BP Disaster Response Plan Severely Flawed

[LnGrrrR]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_sketchy_plans



Among the glaring errors in the report: A professor is listed in BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a national wildlife expert. He died in 2005.
The plan lists cold-water marine mammals including walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals as "sensitive biological resources." None of those animals live anywhere near the Gulf.
Also, names and phone numbers of several Texas A&M University marine life specialists are wrong. So are the numbers for marine mammal stranding network offices in Louisiana and Florida, which are disconnected.


But I bet some people were drunk during a party on the rig!

[xrayzebra]

Why would feds need a plan. They got Obama to run things.........

:lmao

[boutons_deux]

"A decade ago, U.S. government regulators warned that a major deepwater oil spill could start with a fire on a drilling rig, prove hard to stop and cause extensive damage to fish eggs and wetlands because there were few good ways to capture oil underwater."

"Regaining well control in deep water may be a problem since it could require the operator to cap and control well flow at the seabed in greater water depths . . . and could require simultaneous firefighting efforts at the surface."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/08/95535/feds-knew-of-gulf-spill-risks.html

=======

The Repugs/dickhead created a drill, baby, drill, drill now, drill fast, drill everywhere and fuck the regulations and precautions. Typical Repug childish, bad-faith, willful misgovernment.

[DarrinS]

"BP Disaster Response Plan Severely Flawed "


Ya think?

[LnGrrrR]

"BP Disaster Response Plan Severely Flawed "
Ya think?

I'm not sure if you're quite familiar with disaster response, but you can have a great disaster response plan that doesn't work for various reasons. But having a disaster plan that's as bad as this? Just unacceptable, both on BP's part, and the government agency who was supposed to review these type of things.

[Yonivore]

Steffy: U.S. and BP slow to accept Dutch expertise (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272.html)


Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.

It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.

The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,'” said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston.

Now, almost seven weeks later, as the oil spewing from the battered well spreads across the Gulf and soils pristine beaches and coastline, BP and our government have reconsidered.
Heck of a job, Barry!

[Yonivore]

http://www.investors.com/image/toon_060910_FULL.jpg.cms

[Winehole23]

It's all Obama's fault!

That's the ticket.

[Winehole23]

Dumb of us to turn down all the kindly offers of assistance but OTOH, foreign eyes on the accident might have rendered it more palpably international in its impressions and effects.

[boutons_deux]

Giant, kick-ass, can-do America "out sourcing" cleaning up their self-inflicted shit to tiny NL wouldn't have gone down well with US firms, who should have been first option.

If the US couldn't handle it, then outsiders should have been welcome.

[Yonivore]

Dumb of us to turn down all the kindly offers of assistance but OTOH, foreign eyes on the accident might have rendered it more palpably international in its impressions and effects.
Yeah, because BP (British Petroleum) is an American company and all...

[Wild Cobra]

It's all Obama's fault! That's the ticket.
It would be Bush's fault if he were president, at least according to the left. I don't see the right saying it's Obama's fault. Why is the left so hypocritical in not saying it's Obama's fault?

[Winehole23]

Yeah, because BP (British Petroleum) is an American company and all...That's well taken, Yoni.

I didn't say there wasn't already an international angle, just that more international exposure would have challenged us all the more.

The accident has a distinctly international flavor by now: it is a single frame of US-British relations.

[Yonivore]

Quk0tb2qUwY
And, coming soon to a bumper near you!


http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/media/weknow.jpg

[xrayzebra]

Giant, kick-ass, can-do America "out sourcing" cleaning up their self-inflicted shit to tiny NL wouldn't have gone down well with US firms, who should have been first option.

If the US couldn't handle it, then outsiders should have been welcome.

Well you buddy Obama and his union thugs don't want a little know law
waivered, like Bush did during Katrina. The Jones Act of 1920.

"Foreign companies possessing some of the world’s most advanced oil skimming ships say they are being kept out of efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf because of a 1920’s law known as the Jones Act -- a protectionist law that requires vessels working in US waters be built in the US and be crewed by US workers."

...

"Waivers to the Jones Act were granted by the administration of George W. Bush in the days following hurricane Katrina. And today, the Obama White House said waivers might again be considered.
“If there is the need for any type of waiver, that would obviously be granted,” said White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs. “But, we've not had that problem thus far.”"

