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Disaster in the Gulf-5-18-2011This post is from the Great Blog of Earth Island Journal
A House Divided
Louisianans, One Year After the Spill
Following the news about the Gulf of Mexico one year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster can be like reading “A Tale of Two Places.” The ocean, the wetlands, the fish, and the birds are recovering, according to some people. Others say the mess left at the bottom of the sea by the BP blowout threatens to wreak havoc on the ocean food web for years to come. Most people, we hear, are all right. Or, we are told, some are getting sick.
Which tale is true? For many Gulf residents, especially those from Louisiana, the state hardest hit by the spill, the answer might be Both.
The choice of what to say about the BP spill reveals a tension between the private narratives Louisianans tell themselves and their families and the public narratives they share with the rest of the world. Many Louisianans express frustration at the national media’s habit of showing images of oiled birds and dead dolphins; it only depresses tourist bookings and seafood sales, they complain. Other Louisianans say the pictures of destruction are necessary, a way to hold BP accountable for its actions; there’s no use jumping on what one local wit dubbed “The Streetcar Named Denial.”
The tough decisions about how to describe the spill reflect Louisianans’ split loyalties, which are divided between the fishing culture – the heart of the state’s identity – and the oil industry, the backbone of its economy. Since the 1930s, the two have been intimately connected: Many fishermen work the rigs in the off-season, and some of the best fishing spots are found near abandoned platforms, where sea life flourishes. In Louisiana, there’s nothing odd about celebrating the annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.
The tension is exacerbated by the widespread resentment over BP’s settlement process. Out of the $20 billion set aside for damage claims, only $3.4 billion has been disbursed by settlement czar Kenneth Feinberg. Some fishermen have been made whole. Others have received nothing. In New Orleans, dishwashers at restaurants unaffected by the spill have received $10,000 checks. Louisianans say the system is opaque, arbitrary, and just plain unfair. There are complaints about the sudden appearance of “Spillionaires.”
Then there’s the issue of the spill’s impact on the health of shoreline communities. Residents whisper darkly about a “Gulf Plague” – odd ailments and illnesses, especially among those involved in the cleanup effort. On YouTube, there are legions of videos featuring fishermen and cleanup workers describing their health problems. Yet not until this March did federal officials decide to launch a long-range study of Gulf residents’ health. While some Louisianans warn of a coverup, others snicker at the conspiracy theories of those they’ve branded “Gulf Truthers.” The pendulum of public opinion swings between paranoia and the glib assurances of the Pollyannas. One local calls it “analysis paralysis.”
The swirl of rumors, the logjam of lawsuits, the annoyance with national reporters who parachuted into the area on April 20 and left the very next day – all of it has cooked into a gumbo of cynicism. If the feelings of Louisianans a year after BP’s disaster seem contradictory, that’s because they are. They are contradictory just like the pain of life, the pain of a place and a people that are wounded. The stories of those wounds can be hard to convey to outsiders. Which is why it’s best to let Louisianans speak for themselves.
The Sportsman
As the editor of a hunting and fishing magazine called Louisiana Sportsman, Todd Masson hears often from friends, relatives, and readers who are concerned about eating Gulf seafood in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. There’s no need to worry, he tells them. “Our fish, crabs, and oysters are no less safe to eat today than they were two years ago,” he wrote recently. As for those who might have made a killing in the BP settlement process? “If you actually came out ahead, then my hat’s off to you.”
Sport fishing is an essential thread in the fabric of Louisiana’s culture. We have 40 percent of the nation’s coastal wetlands, built over millennia by the Mississippi River, and as such we are the nursery grounds for the Gulf. Our fishing is spectacular, and most weekend family gatherings involve something from our local marshes – fried, boiled, baked, or broiled. When commercial and recreational fishing was outlawed last summer in the wake of the spill, it isn’t overstating things to say that people grieved. It was like a pillar of our society had been severed.
Business is certainly down. The media presented so many misleading stories during the days of the spill that everyone in the country now has the perception that the lower fringes of Louisiana’s marsh are just dripping with crude oil. That’s obviously not the case. I had some national writers down in October, and for three days we fished the marshes all around the mouth of the Mississippi River – ground zero for spill impact – and they were absolutely astounded that we didn’t see one drop of oil.
