Containing oil still a challenge

PENSACOLA BEACH – The geyser of oil spewing from the sea floor is tapering off day by day, but there’s no quick fix for containing much of the sticky mess spreading across the Gulf of Mexico, defiling wildlife and beaches normally teeming with sunbathers and swimmers.A cap over the ruptured wellhead is now collecting more than 460 000 gallons of oil a day, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said yesterday in Washington. But whether that’s a majority of the leaking oil or not even half is anyone’s guess.The battle against the oil already in the Gulf now involves “hundreds of thousands” of individual patches, said Allen, the government’s point man for the spill response. Small vessels in the area have been enlisted to help capture those patches using skimmers.The patchy oil slick from the ruptured pipe off Louisiana has stained beaches and marshes in spots along more than 100 miles of coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and a sheen on the surface was spotted as far as about 150 miles west of Tampa, Florida.The tourist hotspot of Panama City Beach, in the middle of the Panhandle, expected oil to reach its famous beaches within 72 hours, which would mark a new easternmost point for the oil washing ashore.“We have just entered the area of uncertainty for about half or our beach,” said Dan Rowe, president of the city’s convention and visitors bureau. “We are still hoping tar balls don’t show up here, but we are putting the contingency plans in place and everyone is out there looking at the beach and inspecting it.”Tar balls continued to roll onto shore yesterday morning farther west at Pensacola Beach, leaving a distinct line in the sand from the high-rise condos above as the sun rose. Beach walkers had to stay between the line of dime- and quarter-size tar balls and the retreating surf or risk getting the gummy, rust-staining gunk stuck to their feet.Jody Haas, a tourist from Aurora, Illinois, was among the few walking the beach early yesterday after a crowded weekend here. Haas, who had visited the beach before, said it was not the same.“It was pristine, gorgeous, white sand,” she said. “This spot is light compared to some of the other spots farther down and (the tar) is just everywhere here. It’s just devastating, awful.” (AP)