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/10/jones-act-slowing-oil-spill-cleanup/?test=latestnews

Don't you just love Obama and gang. Right on top of things.

[Winehole23]

I don't see the right saying it's Obama's fault. Don't Yoni and Ray count?

[Winehole23]

"Waivers to the Jones Act were granted by the administration of George W. Bush in the days following hurricane Katrina. And today, the Obama White House said waivers might again be considered.However this may be, considerable foreign assistance was turned down in the aftermath of Katrina.

[Wild Cobra]

Don't Yoni and Ray count?

I don't recall them saying it's Obama's fault.

Am I wrong? Link please.

[Winehole23]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156138

[Yonivore]

Don't Yoni and Ray count?
I don't blame him for the blow out; I blame him for the poor federal response.

[Yonivore]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156138

:lmao Very clever!

[Winehole23]

I don't blame him for the blow out; I blame him for the poor federal response.Fair enough, YV.

[Winehole23]

Me? Not especially. I thought the USG could and can do more to be helpful, if only by getting out of the way.

Whereas Yoni seemed to be straight up pining for a robust Federal response.

I wonder whether he would have welcomed it with the same sympathy attached to its description, had things been otherwise.

[ducks]

damm hidesight is ususally 20/20

[ducks]

Well you buddy Obama and his union thugs don't want a little know law
waivered, like Bush did during Katrina. The Jones Act of 1920.

"Foreign companies possessing some of the world’s most advanced oil skimming ships say they are being kept out of efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf because of a 1920’s law known as the Jones Act -- a protectionist law that requires vessels working in US waters be built in the US and be crewed by US workers."

...

"Waivers to the Jones Act were granted by the administration of George W. Bush in the days following hurricane Katrina. And today, the Obama White House said waivers might again be considered.
“If there is the need for any type of waiver, that would obviously be granted,” said White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs. “But, we've not had that problem thus far.”"

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/10/jones-act-slowing-oil-spill-cleanup/?test=latestnews

Don't you just love Obama and gang. Right on top of things.
laws are above the president

[Winehole23]

laws are above the presidentSincerely yours,



the late 20th century

[Winehole23]

Lagniappe: http://www.thenation.com/blog/fueling-war-pentagon-still-buying-most-its-oil-and-gas-bp

[xrayzebra]

:lmao Very clever!

Grasping again. I didn't say Obama was at fault, just stupid, which he
is.

It never occurred to him or his amateurs to get everyone together in
the beginning so they could coordinate efforts. Of course it would look
bad asking all those Republican Governors for suggestions or asking them
how he, Obama, could help them. Or talking to the CEO of BP to see
what their plan of action was and how the administration could assist.

I guess he could go down there and stand in the rain again, we all know
he hasn't got enought sense to come in out of the rain. But I want to
see him kicking his own ass, since he has said the buck stopped with him.


:lmao

We all know he never responsible for anything that fails.

[Wild Cobra]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156138
What is that for?

You might like chasing your tail in circles, but I don't, and I doubt others do.

[Cry Havoc]

Ya'll are still expecting the U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to do anything correctly that doesn't involve killing people?

Have you hosers been in Canada all this time or what, eh?

Hope you enjoy the electricity provided to your computer to type that message, and the water you put in your coffee pot this morning to brew with, not to mention the road you drove to work on today (especially if you used an interstate), or the nearly 100% reliable phone calls you made for the majority of your life until cell phone towers started going up everywhere.

Yep. The Fed messes everything up. :depressed



Me? Not especially. I thought the USG could and can do more to be helpful, if only by getting out of the way.

Whereas Yoni seemed to be straight up pining for a robust Federal response.

I wonder whether he would have welcomed it with the same sympathy attached to its description, had things been otherwise.

Yoni wants a massive Federal response so he can blame them when their response isn't satisfactory in his eyes.

[xrayzebra]

Hope you enjoy the electricity provided to your computer to type that message, and the water you put in your coffee pot this morning to brew with, not to mention the road you drove to work on today (especially if you used an interstate), or the nearly 100% reliable phone calls you made for the majority of your life until cell phone towers started going up everywhere.

