASAR image of Campos Basin taken November 22, 2011. Surface winds too strong to reliably detect thin oil slicks. Bright spots are vessels and oil platforms. Image courtesy European Space Agency.

Today's Envisat ASAR satellite radar image of the Campos Basin, covering the location of the Chevron / Transocean oil spill, shows no sign of an oil slick. It was taken at about 9:30 am local time.

However, the wind speed was fairly strong in the area at the time. According to the satellite scatterometer data collected by the ASCAT system, surface winds were blowing at 15-25 knots (8-13 meters per second). This is strong enough to overwhelm very thin oil slicks (the optimum wind speed for detecting slicks on radar images is about 3 - 10 meters per second)

[[Location: -21.901,-39.822]]

Brazil Oil Spill - Well Plugged, Leaks Abating

We are still waiting to get more good satellite imagery of the Chevron / Transocean oil spill in the Campos Basin - it's been cloud-covered since our last image on November 12, so we've been unable to provide any new information.

But we are happy to pass along that Brazilian authorities report the well was plugged yesterday with cement, and the leakage from nearby points on the seafloor is greatly diminished. We expect to see a much smaller oil slick, if any, when we get another good satellite image of the area.

Brazilian Federal Police have launched an investigation into the causes and size of the spill. We hope all of this information becomes public: deepwater drilling is a global business and these were two of the biggest global players, so lessons learned from this incident will apply here in the U.S. too.

[[Location: -21.901,-39.822]]

"Fracking Pit" apparently not leaking near Salem, WV

SkyTruth has been in email contact with concerned local residents near this location, and here is what we learned:  The same person that called in the report to the NRC on November 9 also called the EPA and West Virginia DEP about the incident. We understand that the DEP responded by sending someone out to the location and they determined that the pond next to the drilling site was not leaking.  We don't know what the cause was of the orange coloration and oily sheen from the original report, but it seems unlikely that it is coming from this drilling site.

Here is a cell phone camera video of the site shot 2 days ago that shows the pond containment intact.



[[Location: 39.2997278,-80.5388131]]

130 Mile Oil Slick from Chevron OIl Spill off Brazil

We've been tracking the oil spill reported off Brazil a few days ago, in the Frade field operated by Chevron in the Campos Basin, Brazil's most productive area of offshore production, and a place where many deepwater technology milestones have been made for offshore oil production.  Chevron claimed the oil slick was being caused by a natural oil seep on the seafloor, but they suspended drilling on a well in the field.  Brazilian authorities quickly disputed that a natural seep was the cause.  And yesterday Chevron admitted the possibility that something went wrong at their drillsite.  According to today's news release from Brazilian authorities, Chevron is trying to kill the well - indicating a loss of well control and blowout. 18 response vessels are on the scene, and Chevron reports the well is leaking about 8,400 - 13,860 gallons  (200 -330 barrels) per day.

MODIS/Aqua satellite image shows growing oil slick in the deepwater Campos Basin off Brazil.  Image taken around midday on November 12, 2011.

Read More...

[[Location: -21.901,-39.822]]
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56 Mile Oil Slick Observed off Brazil

Today's MERIS satellite image (courtesy of the European Space Agency) shows an apparent slick that's now about 56 miles long off the coast of Brazil in the Campos Basin:

MERIS satellite image showing slick in Campos Basin off Brazil, November 11, 2011. Image courtesy European Space Agency.

As in the MODIS images shot two days ago, this slick appears to be continuously emanating from a point source at the north end. Today Chevron claimed it was being caused by a natural oil seep, not any leak or problem associated with the offshore field that they operate. 

It is possible, but call us skeptical.  From my previous years working as an exploration geologist I know there are natural seeps off Brazil (that was a study I did for BP back in the day...). But I've never seen a natural seep create a slick this large on a satellite image.

READ MORE

[[Location: -22.117926, -39.664834]]

"Fracking Pit" Spill Reported near Salem, West Virginia

Following up on this November 9 report about a spill of "fracking fluid" from a pit located about a mile and a half to the north east of Salem, WV in Harrison county.  Note that we placed the original report in the town of Salem because we had to approximate the location since no specific latitude and longitude were given in the report. This report shows where we believe the actual location of the incident to be.

Here's what we know:

The operator of the site is Antero Resources Bluestone, LLC which sits on property reportedly owned by Mary Post and Robert Haught. Several drilling permits on this property were issued over the past few years, and several permits were issued and then canceled. The most recent permit we see in the WV Permit Data site is API number 033-05540 which was approved on 4/19/2011. The prior permits for this farm were signed by Hall Drilling. So far, we haven't found any actual 'permit commenced' filing for any permit issued on this property (we believe that a "permit commenced" filing indicates the start of drilling activity). In the most recent permit, the current operator is listed as Antero Resources Bluestone LLC.   A little online research reveals that Bluestone LLC was acquired by Antero Resources last December. According to that press release: "Sam Ross, Mike Hall and the Bluestone team have created quite a valuable asset in the play and we congratulate them on their success." In the WV Permit Data search, we found that Michael Hall was the contact person for Hall Drilling, LLC. So we conclude that Hall became Bluestone LLC, and was then taken over by Antero Resources.

