Oil spill

[bmccasland]

Sorry, no insider information. Everything I know, I get from the news.

But yesterday when I got home from work, I thought I was crazy, thought I smelled oil. :eek: Winds are out of the south. Well, this morning, it's confirmed, on www.nola.com, we are smelling the spill in New Orleans, which is more than 90 miles away.

The oil is expected to hit the outer marshes today. :(

[Tuckervill]

What a disaster. I thought they could contain spills like that, but I guess it's just too much.

Karen

[crazycanuck]

Beth, Western Australia experienced something very very similar late last year-earlier this year http://www.watoday.com.au/environment/cause-of-wa-oil-spill-revealed-20091109-i59k.html

Last month..a chinese tanker ran aground on the bottom edge of the Great Barrier reef...:mad: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/stranded-coal-carrier-threatens-great-barrier-reef-20100405-rmju.html

I'd be bloody pissed off as well if it hit local beaches/nature reserves :mad:

We're stuck between a rock & a hard place in Western Australia...Large Iron Ore, Gold, Nickel, etc etc deposits plus offshore oil in the Timor Sea...What do you do when the boom ends?? So many other questions...

Sorry you have to be so close to the action :(

[malkin]

At least the Obama administration seems to be rethinking their move to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling.

Sad.

[smilingcat]

It saddens me a great deal when I hear of this kind of accidents. It didn't have to happen. Norwegians and Brits have safeguards for the offshore oil drilling. Some kind of a Christmas tree to shutoff the oil flow at the base of the oil well, where the pipe goes into the ground.

Why can't these people understand that bit of prudence and safety measure might save them in a long run. Perfect example of penny wise pound foolish.

And another reason to start thinking about alternative energy. Mainly solar.

I could rant and rant... And really sad to hear about this tragic situation.

[bmccasland]

There was an auto-shut off, it malfunctioned. Unfortunately it's waaay down at the bottom

The spill has hit Chandelieur National Wildlife Refuge - a refuge on barrier islands. It's also hit the jetties on the South Pass shipping channel of the Mississippi River. FYI - the most common one used by the big ships is Southwest Pass.

To get an idea of what the Miss River delta looks like, stick you left arm out and splay your fingers. SW Pass is your index finger, S Pass is your middle. Tiger Pass is your thumb. About your wrist is Venice which has been mentioned in some of the news coverage. Then your arm is all that river, encased by levees, natural and man-made, marshes or not on either side - eventually coming to your shoulder which is where the New Orleans metro area is. Drive time from New Orleans to Venice is 2 hours (the road is NOT straight).

And the oil rig that went down was off of S Pass, 50 miles.

[bmccasland]

Just got this email -
(I should explain that Audubon Nature Institute is best known for Audubon Zoo and Audubon Aquarium, they are not affiliated with the birding Audubon Society)

At Audubon Nature Institute, we are heartbroken to learn of the loss of life and the potential for ecological disaster to Louisiana's coastline in the wake of the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. So much remains unknown and inexplicable. What we do know is that Audubon Nature Institute has expertise and resources we can mobilize to do our part to lessen the impact of this tragedy on our area's precious wildlife.

We are proud to let you know that Audubon Aquarium of the Americas http://www.auduboninstitute.org marine mammal trainer Michele Kelley is the statewide coordinator for the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program (LMMSTRP). She is working tirelessly with NOAA to ready Audubon facilities for an unpredictable number of oiled animals such as dolphins, whales, manatees and sea turtles. Audubon employees and volunteers will work in triage for as long as it takes to give these injured animals the best possible chance for recovery.

We don't know how our future will be affected by this unprecedented situation. But you can rest assured that the dedicated employees of Audubon Nature Institute will meet this challenge, doing the very best for the wildlife we all cherish. We couldn't do it without your support, and for that we are most grateful.

As our role becomes clearer, we will keep you informed of ways you can get involved. Thank you for joining us in this critical endeavor to save our state's animals.

Sincerely,

L. Ronald Forman
President and CEO
Audubon Nature Institute

If you are so inclined to donate to a cause - they are a non-profit worthy group.

