Cold Weather Slows Prudhoe Bay Oil Cleanup

[hatrack]

PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska - Heavily bundled crews are braving merciless cold to continue cleaning up the largest oil spill ever on Alaska’s North Slope.

In recent days, the wind chill factor dipped to more than 70 degrees below zero at Prudhoe Bay, barely warming to 44 below on Monday as workers attacked the estimated spill of up to 267,000 gallons that seeped into almost two acres of snow-covered tundra. About 60,000 gallons of crude have been recovered since the leak from a ruptured transit line was discovered March 2 at a site operated by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done under very trying conditions,” said Dan Larson, a BP spokesman who visited the site.

Crews used a vacuum truck to recover oil that pooled in some places and carried fresh snow to other spots to absorb the crude. After transferring the contaminated snow to a concrete pad, the mixture will be melted and separated.

EDIT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11821286/

[bbinacan]

1. As bad as this is

it could be worse.

"And despite the numbing conditions, the weather is actually helping recovery, turning oil thick as honey, so it doesn’t spread as quickly as it would in warmer temperatures."

Thankfully it is cold.