The BP oil spill had absolutely no impact on the health of current-day seafood or the prospects for its progeny. Unrefined crude oil is a natural substance that is broken down, weathered and absorbed by nature remarkably quickly in a warm, dynamic system like that of the northern Gulf. To wit, there have been literally thousands of studies of Gulf seafood, and not one single sample has come back contaminated. After conducting these studies, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals determined a diner would have to consume nine pounds of fish, five pounds of oysters, or 63 pounds of shrimp every day for five years to reach any level of concern.
The Activist
Linda Leavitt’s Cajun roots go back to the 1700s, and though her family’s tradition of news reporting may not be as long, to Leavitt, whose parents both worked for NBC News, it feels equally strong. “My mother would say, ‘You go on down there, Linda, you get the story.’” Which she has, working as a citizen-journalist to gather photographs and video of the spill’s consequence, coordinating campaigns on Facebook, and watchdogging BP on Twitter. “You got to get the word out,” she says.
It was so sad, when you saw the oil coming over the boom, that we were so helpless engineering-wise to keep this out. That sediment can wash up with the tide, and the sad part is they know there are submerged tar mats. Hurricane season is 45 days away. That tar mat is going to wash ashore.
Linda LeavittYou can rage against the machine all you want, but the reality is you have a corporation that is incredibly negligent from a safety perspective. I’m a great believer in the truth. I’m a great believer in giving people the information so they can make the honest judgments. The more you cover it up, hide it, and whitewash it, then you get crazy-assed conspiracy theorists, everybody out there thinking the worst. That’s what happens in a closed society with closed information. That’s not the America I grew up in. I grew up in an America where information should be made public for public safety.
The dynamic with a lot of people who may be afraid to come forward and talk is fear that other people’s livelihoods are based on the oil companies and they don’t want to rock that boat, or shrimping is their livelihood, so they don’t want to rock the boat. There is a lot of that in small communities, fear of being the first one to come out and say something on the record.
Here’s the crux: There’s always been this unspoken acknowledgement between the oil industry and the fishermen, the Cajuns and other people who made their livelihoods on the water, that if something goes down, if something happens, we’ll take care of you. And that’s not happening. It’s a big disappointment.
The Philanthropist
When BP began spraying Corexit, Joannie Hughes, a single mom from Plaquemines Parish, started worrying about the rain. Could the chemical oil dispersant evaporate and return via precipitation? She had tests run, garnered some local news, then someone posted a sign on her front yard that read, “It’s not the rain water that’s going to kill you.” Frightened for her family, she decided the best she could do was to start a nonprofit, Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana, to assist out-of-work families. “I backed off, right or wrong, and continued the humanitarian part of the work, because that’s where I felt I could at least make some difference.”
Murky Waters
“A deathtrap of mucus gashing through the water like flypaper.” That’s how Samantha Joye, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia, describes the effect of the oil and gas from last summer’s disaster on the delicate marine organisms that inhabit the depths of the Gulf of Mexico.
When BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, Joye’s research team was among the earliest on the scene and the first to report huge underwater plumes …more…
It’s been an interesting road. We knew we couldn’t clean up the oil. We knew we couldn’t stop people from drilling. What we could do is feed some families that were suffering who had not been paid. Because legitimate claims have been denied.
We’re a bunch of moms, not a million-dollar organization. We delivered to one family and she asked if another family got a box of food. She immediately called the other family to come over and split the food, so instead of one family eating for five days, two families ate for two and a half days. That’s the kind of community it is. No one can ever say people here don’t help themselves, because they do. So far CHSL has given food box deliveries to over 300 families. We’re very good shoppers.
With saltwater intrusion, we’re losing the cypress at a phenomenal rate, and that’s pre-spill. So if we don’t start restoring by planting new ones, it’s going to be gone before my grandchildren are ever out there in a pirogue.
We are planting seedlings of cypress trees complete with nutria-resistant wire. You can plant a tree in someone’s honor, we send you a picture, GPS coordinates, and long term it helps fight erosion in our wetlands. We’re doing it all the way down in the marsh. We’re literally down there with our waders planting the trees and we love for volunteers to come down and help us plant them too.
I try to explain that we are part of that ecosystem. We haven’t been the best stewards, but we do count at least as much as the grass shrimp.
The Fisherman
Jason Adams has known only shrimping or working for the oil industry. He started fishing with his parents, he says, when “I was in diapers.” When the Macondo well blew out, Adams, a native of the bayou town of Galliano, worked briefly for BP doing cleanup work, but soon became resentful of how many jobs were going to guys from Houston. Today, he’s working as a tugboat captain. But, he says, “I’d rather fish.”
