US Coast Guard: Alex Still Hurting Oil-Spill Operations

1st Jul 2010 16:58

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--The remnants of Hurricane Alex are still disrupting skimming operations and dislodging boom installed to protect coastal states from oil spewing from BP PLC's (BP. LN) Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday. "Operations were severely impacted by weather in the Gulf," said Charles Diorio, a Coast Guard spokesman, speaking on behalf of Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. "There was basically no skimming operations conducted offshore or near shore [on Wednesday]. The weather today looks also much the same as yesterday." The weather isn't expected to improve on Friday, but forecasts predict a calmer sea this weekend. Skimming could resume over the weekend, Diorio said in a conference call. Alex made landfall Wednesday night near the Mexico and U.S. border and has been downgraded to a tropical storm. -By Susan Daker, Dow Jones Newswires; (713) 547-9208; [email protected] (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 11:58 ET (15:58 GMT)