Lower the damn boom

Why hasn't anyone deployed the boom sitting in a Maine warehouse?

As the oil spill crisis has worsened, members of the public and media have seized upon various ways the government could be doing more to either plug the hole or alleviate the environmental damage.

One such story has described boom manufactured by an Auburn, Maine, packaging company called Packgen that’s been sitting in storage waiting to be delivered to the Gulf. Four weeks ago, in four days, Packgen manufactured 80,000 feet of boom, though neither the government nor BP had placed any orders for boom with his company.

John Lapoint III, the president of Packgen, told me Friday that a BP inspector visited his plant two weeks before, and was with him that day, and he didn’t understand why the holdup, given the need for boom.

“We have the capacity to manufacture 42,000 feet of boom per day,” Lapoint told me. “I figured they would need thousands of miles of boom given the magnitude of what’s going on in the Gulf.” He said he has enough raw materials to make half a million feet of boom.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has expressed frustration at BP taking its time to make assess the boom.

When I mentioned, in vague terms, Lapoint’s frustration, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen asked me to give him the information, which I did.

Over the weekend, Capt. Ron LaBrec from Coast Guard Public Affairs told me that according to a BP quality control inspector the PackGen boom did not pass an initial quality control test.

“Boom is subjected to great wear and tear when placed in the water and must be frequently tended,” LaBrec told me. “In order to retain its effectiveness boom must be of high quality. Once Packgen's boom passes inspection, the company can be considered as a source for supplying boom.”

LaBrec noted that in the meantime, “suitable boom is being identified and obtained quickly” with 459,000 feet of boom stored in the region in addition to the 2.24 million feet deployed.

So what was wrong with the PackGen boom?

“There were concerns with material and end connectors,” LaBrec said. “BP has inspectors who visit facilities and regularly test boom. In addition to testing boom from new suppliers, boom from existing manufacturers is also tested/inspected. The Coast Guard also inspects boom that we purchase from suppliers. It is important because poorly designed boom may not work as intended.”

Lapoint said the boom “not only meets” standards, “it exceeds it.”

What the hell is the problem here?

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