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http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/20...ana_shores.html

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/20...ana_shores.html

Some pretty sick bird pics in there though, Stu.

Thanks for those.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Promo Some pretty sick bird pics in there though, Stu. Thanks for those.

I wanna be in charge of wiping sea urchins.

This sucks

And in other BP-related news...

BP refinery threatens Great Lakes ecosystem

quote:

Originally posted by Ted Promo I wanna be in charge of wiping sea urchins.

'Top kill' method 'stops BP oil leak' in Gulf of Mexico

BP has stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured oil well, US media reports say.

The company's "top kill" effort has plugged the leak and "stabilised the wellhead", Coast Guard commander Thad Allen was quoted as saying by AFP.

This is the first step, using mud, in BP's plan to seal the well for good with cement.

Eleven workers were killed in the initial explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig five weeks ago.

Since then millions of gallons of oil have poured into the sea.

Adm Allen told US media the "top kill" procedure, which began on Wednesday, has pumped enough drilling fluid to block all oil and gas escaping from the well.

But he said there was still pressure from the well, although at very low levels.

Once engineers have reduced the pressure to zero, they will begin pumping cement into the hole to seal the well, he added.

Source

about goddamn time

Glad there is finally a bit of good news with this story.

Haven't read the rest of the thread but are there going to be big fines in place for BP?

quote:

A young heron sits dying amidst oil splattering underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, along the the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

...what?

quote:

Originally posted by leph555 'Top kill' method 'stops BP oil leak' in Gulf of Mexico BP has stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured oil well, US media reports say. The company's "top kill" effort has plugged the leak and "stabilised the wellhead", Coast Guard commander Thad Allen was quoted as saying by AFP. This is the first step, using mud, in BP's plan to seal the well for good with cement. Eleven workers were killed in the initial explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig five weeks ago. Since then millions of gallons of oil have poured into the sea. Adm Allen told US media the "top kill" procedure, which began on Wednesday, has pumped enough drilling fluid to block all oil and gas escaping from the well. But he said there was still pressure from the well, although at very low levels. Once engineers have reduced the pressure to zero, they will begin pumping cement into the hole to seal the well, he added. Source about goddamn time

so if it stopped it, why is CNN telling me that it hasn't stopped. in fact, they stopped doing the top-kill method because they want to see if it's working...and won't start re-pumping again until tomorrow?

I gotta say, that interview touched me.

BP Engineers Making Little Headway on Leaking Well

quote:

