Double Environmental Jeopardy in Two New Hurricane Reports

Two new reports released yesterday  taken individually are cause enough for alarm, but together they are a warning of another potentially catastrophic oil spill event in the Gulf  of Mexico.  The first report, as you may have guessed, is the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) annual Atlantic Hurricane  Forecast.   The second is a study on the effects of hurricanes on offshore oil pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, to be published on June 10th in the scientific journal, Geophysical Research Letters.

NOAA has forecasted an “active to extremely active”  hurricane season this year.  Across the entire Atlantic Basin for the six-month season, which begins June 1, NOAA is projecting a 70 percent probability of the following ranges:

• 14 to 23 Named Storms (top winds of 39 mph or higher), including:
• 8 to 14 Hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or higher), of which:
• 3 to 7 could be Major Hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of at least 111 mph)

“If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the more active on record,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall. In short, we urge everyone to be prepared.”

An active hurricane season poses enough problems for the Gulf Coast given that a hurricane could push the current oil spill further onto shore and into the Gulf loop current, but the scientific  research study mentioned above, warns of the potential impact of hurricanes on offshore oil pipelines.  This study was conducted to analyze the effects of hurricanes under the surface of the water, something that little is known about.

Scientists at the U.S.Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, studied the the effects of Category 4 hurricane Ivan on the ocean floor, using  a network of sensors  put in place to monitor currents along the continental shelf in the Gulf.  What they found, in layman’s terms, is that hurricanes propel underwater currents with enough power to dig up the seabed, potentially creating underwater mudslides and damaging pipes or other equipment resting on the bottom.

With an estimated 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) of oil pipeline snaking along the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico, the study shows just how vulnerable these pipelines are to rupturing in hurricane forces andsuggest  that they should be  buried or their supporting foundations  built to withstand  hurricane-induced currents.  The study’s authors admit that they do not know what strengths of forces the oil pipelines are meant to withstand, but warn that given what they now know about how large these stresses can become during a major hurricane, the oil companies should pay close attention.

It is clear that the new Bureau of Ocean Energy should review and assess the Gulf’s pipeline  vulnerabilities and put together an action plan to do what is necessary to try to prevent a leak (i.e. forcing the oil companies to bury or reinforce their pipelines) and put together an emergency response plan in case of a catastrophic event (something that was obviously missing in the current oil spill crisis).

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Posted by admin on May 28 2010. Filed under Latest Ocean News, Ocean Environment, Ocean Industry, Policy & Regulation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.