[7rider]

Why can't these people understand that bit of prudence and safety measure might save them in a long run. Perfect example of penny wise pound foolish.


The same could be said about that coal mine disaster in WV recently.

My agency is deeply involved in the response to this disaster, providing everything from tidal and weather forecasts, to satellite imagery, to mitigation and damage assessments. Our Office of Response and Restoration has a special website here (http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=809&subtopic_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=2&topic_id%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=1) with loads of info on this.

[malkin]

Disaster.

I wish we hadn't used the word for bunt cookies and smelly laundry, so it would have more strength left.

[Serendipity]

This is a global catastrophe with impact beyond imagination.

Until the flow stops (or is stopped), I really don't think we can comprehend the magnitude of this.

[badger]

lately I've been in a bubble where I hear little news, and in a very selfish way it's sometimes nice to be ignorant of the things that are happening.

When I finally heard of this a couple of days ago, it just broke my heart. The magnitude of this disaster is so incomprehensible, and so widespread. I just wish we weren't so greed-driven and so dependent on oil.

[shootingstar]

It's interesting that the name of the oil firm (BP) isn't consistently splattered all over the press.

Latest I heard was that it might take up to 3 months to cap off that underwater oil well polluting gusher. It's a technical challenge to get at underwater oil well facilities to cap it.. If it was easy, the gusher would have been stopped/capped already by now.

Dearie spent most of his career for a major oil firm in Canada before he retired ....so I heard stuff in general about the oil industry.

[oz rider]

But yesterday when I got home from work, I thought I was crazy, thought I smelled oil. :eek: Winds are out of the south. Well, this morning, it's confirmed, on www.nola.com, we are smelling the spill in New Orleans, which is more than 90 miles away.
This has been in the news here pretty well since it happened, but I wouldn't have imagined smelling it 90 miles away; thanks for the local knowledge.
BP has been named a few times here, with a few grabs from its comms guy who didn't seem to be convincing anyone.

[Skierchickie]

This is horrible. If absolutely ANYTHING positive can come from this, hopefully it will change a lot of people's thinking on environmental and energy issues. Maybe because it has hit America in our own yard? The Exxon Valdez was horrible, the Barrier Reef incident was horrible, but were they too far away to feel real to people?

I work at a research facility that is part of a (primarily engineering) university. I'm amazed at how often I hear pretty scientifically-oriented people at work talking about climate change not being real. Making statements about how humans just don't affect the planet that much. Okay - I'm no expert, and everyone has a right to their opinion. Maybe it isn't real. I, personally, do fully believe that climate change is real, and can see the possibilities whenever I look at a city, a pollution-belching factory, etc. How can we NOT be hurting things? One co-worker said to me "Humans are animals, too. We're part of nature." Do people not get it that we're doing things that no other creatures do, and these are things that do have an impact?

This oil well explosion is a terrible tragedy, and one with repercussions that I can't even imagine. I can't wrap my brain around 5000 barrels of oil per day. For months on end. Accidents happen, yes. Malfunctions happen, yes. But if we're going to strip the planet of all its resources, we'd better have some serious safeguards in place for when those accidents and malfunctions happen, so we don't destroy everything else in our path. There isn't any easy answer to the energy issue, but can't we at least try to do things right, rather than trying to get as rich as possible? Is there no concept of doing the right thing, because it's the right thing, and not only when it makes us the most profit?

Sorry for the rant. I'm upset.

[sundial]

Bmccasland, I've been thinking of you during this oil spill and was wondering if you will be on clean-up duty. This oil spill is not only going to affect NOLA, but the entire gulf coast according the latest developments. :(


Oil-Spill Fight Bogs Down
BP Says Stopgap Plan to Cap Well May Take Weeks; Weather Slows Effort to Limit Slick

By BEN CASSELMAN, STEPHEN POWER And ANA CAMPOY

VENICE, La.—Engineers prepared to try containing the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well with giant underwater boxes and siphons, as seaside towns braced for landfall of a giant slick.

BP PLC, the oil giant that leased the rig whose sinking last week caused the disaster, has failed in efforts using unmanned submarines to activate a shutoff device on the undersea well.

