Views of the Neighborhood – Oil Spill

~ John W. Howell

Oil Spill

When it rains it pours they say. On October 19th a barge filled with crude oil had an explosion three miles off the Port Aransas coast. The picture above was taken by the Coast Guard. Before the fire and resultant leakage of oil were contained approximately 2000 barrels out of the 133,000 barrels on board leaked into the gulf. So three weeks after Hhurricane Harvey we also were challenged with oil on the beach. Sadly two of the eight crew members went missing, and only one body has been found. I did not report this sooner as there were other positive things to see in Port Aransas.  My reason for publishing it now is the Texas Land and Cattle company responded quickly and got most of the oil picked up in a matter of days, so it ended quite well. Few sea creatures and birds were affected as well.

Oil clean up

Here is a long-range shot of clean up crews working the beach.

Oil spill

It is interesting the way they draw circles around the oil and then shovel and rake it up.

The oil goes into plastic bags, This crew is working South.

A view to the North shows another crew working their way South as well.

Oil Spill

A crew member picking up bags.

A view to the South again. The oil rides on the tide, and you can see in this shot the tide is high, so the oil is high on the beach.

Oil spill

This photo was taken yesterday, and you can see quarter-sized chunks of oil now solidified into tar.

 

41 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Oil Spill”

  2. It’s so sad to hear that two men lost their lives, and yet it is heartwarming how the oil company responded to the tragedy. I wonder if the hurricane led to this catastrophe in some way by weakening the structure. Thank you for sharing this with us, John, and inviting us into your world. Have a great day.

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  3. John, I was scared half to death when I saw your headline. I’m relieved that they were so quick and efficient with the cleanup. I enjoyed seeing their process, via your photos and commentary. It really was interesting. Fair winds and following seas, my friend. And hugs!

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  4. It’s always sad to read about accidents. The cost, in lives and in response is an unfortunate expense of our times. Very sad for the people affected and very grateful to the team members who respond.

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  7. Good morning, John,
    I’m sorry to hear/read about that, and I don’t know what really to think: should we be happy that it wasn’t a worse oil spill, and that not many creatures were affected? But I’m sure glad it could be contained quickly and that the beach could be cleaned up fairly quickly and fairly well. That again makes me think: are the high tides good in this case, because then the oil can be scooped up from/with the sand more easily? Or would it be better if it didn’t reach the beach at all?
    Well, I wish there were no oil spills at all so that all these questions would be theoretical only.
    Have a wonderful Sunday,
    Pit

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  8. Never rains but it pours… 😦 Oil on the sea or the beach is bad news all round. The clean-up team obviously did a grand job 😀 Tweeting this to spread the lesson 😉

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  11. So sad when a beautiful place is damaged by humans. Amazing how the cleanup crews work and the circles are interesting. I’m sure there’s a reason. Hope it’s all back to its original beauty soon!

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  21. So glad this wasn’t any worse, though it must be awful for the families of the crew. I hate when the beauty of nature is marred by accidents like this, but realistically, I suppose it’s impossible to prevent everything bad that could happen.

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