I worked it with my boat and let me tell you, I got into some of that oil with the Corexit. I thought I was going to die. Sick, can’t breathe. And the other side effect, I’m mentally sick because there’s such uncertainty. The postlarva of the white shrimp and the brown shrimp [are in danger] – once that contamination reaches the estuaries and all that, it’s a done deal. You know my little boy, sometimes he cries. He said, ‘Dad, what if I won’t be able to go shrimping anymore?’
It’s fine right now way up in the estuaries. But what’s it going to be like five years from now? The bottom line is that they sunk the oil. I don’t know how many millions of gallons of the Corexit they put in there.
I’m going to tell you what’s going to make that catastrophe – that first tropical depression. The first real southeast wind we had the other day, that’s when the oil came up on the beach.
A lot of the fishermen, it messed up their livelihoods. They can’t work, they’re sick. Their backs are against the wall right now. They tell me, ‘I won’t be able to work, but yet they want to come offer me $300,000, not for my livelihood, they’re offering me that for my life.’ The people that were in it, that got sprayed, that worked in that oil – they’re just buying their life.
Ninety percent of the people would rather be doing what they love to do. Fishermen are resilient people. You think a fisherman wants to collect money from BP and sit in his house? He’d go stir crazy. When it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. You’re doing what you want to do.
Karen Dalton Beninato is a freelance writer from New Orleans who has covered the BP oil spill for The Huffington Post. Her website is KarenDaltonBeninato.com. A resident of New Orleans and a Bayou Lacombe Choctaw Indian, Stacy Revere’s photography can be viewed at slrevere.photoshelter.com.
This story was partially funded through micro-donations via Spot.Us
Thank you for the work you are doing to share this info and keep the pressure on BP. I have a suggestion for another resource you could share: Frequency has a comprehensive video collection on the spill, dating back to the first headline...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.frequency.com/topic/bp-oil-spill/18217
Thank you so very much. I will post that later with the continuation of my updating today. Sorry not been well past couple of days, got behind. Thank goodness a friend stepped in to help me out. This is very important, we MUST get out all the info to the public.
ReplyDeleteLeesa
twitter@viequesbound
Thank you for the update.
ReplyDeleteGulf of Mexico is an amazing place to dive but i sorry to hear that and see the video, thanks for the update
ReplyDeleteMy company here in Canada is a biodiesel manufacturer we would like help to select a local community organization that is helping in the clean up effort we would like to donate a portion of our company sales. Lets promote natural alternative sources of energy please email siltri1@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this is viable, but why not put a new blow-out device over top of the existing blow out device that failed. From the videos I have seen, the device that is already in place is intact and it's the pipe connect to it that is leaking. May not be easy, but condition the pipe coming out of the well to accpet another blow-out device on top of the original and just close it all down!!!
ReplyDeleteI was searching the net and came across this:
ReplyDeletehttp://oilspillgulf.wordpress.com/
Do you think what this guy claims is true? Should We Be worried?
You can not stop the flow of oil though this wellhead, because the well casing seal to the sea floor is bad/ leaking, stopping the flow now would cause a sea floor blowout.
ReplyDeleteWhen other other nations have an issues, we run to their aid, I do not see people donating money to the oil spill clean up, i don't see people willing to run and help the helpless beaches. There is a lot that i do not see. where can i donate money so that our shore lines can stay the same, so that peoples ways of life can remain the same. I no that the oil companies caused this terrible tragedy, but that does not mean that we can not help clean it up. This is America, people need to come together an help one another. I would donate what i could if i new where to. We can come together and fight this oil if everyone is willing to do there part.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning,
ReplyDeleteMy interest is to help with the oil spill. I manufacture a natural cleaner that does NOT harm any microorganism if dumped in oceans or rivers because they are made with seeds, pulp and skin of fruits and plants. It is completely biodegradable within 7 days. Is not like the other cleaners that are made with chemicals that are carcinogens and petroleum based.
If you are not the person to talk about this subject please refer me to someone closer or tell them to contact me at jrincon@infinityhealthy.com or if you want more information visit www.infinityhealthy.com.
Why can't we take a submarine, fit the bottom with some sort of plug, dive it on top of the thing park it over the pipe and leave it until we can figure out how to plug it for good. If no one has made a containment sub with some sort of bypass valve system here ya go. Make one and charge millions for its use.
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry for the dumb questions but I haven’t been able to find the information anywhere. How much oil does this well contain? How long will it continue to spew oil out at the present rate?