HOUSTON � BP engineers struggled Friday to plug a gushing oil well a mile under the sea, but as of late in the day they had made little headway in stemming the flow. Amid mixed messages about problems and progress, the effort � called a �top- kill� � continued for a third day, with engineers describing a painstaking process of trying to plug the hole, using different weights of mud and sizes of debris like golf balls and tires, and then watching and waiting. They cannot use brute force because they risk making the leak worse if they damage the pipes leading down to the well. Despite an apparent lack of progress, officials said they would continue with the process for another 48 hours, into Sunday, before giving up and considering other options, including another containment dome to try to capture the oil. President Obama, who visited the Gulf Coast on Friday, spoke broadly about the government�s response to the environmental disaster, saying that �not every judgment we make will be right the first time out.� He also added, seemingly capturing the mood of engineers working to plug the well: �There are going to be a lot of judgment calls here. There are not going to be silver bullets or perfect answers.� Nor were there perfect answers Friday about the status of the top kill effort. For the second day, public statements early in the day from BP and government officials seemed to suggest progress. Only later in the day did they acknowledge that the effort was no closer to succeeding than when they started. �We�re going to stay with this as long as we need to,� Doug Suttles, BP�s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said late Friday afternoon. �We�re not going to rush.� The company suspended pumping operations at 2:30 a.m. local time Friday after two �junk shot� attempts to plug the leak with rubber and other materials, said a technician working on operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the efforts. The technician said that engineers have come up with a variety of theories about why efforts have failed so far, and they are trying different sizes of objects. But he said the process required trial and error � and sifting through various theories among engineers in the operation control room � about the best way to clog the �internal geometry� of the damaged equipment. BP said pumping operations resumed around 3:45 p.m. Friday. The technician working on the effort said that despite all their injections, at various pressure levels, engineers had been able to keep less than 10 percent of the injection fluids inside the stack of pipes above the well. He said that was barely an improvement on the results Wednesday, when the operation began and was suspended in its 11th hour of operations. �I won�t say progress was zero, but I don�t know if we can round up enough mud to make it work,� said a technician working on the project who spoke on condition of anonymity. �Everyone is disappointed at this time.� The technician also said that there were disagreements among engineers about why efforts have been unsuccessful so far, but that those disagreements were based on a lack of a clear understanding of what was happening inside the pipes on the sea floor. Some public statements Friday suggested more certainty. Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, the leader of the government effort, said Friday on ABC�s �Good Morning America,� �They�ve been able to push the hydrocarbons and the oil down with the mud.� Tony Hayward, BP�s chief executive, told CNN on Friday morning, �We have some indications of partial bridging, which is good news.� In the afternoon, Mr. Suttles gave a more cautious view. �We�re doing things that are very difficult to do,� he said. �Many of the things we have done have never been done before.� But he said the effort would continue for �as long as necessary until we are successful or convinced it will not succeed.� Meanwhile, anticipating that the top kill may not succeed, BP began preparations to try to place a second containment vessel over the leak. Mr. Suttles said BP was also preparing to replace the damaged blowout preventer. In Grand Isle, La., President Obama promised to triple the federal manpower along the most threatened stretches of the coast. �We�re in this together,� he said, gesturing to the three governors, two Louisiana senators, a congressman and other officials he had just met with for more than two hours. They included several who, on national television in recent days, have been sharply critical of his administration�s response, including the Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, and Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish, one of the Louisiana areas most affected. Afterward, in an interview, Mr. Nungesser said he �felt real bad� about his televised complaints and added: �The president is doing a good job. It was a good meeting.� After the meeting at a Coast Guard station here overlooking calm and seemingly clean waters, with dolphins and shrimp boats on the horizon, Mr. Obama said the secretary of energy, Steven Chu, and a team of �the world�s top scientists� had been working with BP on additional options if the top kill effort fails. Even if the well is stopped, �we face a long-term recovery and restoration effort,� Mr. Obama added. �America has never experienced an event like this before.� Such sentiment plainly was aimed at answering �the anger and frustration� that Mr. Obama acknowledged many residents and their political leaders here are feeling, and at blunting charges that his administration had abandoned them as the Bush administration was accused of doing after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. �I ultimately take responsibility for solving this crisis. I�m the president and the buck stops with me,� Mr. Obama said. For the president, who has been on the defensive about his and his administration�s role in trying to stop the spill and prevent oil from reaching the coasts, Friday�s trip was his second since the explosion of BP�s Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20. Before the meeting, he inspected a beach in the adjoining Lafourche Parish, which was lined with coin-size tar balls attributed to oil from the BP leak. Friday was to have been the first full day of a Memorial Day weekend vacation for Mr. Obama with his family at their home in Chicago, their first sojourn there in more than a year. But he left Chicago on Friday morning and flew to New Orleans, where he was met by Admiral Allen, his national incident commander for the spill response. They immediately boarded the Marine One helicopter for Port Fourchon, a community of oil workers, and nearby Fourchon Beach, where Mr. Obama inspected the beach, where tar balls were washed up against absorbent booms. At one point during the day, as Mr. Obama�s motorcade entered and exited a Coast Guard station, a man held up a homemade sign reading in black ink, �Clean Up the Gulf,� with the words drawn as if dripping black oil.

Source

Those responsible needs to be slapped with a fine so big, all other companies will take notice.

BP shipped in workers to clean up the beach that Obama was touring today. As soon as Obama packed up at left, they left too. When asked by a CNN correspondent why they were here and if they were here because Obama was here, one worker said he would get in trouble if he said anything, and he couldnt answer any questions.

I'm not going to lie; I still use my BP Chase card. and i don't really feel guilty for it either.