Yep. The Fed messes everything up. :depressed




Yoni wants a massive Federal response so he can blame them when their response isn't satisfactory in his eyes.


In the first damn place, government doesn't furnish all electricity and
where it does, as in our case, they raise the rates and then give money
to a University to look for new energy sources.....we don't need any
damn new energy sources. And buy electricity from wind farms in
West Texas that is subsidized by the government to begin with and
then ask if we want to pay more for the damn power.....

I don't recall making a phone call to Obama to respond to the problem
in the gulf. I figure BP will handle it ASAP since it costing them a
bundle of money for that well to get spewing oil and gas.

Companies have a real incentive to stopping accidents, money. Government
has a real incentive to get involved. More regulation. And Obama is
pushing it to the hilt. Cap/Tax

[Winehole23]

Companies have a real incentive to stopping accidentsWhen the penalties have no teeth, the regulators are sniffing cocaine off lobbyists asses, and legal delay puts the claimant class in the poorhouse or the graveyard? Not really.

Consider BP.

[Winehole23]

Their disaster preparedness was so piss-poor Exxon gave them the heave ho on the Valdez cleanup; the Texas City explosion a few years back killed 18 and wounded 170, and resulted in criminal safety claims against BP; then there was the pipeline spill in Alaska, the biggest ever in the US up 'til then; and now comes Deepwater Horizon.

[Winehole23]

I figure BP will handle it ASAP since it costing them a
bundle of money for that well to get spewing oil and gas.Famous last words.

[Winehole23]

What is that for?Did you read it yet?



You might like chasing your tail in circles, but I don't, and I doubt others do.I linked a relevant thread.

[Winehole23]

un63LEAN22E

[Winehole23]

Famous last words.OTOH you could be right as well, xrayZ.

We'll see, or not. :toast

[Winehole23]

(boring speculative contretemps)

[Winehole23]

Can't we create our own book with vbookie, and just do prop bets with each other? Is that allowed?

[Winehole23]

I'll bet on that proposition. BP stops the flow quick, defined as say, within the next six months.

[Winehole23]

http://kateskitchentable.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/the-dukes.jpg

[Winehole23]

The usual amount?

[George Gervin's Afro]

http://kateskitchentable.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/the-dukes.jpg

Randolph and Mortimer...

[Winehole23]

I've got the over.

[Yonivore]

Experts Say White House 'Misrepresented' Views to Justify Drilling Moratorium (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/10/experts-say-obama-misrepresented-views-justify-offshore-drilling-ban/)


The seven experts who advised President Obama
on how to deal with offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon explosion are accusing his administration of misrepresenting their views to make it appear that they supported a six-month drilling moratorium -- something they actually oppose.
Hmmm...interesting.

Salazar's report to Obama said a panel of seven experts "peer reviewed" his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs and an immediate halt to drilling operations.

"None of us actually reviewed the memorandum as it is in the report," oil expert Ken Arnold told Fox News. "What was in the report at the time it was reviewed was quite a bit different in its impact to what there is now. So we wanted to distance ourselves from that recommendation."

Salazar apologized to those experts Thursday.
I see....



"The experts who are involved in crafting the report gave us their recommendation and their input and I very much appreciate those recommendations," he said. "It was not their decision on the moratorium. It was my decision and the president's decision to move forward."

In a letter the experts sent to Salazar, they said his primary recommendation "misrepresents" their position and that halting the drilling is actually a bad idea.
The most transparent and competent administration, ever!

So, what did the experts say would happen if Obama instituted a moratorium?


They also said that because the floating rigs are scarce and in high demand worldwide, they will not simply sit in the Gulf idle for six months. The rigs will go to the North Sea and West Africa, possibly preventing the U.S. from being able to resume drilling for years.

They also said the best and most advanced rigs will be the first to go, leaving the U.S. with the older and potentially less safe rights operating in the nation's coastal waters.
We are led by an idiot.

[Wild Cobra]

Did you read it yet?


I linked a relevant thread.Yes, I've been following this thread.

So where did they say the oil spill is Obama's fault?

[word]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0

[Yonivore]

Coast Guard Head Was Informed of Maine Oil Boom on 5/21. Yesterday, He Claimed He Didn’t Know (http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-coast-guard-head-was-informed-of-maine-oil-boom-on-521-yesterday-he-claimed-he-didnt-know/)
The.Most.Competent.Administration.Ever!

