So... how about that oil spill?

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I bet it's gonna blow up.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I wouldn't agree with that bet, but there is a remote possibility of it happening.

I'm much more concerned about the effects on wildlife and on the population living on/near the gulf coast. They will be of such a size and scope that they will be impossible to ignore or cover up. Our government is violating the constitution in its efforts to protect BP; our government has been caught(Coast Guard) denying reporters access to areas rumored to be wildlife disposal sites(with witness claims of dead dolphins, rays, sharks, whale pieces, ect.); our government is claiming a highly carcinogenic dispersant is safe when that dispersant has been banned in the nation where it is produced and was previously claimed unsafe by the EPA(BP owns the company that produces it); our government is also attempting to limit BP's liability to $20 billion when the damage is estimated to be no less than $1 trillion thus far, when people near the Gulf Coast are already becoming ill due to exposure of the oil/corexit mix in the air; BP has hired local law enforcement in coastal cities to deny reporters access to hospitals where people are being treated for health complications resulting from this; BP is subtracting what they are paying workers from any liability claims against BP.

What kind of country is this?

[Shard]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I'm much more concerned about the effects on wildlife and on the population living on/near the gulf coast. They will be of such a size and scope that they will be impossible to ignore or cover up.

I dunno, if a piece of ice three times the size of Manhattan breaking off and puttering around the Atlantic doesn't convince some people that global climate change is a real thing, I wouldn't underestimate the ability of those same people to completely overlook stuff that's going on beneath the surface of the water.

I'd expect to hear a lot more about gay marriage, because it's a super-big deal, rather than the the 20 foot rise in global sea levels if the Greenland glacier completely melts. Protip: Now's not the time to buy waterfront property.

[Rodak]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

...Now's not the time to buy waterfront property.

I've always wanted a beachfront property in Arizona.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

More bad news...

DOJ issues gag orders to scientists:

In an explosive first-hand account, ecosystem biologist Linda Hooper-Bui describes how Obama administration and BP lawyers are making independent scientific analysis of the Gulf region an impossibility. Hooper-Bui has found that only scientists who are part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process to determine BP’s civil liability get full access to contaminated sites and research data. Pete Tuttle, USFWS environmental contaminant specialist and Department of Interior NRDA coordinator, admitted to The Scientist that “researchers wishing to formally participate in NRDA must sign a contract that includes a confidentiality agreement” that “prevents signees from releasing information from studies and findings until authorized by the Department of Justice at some later and unspecified date.” Hooper-Bui writes:

It’s not hazardous conditions associated with oil and dispersants that are hampering our scientific efforts. Rather, it’s the confidentiality agreements that come with signing up to work on large research projects shepherded by government entities and BP and the limited access to coastal areas if you’re not part of those projects that are stifling the public dissemination of data detailing the environmental impact of the catastrophe.

Hooper-Bui’s depictions of samples confiscated by US Fish and Wildlife officials and expeditions blocked by local law enforcement is consistent with the steady stream of reports about obstruction, censorship, and confusion under BP’s private army of contractors. A full and open scientific assessment of the effects of the BP disaster is crucial for the health of the ecosystem and the residents of this American jewel.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/10/scientists-bp-gag

Lt. Commander Dale Vogoelsand of the U.S. Coast guard claims that dispersants are still being used at the original site, which BP has said has been plugged. Why use dispersants if the oil is no longer leaking out, or was Matt Simmons correct and it IS still leaking out?

When reached for comment, Lt. Cmdr. Dale Vogelsang, liaison officer with the United State Coast Guard, told The Log he had contacted Unified Command and they had “confirmed” that dispersants were not being used in Florida waters.

“Dispersants are only being used over the wellhead in Louisiana,” Vogelsang said. “We are working with Eglin and Hurlburt to confirm what the flight pattern may be. But right now, it appears to be a normal flight.”

http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/res...le-differ.html

Meanwhile, the government is confiscating samples of dead animals from scientists because said scientists are investigating this without BP's knowledge and approval; law enforcement is then used to prevent the scientists from accessing the site:

Linda Hooper-Bui, Louisiana State University Department of Entomology Associate Professor, writes in The Scientist, “My PhD student’s ant samples were taken away by a US Fish and Wildlife officer at a publicly accessible state Wildlife Management Area because our project hadn’t been approved by Incident Command.”