A stopgap solution BP is planning—covering the well with containers and pumping the oil out—will take weeks to roll out and is untested at the one-mile depth of this well, however. BP said it would begin working this weekend on a permanent solution to the crisis, drilling a new hole to cut off the damaged well, but industry scientists said that could take months.

The Deepwater Horizon, operated for BP by Transocean Ltd., burned and sank last week, leaving 11 dead and an open well on the ocean floor.

With a quick solution to shut off the spill looking out of reach Friday, the government and the oil industry struggled to contain the resulting slick and keep it from shore. The American Petroleum Institute alerted members that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wanted advice from the industry on how to manage the spill by the end of Friday.

On Friday evening, the National Guard was mobilized to assist in the cleanup, and the Pentagon said BP would have to bear the cost. Earlier Friday, a small drilling rig tipped over in inland waters near Morgan City, La., the Coast Guard said, though no oil was spilled.

The Deep Horizon slick began threatening the wetlands of the Louisiana coast, raising fears of environmental disaster in some of America's richest shrimp, oyster and fish breeding grounds.

Strong winds and choppy seas hampered efforts to hem in the oil. Several vinyl containment barriers, known as booms, broke up in the rough weather. Others remained on shore, as high waves—expected to continue through the weekend—made it impossible to lay them in the Gulf.

An equally pressing emergency loomed more than 40 miles offshore, where the deepwater well kept spewing oil uncontrollably.

Industry scientists say the permanent solution is to close the entire well. To do that, they must drill another hole—through 13,000 feet of rock a mile under the ocean's floor—that will intercept the leaking well. They can then pump in cement to try to plug the leaks.

This operation will take up to three months and is highly complex; the drills must precisely hit the leaking well—which is just seven inches wide. When a well off the coast of Australia blew out last year, it took five attempts over 10 weeks to hit the old well and shut it down.

Within hours of the explosion, BP was sending unmanned submarines to the well to try to trigger a device called a "blowout preventer," which is essentially a powerful valve meant to clamp down on the well and shut it off in case of emergency.

The device should have been triggered in the explosion, but wasn't; that failure will be a central question in the investigation.

In theory, the blowout preventer can also be activated by underwater robots. BP has six robots working on it, and says it will keep trying, but so far the valve has not worked. "It's just not functioning appropriately," Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, said in an interview this week.

For now, BP is trying a series of stopgap measures. The company is constructing three steel boxes—each 40 feet tall and weighing 73 tons—that it will place on top of the gushing oil. Pipes running through the boxes will carry the oil to a ship.

A similar system was used after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to capture oil from smaller spills in shallow water. But the technique has never been tried in deep water, which involves much higher pressures and near-freezing water temperatures. Engineers are still figuring out how to connect the steel boxes to the ship. BP has said the project will take two to four weeks.

More here....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703871904575215714243494620.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection

[shootingstar]

I work at a research facility that is part of a (primarily engineering) university. I'm amazed at how often I hear pretty scientifically-oriented people at work talking about climate change not being real. Making statements about how humans just don't affect the planet that much. Okay - I'm no expert, and everyone has a right to their opinion. Maybe it isn't real. I, personally, do fully believe that climate change is real, and can see the possibilities whenever I look at a city, a pollution-belching factory, etc. How can we NOT be hurting things?

This amazed me also about some scientifically oriented people who don't believe in climate change. While I don't disagree there are a myriad of other factors causing unusual climactic patterns (include soil erosion, excessive tree-cutting), but when humankind introduces repetitive processes at a speed which the ecosystem cannot cope for continuous rebalancing/replenishing, then humankind does need to relook and change their practices.

Dearie's opinion on the low profile mention of BP at this time (which could change soon), he believes the oil industry execs...and U.S. senior govn't would be concerned about way too much limelight that could hurt oil production in general, by the U.S. particularily if its own citizens protest too much.

Meanwhile continue to ride our bikes ..

[OakLeaf]

It is a terrible disaster, and it may be a long time before we know the full extent of it.