[Winehole23]

Yes, I've been following this thread.

So where did they say the oil spill is Obama's fault?I said they blame everything on Obama. You haven't noticed the trend?

You post here regularly, Wild Cobra. Do you read the posts?

[Winehole23]

Does
"Kick me" speak to you at all?

[PublicOption]

I support off-shore oil drilling, I dont support oil spills


-------------------GOP.


...........even though oil drilling created this spill LOL

[PublicOption]

Coast Guard Head Was Informed of Maine Oil Boom on 5/21. Yesterday, He Claimed He Didn’t Know (http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-coast-guard-head-was-informed-of-maine-oil-boom-on-521-yesterday-he-claimed-he-didnt-know/)
The.Most.Competent.Administration.Ever!


I like how the GOP plan is to blame everyone else but

"OFF SHORE OIL DRILLING"

[Wild Cobra]

I said they blame everything on Obama. You haven't noticed the trend?

You post here regularly, Wild Cobra. Do you read the posts?
Backpedaling huh?

Blame everything is too general, and I see him as being generally for only what he deserves to be blamed for by conservatives. The argument was specifically about blaming him for the spill. Admit it. You cannot find a quote of a non whacked out conservative blaming him for the oil spill.

[SnakeBoy]

Their disaster preparedness was so piss-poor Exxon gave them the heave ho on the Valdez cleanup; the Texas City explosion a few years back killed 18 and wounded 170, and resulted in criminal safety claims against BP; then there was the pipeline spill in Alaska, the biggest ever in the US up 'til then; and now comes Deepwater Horizon.

Yeah but they are fully prepared to protect the walruses in the gulf. At least give them credit for that.

[Winehole23]

Backpedaling huh?I'm pretty sure I'm not guilty of saying what you think I said.


Admit it. You cannot find a quote of a non whacked out conservative blaming him for the oil spill.Balls to your cowardly and facially specious 'non whacked out disclaimer' for starters.

[Winehole23]

What's wrong with just saying, you're wrong, wino, then saying what your problem is. How hard is that?

[Winehole23]

You don't need some phony justification bristling with very hastily improvised


*legalese.*

[Winehole23]

That said, I never restricted myself to any specific verbal formula. The objection is premature imo.

[Winehole23]

In essence all i said was that yv and ray are quick to blame. I even conceded the propriety of the objection yv raised.

[Winehole23]

WC: were you following the conversation, or just carpet bombing us from a mile up again?

[Winehole23]

BTW, what exactly is your complaint, WC?

[Winehole23]

Did we ever get that far?

[Wild Cobra]

In essence all i said was that yv and ray are quick to blame. I even conceded the propriety of the objection yv raised.
I'd say they are only 10% as fast to blame as the board liberals here when they blame republicans about something.

You know what this administration is guilty of with this leak disaster? micromanaging without result. It's pretty sad when the surrounding communities send a message that amounts to "fix the problem, or get out of the way and let us fix it."

[Wild Cobra]

BTW, what exactly is your complaint, WC?
To your continuing to say conservatives blame when I said specifically about the oil spill. I was saying I haven't seen any conservatives blame president Obama for the oil spill, but liberals would blame Bush if he was president.

[Winehole23]

I'd say they are only 10% as fast to blame as the board liberals here.Conceded without stipulation. Next.


You know what this administration is guilty of with this leak disaster? micromanaging without result. It's pretty sad when the surrounding communities send a message that amounts to "fix the problem, or get out of the way and let us fix it."Eh, not bad.

I seem to recall something Gov. Jindal said about protective berms not being constructed in a timely fashion in LA due to federal unresponsiveness, so your very slightly less specific formulation does not strike me as being at all outlandish.

Or did you have something specific in mind, WC?

[Wild Cobra]

Or did you have something specific in mind, WC?
Not really. I was mainly sruing the point nobody said the oil spill was Obama's fault.

I see the same shit going on as with anything else the government gets involved with, regardless of administration. What i would like to see, and give props to Obama for, would be if he signed an executive order that temporarily lifted regulations impeding progress on this. What good are regulations designed to protect the environment when they are more harmful by stopping efforts to gain control over a larger environmental problem? He is the executor of law. He can wipe out regulations with the stroke of a pen.