ReplyDeleteI want to thank ALL of you who are leaving comments, suggestions and thoughts. I will try to funnel them to the correct sources. Leesa
ReplyDeleteIt seems bp is more interested in recovering the oil than in killing the well. It doesn't take a genious to cut off a pipe then stick something in the hole with enough weight to counter the pressure. Funny how all of bp's solutions involve capturing the oil instead of stopping it
ReplyDelete2 Seattle area artists collaborated on a powerful video of the oil spill. Here is a link to a video:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtIWvkDvVUM
Seattle affiliate FOX News (KCPQ) ran a story of this today. It will air tonight at 9 & 10pm.
We don't think about the gulf disaster much here on the West Coast. My hope is that after people watch this video, they will.
Appreciate your feedback!
Joe Monto
please study this and forward it to every one you know thank you
ReplyDeletehttp://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t79/SirKlaydon2/BOP%20Top%20Flange%20Joint/
klay
using the same fabric for making the tents, which is very strong,applying several layers
ReplyDeletewith iron cable (flexible) between the layers, make a BIG umbrella, with a hole at the middle where a hose can be attached. At the edge of the circle hang big weights.Drop it exactly where the spill is. The oil will try to surface
trough the hole where it can be controlled .Is like creating a big half baloon. Simple.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI want to donate 1000 bughats to volunteers who are helping to clean up our shores. These hats use a fine mesh netting to protect the face and neck from biting, annoying insect. The hat is a boonie style with a secret pocket to store the netting when not needed. Te hat also provide protection from the sun while working to keep our shores clean. I have spent three days trying to find an organization to help distribute these hats and have had no luck. Anyone who can guide me to a respected group to ensure the hats are properly distributed please contact me at glemanski@altusbrands.com
ReplyDeleteSee the hats at www.bughat.com
Russian specialists from NPF Politechnika Ltd., Moscow, propose solution for Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: large scale flexible hood with diameters 20-50 meters. Flexible hood is installing over point of leakage and supported with special top cord and anchors. For further information, please visit http://rusinflex.com/news.html
ReplyDeleteSaturday, June 19, 2010
ReplyDeleteGulf Emergency Summit: An Extraordinary Crisis Requires an Extraordinary Response- The people must act to stop the gulf catastrophe
http://www.gulfemergencysummit.org/
Email: gulfemergencysummit@gmail.com
10AM-End Time TBA
First Unitarian Universalist Church, Sanctuary
5212 South Claiborne Avenue
New Orleans, LA
Personally, I myself can come up with many different ways to solve or atleast try to stop the oil spill. Such as, filtering the water, sucking it out of tha hole with a pipe, or plugging it with concrete or sturdy material. Dirt obviously didn't seem to help tha matter at all.
ReplyDeletePossibly sucking all the contaminated water into a giant or even small filter that would seperate the oil and could preserve anymore oceanic life that may get destroyed. The access water could be pumped back into the ocean while the oil could still be used.
Covering the whole with a stronger more durable pipe to get the oil out and into some kind of container could also be very possible. A large enough pipe to go aroung the hole or small enough to just fit tightly inside the hole could do job.
Pouring a concrete base over the hole would deffinitly stop it, may not be easy, but it would deffintly work. Or maybe even just a substance strong enough to plug it up long enough to come up with some way to fix this disaster.
I don't understand why BP is totaly to blame. This type of disaster could have happened anywhere by any other gas/oil company. It was a mistake and some how will be fixed. I think everyone should give suggestions on how to fix the problem and maybe the spill might have a better chance of getting cleaned up.
ReplyDeleteAnyone can retrieve oblique, infrared images, and visible downlooking photos every day of the Gulf using the program google earth. The link can be retrieved from the google earth program "fire icon". It can also be loaded from the following link from the EPA web site (lower right corner of the web page.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.epa.gov/bpspill
When an icon is loaded, then click on it to retrieve various set of data. This information appears to be updated each day.
There are foibles in all of us. There are even Physics Foibles. Entropy is one of them.
ReplyDeleteInside a warm damp cave, completely sealed off from the outside world, will life survive?
Answer: No life forms could flourish indefinitely.
In an isolated system, entropy always increases. Life tries to push entropy in the opposite direction. When life is created, entropy decreases in the cave but nature demands a greater entropy increase offset.
The cave, being sealed, would mean that entropy would reach its max, thus energy necessary to sustain and generate new life would be unavailable.
