The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill: June 26 and June 27, 2010

Ed. Note: For more information on federal response resources, volunteer opportunities, and assistance for those in affected areas visit WhiteHouse.gov/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill.

Below is the latest in the ongoing Administration-wide response provided by the Joint Information Center.  

Heidi Avery is White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor

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The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill
Prepared by the Joint Information Center
UPDATED June 27, 2010 7 PM 

In the Past 24 Hours

Dozens of Brown Pelicans Are Released in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
72 rehabilitated brown pelicans were transported and released at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Located approximately 175 miles south of Houston, this location meets the pelicans’ coastal habitat needs for breeding.

Wildlife rescue and recovery crews continue to survey affected areas using hundreds of personnel and dozens of vessels, as well as numerous airboats and helicopters. These missions are conducted routinely as well as under guidance of tips received via the Wildlife Hotline. To report oiled wildlife, call (866) 557-1401.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service resource advisors continue to work with BP cleanup crews in parks and refuges. To date, nearly 900 personnel from the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement have been deployed as part of the response.

BP Continues to Optimize Oil Recovery Rates from its Leaking Well
Under the direction of the federal government, BP continues to capture some oil and burn gas at the surface using its containment dome technique—collecting oil aboard the Discoverer Enterprise, which is linked by a fixed riser pipe to the wellhead, and flaring off additional oil and gas on the Q4000, which is connected to the choke line. BP has finished installing the first free standing riser, which has greater survivability than a fixed riser and will be connected to a third vessel arriving at the site of the wellbore next week, the Helix Producer—a redundancy measure also taken under the direction of the federal government. 
 
Progress Continues in Drilling Relief Wells; Ranging Process Continues
The Development Driller III continues to drill the first relief well to a depth of approximately 16,400 feet (11,100 feet below the sea floor). The Development Driller II has drilled the second relief well—a redundancy measure taken at the direction of the administration—to a depth of more than 12,000 feet below the Gulf surface.

BP continues the “ranging” process—which involves periodically withdrawing the drill pipe and sending an electrical signal down to determine how close they are getting to the wellbore.

Administration Continues to Oversee BP’s Claims Process
The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage, and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss as a result of the BP oil spill. To date, 81,701 claims have been opened, from which more than $128.4 million have been disbursed. No claims have been denied to date. There are 885 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118. Additional information about the BP claims process and all available avenues of assistance can be found at www.disasterassistance.gov.

By the Numbers to Date:

• The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; currently, 1,522 are active.
• Approximately 39,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
• More than 6,500 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• Approximately 2.7 million feet of containment boom and 4.7 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 981,000 feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• More than 27.3 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 1.54 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—1 million on the surface and 540,000 sub-sea. More than 450,000 gallons are available.
• 275 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of approximately 10 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. Because calculations on the volume of oil burned can take more than 48 hours, the reported total volume may not reflect the most recent controlled burns. 
• 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
• Approximately 188 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled—approximately 34 miles in Louisiana, 45 miles in Mississippi, 48 miles in Alabama, and 61 miles in Florida. These numbers reflect a daily snapshot of shoreline currently experiencing impacts from oil so that planning and field operations can more quickly respond to new impacts; they do not include cumulative impacts to date, or shoreline that has already been cleared.
• Approximately 78,600 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 67 percent remains open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
• To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre.  

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The Ongoing Administration-Wide Response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill
Prepared by the Joint Information Center
UPDATED June 26, 2010 7 PM 

In the Past 24 Hours

Admiral Allen Provides Operational Update on the BP Oil Spill Response
National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen provided a briefing to inform the American public and answer questions on the progress of the administration-wide response to the BP oil spill. He addressed the ongoing coordination with NOAA’s National Weather Service to monitor and track Tropical Storm Alex and the potential for other storms—reiterating the contingency plans in the event that a hurricane or tropical storm approaches the vicinity of the wellbore and the threshold of gale force winds that would require an evacuation of response personnel and equipment.