I'm of two minds about how much focus should be specifically on BP right now. It isn't like any of the oil companies are any different. It's perhaps a futile pipe dream in a capitalist world, but you have to think that - for instance - if the Valdez disaster had been seen as a symptom of something endemically wrong with the oil industry rather than just something wrong with Exxon, more attention might have been given to energy alternatives.

Pipe dream, I know. :(

[Grog]

I am pretty upset about this.

In the meantime, this article is interesting:
http://www.alternet.org/environment/146694/want_to_prevent_oil_spill_disasters_stop_driving?page=1

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm sick over it too! I didn't follow closely at first since I thought that it was a non-issue and contained...boy was I wrong!

[Blueberry]

Every news story I read sounds worse:mad::(

They're now saying because of the Gulf Stream, it may get the East Coast (or at least eastern FL too).

[bmccasland]

The fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River are now closed. This was after they were opened early to allow the fishermen out to harvest what they could. Now those same fishermen and women have signed up to work the spill clean up. Where the news has focused on the effects in Louisiana, don't forget that the coast of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are also threatened. But the fishing grounds WEST of the Mississippi river are still open. So if you have the opportunity to eat Gulf seafood, please do so, support our fishermen!

So far 1.6 million barrels have been spilled. In comparison 5-7 million barrels were spilled from damages to rigs due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Exxon Valdez was 11 million barrels). It's the cumulative impacts of the Deep Water Horizon well not being capped for months that's the greatest fear. Current weather is strong winds out of the south which is hampering clean up efforts. Small water craft are having to stay in port.

[shootingstar]

The British Columbia provincial govn't premier (Campbell) has offered up our oil spill experts to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-premier-offers-to-send-oil-spill-experts-to-us/article1553788/

Campbell has and continues to actively promote off-shore oil well drilling by British Columbian coast. :mad:This has never been done before. And there is alot of concern about this. This whole area is virgin and wild territory/waters.

Grog's article link where author focuses on getting car drivers to reduce oil consumption/dependency by using other transportation modes for shorter car trips, is useful.

The tough challenge is convincing a huge group of people who are very accustomed to living a perceived faster pace of life, getting something instantly..ie. getting somewhere by car, which they perceive is faster (despite sometimes, congestion and driving around to find parking), have their own personal space/privacy (in a car) and be protected from the weather.

One wonders how many people will see the connection between high risk of oil spills in oil extraction that comes with communities and lifestyle all oriented around cars..which depend on alot of oil consumption.

Will they make the connection, when they can not buy fresh/local shrimp/seafood? Methinks even if the dead animals wash up onto the land near their area, alot of people still won't see the big picture. They'll still want to jump into their car several times per week, at any time, for the 3-5 mile drive to the store / bank / library / community centre...vs. cycling, taking public transit or walking or at least car-share. Or maybe the change is/will happen alot sooner.

[tulip]

I read yesterday that they have NO IDEA how much oil is spilled, and that some estimates from satellite images are in the 9-million gallon range already.

Terrible, terrible. It was not an accident. It was negligence--permissible by the industry and by the government. There should have been backups to backups. And Plans B, C, D, and E. But no, there were not.

[bmccasland]

There was an interesting interview with Tony Hayward, CEO of BP this morning on NPR's Morning Edition http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126468782.

At least the weather is a bit more cooperative today.

[bmccasland]

Lost track of the attempt number to stop this thing, but the latest one has been pronounced a failure.
They say it'll be four more days before they're staged to try the next thing - cut a pipe and cap it, pumping oil to the surface. Which they've tried, and failed, before. But apparently this version will have hot water pumped down to keep things from freezing up, which was the cause of the failure the last time. So four more days of 5000+ gallons/day will pump into the Gulf.

There was an interesting article in today's Times-Picayune about cosy relationship between the State of Louisiana, oil companies, and the state regulatory agency - the same state agency collects royalities and permits wetland impacts. http://www.nola.com
"Oil projects often sail past state regulators" http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1275200410226630.xml&coll=1

I've dealt with this agancy, the wetland regulatory end of it, and often wonder why my agency is raked over the coals (OK, that's our biased opinion), while we see that the oil companies are allowed to rape and pillage with abandon. Glad to see the dichotomy is out, even if it was burried in the middle of the front section of the paper.