Maybe we should learn a lesson from this. Available energy is mandatory. Wealth may equate to available energy. If you want to live in a nation that is prospering, make sure that its available energy supply is abundant. Don’t overuse it. Protect the environment.
The oil spill should not be used as a political football!!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHereby a link to the English Translation of Gustav Meyrink's Short Story Petroleum Petroleum (1903) in which he foresaw the BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. According to some conspiracy websites and radio shows this proves that the oil leak was created on purpose to depopulate the Gulf region.
http://gustavmeyrinkpetroleumpetroleum.blogspot.com/
Take Care
It's a shame we have a President incapable of making any intelligent decisions.
ReplyDeletelove jimmy and kenny... but get out there and help boys... concerts arent doin shit, this is our backyard here in florida, were losin our jobs, yall use our beaches for videos but have no idea what it is to actually live here... come on and get out there and use your money the same way all of us south eastern people are.. it will never be the same.
ReplyDeleteThe entire nation is horrified at what has been done to the gulf region and all the people living there. We are disgusted by joe bartons, michelle bachmanns and sarah palins support of BP. And although Obama has not handled this properly, republicans defending bp is is even worse! It's no shock that this would be politicized and unfortunately people and wildlife are being destroyed. Possibly deliberately.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zazzle.com/fubp_oil_spill_dolphin_t_shirt-235210293800248330
Look up www.presstv.ir
ReplyDeleteIranians are offering to help. They claim to have expertise with regard to this crisis. What's the harm in taking their help since Bp and US government has failed to resolve this problem in two months now and there is no definite solution in sight yet. Give Iranians a chance to help. This is no longer a US problem. It is an environmental disaster threatening entire world now. look at the greater good and not petty politics.
why is no news channel talking about the Iranian offer to help stop the leak?
ReplyDeleteJust because they are under sanctions for whatever reasons sponsored by the US goverment does not mean they are barred to even help on matters that are now beyond the capacity of US government or BP.
This is a Global Disaster. Stop being cynical about the Iranians and take their help. They are experts in this subject whether or not the US government agrees. Let political ego not compromise the interest of the ordinary Americans and the humanity at large.
By refusing or rather not even acknowledging the help offered by Iran, the crisis is not going to be resolved anyways. It's only worsening by the hour.
The help offer by Iran is so strictly censored by the government that not even the so-called free press/media is talking about it.
For more information Visit www.presstv.ir
or simply search Google/Yahoo/bing for more on this help offer from Iran.
share this information with as many people as you may.
May God help America!
Perhaps Obama has intentionally avoided dealing with the gulf oil spill.
ReplyDeleteObama: BP Gulf Spill Evacuation May Impact 2010 Elections: http://beforeitsnews.com/news/89/738/Obama:_BP_Gulf_Spill_Evacuation_May_Impact_2010_Elections.html
NUKE THAT WELL CLOSED> RUSSIA HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH USING A SMALL YEILD NUKE TO CLOSE A DEEP WELL ACCIDENT SEVERAL YEARS AGO> The extreme heat generated by the device will turn the hole into a solid glass like compound. O Bama and our high gov. officials and BP know this...This is POLITICS plain pure and simple. A social stress testbed over a large geographical area. With a runaway deep well at about 12,000 lbs outflow pressure. We the people must have been brain dead when America elected a community organizer to be president....
ReplyDeleteWHAT WAS YOU PEOPLE THINKING?
This is something we found that.....is amazing. Today's Wall Street Journal. Cuba drilling 60 miles off Florida next year.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.savergulf.com/todays-top-5-stories/bay-of-digs-florida-sees-ne.html
Well, (I know... deep subject) what I don't see (or read) in web news is how much the daily fines to BP are. I also don't hear any member of the government, BP or the press speaking about any daily fines.
ReplyDeleteSo what gives? Does something like this have to happen in the middle of Yellowstone or the front yard of the White House or on the lawn of the US Capitol to get Executive Enforcement Intervention? I really don't get it. OBama is really showing all of us how un-FDR'ish and or un-JFK'ish he really is; and I voted for him. Even Clinton showed us he has more balls... So, Mr. President, strap on our nations executive office set of balls and git 'er done! There's no daily money coming in at all. All I read and hear talked about are potential fines!! We can't carry that to the bank. The tax-payer is already footing the bill on this in our daily GNP losses.