What is the Incident Command? Hooper-Bui continues, “[It's] also called the Deepwater Horizon Response Unified Command — which is a joint program of BP and federal agencies, such as the Coast Guard…”

She shares another similar experience, “Where our research trip was halted after driving more than 150 miles to a study site. On the way to our sampling sites in Grand Isle, LA, [we] were turned away by a sheriff’s deputy blocking the road who said that he was told to allow no one who wasn’t associated with BP or NRDA.” The NRDA (National Resource Damage Assessment) process “is overseen by state, tribal and federal science agencies and is partially funded by BP.”

http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/fe...d-by-bp-others

Robert Cavnar, an expert in the oil industry, who has over 30 years of experience, and former CEO of Milagro Exploration, claims that the statements coming from Thad Allen, Kent Wells, and Steven Chu are inconsistent while BP has refused to release any data:

Wells confirmed that fear in the afternoon, admitting that they indeed had 4,200 psi on the well when it's supposed to be dead. At the seafloor, the well should have no more than 2,200 psi on it, and conceivable less, if the hydrostatic of the mud in the closed well had overcome reservoir pressure.

...

What's going on here is that the "static kill" looks like it did the opposite of what BP and Allen had suggested at the beginning. It certainly hasn't accelerated the relief well. To the contrary, it has caused interminable delays. As a matter of fact, since July 13, the DDIII has only drilled 70 or 80 feet and set one string of casing. With all of the shut downs for the "well integrity test", then the "well injectivity test", then the "static kill" plus cementing, they haven't been able to get much work done for a month, especially with the 2 weather delays.

The mis-information and confusion is also taking its toll. I got asked in an interview yesterday that since the well is "dead" now, why are they bothering with the relief well? AP reported last night that BP and the government are contemplating skipping the bottom kill. Every time Wells, Suttles, or Allen get in front of a microphone, everyone gets even more confused, mis-informed, or both; everyone just wants this to go away, but it's not going away; not until the relief well kills from the bottom as we've been saying for over 3 months.

...

The fact that they're getting pressure now tells me that they are indeed communicated to the reservoir below, probably obscured by the fact that they now have mud strung through the annulus. If they are indeed communicated, pressure will build on the wellhead, which is exactly what's happening. Adm. Allen pledged to get BP to release the pressure data 3 days ago. The next day, when asked about it, he said it was released, but "nobody can find it." The data is still AWOL.

http://dailyhurricane.com/2010/08/ad...body-else.html

[IamPinhead]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Whatever it is that you posted Pinhead, it has never shown up.

That being said, a video of *something* leaking from the wellhead as of August 13th, 2010, has been captured and put on youtube, just before BP shut down the feed:

http://www.project.nsearch.com/video...=facebookshare

MSNBC now has an article on how the well is not completely closed off:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38687424/?GT1=43001


Whatever happened to the well being sealed, which had been repeatedly stated on various media sources?



There is information around the internet concerning the following(I've covered most of these in the links I posted, but you can find it if you look):

-Constant lies from BP about everything
-Censorship of scientists
-Massive dumping of corexit to hide the oil both at the well and on the water's surface
-BP using police/Coast Guard and threat of force to keep scientists and reporters from accessing beaches, and BP/Coast Guard confiscating samples from scientists
-Scientists claiming that the deep scattering layer of the ocean is being clogged with oil/corexit mix that resembles a brown/purple goop, where everything living within the gulf is fleeing it to avoid death, and small areas of the Gulf are overcrowded with sea life as a result
-A massive cover up of dead sea life by BP, including disposal of carcasses and refusing to let scientists do any testing
-Scientists warning that the seafood is unsafe to consume, while the government/media is trying to convince the public otherwise
-Hospital patients who have been sickened as a result of this spill in coastal cities are being denied access to reporters
-BP dumping sand on oil soaked beaches, where the oil bubbles up eventually, prompting them to cover it again
-Video footage of something leaking from the wellhead as of 8/13, AND quotes from scientists and engineers concerning the same, AND admissions that corexit is still being dumped at the site from the Coast Guard and other sources


What do you all think of this? IMO, this is far from over. The worst effects of this will begin to show 1-3 years from now, especially with regard to wildlife. The red algae is already dying. Dolphins, whales, and fish of all sorts have been killed. All of the dead stuff and the oil will allow green algae to over-breed, suck up all the oxygen, and kill everything(this process could take a while) including the plankton that overbred.