The only good news I can say is that I no longer smell oil or corexit (the chemical dispersant) at my house. Either that or I'm now used to it as a background smell. I guess if a strong south wind blows, we'll smell it again.

And Hurricane Season starts tomorrow.

My heart is sick. I'd love to go for a nice long bike ride to work off the stress, but my bumm knee isn't up to it yet. :(

[Tri Girl]

I saw photos and it made me cry. Little dragonflies with wings covered in oil, birds sinking because of being drenched in oil. I can't look anymore because it hurts too much. If you don't feel sorrow and anger when you consider the incomprehensible damage done to the creatures of the ocean and air- you have no soul.
The environmentalist in me is outraged, but hopeful that this will lead to the serious development of alternative engergies. I just don't know how they're going to clean this up. I mean- it's SO incredibly huge- and it's not over yet (the leakage anyway).

I'm sickened and saddened. I can't imagine how living in the area would affect me.:(
I went and bought 5 bottles of Dawn dishwashing soap today to do a teeny tiny part to help save some of the animals. I know it's insignificant, but it made me feel better (for a second).

[shootingstar]

Am curious to know though...for people living the states that border the Gulf where the oil spill is occurring:

Are most people just horrified by what they see, and just continue on with their lives, but not change aspects of their lives to reduce oil dependency?

I guess until the oil is lapping up literally into their backyard, most people won't make the change. Or they can't eat local shrimp/local seafood right now because it's contaminated?

I know it's not that easy if an area is built ..to depend on cars primarily to get around, etc.

[Grog]

I sat horrified watching this for a while yesterday:
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

Right now it's showing some large metal cage (?) but the camera view changes now and then, and for a while it was the oil gushing out of the hole. Terrifying.

[SOAP BOX]

As a civilization we are willing to get oil from more and more remote and dangerous places. And we're pretty snug about it. I read a feature about this guy that specializes in "killing" operations, who boasts that there isn't a well he's not been able to kill, and how confident he is that this one will be no exception. That kind of technical self-suffisance makes me sick. This well might teach us a lesson... but what will we learn?

I can ride my bike to work all I want - great! - but that's just the peak of the iceberg. Everything we consume heavily relies on fossil fuels, including services such as the Internet (how much energy used by a single google search? a post on TeamEstrogen?), television, health care, etc. All things we take for granted. Renewables, you say? Some guy did the back-of-the-envelope calculation to check out whether the UK could live only on renewables. http://www.withouthotair.com/ (There is a 10-page synopsis.) Bad news ladies: basically it would require 75% of the country to be covered in crops for biomass, 500 km of coast line to be used for tidal, and solar panels covering about 5 to 10% of the country. You'd also have to fill the sea with windmills, equivalent to twice the area of Wales. And that would be quite enough at current levels of use. To say nothing of the mining and destruction required to make, say, electric car batteries.

The conclusion is obvious: the only way is to drastically reduce our consumption, not just of direct energy (in our homes) but of everything. Or to keep watching live, in horror, as millions of gallons of oil transform the Gulf of Mexico into a dead sea.

[/SOAP BOX]

If you read this far, thanks for letting me vent.

[Tri Girl]

Grog- I read your soapbox and that study on using only renewables is eye-opening.
You're right- the problem is that petroleum is used in SOOOO many things. We can't just simply do without it. I wonder if we stop using so much as gasoline, if what we don't use there could be used for many more years making the things we depend upon still available to us?
I'll be gone before there is a serious crisis/shortage of fossil fuels (based on projections of how much longer it will last). It will require extreme ingenuity to figure out how to live without it- but I'm hopeful that not only technology will progress, but that humans will be smart enough to figure it out. I think we have to change our habits NOW and start doing things immediately to help future generations.

It's such a quandary...

[Bike Chick]

It sickens me more every day to watch this happening. I feel so sorry for all the folks that live on the gulf coast and depend on it for their livelihood. They have all just begun to get back on their feet after Katrina and now this has happened. It's heart breaking.

