R.W. Delaney, Business Writer
Sea gulls regard offshore platforms as their personal showcases. They love to perch in the tall beams to survey the passing scene. Picturesque though gulls may be, their droppings make misery for maintenance workers. What to do?
"We tried using owl decoys to scare the gulls away," says Doyle Savell, Measurement Supervisor for the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company in Lafayette, Louisiana. Owls are the natural enemies of gulls, so theory holds that a phony owl will fool the sea gulls and they'll fly away out of instinctive fear. Not true.
"The decoys didn't work at all," Savell says. "The birds pushed the owls out of their way and resumed roosting on our platform."
Savell -- whose responsibilities at Louisiana Land and Exploration run the gamut from totalling oil and gas volume to accounting, tracking, allocating, and servicing the navigational equipment and solar panels on the platforms -- would not stop trying to discourage the gulls. There was too much at stake.
Birds a Major Industry Nuisance
"For any large producer, maintenance is a major expense," Savell says. "Excretion from sea gulls is highly acidic and it deteriorates the paint job. At our company, we must sandblast and repaint our platforms about every three years -- and we have 43 platforms," he explains. "The gulls lay and rest and roost in the structure," he says. One platform soiled and eroded by bird droppings is bad enough; multiply it by 43 and you have a significant issue and a huge, recurring maintenance expense.
The problem is not unique to the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company. "Sea gulls have been a problem for decades for anyone operating an offshore platform where there's not much human activity," Savell says. He ought to know: Savell has been in the oil and gas industry for 26 years. His dad and grand-dad also worked in the industry, and one of his three sons works on a platform, making the Savells a fourth-generation oil and gas family.
Savell tried another approach to the sea gull scourge. "We played tapes of guns and explosions," he says, "which worked for a week or two." Then the birds figured out that nothing terrible was going to happen, so they returned in full force.
"I really wanted to find a way to extend the life of the paint job on the platforms," Savell continues. About that time, he saw a small ad in an oil and gas publication. "I called and talked with the people at Bird-X, Inc., who make an electronic sea gull repeller," he says. The device, called "Super BirdXPeller," replicates and broadcasts authentic sea gull distress cries with very high fidelity through four speakers that can be easily installed on most platforms. The solid-state speakers can be powered permanently by solar panels connected to batteries. The system operates automatically and effectively covers up to ten acres without harm to the environment. It also eliminates the need for costly, labor-intensive methods like chemicals, nets and fences.
Savell decided to give Super BirdXPeller a trial run for 75 days. For his test, he and his staff of 25 picked a quiet 60' X 70' nonproducing platform that was in bad condition -- a favorite haunt of the messy gulls. Before installing the electronic repeller, they cleaned up the entire platform (three decks and a heliport) spotlessly. Then they installed the sound system with its distress cries.
"The gulls stayed away," Savell affirms. "There were NO DROPPINGS WHATSOEVER. Three times a week we did fly-by visual checks, and once a week we landed on the helipad. It has been 100 percent effective for three months," he reports. Savell is so pleased with the trial that he recently purchased two Super BirdXPellers and solar panels for two additional platforms dirtied by birds.
Sound Investment
"If you extend the life of the paint by one year, even for a small structure, you save thousands of dollars," Savell says. "Based on the performance I've witnessed, I'd advise other companies to install and test the repeller," he says. "If this performance continues, I expect to extend the life of the paint two or three years." He estimates the cost of the Super BirdXPeller, solar panels and batteries, and the installation to total about $1200. For the money saved, it's a good investment in his book, he concludes.
"Another way you save," he adds, "is that you would otherwise be steam-cleaning the platform several times a year, with the cost of labor running about $500 per man." No droppings, no costly steam-cleaning.
He notes one more benefit: a healthier environment for workers who maintain the platform and its equipment. Getting rid of droppings also gets rid of the harmful bacteria it harbors.
Further Proof
Larry D. Barker, Production Superintendant for Amerada Hess Corp. in Houston, Texas, has similar experience with sea gulls soiling offshore platforms. "Owls didn't work for us either," Barker says. He also confirms the nastiness of the situation: "Bird droppings ruin the paint. Surfaces become extremely slick
and dirty," he says. "It detracts from the appearance of the platform and also raises a safety issue when the heliport is unclean and slippery."
Barker is experimenting with Super BirdXPeller at the company's West Cameron 576 site -- a medium-sized platform (about 80' X 90') with two decks and a heliport. The platform is located 80 miles south of the Sabine River on the border between Louisiana and Texas.
"Since we've installed the system, we've seen very few sea gulls hanging around and no droppings," Barker says. "I've reached no final conclusion yet," he says candidly, "but if this continues for another couple of months, I'll be 100 percent convinced."
Like Savell, Barker is keenly interested in lowering maintenance expenses for his company. For both men, installation of a Super BirdXPeller seems to be a reasonable course of action with definite financial, safety and health benefits attached.