[Winehole23]

I was saying I haven't seen any conservatives blame president Obama for the oil spill, but liberals would blame Bush if he was president.liberals are hypocrites. wah. can you please stop crying about this now?

[Wild Cobra]

liberals are hypocrites. wah. can you please stop crying about this now?
So we just had a misunderstand as to our points, right?

[Winehole23]

It makes conservatives look whiny and unmanly.

[Winehole23]

Why don't you have some respect for yourself instead. I think maybe you got carried off in the tide of your own disdain for the topic. A lot of people did.

[Winehole23]

So we just had a misunderstand as to our points, right?Given the lordly/pedantic tone you took with me WC, I rather tend to think not.

And though I find myself resisting your offer to accomodate to my core, I do not relish the opportunity to revisit former snippets of this conversation for any reason at all, let alone to prevail somehow in a puny contention of minds over basically nothing.

[Winehole23]

That said, filed under *misunderstood* works for me too. :tu

[Wild Cobra]

Given the lordly/pedantic tone you took with me WC, I rather tend to think not.

And though I find myself resisting your offer to accomodate to my core, I do not relish the opportunity to revisit former snippets of this conversation for any reason at all, let alone to prevail somehow in a puny contention of minds over basically nothing.
Believe as you must. I stood firm that I didn't see any conservative say the oil spill was Obama's fault. That was, and still is my line in the sand. I didn't specify that until post #48, but that was what I meant all along. In #48:

So where did they say the oil spill is Obama's fault?

[Winehole23]

You can keep it. That's ok with me.

[Winehole23]

Not really. I was mainly sruing the point nobody said the oil spill was Obama's fault. Sruing?


I see the same shit going on as with anything else the government gets involved with, regardless of administration.Government is bad. Check.



What i would like to see, and give props to Obama for, would be if he signed an executive order that temporarily lifted regulations impeding progress on this.Like MMS recently did, handing out some 19 or so environmental waivers to deep drillers after the Deepwater Horizon blowout?

I presume you would applaud Mr. Salazar and the MMS for their proactive suspension of environmental niceties for deepwater drillers at a time of national troubles. Do you? :hat

[Winehole23]

I didn't specify that until post #48, but that was what I meant all along. In #48:Second verse, same as the first.

Basically, you can go verify for yourself, WC. I ain't defendin some cockamamie rephrasing you came up with on all your own. Sorry.

That's your bailiwick: your camel to ride. You ok with that?

[Winehole23]

(incipient whisky drunk)

[Nbadan]

The Petroleum industry was actively opposing efforts by the Obama administration to reverse Bush era rules and improve the safety of offshore drilling. Of course, Bobby Jindal and other Republicans are now demanding that Obama immediately end the moratorium on deep water drilling because they insist that it is safe even as the leak continues!


As BP PLC defended its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, documents show it argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last year by the U.S. agency that oversees offshore drilling.

The British oil giant was one of several companies that wrote to the U.S. Minerals Management Service this past September saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary. In a letter, BP said the current voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate.

* * *
As BP touted the scale of the cleanup, documents showed that it was one of several companies that opposed efforts to tighten up safety procedures offshore. Last year, the MMS studied more than 1,400 offshore incidents that led to 41 deaths and hundreds of injuries between 2001 and 2007. Many of them, the MMS found, were linked to factors such as communications failures, a lack of written procedures and the failure of supervisors to enforce existing rules, and proposed mandatory requirements to reduce the number of incidents. That would have replaced a system under which many safety procedures were voluntary.

In a letter published on the U.S. government Web site Regulations.gov, Richard Morrison, BP's vice president for Gulf of Mexico production, wrote that while BP "is supportive of companies having a system in place to reduce risk, accidents, injuries and spills, we are not supportive of the extensive, prescriptive regulations as proposed in this rule."

WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575209331720726738.html)

[boutons_deux]

Yet another 48-hour govt deadline for BP to "do something" has expired today.

We'll see if the Feds now take over the operation. I'd love the govt to take Reich's suggestion and force BP US into receivership under govt control until the cleanup, not just the leaking, is finished and all damaged parties are paid off from BPs huge horde of cash and assets.