I went to get gas for the car today and purposely drove past the BP station and went elsewhere. I know that it won't make a difference in the least but it made me feel better. I am actually surprised that there hasn't been a boycott on BP.

[Tri Girl]

One of the news stations reported that the gas stations that sell BP are independently owned and operated. The owners just get their gas from BP- so it's a double-edged sword. If you boycott the stations, you hurt the individual and their livelihood. If they refuse to buy gas from the person they've contracted with (BP), they're cutting their own throat.

[shootingstar]

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Chevron+will+clean+Burnaby+refinery+slow+production/3087804/story.html
There is a fuel oil leak into the ocean waters here locally now..it's been going on slowly for over a month. But under the radar, not revealed until recently.

While petroleum is required to make some plastics, synthetic materials, etc. which are tough to eliminate completely from modern day living (otherwise we'll have to chop down more trees in lieu as a resource material or grow more cotton for textiles..), just on daily transportation alone, could reduce a noticeable amount per family, if some changes were made to reduce car usage (therefore petroleum use) per week.

It is interesting to hear directly from a person who spent their whole career in the oil industry with a major oil company. Which is what dearie did.

Fact: He worked his whole career for a Canadian national oil firm which is now at least 40% own by Exxon.

As someone with an engineering background, he is highly doubtful that any manmade structure could ever guarantee error-free, leak-free offshore/underwater oil drilling operations.

As someone who negotiated very large contracts with other firms to repair pipelines...he is aware that oil companies often do NOT retrofit their pipelines when the forecasted engineering date for pipeline longevity has been reached. Often things just go past the "maturation" date for awhile. The public has no clue....unless you do work in the oil industry or have technical knowledge of oil production and distribution operations.

He is totally against gas flaring that one sees in the oilfields..harmful.
Against oil sands development --even more intensive processing to extract the oil and leftover sludge that is an environmental concern.

He even wonders about chefs use the propane torches for carmelizing the brulees daily. There's petroleum particulate material coming off the butane torch flame.

He really, strongly is against wasteful oil dependency for transporation -ie. single occupant car drivers, driving daily for short distances, etc. He supports the use of petroleum for some of our man-made materials in daily living. But not overuse.

No wonder, he's probably become a very strong/vocal cycling advocate. :o

I think the last time he drove a car..was um..Jan. 2009, in Hawai'i when we were on vacation. He only drove for 1 day so that we could see parts of Maui in a hurry. He'll drive a rented car if it means more time efficiency..but it's been awhile. :o Because of his sleep disorder, he had to pull over the roadside every 2 hrs. or so. Driving makes him sleepy...which means it's dangerous for him to drive for hrs. and hrs. without stopping.

Our quality of life has not suffered. But then, we have chosen to live in the city. We are going to Europe for several wks. and don't plan to rent a car.

[Grog]

I went to get gas for the car today and purposely drove past the BP station and went elsewhere. I know that it won't make a difference in the least but it made me feel better. I am actually surprised that there hasn't been a boycott on BP.

You might want to try boycotting all gas stations - and encourage everyone you know to do the same - for lasting effects...

[Trek420]

So maybe you have to drive, or can't be car free or even car lite. Maybe you own a BP station;

I forget where I read/heard the figure on oil savings if everyone simply checked their tire pressure. Someone here will know the figures I'm sure. It was astounding. :(

BYOB and stop using plastic bags, yep bags. What's plastic made from? All together now, it's a petroleum product.

Same goes for bottled water. Kick the habit and use tap, maybe filtered.

Home heating oil; do an energy retrofit any way you can.

Eat/buy organic. Why organic? What are non-organic fertilizers made from? You guessed it, petroleum.

It's sad that it takes something like this but if enough people started doing things like this .... who needs an oil company! :p

[bmccasland]

25% of the oil and gas that North America uses comes through various ports in south Louisiana - from international sources, such as Nigeria, where they don't have the environmental restrictions that we have. Yeah we have a permitting process, which was given a Catorgical Exemption for the Deepwater Horizion, and then there were mistakes. The point I'm trying, badly, to make is that we at least have laws to protect our evironment and agencies to enforce them, where some of our oil and gas comes from the international market where what laws they have are often overlooked. They haven't had a spill of this magnitude, but things aren't pristine either.