Some detractors of this terrible news like to talk about how the Ixtoc spill has similar in size; what they don't tell you is that it was mostly mud, and corexit was not used. I will not pretend to know the real number of corexit used, but even according to BP, it's at least 1.8 million gallons worth as of late July(it's probably far higher than that, given BP denies spraying it in certain places even though people have filmed it).

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I think it's much worse than CNN is telling us and that the government's covering it up so people won't panic.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

The following video shows what oil/corexit stained beaches look like, when BP isn't there to keep everyone with a camera from filming it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvgg5PWsDxQ

Residents of the gulf coast are upset at BP's dishonest commercials as oil continues to wash ashore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkpTax74y4Q

There are protests all over the Gulf, including one in Panama city(linked below), but oddly enough, they never seem to get media coverage:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9533994&ref=mf

Obama and his daughter did NOT swim in the Gulf as those on TV would have you believe; him and his daughter took a dip at alligator point, which was protected by a barrier island and where no oil will flow:

The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region's beaches are back to normal. Yet it soon emerged that the private beach
on which it was taken, off Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay, north-west Florida, isn't technically in the gulf.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...e-2053567.html


***edit***

Also, scientists from the University of Georgia are claiming that 80% of the oil still remains, contradicting the statements from BP and our government:

WASHINGTON – Georgia scientists say their analysis shows that most of that BP oil the government said was gone from the Gulf of Mexico is still there.

The scientists say as much as 80 percent of the oil still lurks under the surface. The Georgia team said it is a misinterpretation of data to claim that oil that is dissolved is actually gone. The report from University of Georgia and other scientists came from an analysis of federal estimates.

Earlier this month federal scientists said that only about a quarter of the oil remained and the rest was either removed, dissolved or dispersed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100816/...ulf_spill_gone









I really hope that I am wrong about this, but the bottom of the ocean and the deep scattering layer that this oil is contaminating are the very basis of life in our oceans; if these two layers are too severely damaged in the Gulf of Mexico, the entire food chain will collapse. Hopefully we will see 2+ years from now that I was completely wrong, but we are still looking at the prospect of a dead Gulf of Mexico that is irreversible on the scale of any human lifetime. Oddly enough, the overuse of the dispersant combined with the lack of a significant hurricane has prevented most of the wetlands from being destroyed, but it remains to be seen what a hurricane will do; those wetlands that are currently contaminated are faring very badly. This is nowhere near over yet...

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

In the following video, scientist Susan Shaw discusses the potential impacts of this disaster on wildlife:

http://www.earthboppin.net/talkshop/...ages/2705.html

In the following video, residents of the Gulf of Mexico refuse to swim in the Gulf, while tourists are told it's safe. Also in this same video, an independent lab tests the water in the Gulf and finds that it is toxic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXYjFRBcklE

Shrimpers in the Gulf are finding contaminated shrimp in the areas re-opened for fishing.

Title: Gulf Shrimpers Find Oil In Reopened Fishing Areas. Governnment Says "Shut Up". Sierra Club Alleges Areas Were Solely Reopened to Limit BP's Liability

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/gul...ub-alleges-are

Scientists who have solid evidence of underwater plumes are being told by BP/government not to discuss it:

"I got lambasted by the Coast Guard and NOAA when we said there was undersea oil," USF marine sciences dean William Hogarth said. Some officials even told him to retract USF's public announcement, he said, comparing it to being "beat up" by federal officials.

The USF scientists weren't alone. Vernon Asper, an oceanographer at the University of Southern Mississippi, was part of a similar effort that met with a similar reaction. "We expected that NOAA would be pleased because we found something very, very interesting," Asper said. "NOAA instead responded by trying to discredit us. It was just a shock to us."

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, in comments she made to reporters in May, expressed strong skepticism about the existence of undersea oil plumes — as did BP's then-CEO, Tony Hayward.

"She basically called us inept idiots," Asper said. "We took that very personally."