[Wild Cobra]

Sruing?

Arguing.

[Wild Cobra]

Second verse, same as the first.

Basically, you can go verify for yourself, WC. I ain't defendin some cockamamie rephrasing you came up with on all your own. Sorry.

That's your bailiwick: your camel to ride. You ok with that?
LOL...

What you haven't seen is that I made my statement thinking in those terms, probably thinking of a different thread. The misunderstanding is my fault, but it appears you wanted to attack my integrity rather than accept the misunderstanding.

[Cry Havoc]

LOL...

What you haven't seen is that I made my statement thinking in those terms, probably thinking of a different thread. The misunderstanding is my fault, but it appears you wanted to attack my integrity rather than accept the misunderstanding.

:lol at WC calling someone out for an ad hominem.

That's just priceless.

[Winehole23]

LOL...

What you haven't seen is that I made my statement thinking in those terms, probably thinking of a different thread. The misunderstanding is my fault, but it appears you wanted to attack my integrity rather than accept the misunderstanding.To be sure, I never accepted your bona fides on the so-called misunderstanding, but my main point was it's not in my job description to back up your bs, still less to defend your strawmen.

[Winehole23]

...and you ignored my direct question about the 19 MMS environmental waivers after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

You liked them hypothetically. How do they strike you in real life?

[RandomGuy]

2AAa0gd7ClM

:lmao

[Wild Cobra]

:lol at WC calling someone out for an ad hominem.

That's just priceless.
You can call it that if you want. Get your laughs while you can. Misunderstandings do funny things at times.

---add---

Besides, why not try to make the best of my own mistakes?

[Wild Cobra]

...and you ignored my direct question about the 19 MMS environmental waivers after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

You liked them hypothetically. How do they strike you in real life?
I ignored it because I don't know enough about it. Could be truth, might not be. There seems to be a whole lot of CYA and BS on this topic from everyone in the know.

[Winehole23]

I ignored it because I don't know enough about it.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/us/24moratorium.html?pagewanted=1&hp

[Winehole23]

As below.

[Cry Havoc]

There seems to be a whole lot of CYA and BS on this topic from everyone in the know.

:lmao

From your lips.

[Yonivore]

http://media.sfexaminer.com/images/100616beelertoon_c.jpg

[Yonivore]

U.S. reconsiders Dutch offer to supply oil skimmers (http://www.examiner.com/x-325-Global-Warming-Examiner~y2010m6d12-US-reconsiders-Dutch-offer-to-supply-oil-skimmers)

I wonder if ultra-liberal Greg Sergeant is snickering at Obama like he did Sarah Palin (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/oval_office_speech_open_thread.html), in an open thread about the speech, when she suggested this.


9:21 p.m.: Don't miss Sarah Palin's take: She faults the Obama administration for not soliciting the help of "the Dutch," who are "known for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills":
How silly of Sarah Palin to suggest the administration should seek assistance from the "Dutch."

[ChumpDumper]

How could anyone not snicker at Palin?

She quit.

[Wild Cobra]

How silly of Sarah Palin to suggest the administration should seek assistance from the "Dutch."
No kidding, considering she supposedly knows nothing or foreign affairs.

[ElNono]

She should buy a house in Louisiana so she can see the spill from her backyard...

[Yonivore]

k6urJsX3KX4

[Nbadan]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Judiciary Committee says data it has collected shows that BP has paid less than 12 percent of claims submitted by people and businesses arising from the Gulf oil spill.

The committee said in a statement Friday that only $71 million out of an estimated $600 million had been paid as of Tuesday. In addition, the panel said that BP didn't make any payments in the first two weeks following the explosion and oil spill.

Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers said he's concerned that BP "is stiffing too many victims and shortchanging others."

The committee said BP hasn't made a single payment for bodily injury or diminished home property value. BP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

KATC (http://www.katc.com/news/bp-has-paid-less-than-12-percent-of-claims)

[DMX7]

Typical liberal shakedown. This slush fund is a disgrace. Why does Obama hate America and our troops? Stop the death panels, Obama!!!

[Wild Cobra]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Judiciary Committee says data it has collected shows that BP has paid less than 12 percent of claims submitted by people and businesses arising from the Gulf oil spill.