READ MORE

[[Location: 39.2997278,-80.5388131]]

Oil Spill off Brazil Seen On Satellite Images

We don't have much information on this yet but Chevron is reporting an oil spill in their Frade field in the Campos Basin off Brazil.  Two MODIS satellite images from NASA, taken yesterday, show an apparent oil slick about 35 miles long and covering about 180 square kilometers, 80 miles offshore due east of the city of Campos. Assuming this slick is only one micron (1/1000th of a millimeter) thick, then it represents about 47,000 gallons.

November 9, 2011 MODIS/Terra image of oil slick off Campos, Brazil. Image courtesy NASA/Rapid Response Team.

READ MORE

[[Location: -22.117926, -39.664834]]

Fire Reported in Gulf of Mexico Near BP and Shell's Na Kika Offshore Drilling Site

Once again an airline pilot (or observant passenger) has reported seeing a fire in the Gulf of Mexico.  This was reported to the National Response Center at about 8:19 pm on November 6, at a location in the deepwater Gulf about 12 miles southeast of the site of last year's BP oil spill.  It's also about 11 miles north of a fire reported on September 26 that we covered in this blog.

Location of fires in the Gulf recently reported to the National Response Center in the general vicinity of the Na Kika deepwater development project operated by BP and Shell. Platforms are orange dots; seafloor pipelines are orange lines.

READ MORE

[[Location: 28.633333, -88.216667]]

Hydrogen Cyanide Release in Delaware City, DE

There is an ongoing release of potentially lethal hydrogen cyanide into the atmosphere at the Delaware City Refinery in Delaware City, DE.  The release started with a mechanical failure on October 2  and has continued for the last two weeks, currently reported to be releasing up to 200 pounds per day of hydrogen cyanide into the air. In addition to SkyTruth Alerts, this ongoing release is also reported in the Delaware Environmental Release Notification System.

Delaware City Refinery - site of the ongoing release

To be notified of additional reports at this location, you can follow this incident:

• Receive daily email updates
• View the latest incident reports on a map
• Susbscribe to an RSS feed of this incident

 [[Location: 39.587, -75.63]]

Beautiful Gulf Image Today - MODIS/Terra

Thought I'd share this pretty satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico, taken at about 10:30 am local time this morning. No sign of the smoke plume we reported on from October 2, which was also visible on yesterday's Terra and Aqua images.

So enjoy.  Click to get the larger version, formatted to be 16:9 so it makes a sweet background for most computer monitors...!

Nighttime Satellite Image of Gulf - September 25, 2011

As part of our investigation into the report of a fire in the Gulf the night of September 25 (at 7:45 pm local time), we got a few recent low-resolution nighttime images taken by satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). This one was taken at 8:12 pm on the 25th:

DMSP nighttime satellite image taken at 8:11 pm on September 25, 2011. DMSP image and data processing by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center. DMSP data collected by the US Air Force Weather Agency.

Read more.


[[Location: 28.483333, -88.250000]]

Slick at 23051 Site - September 26, 2011

Yesterday's MODIS/Aqua image shows a slick that appears to emanate from our old nemesis, the former platform 23051 site that has been leaking since 2004.  The apparent slick is about 20 miles long and covers about 115 square kilometers. Assuming an average thickness of 1 micron (1/1000th of a millimeter), that's 30,705 gallons of oil.  If this slick is at the lower limit of visible detection, 0.1 microns, it's still 3,000 gallons - which is 3,000 times bigger than Taylor reported yesterday to the National Response Center just 30 minutes after this image was taken:

Detail from MODIS/Aqua image, September 26, 2011 showing apparent slick (delineated in yellow) emanating from 23051 site.

Read more.

[[Location: 28.938022, -88.970963]]
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Fire Reported in Gulf of Mexico

This just caught our eye on the SkyTruth Alerts:  multiple aircraft flying over the Gulf have reported seeing a fire about 60 miles southeast of the tip of the Mississippi Delta, in deep water about 20 miles south-southeast of BP's failed Macondo well. The source of the fire is unknown, and to our knowledge this report has not been verified. But the location given in the NRC report puts this in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, where wells have recently been drilled by Noble Energy and tied back to the massive "Na Kika" platform located in Block 474 a few miles to the northwest. A few small spills of hydraulic fluid have been reported in the vicinity in the past week so we know there is current activity in the area. Read more.

Location of fire reported late last night in Gulf of Mexico.

[[Location: 28.483333, -88.250000]]

KML Test

This is a test.

Location
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First day on the job!

Welcome to Paul in his first full day on the job. Maybe now he'll actually get some work done!

Geotagging Test

This post is geotagged at the Entler Hotel in Shepherdstown, WV