BP Continues to Optimize Oil Recovery Rates from its Leaking Well
Under the direction of the federal government, BP continues to capture some oil and burn gas at the surface using its containment dome technique—collecting oil aboard the Discoverer Enterprise, which is linked by a fixed riser pipe to the wellhead, and flaring off additional oil and gas on the Q4000, which is connected to the choke line. BP has finished installing the first free standing riser, which has greater survivability than a fixed riser and will be connected to a third vessel arriving at the site of the wellbore next week, the Helix Producer—a redundancy measure also taken under the direction of the federal government.

Progress Continues in Drilling Relief Wells; Ranging Process Continues
The Development Driller III continues to drill the first relief well to a depth of approximately 16,400 feet (11,100 feet below the sea floor), and crews have begun the process of cementing and casing the well liner. The Development Driller II has drilled the second relief well—a redundancy measure taken at the direction of the administration—to a depth of approximately 11,800 feet (6,500 feet below the sea floor).

BP continues the “ranging” process—which involves periodically withdrawing the drill pipe and sending an electrical signal down to determine how close they are getting to the wellbore.

Administration Continues to Oversee BP’s Claims Process
The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage, and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss as a result of the BP oil spill. To date, 80,403 claims have been opened, from which more than $128.4 million have been disbursed. No claims have been denied to date. There are 885 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118. Additional information about the BP claims process and all available avenues of assistance can be found at www.disasterassistance.gov.

By the Numbers to Date:

• The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; currently, 1,625 are active.
• Approximately 38,600 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
• Nearly 6,600 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• Approximately 2.68 million feet of containment boom and 4.59 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 936,000 feet of containment boom and 2.23 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• Approximately 26.7 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 1.53 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—1 million on the surface and 528,000 subsea. More than 445,000 gallons are available.
• 275 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 10 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. Because calculations on the volume of oil burned can take more than 48 hours, the reported total volume may not reflect the most recent controlled burns. 
• 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
• Approximately 180 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled—approximately 34 miles in Louisiana, 40 miles in Mississippi, 43 miles in Alabama, and 63 miles in Florida. These numbers reflect a daily snapshot of shoreline currently experiencing impacts from oil so that planning and field operations can more quickly respond to new impacts; they do not include cumulative impacts to date, or shoreline that has already been cleared.
• Approximately 78,600 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 67 percent remains open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
• To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre.

Resources:

• For information about the response effort, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.
• For specific information about the federal-wide response, visit http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill.
• To contact the Deepwater Horizon Joint Information Center, call (713) 323-1670.
• To volunteer, or to report oiled shoreline, call (866) 448-5816. Volunteer opportunities can also be found here.
• To submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system, or to submit alternative response technology, services, or products, call 281-366-5511.
• To report oiled wildlife, call (866) 557-1401.
• For information about validated environmental air and water sampling results, visit www.epa.gov/bpspill.
• For National Park Service updates about potential park closures, resources at risk, and NPS actions to protect vital park space and wildlife, visit http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm.
• For Fish and Wildlife Service updates about response along the Gulf Coast and the status of national wildlife refuges, visit http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/.
• For daily updates on fishing closures, visit http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov. 
• For information on assistance loans for affected businesses, visit the SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance, call (800) 659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
• To file a claim with BP, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at (800) 440-0858. A BP fact sheet with additional information is available here (pdf). Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution, can call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118.  More information about what types of damages are eligible for compensation under the Oil Pollution Act as well as guidance on procedures to seek that compensation can be found here.
• In addition, www.disasterassistance.gov has been enhanced to provide a one-stop shop for information on how to file a claim with BP and access additional assistance—available in English and Spanish. 
• Any members of the press who encounter response personnel restricting their access or violating the media access policy (pdf) set forth by Admiral Allen should contact the Joint Information Center. Click here for more information, including a list of regular embed opportunities.