The committee said in a statement Friday that only $71 million out of an estimated $600 million had been paid as of Tuesday. In addition, the panel said that BP didn't make any payments in the first two weeks following the explosion and oil spill.

Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers said he's concerned that BP "is stiffing too many victims and shortchanging others."

The committee said BP hasn't made a single payment for bodily injury or diminished home property value. BP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. KATC (http://www.katc.com/news/bp-has-paid-less-than-12-percent-of-claims)
Question Dan.

Should claims be paid without verification? Anyone can make a claim. Shouldn't it be checked for legitimacy?

12% in less than 2 months. Seems rather quick to me.

[Nbadan]

Should claims be paid without verification? Anyone can make a claim. Shouldn't it be checked for legitimacy?

12% in less than 2 months. Seems rather quick to me.

Unless your part of the 88% who has lost their only source of income and a primary food source...there should be some verification, but B.P. has a responsibility to play legitimate claims as quickly as possible.....12% seems rather paltry when measured against the level of need in the area...

[boutons_deux]

BP rejects oil drill partner's 'negligence' claim

BP has denied claims by one of its partners that its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amounted to "gross negligence".

BP said it "strongly disagrees" with Anadarko Petroleum, who said BP's behaviour in the run-up to the disaster was "reckless".

Anadarko, the largest independent oil and gas company operating in the Gulf, owns 25% of the well.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10356365.stm

=========

The Long Knives are out, the money-grubbing criminals are turning on their own kind.

[Nbadan]

..the Gulf...

r6W3YoisZ0o

Where is it going?

qEhhVmxYSNI

[Wild Cobra]

Unless your part of the 88% who has lost their only source of income and a primary food source...there should be some verification, but B.P. has a responsibility to play legitimate claims as quickly as possible.....12% seems rather paltry when measured against the level of need in the area...
There is all kinds of social services already available to tide people over. What about the oil rig workers Obama is putting out of work with the moratorium? Who's paying for that?

My god. What is it with you libtards? You want to make a false claim, knowing it wont be verified? Make a $50,000 claim, and run with the money? If verification isn't done, PB will be ripped off.

[Winehole23]

There is all kinds of social services already available to tide people over.Why should that prevent BP from paying its fair share of the damages?

[boutons_deux]

"There is all kinds of social services already available to tide people over"

Fuck the taxpayer, protect the corp. Typical rightwing, ideological crap.

[Winehole23]

@WC: You're for the US taxpayer paying the tab for shitass fuckups, instead of letting shitty companies and their investors eat shit? Really? I thought you weren't like that, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

:-0

[boutons_deux]

BP’s plan: Raise $50 billion, sue business partners

By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, June 20th, 2010 -- 10:46 am


BP is trying to raise 50 billion dollars to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico spill and is preparing to sue its partners in the oil field, British newspapers said on Sunday.

The Sunday Telegraph said BP is readying to take legal action against US firm Anadarko, its main partner in the field, for its share of the clean-up costs.

The broadsheet cited a "senior BP source" as saying Anadarko was "shirking its responsibilities", not accepting its liabilities and that legal action in the United States is now likely to follow.

The Sunday Times said BP is working on a plan to raise 50 billion dollars to cover the cost of the oil spill, which would start next week with a bond sale to raise 10 billion dollars.

A further 20 billion dollars would come from bank loans, while the final slice is expected to come from asset sales over the next two years, the broadsheet said.
Story continues below...

The push is to make sure they have enough money to deal with claims, and to bolster market confidence in its finances, said the weekly.

Meanwhile The Observer newspaper said BP might sell its remaining North Sea interests, plus stakes in dozens of exploration and production projects where it does not exercise overall control, in a bid to reduce its costs.

The weekly, citing "well-placed City sources", said such measures would cut costs by 14 billion dollars (11.3 billion euros) within six months.

BP will also study the possibility of selling its 1.4 percent stake in Rosneft, which it bought at the time of the Russian firm's 2006 flotation for one billion dollars, the report said.

======

iow, BP ain't gonna go bankrupt, has plenty of assets, cash flow, assured future profits of $Bs/year. So shake them down for every penny, plus criminal penalties.

BP will very certainly do like Exxon, that wonderful US citizen "person" and screw down the victims to pennies on the dollar.