Yes we should use less, canvas bags at the grocery, drive less, more fuel efficient cars, reuse, recycle, etc. Maybe we, as a nation, will learn something from this. But I doubt it. Seems if it isn't happening in your backyard, to someone you know, then it can quickly be forgotten.

I suppose the most fustrating thing is that there is little to nothing most of us can do about it. After other disasters, the bad event is over, and then the clean-up and rebuilding process can begin. This damn thing keeps going and going. :(

[PamNY]

I can't even fathom the effects of this event. With deepwater drilling and fishing/shrimping being the main industries in some areas, what are they going to do?

And as you point out the ongoing nature of the problem is a nightmare. I wish there was something outsiders could do.

[Trek420]

25% of the oil and gas that North America uses comes through various ports in south Louisiana - from international sources, such as Nigeria, where they don't have the environmental restrictions that we have.

ah, so whatcher sayin' is this could be a preview :(


The point I'm trying, badly, to make is that we at least have laws to protect our evironment and agencies to enforce them, where some of our oil and gas comes from the international market where what laws they have are often overlooked. They haven't had a spill of this magnitude.....

.... yet :( No, I think you're doing a good job. We get it. Does everyone get it? I don't think so.


Yes we should use less, canvas bags at the grocery, drive less, more fuel efficient cars, reuse, recycle, etc. Maybe we, as a nation, will learn something from this. But I doubt it. Seems if it isn't happening in your backyard, to someone you know, then it can quickly be forgotten.

IMHO I feel when it comes to the ocean it's everyone's backyard. Even if you're landlocked, even if you've never seen a beach.

We all live on the Gulf Coast. :o


I suppose the most fustrating thing is that there is little to nothing most of us can do about it. After other disasters, the bad event is over, and then the clean-up and rebuilding process can begin. This damn thing keeps going and going. :(

I've read that rebuilding from Katrina is only beginning and now this. I'm so sorry. :(

[smilingcat]

Intersting read over at oildrum.com (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6536#more) bit more complicated than just a single pipe.

My thoughts on engineering mentality these days is: TOO MUCH ARROGANCE!!

We take too much for granted in regards to disaster planning!!
And for marine ecology, we probably will not see the worst of it for one, two or three years from now. The delay has to do with killing off of the juvenile shrimp, clam, fish... They would be maturing in one to three years from now.

Words can't express my anger over the absolute arrogance of those in charge. No safety backup plan!! Complete disregard to methodology.

I just hope that they can shut it down before it spews out 100million gallons of crude. Gulf of Mexico is big but its not big enough on localized scale to deal with the volume of crude.


We all live on the Gulf Coast.
Component of the solvent being used by BP is highly volatile and its toxicity was listed as 2.4PPM (number I heard). Geeze, with the hurricane, the evaporated solvent could ride on the hurricane and make it in-land by several hundred miles. And how many gallons of this stuff have they sprayed on the ocean??

Maybe I just look at "worst" case senerios too much*.

-------------
* Can't help it cause that is the way I think when it comes to design/engineering work.

[Trek420]

And for marine ecology, we probably will not see the worst of it for one, two or three years from now. The delay has to do with killing off of the juvenile shrimp, clam, fish... They would be maturing in one to three years from now.

Prince William Sound 20 years later :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbjC9SMKClE&feature=related

[crazycanuck]

I bet ya that the Oil/Gas companies based here in Western Australia are keeping a close eye on the drilling progress...

We're in the same boat & had a very very similar incident late last year...

Beth, have they put prisoners to use cleaning up???

[Trek420]

This is bigger than the Valdez, but if you think this is big ....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

[bmccasland]

We're in the same boat & had a very very similar incident late last year...

How did the environment recover?


Beth, have they put prisoners to use cleaning up???

