Clean Gulf Associates acquires new
$6.5 million aircraft
Monday July 20, 2009, 6:45 PM
by Jen DeGregorio, The Times-Picayune
Oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico may be mopped up just a little a little bit faster after a New Orleans company ordered the purchase of a high-tech plane that officials say is the biggest investment in Gulf spill cleanup in the last two decades.
Clean Gulf Associates bought a $6.5 million aircraft known as a Basler BT-67, which specializes in dropping dispersants over spilled oil. The chemical works by breaking down the oil into smaller components that wash away before they can accumulate in slicks that damage wildlife, said Frank Paskewich, Clean Gulf's executive director.
The new plane is owned by Airborne Support Inc., a firm that is supported financially by Clean Gulf, Paskewich said. The aircraft will be stationed at the Houma-Terrebone Airport, where it will be ready to deploy in case of a spill.
Clean Gulf -- a cooperative company with 140 members, including oil giant Chevron -- responded to 41 oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico last year. Paskewich described the incidents as minor, totalling about 40 barrels.
An entire indusry has emerged to support oil-spill cleanup since the Exxon Valdez tanker accident off the coast of Alaska in 1989, and Clean Gulf is one of dozens of companies in the Gulf
area authorized to respond to spills. After the Exxon Valdez disaster, the United States shifted cleanup responsibility into the hands of companies that produce and transport oil, requiring them to keep
emergency plans and contractual relationships with cleanup firms such as Clean Gulf.
The new aircraft will add to Clean Gulf's existing fleet of dispersant planes and cleanup vessels.
"In the right situation, dispersants can be very effective," said Doug Helton, who helps coordinate spill relief with the Office of
Response and Restoration in the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
Although the airplane can come in handy to deal with leaks from offshore platforms platforms and other offshore spill scenarios,
the aircraft would not have helped during last summer's spill on the lower Mississippi River, which occurred when a towboat pushed a fuel barge into the path of an oncoming ship.
Dispersants are not typically used in populous areas because of concerns about drinking-water contamination, Paskewich said.
Still, Clean Gulf was on the scene during the July 2008 spill in New Orleans. The company sent a 200-foot barge that soaked up much of the oil.
The company also provided two 46-foot skimming boats that caught the oil with large booms.
"We're ready 24-7 to get underway and clean the oil," Paskewich said
Jen DeGregorio can be reached at 504.826.3495 or jdegregorio@timespicayune.com.
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