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Dynamic visuals from the front line of the oil slick were delivered by ABC's David Muir and CBS' Mark Strassmann. Strassmann followed up on Friday's Exclusive on the offshore burn zones where surface oil is ignited to prevent it from coming ashore. He labeled his second trip 60 miles out to sea an Exclusive too: "We got within 150 feet of this one. A roaring tornado of flames swirled inside. Up close there is a sound that burning oil makes, a crackling, bubbling noise." The oil is ignited with kerosene and accelerant gel, producing a fire as hot as 2,000F.
ABC's Muir traveled eight miles offshore to a barrier island that the Louisiana National Guard was reinforcing to try to keep the oil away from marshlands. He showed us sandbags being transported to the scene by Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters: "You hear it and you feel it when that 2,500 lbs of sand is dropped." CBS anchor Katie Couric warned us not to pay too much attention to the photo-ops of tarballs on beaches: "Beaches are relatively easy to clean; wetlands virtually impossible. About 40% of the nation's total wetlands are located in Louisiana."
That corrective did not stop CBS' Couric--nor NBC's Mark Potter--from visiting Orange Beach to cover Alabama's suffering tourist industry. Potter focused on the vacancy rate in hotels and summer rentals. Couric went into town to sympathize with the restaurateurs at the near-empty Shipp's Harbour Grill and the slowdown in sales at Mo's Bait & Tackle.
ABC anchor Diane Sawyer ran through some more FAQs from viewers about BP's prospects for containing the leak and completing the so-called relief well to plug it (NBC's Tom Costello had a clear explanation about the relief well earlier this month). Sawyer also had her former sidekick at Good Morning America, weathercaster Sam Champion, offer a celebrity angle on the oil disaster. Champion introduced us to movie star Kevin Costner. Costner's firm, Ocean Therapy Solutions, has landed a contract to sell 32 centrifuges to BP to separate oil and water. Champion called the device "a giant salad spinner."
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