Show us how far the long arm of the government can reach into a corporation and 1st: Ring BP's chicken neck and put a CEO in jail (not club fed); 2nd: Get some meaningful daily money in fines; 3rd: Legally intervene to prevent even stop and reverse a flow of money and assets away from BP as they ready themselves for bankruptcy; and 4th: Restore some confidence in the nation that you can do this!! We're tired of watching the tarballs roll up on the nations beaches and contending with BP and lame government.
You can help and should
ReplyDeletehttp://www.helium.com/how-to/11144-how-t0-help-with-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-spill
It just occurred to me that BP, or certainly one of its subsidiaries might be the biggest contributor to the Obama Presidential Library. I would never insinuate that such a honor and national treasure as a presidential library would, could or even should contain a commemorative "tar-ball" exhibit and be dubbed the tar-baby hall of fame?
ReplyDeleteI wish the people of the world would wake up and put most of the blame on themselves for the oil spill. All you hear is, this group or that groups to blame. The majority obviously do not trust the inside political and corperate system. So why do they always turn a blind eye. We all knew about tsunami's, earthquakes, hurricane risks, astroids, the environment,etc. Well foresure the scientists know the exact risks, but nobody really cares about what they tell us with their very limited air time. If they truely cared, people would ask for the details on what the powerfull decision makers are doing and demand changes. I don't believe people truely care about potential devastating threats, until it happens. Cause if there expecting the politicians to truely prepare for what might happen down the road, then were all nuts. Even if they tried to pass a bill or ask the citizens to except the slightest effect on their income or way of life, the people would refuse. If Obama would of asked for reduced drilling and funding for deep oil drilling inspections with regulation changes, then of course the people would say no. Nothing major passes in the political system right after and right before a election. Even if they both know its the right thing to do. All that matters to them is winning the elections. Next, will get hit with a astroid and the people will again blame everyone but themselves. Thats if theres anyone left to complain. We all know it can happen at any time. Oh well. Life goes on right?
ReplyDeleteLet the specialists deal with the problem. In this case, the Iranians are the specialist, believe it or not. But we simply choose to overlook and ignore their offer to help bcoz they are under sanctions for nukes sponsored by US government.
ReplyDeleteLets leave behind ego and political machoism for once and accept their offer to help.
Lets see if Ahmedinejad is sincere about this help offer and if the Iranians can really do the job they claim to have the expertise for.
Obama and Hillary, you have failed. Now let the sense prevail and accept international assistance. God help America
Nuking the well is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteLet's poison the Gulf with radiation as well as oil.
The Russians are the masters at industrial accidents.
The blow out preventer is exactly that, a preventer.
It is not a blow out stopper.
It is used to shut the well in at the first signs of trouble.
This was not done.
When the mud was displaced by seawater in the riser, hydrostatic pressure was greatly diminished, further exacerbated by gas in the water.
We will most likely find casing and a tool joint laying across the BOPs, which are unshearable.
Stop blaming politicians, there is no future in it.
Like other offshore blowouts, containment and mitigation are basically publicity stunts until the relief well(s) intervene.
Allow the IRANIANS to help us with their expertise in this matter.
ReplyDeleteI really don't see no reason why US should not take help from IRAN.
ReplyDeleteBoth BP and US government are buying time in hope that the well would eventually run dry. The whole crap about drilling of relief well is a big lie. By the time it is dug, twice the amount of oil would have leaked into the gulf as compared to today.
US does not have any know-how to stop this spill, so why not let those deal with this mess who really have the capacity and expertise to handle such catastrophe.
Mr. President, if u're listening, pls wake up and ring up the Iranian President. Let their offer to help not go in vain.
IRAN most certainly has the skills required for this kind of operation. Truly, we are too obsessed with Israel, blinded and drugged, so as not to distinguish between friends and foes.
ReplyDeleteLet the Heavens above and Earth below shower their blessings on us so that we may rid ourselves of Zionist thoughts and feelings.
Go ahead Mr. Obama and take help from Mr. Ahmedinejad before the oil reaches the shores of Manhattan.
US is so obsessed with Israel that it can see nothing beyond. Not even nations who want an opportunity to be friends of America.
ReplyDeleteThat be the case, Iran does not get any audience with the US government, media and planners.
Otherwise, no wise government or nation would refuse Iranian help in containing this oil spill disaster.
Iranians are willing to help. Are Americans willing to be friends?
This is really strange. US can welcome Netanyahu who only wants to take from America viz. money, security guarantees, technology, defense equipment, charity etc. but is estranged with Ahmedinejad who wants to give help and expertise to stop this spill that has turned into an environmental disaster threatening global ecology.