Lubchenco confirmed Monday that her agency told USF and other academic institutions involved in the study of undersea plumes that they should hold off talking so openly about it. "What we asked for, was for people to stop speculating before they had a chance to analyze what they were finding," Lubchenco said. "We think that's in everybody's interest. … We just wanted to try to make sure that we knew something before we speculated about it."

"We had solid evidence, rock solid," Asper said. "We weren't speculating." If he had to do it over again, he said, he'd do it all exactly the same way, despite Lubchenco's ire.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environ...cle1114225.ece

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Thad Allen, the government's point man in the Gulf, told reporters that seafood coming from reopened Gulf fishing waters is safe to eat.

full story

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Meanwhile, fisherman are protesting the lack of testing citing safety as their main concern:

"On Sunday, August 15th, fishing families from across the Gulf Cost will gather in Panama City Beach, Florida, with a message for President Obama: The Gulf of Mexico is still infused with oil and dispersants from the BP disaster, threatening marine life, livelihoods, and the health of the American people."

"Fishermen do not want to lose our credibility or deliver contaminated seafood to market and make people sick." - Kathy Birren

"While President Obama and state officials claim that the Gulf is 'open for business,' these fishermen say the spraying of dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico is ongoing and they're concerned that seafood pulled from impacted waters is unsafe for eating."

"The tissue testing of this seafood is inadequate and testing for the toxic dispersants is non-existent." - Tracy Kuhns, Louisiana Bayoukeeper

"I think it is crucial for the public to be made aware of the concerns of the commercial fishermen. And if a commercial fisherman who makes his living off of those products doesn't want to deliver them to the public, the public needs to know why." - Chris Bryant, Commercial Fisherman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuf_RAZKdhg

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Only the ignorant, dishonest, and/or stupid at this point would deny that BP and our government are colluding with each other to downplay the damage caused and to reduce BP's liability. Transnational corporations control and comprise the U.S. government, as opposed to the American people; the events that have unfolded after this disaster are most certainly more proof of it.



A scientist has reversed his statement surrounding the amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico:

A senior government scientist admitted for the first time today that three-quarters of the oil that gushed into the ocean from BP's broken well was still in the Gulf of Mexico, repudiating his own earlier assurances that the worst of the spill was over.

In an appearance before Congress, Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offered a very different account of the oil that poured into the Gulf, appearing to contradict the official report from two weeks ago that he wrote, which suggested the majority of the oil had been captured or broken down

"I would say most of that is still in the environment," Lehr told the House energy and commerce committee.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...cts-assurances

Meanwhile, 650 foot tall, 22 mile wide oil plumes are floating underneath the surface of the water, killing everything they come into contact with:

Scientists on Thursday reported results from the first detailed study of a giant plume of oily water near the blown-out BP well — stating that it measured at least 22 miles long, more than a mile wide and 650 feet tall.

While other scientists earlier found evidence of plumes in the area, the new data is the first peer-reviewed study about oil lurking in the water, in this case at some 3,000 feet below the surface. It's also the first to offer some details about the size and characteristics of a plume not only vast in size but which remained stable and intact during a 10-day survey last June.

Moreover, the study adds to the controversy over how much oil is still in the Gulf ecosystem from the spill. The U.S. government earlier this month estimated that 75 percent of the oil that spewed from the Macondo well had been skimmed, burned or broken up by chemical dispersants and natural microbes in the water.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38770508/

I just don't know what to say about this:

Moreover, one of the world's top experts in oil drilling disasters - Dr. Robert Bea - told me yesterday that the geology underneath the seafloor at the leak site is fractured, and includes very loose salt formations. This geology may make it very hard to kill the well, even using relief wells, and he says that we may never be able to kill it. He also said that there are uncorroborated reports of additional leaks other than the main well, but that BP isn't sharing enough information to be able to assess whether or not that there are additional leaks. (Dr. Bea told me that BP is using a "cloak of silence", and is refusing to even show the government videos of what the seafloor looked like before the April explosion).

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bp-...pping-oil-leak

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Keith Olberman and an oil industry expert discuss the possibility that there are other leaks in the sea floor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295kZa1-pE8

***edit***

Oil industry engineer Dr. Robert Bea claims the sea floor is cracked; if this is true, the oil may leak for years:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/...governmen.html

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I thought fissures in the sea floor meant the methane bubble is gonna go boom?

Or are these cracks somehow not fissures?