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How oil booming is supposed to work, and why BP’s current booming attempts may be problematic in the Gulf of Mexico.

a long piece of plastic tarp sewn so that there is flotation on top and a weighted skirt that sinks into the water. For example, a boom might be 100 feet long and 2 feet high. In a typical configuration, six inches of the boom floats above the water and a foot or a foot and a half of weighted skirt sinks into the water. The boom consists of plastic tarp, foam for flotation and a chain to weigh down the skirt. To protect a shoreline you need an anchor system (posts driven into the beach on shore, heavy concrete weights in the water), rope to connect the boom to the anchors and the boom itself.

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More than 3 million feet of so-called boom has been deployed along the coast. But it's not a fail-safe method of keeping the oil from washing ashore. It's not always sturdy enough and high winds and waves can send the slime cascading over the barriers.

"Even if it's working properly, the best it will do is move the problem somewhere else," said Doug Helton, incident operations coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response Division.

"It might be moving it somewhere that's not boomed or it might be moving it 100 yards away where there's a failure in the boom," Helton said. "The use of booms is just one tool but all the boom does is deflect oil, and that's if it functions properly."

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Hippie Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...

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Gov. Bobby Jindal said federal officials have approved plans to build five sand berms to protect Louisiana barrier islands from oil encroaching from the Gulf oil spill.

Jindal and other local officials met Tuesday with Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen urging approval of the plan, which would create protective sand barriers to absorb oil.

Earlier, federal officials approved six berms but said BP would be required to pay for only one. Jindal wants BP to pick up the entire $350 cost of a larger 24-berm plan.

Allen said it was clear the berms would offer a "multiplier" effect protecting not only the islands but coastal marshes.

Jindal had sharply criticized delays in approving the berm plan.

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"We really don't know all we're fighting here," said Hahn, accompanied by engineers from the Louisiana National Guard, as his boat moved among various locations for proposed sand berms, barriers that are supposed to be a stronger defense against the slick than conventional surface booms since they rise from the ocean floor and stand some six feet above the water surface. "But what we do know is that it won't travel under the berms we build. It's the only way to capture the oil effectively."

Perhaps, but the berm issue has created its own toxic friction between Louisiana and the Obama Administration, which only late last week approved six berm sites. The Administration's point man on the BP spill, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, maintains that while "we're not averse to attempting this as a prototype," there are "a lot of doubts about whether this is a valid oil-spill-response technique."

That federal reluctance has angered Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines parish president Billy Nungesser, both Republicans, who are the two biggest sand-berm proponents. "We could have built 10 miles of sand boom already if [the feds] would have approved our permit when we originally requested it" shortly after the spill began April 20, Jindal said last week.


Critics have accused Jindal and Nungesser of political grandstanding. As urgent as closing gaps like Pass Chandal may appear, the plan has more doubters than just Allen. Environmentalists and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — as well as BP — fear even temporary berms could mess with natural tidal flows as well as the integrity of naturally existing barrier islands. There are also questions about how well they hold up in storms, and about the effects of the massive dredging of ocean-floor sand required to construct them.

Berm backers say the sand and other material will be gathered from either waste sediment or shoals more than 10 miles offshore. That will assure no deepening of the Gulf waters close to the coast, which can strengthen hurricanes and their storm surges as they make landfall. They also plan to keep small spaces open at sites like Pass Chaland to maintain tidal flow. As for structural integrity, the state and the Army Corps plan to place the berm material in Hesco baskets, large protective barriers manufactured by Hesco Bastion USA in nearby Hammond, La., which the military uses to protect troop installations in war zones like Iraq. What's more, Hahn points out, Louisiana and Plaquemines parish have been preparing a proposal for restoration of the barrier islands ever since Hurricane Katrina ravaged them in 2005. That plan is similar to (but more permanent than) the berm-building process, he says, meaning state and local officials have already been studying what will and won't work.

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Hippie Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...

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When I mentioned biosurfactants before (a kind of dispersant which specifically tricks bacteria into eating the oil), that's what I meant. Had a brain fart, didn't specify.

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Hippie Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...