ReplyDeleteMay good sense prevail and US accept the help offer from Iran.
For more information Visit http://www.presstv.ir
ReplyDeleteor simply search Google/Yahoo/bing for more on this help offer from Iran.
share this information with as many people as you may.
Wake up Mr. President
This is a Global Disaster. Stop being cynical about the Iranians and take their help. They are experts in this subject whether or not the US government agrees. Let political ego not compromise the interest of the ordinary Americans and the humanity at large.
ReplyDeleteBy refusing or rather not even acknowledging the help offered by Iran, the crisis is not going to be resolved anyways. It’s only worsening by the hour. The relief well and dispersents and etc etc are all lies. Neither US government nor BP knows wat to do about the leak. Eventually Mr. Prseident may decide to nuke the well. But that's even worse than the leak. The Gulf coast and its ecology would change for the next 10000 yrs if nuked. If the oil spill reached the northern parts of the Atlantic, it could disrupt the flow of ocean currents thereby adding to the global warming effects viz. El Nino, hurricanes etc.
If the well is nuked, it will destry all ocean life in the gulf of mexico. So, the only logical way out is to take foreign help from nations that have the necessary skill, be it the enemy, for the greater good of humanity.
The help offer by Iran is so strictly censored by the government that not even the so-called free press/media is talking about it.
For more information Visit http://www.presstv.ir
or simply search Google/Yahoo/bing for more on this help offer from Iran.
"A small piece of our world"
ReplyDeleteVideo repost from Brasscheck TV
Please watch!
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/712.html
So, how many have actually stopped using and cut up your BP gas-cards? Catch the wave!!
ReplyDeleteRECOVERY OF UNDERWATER OIL WELL LEAKAGE
ReplyDeleteIF THIS INEXPENSIVE DEVICE HAD BEEN AVAILABE TO AND APPLIED BY BRITISH PETROLEUM AT THE TIME OF THEIR GULF OF MEXICO RIG DISASTER, THE TERRIFYING CONSEQUENCES WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED.
HERE IS WORDING of NEW (06/08/2010) PROVISIONAL PATENT
FOR SALE OR LEASE BY INVENTOR EDGAR M. NASH
Phone: 209 578-5014 209 578-5014 (California) Email: edmnash@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
TITLE: DEVICE TO RECOVER SUBSURFACE OIL WELL LEAKAGE
Inventive device captures liquid or gaseous up-flow from a subsurface source.
Inventive Device Is a flexibly strong net-like conical structure open at the bottom.
Invention has an impervious inner lining, and
One or more hose couplings are strongly attached at the top to permit connection of one or more suction hoses extending to the surface, and
Two or more elongated or circular rings of sufficient curvature, size, shape and strength are strongly attached at or near the top of inventive device to enable its being lowered and or raised by means of hooks inserted through said rings, and
Edge of bottom opening is heavily weighted around its entire perimeter, and
Desired shape of bottom perimeter is maintained by means of one or more rigid devices attached at a sufficient distance above weighted bottom edge to accommodate to the configuration of natural surface surrounding source or sources of upwelling liquid and or gas.
Structure of the inventive device between said rigid ring and bottom edge is vertically flexible in order to permit its heavily-weighted perimeter to maintain continuous contact with natural surface surrounding source or sources of escaping liquid and or gas.
As a British citizen can I say how I resent the continual baying for the blood of the British firm BP. Yes, the spillage was and is a disaster and yes, the company and it's American sub-contractors must be called to account. BP are not, however, the only oil company to have caused an environmental disaster. The American people have very quietly chosen to forget the Exxon Valdez spillage in Alaska which is still devastating wildlife. I cannot recall there being quite as much outrage then. No Congressmen queued up to express their indignation! The then USA President didn't make it a matter of policy to take the lead in attacking Exxon. Is it just a handy excuse to pick on a foreign company?
ReplyDeleteI feel that we are seeing more outrage due to the existance of our social media connections. Makes everything larger than ever.
ReplyDeleteI dont feel the country in under attack, it is a company, BP, that just so happens to be british. After all most of us "Americans" have European roots. Mine are Latvian. I love and respect all good peoples from all countries. Thanks for the comment, appreciate it.
