U.S. authorities announced Thursday they would evacuate staff working to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after Tropical Storm Bonnie was predicted to hit the area.
National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen announced the evacuation Thursday night after the National Hurricane Center upgraded a tropical depression passing over the Bahamas to a tropical storm, saying winds had strengthened to 40 miles per hour.
The center at 8:00pm released a prediction of the storm’s path, which showed it passing over the site of the Macondo well 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, where efforts have been continuing to contain an oil spill since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.
“Due to the risk that Tropical Storm Bonnie poses to the safety of the nearly 2,000 people responding to the BP oil spill at the well site, many of the vessels and rigs will be preparing to move out of harm’s way beginning tonight,” Allen said in a statement.
“This includes the rig drilling the relief well that will ultimately kill the well, as well as other vessels needed for containment. Some of the vessels may be able to remain on site, but we will err on the side of safety.”
Workers will leave the cap in place that has stemmed the gushing oil for the past week but work to kill the well permanently will be temporarily suspended.
“I have also directed BP to take measures to ensure the vessels operating the ROVs [remotely operated underwater vehicles] are the last to leave, and the first to return in order to maximize monitoring of the well,” Allen said.
“Monitoring of the site during the well integrity test remains one of the government’s highest priorities,” said.
Allen said that while the evacuation would delay the effort to kill the well by several days, “the safety of the individuals at the well site is our highest concern,” he said.
BP has already evacuated all nonessential personnel from eight sites in the Gulf.
On Thursday Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a national emergency in the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it would continue to monitor the storm and was ready to support state, territory and local officials in the region.
Tropical Storm Bonnie was also expected to pass over the southern tip of Florida on Friday and a tropical storm warning was issued along parts of its each and west coasts.