'Flotels' await oil spill cleanup workers on Gulf

[highplainsdem]

Source: AP

'Flotels' await oil spill cleanup workers on Gulf
By BEN NUCKOLS (AP)


PORT FOURCHON, La. — The 40-foot-long corrugated steel boxes, resembling oversized white shipping containers, are stacked two high and three wide atop a barge at Port Fourchon, the oil industry's hub on the Gulf of Mexico. The words "Martin Quarters" painted in black offer the only clue that they're not stuffed with cargo.

This barge is a floating hotel, or "flotel," set up by BP and several subcontractors to accommodate more than 500 workers hired to clean up the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Temporary housing is the only way to station workers at Port Fourchon, a massive shipyard that serves offshore oil rigs and is surrounded by ecologically sensitive marshes and beaches.

"There are no permanent residents here on the port," said Dennis Link, a manager from a BP refinery who's handling logistics at the 1,300-acre site that's easily accessible by ship, but reachable on land only by a state road that snakes through the bayous.

With the ambitious "top kill" having failed over the weekend and a relief well at least two months away, BP was ramping up its efforts to clean up the Louisiana coast. Another temporary fix — an effort to saw through the pipe leaking the oil and cap it — could be tried as soon as Wednesday. In the meantime, more than 125 miles of the state's coastline already have been hit with oil, including the resort of Grand Isle near Port Fourchon.

-snip-



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9G2FCT80

[nvme]

1. HMMMMMMMMMMM

Only 500 so far for 40 million gallons , wow they better get "crackalackin"

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. And will the workers suffer more "food poisoning"?

From the article:
"The barge has 10 washers, 10 dryers and a kitchen, although food will be served in a tent on land." :sarcasm: :grr:

Martin Quarters?

Yeah, I know it's from the company name, but saw this as well in my mind's eye...

[joanmj]

3. good one!