so, today was productive. i got a story idea just before noon from my professor, joe, reported the shit out of it and produced a story by around 4 p.m. i was impressed with myself. it involves a local manufacturer's role in the gulf oil spill cleanup efforts, so i was able to reach the manufacturer, the coast guard and BP in the span of a few hours, which was lucky.
joe was heavy-handed in editing the lede and nut grafs (the first paragraph and the 'graph with "the point" of the story) which i don't love, honestly. i put a lot of thought into word selection, i emphasize flow and language, and he emphasizes clarity. as he should, i suppose. anyway, enjoy.
photo credit: BP p.l.c.
Nalco supplies dispersant for oil cleanup effort
May 11, 2010
The dispersant has been sprayed multiple times a day, a total of more than 325,000 gallons so far, over the oil spreading on the surface. On Monday the Environmental Protection Agency also conducted its third test of the chemical on the ocean floor, according to the Coast Guard.
The dispersant, called COREXIT, is being tested both for effectiveness and for impact on the Gulf’s water ecology.
The effect of using such a large amount of dispersant is unknown, according to Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley. The impact on sea life is a primary concern for the EPA in continuing tests.
COREXIT is a proprietary chemical compound made of organic sulfonic acid salts, a surfactant, and propylene glycol, a solvent, which breaks the oil into small droplets, making it digestible to ocean bacteria.
COREXIT is being transported via air from stock points around the world and via truck from Nalco’s Texas plant.
“We have been working very hard with our suppliers to get the raw materials,” said Nalco spokesman Charlie Pajor. “We have sufficient production capacity, so that is not a problem.”
The company declined to state the revenues generated from COREXIT shipments in the quarter, but stated that material information would be reported as required to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nalco maintains that the dispersant underwent strenuous testing by the EPA before being approved for oil spill cleanups.
Applying the dispersant is one of many efforts made to lessen the impact of the gushing deep-water oil well spilling an estimated 5,000 barrels per day into the Gulf of Mexico. The leak was caused by an April 20 drilling rig explosion, which killed 11 people and sank the rig owned by Transocean Ltd. The deepwater well is located about 45 miles from Venice, La.
Nalco has shipped all available inventory to the cleanup site, and reported that it was receiving “great support” by its suppliers in turning around as much of the compound as quickly as possible, according to its chairman and CEO, Erik Fyrwald, during an interview by CNBC last Monday.
“Our focus is not on the business impact of this. Our only focus is to supporting BP and the government agencies in dealing with this crisis as best we can,” said Fyrwald. “This is a crisis that we all want to help make sure comes to a positive end.”
Nalco’s stock closed at $24.09 on Tuesday, down 0.21 percent or 5 cents after reaching a four-month high of $26.19 on May 3, which was the day CEO Fyrwald appeared on CNBC as well as on Fox Business News.
No comments:
Post a Comment