Leesa
I think things like this> Hearings: BP did not suspend drilling operations after report of leaking blowout preventer< Do alot of dammage to this story. It could have been prevented is what I come up with as to a BIG reason people are so angry over this as opposed to the Exxon Spill.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leesa, for a very well-balanced reply. I do think the Chief Executive of BP was his own worst enemy when making his replies. I suspect he felt very beleaguered, dodging all the flak that was aimed at him. We do rather feel that Gt. Britain is under attack as much as BP. This is a shame as we have steadfastly stood by your country in Irag and Afghanistan
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Americans, they are none to happy with our own presidents handleing of this. They are also mad at the coast guard,and EPA director, and many more here in the USA. All in all, I think everyone is just plain ole mad. Perhaps having an American run the show for BP now will help you to feel less "attacks" from some people/countries.
ReplyDeleteI try to always respond to heartfelt posts here. Again, Thanks!!
I would like to share with you a film I created. It is based around the current Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and centers around a couple at dinner, 50 years from now, discussing the topic. Please take a look at it, I have provided you with the you tube link as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uNnkEHdf7o
Thanks for the great video, Jake. I hope you like that I posted it on the home page of my blog. Great work!!
ReplyDeleteLeesa
Hi, I am working with Mitch Kashmar and The Pontiax, an acclaimed blues artist and over 30 year veteran in the blues scene.
ReplyDeleteThe band just released their new single “The Petroleum Blues,” a timely response to the mounting oil crisis.
You can listen to and download the song here: http://www.mileshighproductions.com//images/tracks/m_kashmir/petroleum_blues.mp3.
The song is one of two newly recorded songs from their recently reissued classic album, 100 Miles To Go.
Here’s a sampling of the song’s lyrics -
“100 dollars just to fill your car
I hope you don't have to drive too far
Petroleum Blues
I've got the Petroleum Blues
How much money're we gonna lose?
Petroleum Blues
We're spillin n drillin down by New Orleans
The beach is black but the money's green
Petroleum Blues
The Petroleum Blues
You can't win, only gonna lose
Petroleum Blues”
I’d love to hear what you think of song.
-Lauren
I am appalled of the behavior of B.P. Of course the source is British! History lesson, the discovery of Americas, repeats the behavior of European countries, they don't care! Capitalism! Yes! If we do not take care of our people and America, our children will have no future. I live in California and just watched Spike Lee's film, this is an atrocious! I will do what I can to raise awareness and funds for the cleanup of the wetlands! Unbelievable!!! If Teddy was alive, he would have been there fast and made them accountable in a hurry, not 80 something days after the fact. Pat Soto
ReplyDeleteWe are the keepers of our land and our future!
ReplyDeleteThe bug pictures. Butterflies do drink water and dragon flies are laying eggs and mating. I don't know exactly how the season works in your part of the country but... I would suggest that you let Dr Linda Hooper Bui know about the dead bugs. She will know if this is normal for this time of year in the gulf. I have read numerous reports of no lovebugs, no fleas or flies, which is in keeping with the use of Corexit 9527 which has the same main ingredient as Terminix--2 butoxyethanol.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sister*bluebird!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is true, no love-bugs. I live in Abita Springs, La.I have walked many a beach in many areas of the south and New England. The bayous of La even. Never have I seen the amount of dead butterflies and dragon flies. Even when I would go to High Island Texas monthly if not more..
Where may I find, Dr. Linda Hooper Bui? And thanks so much for your comments...I appreciate it. Leesa
Spill International - News on Marine Spills and Pollution
ReplyDeleteWith great pleasure we introduce you to Spill International, the international website on the prevention, preparedness for, response to and restoration of marine spills and pollution, http://www.spill-international.com. The website provides international experts with information on recent events, developments in the industry and significant research projects. It provides a forum for discussion regarding innovations and best practices across the spectrum.
For each new newsletter subscriber we will donate 1US dollar to a charity of your choice, so long as its work relates to marine spills and pollution!
subscribe now: http://www.spill-international.com/charity.php
Thank you again for the detailed information.
ReplyDeletefishing games
I co-wrote this song with a Chicago Fireman and the Blue Island Public Library did the video for it.
ReplyDeleteCould you please take a few minutes and watch this video.
The 1 year anniversary of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is April 20th.
Just listening will make an impact on the planet. Please forward to your friends. Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/user/BlueIslandLibrary#p/a/u/0/NFs2NYAqpr0
It really is a big deal, and I don't think enough effort is going into being prepared for oil spill cleanup. There are huge things on the horizon, and there are a lot resources hanging in the balance. We have to prioritize what to protect.
ReplyDelete