Hurricane Alex Affects Oil Spill Cleanup
Weather forecasters and officials said that Hurricane Alex, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, could affect oil cleanup efforts for days, even though it was 600 miles away from the massive spill.
Turbulent Gulf waters caused by Alex have already disrupted containment booms aimed at limiting the amount of oil reaching shore, Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft told reporters Wednesday. More than 500 oil skimming ships had to return to shore and efforts to burn oil on the surface and break it down with dispersants were put on hold, along with efforts to position a third ship at the spill site to collect oil.
