Oil Action Alert 1

Dear ACF Friends and Members,

As I write this I am reflecting on the long day behind me and the long days to come. I know that you are as sick as I am at this unprecedented threat facing our Gulf Coast and our treasured way of life. The Alabama Coastal Foundation is working diligently with the agencies in charge of response efforts to ensure that our most sensitive habitats are protected and that volunteers will be ready to assist in clean-up efforts when the time comes. We are also working to help develop a comprehensive volunteer response plan that will allow folks to efficiently and safely respond to this crisis. We will continue to be the voice for coastal protection that you have supported for over 16 years.

For the last four days, the Alabama Coastal Foundation, along with the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and Mobile Baykeeper have been collecting the contact information of hundreds of volunteers who are ready to rally to the coast. If there is a silver lining to all of this, it is that there are people from around the COUNTRY who are willing to leave their homes and come to Alabama’s shores to protect our coastline. Although it has been an incredibly tiring 4 days for our staff and our wonderful volunteers, it has also been incredibly inspiring for us to see the outpouring of support and concern for the place we call home.

We are updating our website at www.joinacf.org as well as our Facebook Page to provide you with the latest information we have regarding the release. Please check back often. If you have any questions or want to provide information to our office, please do not hesitate to contact me at 251-990-6002 or via email at info@joinacf.org. We will be in the office all weekend to answer your calls. Your ideas and support are critical as we continue our work to ensure the response effort is successful.

Thank you for all you have done and all you will continue to do to fight for our coastal way of life.

Bethany Kraft
Executive Director

I have included an update from the Deepwater Horizon Response Website below- the information is current as of May 1.  

Response crews worked through the night using a ROV to dispense 3,000 gallons of sub-surface dispersant at a rate of nine gallons per minute. BP and NOAA are evaluating the results of the test procedure to determine its feasibility for continued use.

 Incident Facts:
More than 275,580 feet of boom (barrier) has been assigned to contain the spill.  An additional 316,470 feet is available.
To date, the oil spill response team has recovered 23,968 barrels (1,006,656 gallons) of an oil-water mix. 
68 response vessels are being used including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels.
142,914 gallons of dispersant have been deployed and an additional 68,300 gallons are available.
Six staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines.  These areas include:
Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla. Venice, La., 
Pensacola, Miss., Theodore, Ala., and Port Sulphur, La.

Weather conditions for May 1 - Winds from the southeast at 20 - 25 knots, 6 - 8 foot seas with chance of afternoon showers.

Back to The Osprey Outlook