Let's take a look at the incredible lack of leadership and hypocrisy:

From Obama's own campaign website:

quote:

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

Obama on February 7th, 2008 speaking at Tulane University:

quote:

We can talk about a trust that was broken -- the promise that our government will be prepared, will protect us, and will respond in a catastrophe. When President Bush came down to Jackson Square two weeks after the storm, the setting was spectacular and as promises soaring: "We will do what it takes," he said. "We will take as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." But over two years later, those words have been caught in a tangle of half measures, halfhearted leadership, and red tape. It's time for America to rebuild trust with the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. When I am president, I will start by restoring that most basic trust: That your government will do what it takes to keep you safe. The words "never again" spoken sooo often in those weeks after Katrina must not fade to a whisper.

Ouch. No wonder James Carville's blasting him. Nope, never again will we see federal government incompetence reacting to a disaster when he's in charge! I wanted to throw up when he was finger pointing today about being engaged since day 1. Really? 16 government agencies claimed to have responsibility for responding to and cleaning oil spills before the explosion. Nevermind we've had a plan since 1994 that allowed expedited burning of oil as soon as a major spill had occurred, without having to wait for permission or approvals! The guy who devised the plan, Ron Gouget formerly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, can't believe the burning did not start immediately and says doing so could have prevented much of the spill's expansion from the start. Talk about efficiency. Read here: http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/bur..._started_a.html

How's this for a timeline:

April 20: Oil rig explosion
April 21: All workers evacuated from rig
April 22: Rig collapses to ocean floor
April 22: Obama gives speech on Wall Street to pitch new financial regulations bill. Discusses Earth Day.

April 23: Obama blasts Arizona's new law, governor, and those who support it.
April 24: Obama gives weekly radio address, discusses Wall Street regulation. Also asks directly for Lations, Blacks, Hispanics, and women to come together for political action.

April 25: Obama meets with Billy Graham in North Carolina.
April 26: Obama appears in "Vote 2010" video specifically asking blacks and Latinos (again) for their votes.
April 28: Obama holds press conference on Air Force 1 on the topic of the Arizona law, financial regulation, and his nomination to the Supreme Court.
April 29: First acknowledgement of spill. White House Flickr feed shows photo of Obama meeting with Janet Napolitano and other senior administration viewing pics of oil spill.... 10 days after it began.

May 14: Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal begins pleading with Obama to approve their barrier island plan while the workers are ready but just sitting on their hands. He still isn't getting his calls returned TODAY, let alone being granted federal permission to enact the plan, as oil is now washing ashore. I heard Jindal on the radio today again saying, "Please! Please allow us to help ourselves!" He's talking to a wall.

So he has a nice photo-op on the beach picking up tar balls yesterday during his total of 3 hours in Louisana... great. He spent more time talking NBA playoffs with Marv Albert and hosting a fundraiser for Barbara Boxer this week than dealing with this "inconvenience". Show some goddamn leadership. And to think... Bush got creamed for not making it to New Orleans until 2 days after Katrina.

Lobster rage fist, IMO.

i forgot to hit the submit button in the afternoon

ya.

quote:

Is It Raining Oil In Florida? This Is Just The Beginning oil is semi-volatile, which means that it can evaporate into the air and create a heavy vapor that stays near the ground -- in the human breathing zone. When winds whip up oily sea water, the spray contains tiny droplets -- basically a fume -- of oil, which are small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs. We know that's happening in the Gulf Coast, because people are reporting a heavy oily smell in the air. Already my colleagues in Louisiana are reporting that people in the coastal community of Venice, Louisiana are suffering from nausea, vomiting, headaches, and difficulty breathing.

SOURCE

quote:

Oil spill clean-up boats recalled after crews fall ill NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana � All 125 commercial fishing boats helping oil recovery efforts off Louisiana's Breton Sound area have been recalled after four workers reported health problems, officials said. The crew members aboard three separate vessels "reported experiencing nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pains" mid-afternoon Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said in a statement.

sourcesource

quote:

US coast guards harass journalists covering BP's oil spill disaster News photographers and TV camera crews are claiming that they are being prevented from reporting on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They complain that US federal and local officials, including coast guards, are blocking access to beaches where the effects of the spill are most visible. A CBS TV crew was threatened with arrest when attempting to film an oil-covered beach last week. He defended flight restrictions as "a necessary safety precaution". Private aircraft must get perm

SOURCE

quote:

La. scientist locates another vast oil plume in the gulf A day after scientists reported finding a huge "plume" of oil extending miles east of the leaking BP well, on Friday a Louisiana scientist said his crew had located another vast plume of oily globs, miles in the opposite direction. James H. Cowan Jr., a professor at Louisiana State University, said his crew on Wednesday found a plume of oil in a section of the gulf 75 miles west of the source of the leak. This discovery seems to confirm the fears of some scientists that -- because of the depth of the leak and the heavy use of chemical "dispersants" -- this spill was behaving differently than others. Instead of floating on top of the water, it may be moving beneath it. That would be troubling because it could mean the oil would slip past coastal defenses such as "containment booms" designed to stop it on the surface. Already, scientists and officials in Louisiana have reported finding thick oil washing ashore despite the presence of floating booms.

SOURCE

quote:

New oil flow estimate: Gulf nation's worst spill New oil flow estimates by scientists studying the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico would make leak the worst in the nation's history, far bigger than 11 million gallons that spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster. U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Marcia McNutt says the results are preliminary, but two teams using different methods determined the well that exploded April 20 and sank two days later has spilled between 17 and 39 million gallons.

source

quote:

Investigator Warned MMS in 2009 About Deepwater Gas Blowouts in Gulf of Mexico A sixty-page memorandum addressed to Renee Orr, the chief of the leasing division of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), was sent in September 2009 by an environmental investigator, warning of potential disaster in offshore drilling operations and the particular dangers posed by gas hydrates.

quote:

Originally posted by tubularbills I'm not going to lie; I still use my BP Chase card. and i don't really feel guilty for it either.

I love how you think you are cool.

I believe Obama dropped the ball on this one, especially considering such an event happened before. As soon as he heard what BP's lack of planning was for such a disaster, he should have mobilized our national resources to figure out how to contain the leak. Was Rachel Maddow the first to point to the past? Why does it take months to build a relief well?

quote:

Originally posted by The17sss Let's take a look at the incredible lack of leadership and hypocrisy: From Obama's own campaign website: Obama on February 7th, 2008 speaking at Tulane University: Ouch. No wonder James Carville's blasting him. Nope, never again will we see federal government incompetence reacting to a disaster when he's in charge! I wanted to throw up when he was finger pointing today about being engaged since day 1. Really? 16 government agencies claimed to have responsibility for responding to and cleaning oil spills before the explosion. Nevermind we've had a plan since 1994 that allowed expedited burning of oil as soon as a major spill had occurred, without having to wait for permission or approvals! The guy who devised the plan, Ron Gouget formerly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, can't believe the burning did not start immediately and says doing so could have prevented much of the spill's expansion from the start. Talk about efficiency. Read here: http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/bur..._started_a.html How's this for a timeline: April 20: Oil rig explosion April 21: All workers evacuated from rig April 22: Rig collapses to ocean floor April 22: Obama gives speech on Wall Street to pitch new financial regulations bill. Discusses Earth Day. April 23: Obama blasts Arizona's new law, governor, and those who support it. April 24: Obama gives weekly radio address, discusses Wall Street regulation. Also asks directly for Lations, Blacks, Hispanics, and women to come together for political action. April 25: Obama meets with Billy Graham in North Carolina. April 26: Obama appears in "Vote 2010" video specifically asking blacks and Latinos (again) for their votes. April 28: Obama holds press conference on Air Force 1 on the topic of the Arizona law, financial regulation, and his nomination to the Supreme Court. April 29: First acknowledgement of spill. White House Flickr feed shows photo of Obama meeting with Janet Napolitano and other senior administration viewing pics of oil spill.... 10 days after it began. May 14: Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal begins pleading with Obama to approve their barrier island plan while the workers are ready but just sitting on their hands. He still isn't getting his calls returned TODAY, let alone being granted federal permission to enact the plan, as oil is now washing ashore. I heard Jindal on the radio today again saying, "Please! Please allow us to help ourselves!" He's talking to a wall. So he has a nice photo-op on the beach picking up tar balls yesterday during his total of 3 hours in Louisana... great. He spent more time talking NBA playoffs with Marv Albert and hosting a fundraiser for Barbara Boxer this week than dealing with this "inconvenience". Show some goddamn leadership. And to think... Bush got creamed for not making it to New Orleans until 2 days after Katrina.

i love politics

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