Not to my knowledge. Right now, out-of-work fishermen are being employed by BP to place oil booms (the stuff to stop and soak up surface oil), using their own boats. Not sure who they're getting to clean the beaches.

[PamNY]

I hope this doesn't turn out to be another 9/11 in terms of damage to health for those doing cleanup -- and possibly for people who live in affected areas.

[bmccasland]

I hope this doesn't turn out to be another 9/11 in terms of damage to health for those doing cleanup -- and possibly for people who live in affected areas.

Some of the fishermen working on the spill have been hospitalized or treated and released after contact with the oil-corexit mix. I heard on the radio over the weekend that one of the big N.O. local hospitals will be establishing a clinic down on Grand Isle, a populated barrier island which has an oil soaked beach, thus workers present to clean it up. Our days are in the 90's and the workers are going down with heat exhaustion as well getting ill from the fumes. Grand Isle doesn't have the infrastructure to handle all the extra people, it hasn't completely recovered from the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes.

[Trek420]

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/oil-spill-in-mangroves-disgusting-sticky-mess.php?campaign=TH_rotator

[crazycanuck]

Beth, here's some info for you on our spill
http://www.watoday.com.au/environment/cause-of-wa-oil-spill-revealed-20091109-i59k.html

http://www.marineconservation.org.au/WhatWeDo.asp?active_page_id=513

[Trek420]

This is bigger than the Valdez, but if you think this is big ....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

and that doesn't even make the top 10. :(

http://envirowonk.com/content/view/68/1/

I'm watching the press conference now, let's hope this spill does not make the top 10. :(

[bmccasland]

The temporary cap is working. No oil is spilling into the Gulf. A brief sigh of relief. But there's still a lot of oil in the Gulf :(

If you have the opportunity and are so inclined, eat seafood from the Gulf of Mexico - if it comes to your market, it's safe to eat. Support our Fishermen and women. Besides warm water grown shrimp and oysters taste better :p

[shootingstar]

Hoping the best for a permanent, reliable solution there Beth.

Even people in Germany were talking about it when we were there.

It'll take awhile for things to be normal for the fisher folks and for environment.

At this time, I probably wouldn't buy seafood from the Gulf. But then again, we have other (cold water) choices closer to home.

[bmccasland]

The concrete kill plug is holding. The Wicked Witch of the Gulf might actually be dead this time.

And if Gulf of Mexico seafood happens to reach you market, buy it, eat it. If it reaches your market, it's safe to eat. Support Gulf fisherman, because despite all the claims from BP, they're loosing money. I had boiled shrimp this weekend - from Louisiana waters - and they were delicious. Nice big fat shrimpies. :D

[smilingcat]

And ride a bicycle and stop driving with just "you" in the car in that big fat gas guzzling SUVs. Look how big the cars have gotten. Compare some of the big SUVs, Toyota Sequoia, Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade... and compare it against an older proto-SUVs like 70's vintage Ford Bronco. It was really big back then and now it looks so tiny. And the original Honda Civic CVCC looks like a toy. BTW original honda civic gets comparable MPG as my Prius. We really haven't improved!!

Drive less, ride more and be a true conservative!! conserve our natural resources, its not reneweable for heaven sake. If we did maybe we could have avoided all these risky drilling operation. and all that oil spill.

And I truly hope that the Deep Water Horizon is shutdown/plugged. What about the Ocean Saratoga operation? Has that leak been plugged yet? or has it been claimed that it never leaked?

hope for better days to come and the worst is behind us.

[bmccasland]

One year ago today 11 men lost their lives in the biggest oil disaster in North America.

http://media.nola.com/2010_gulf_oil_spill/photo/in-memory-dh-042011jpg-cf4a9cde268f29c4.jpg

Here's a sickly fascinating graphic of the oil spill: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/deepwater-disaster/index.ssf

[Tri Girl]

:( That made me tear-up. :(


And the fat cat BP just keeps getting richer and fatter. :mad:
I'm still disgusted by it all, but more disgusted that they are still in business and making millions.

This is what they should be left with- imagaes of their carelessness as a company (not the millions in their pockets):