http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2010\/07\/02\/96959\/why-so-few-skimmers-at-the-oil.html<\/p>\n
By Anita Lee | Biloxi Sun-Herald
\nBILOXI, Miss. \u2014 From Washington to the Gulf, politicians and residents wonder why so few skimming vessels have been put to work soaking up oil from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. <\/p>\n
Investment banker Fred D. McCallister of Dallas believes he has the answer. McCallister, vice president of Allegiance Capital Corp. in Dallas, has been trying since June 5 to offer a dozen Greek skimming vessels from a client for the cleanup. <\/p>\n
\u201cBy sinking and dispersing the oil, BP can amortize the cost of the cleanup over the next 15 years or so, as tar balls continue to roll up on the beaches, rather than dealing with the issue now by removing the oil from the water with the proper equipment,\u201d McCallister testified earlier this week before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. \u201cAs a financial adviser, I understand financial engineering and BP\u2019s desire to stretch out its costs of remediating the oil spill in the Gulf. By managing the cleanup over a period of many years, BP is able to minimize the financial damage as opposed to a huge expenditure in a period of a few years.\u201d <\/p>\n
A BP spokesman from Houston, Daren Beaudo, denied the allegation emphatically. He said, \u201cOur goal throughout has been to minimize the amount of oil entering the environment and impacting the shoreline.\u201d <\/p>\n
A report released Thursday by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform included a photo depicting \u201ca massive swath of oil\u201d in the Gulf with no skimming equipment in sight. The report concluded: \u201cThe lack of equipment at the scene of the spill is shocking, and appears to reflect what some describe as a strategy of cleaning up oil once it comes ashore versus containing the spill and cleaning it up in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCallister\u2019s experience in trying to win approval for the Greek vessels, along with the frustrations others have expressed in offering specialized equipment, contradicts the official pronouncements from BP and the federal government about the approval process. For foreign vessels, that process is complicated by a 1920 maritime law known as the Jones Act.<\/p>\n
Coast Guard Rear Adm. James Watson, who oversees the Unified Command catastrophe response in New Orleans, determined in mid-June an insufficient number of U.S. skimming vessels is available to clean up oil, essentially exempting from the federal Jones Act foreign vessels that could be used in the response, said Capt. Ron LaBrec, a spokesman at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. <\/p>\n
The Jones Act allows only vessels that are U.S. flagged and owned to carry goods between U.S. ports.<\/p>\n
To further clarify, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, promised expedited Jones Act waivers for any essential spill-response activities. \u201cShould any waivers be needed,\u201d Allen said at the time, \u201cwe are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
LaBrec said 24 foreign vessels, two of them skimming vessels, have operated around the catastrophe site, in federal waters with no need for Jones Act waivers. He also said Watson has the authority to approve operation of foreign-flagged vessels near shore, where the Jones Act comes into play because of the port restrictions. <\/p>\n
Fred D. McCallister, Vice President, Allegiance Capital Corporation <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the unified area commander (Watson) decides that it\u2019s a piece of equipment he needs, either BP would contract for it or he can do that himself,\u201d LaBrec said. \u201cIf it\u2019s something he decides is absolutely needed, he can get it in here without BP approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe equipment that has been offered \u2014 the foreign equipment that has been offered that is useful for the response \u2014 has either been accepted or is in the group of offers that is currently in the process of being accepted. That has been occurring since early in the response and will continue to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dealing with BP<\/p>\n
McCallister said none of his dealings have been with the Coast Guard. He submitted requests for Jones Act waivers to Unified Command, but said questions about the skimming vessels have come from BP.<\/p>\n
BP spokesman Beaudo said McCallister was notified his offer of skimming vessels has been declined because the vessels will not pick up heavy oil near shore. Beaudo said he did not know when McCallister was informed. McCallister said he received communications from BP on Thursday that indicated his proposal was still under review. In fact, he sent supplemental material Thursday, which was accepted, to show the skimming vessels will pick up heavy oil like that bombarding Mississippi\u2019s coastline. The 60-foot vessels, he said, can skim high-density crude up to 20 miles offshore. Equipment on board separates the oil from water.<\/p>\n
Desperate for skimmers<\/p>\n
All the Gulf states dealing with oil have pleaded for more skimming vessels. The Deepwater Horizon Web site indicates 550 \u201cskimmers\u201d were at work before bad weather suspended operations.<\/p>\n
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour\u2019s office has ordered private shipyards to build skimming vessels because so few have been working in state waters. George Malvaney, who heads the Mississippi Coast cleanup effort for BP subcontractor U.S. Environmental Services, said offers of skimming vessels and other equipment take time to review. He believes Mississippi will have a \u201csubstantial skimming effort\u201d by late next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because it\u2019s a skimmer doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s effective,\u201d Malvaney said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people out there saying, \u2018We\u2019ve got skimmers.\u2019 Some are effective, some are not. That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to wade through right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than meets the eye?<\/p>\n
As the catastrophe reaches Day 73, McCallister, who grew up in Mississippi and has family on the Coast, believes there is just more to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at it from a businessman\u2019s perspective,\u201d he said, \u201cif I am BP, assuming I don\u2019t have a conscience that would steer me otherwise, the best thing I can do for my shareholders, my pensioners, and everybody else, is to try to spread the cost of this remediation out as long as I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am concerned it is seen by BP as being the most pragmatic financial approach. But they\u2019re playing Russian roulette with the Gulf, the marine life in the Gulf and the people in the Gulf region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more: http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2010\/07\/02\/96959\/why-so-few-skimmers-at-the-oil.html#ixzz0srsFcZdZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2010\/07\/02\/96959\/why-so-few-skimmers-at-the-oil.html By Anita Lee | Biloxi Sun-Herald BILOXI, Miss. \u2014 From Washington to the Gulf, politicians and residents wonder why so few skimming vessels have been put to work soaking up oil from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Investment banker Fred D. McCallister of Dallas believes he has the answer. McCallister, vice president of Allegiance Capital … Continue reading McClatchy: Is BP rejecting skimmers to save money on Gulf oil clean-up?<\/span>