[ChumpDumper]

There is all kinds of social services already available to tide people over. What about the oil rig workers Obama is putting out of work with the moratorium? Who's paying for that?BP is.

[boutons_deux]

"BP holds enough oil in its reserves to single-handedly supply the United States for two years. It has little debt for a company of its size and makes more money than Apple and Google combined."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bp_s_future/print

[Nbadan]

By REUTERS
Published: June 20, 2010
Filed at 1:37 p.m. ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An internal BP Plc document released on Sunday by a senior U.S. congressional Democrat shows that the company estimates that a worst-case scenario rate for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be about 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

The estimate of 100,000 barrels (4.2 million gallons/15.9 million liters) of oil per day is far higher than the current U.S. government estimate of up to 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) per day gushing from the ruptured offshore well into the sea.

The document appears to estimate the highest potential flow of oil if key components of the well fail. The document does not indicate that the 100,000 barrels per day is BP's estimate of the actual amount flowing from the ruptured Gulf of Mexico well.

The document states, "If BOP (blowout preventer) and wellhead are removed and if we have incorrectly modeled the restrictions -- the rate could be as high as ~ 100,000 barrels per day up the casing or 55,000 barrels per day up the annulus (low probability worst cases)"

Source: Reuters (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/06/20/news/news-us-oil-spill-markey.html?_r=1&ref=news)

[Nbadan]

Markey: BP 'either lying or grossly incompetent' on worst-case scenario



A key Democratic lawmaker revealed an internal BP document on Sunday showing that the embattled oil giant's worst-case scenario projected that 100,000 barrels of oil could be released each day that the well remains uncapped.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said that number was in stark contrast to BP's public projections at the time the study was finished that only 5,000 barrels would be lost each day.

The top-ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on energy policy said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that "again, right from the beginning, BP was either lying or grossly incompetent. First they said it was only 1,000. Then they said it was 5,000 barrels. Now we're up to 100,000 barrels."

Almost nine weeks have passed since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing Gulf Coast gusher that BP has not been able to cap yet.

Markey held a high-profile hearing last week with BP CEO Tony Hayward.

"It was their technology. It was their spill cam. They are the ones that should have known right from the beginning and either to limit their liability or because they were grossly incompetent they delayed a full response to the magnitude of this disaster," Markey told "Meet The Press" host David Gregory.

Source: The Hill (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/104353-markey-bp-either-lying-or-grossly-incompetent-on-worst-case-spill-scenario)

[Nbadan]

BP rejects Markey charge underestimated oil spill
Sun Jun 20, 2010 3:20pm EDT



HOUSTON June 20 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N) on Sunday rejected a charge by U.S. Representative Ed Markey that the British company had understated the size of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"I don't think there's been any underestimating," BP spokesman Toby Odone told Reuters after Markey released a document that the congressman said shows BP has been deceptive.

The internal BP document released by Markey on Sunday shows that the company estimates that a worst-case scenario rate for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be about 100,000 barrels (4.2 million gallons/15.9 million liters) of oil per day.

The undated document states, "If BOP (blowout preventer) and wellhead are removed and if we have incorrectly modeled the restrictions -- the rate could be as high as ~ 100,000 barrels per day up the casing or 55,000 barrels per day up the annulus (low probability worst cases)."

Odone said the document appeared to be genuine but the 100,000 barrels of oil per day estimate applied only in a situation where the well's blowout preventer was removed.

"Since there are no plans to remove the blowout preventer, the number is irrelevant," he said.

But Markey said the document raised troubling questions about what BP knew and when they knew it.

"It is clear that, from the beginning, BP has not been straightforward with the government or the American people about the true size of this spill. Now the families living and working in the Gulf are suffering from their incompetence," Markey said in a statement.

The amount of oil actually gushing from the well has been a matter of considerable controversy since the spill began on April 20. BP initially estimated that the spill was pouring 1,000 barrels per day into the ocean and then upped that figure to 5,000 barrels per day.

The latest U.S. government estimates say up to 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) per day are gushing from the ruptured offshore well into the sea.

BP said, however, it had not underestimated the flow rate.

"We've always said we would deal with whatever volume of oil was being spilled, and that's exactly what we're doing. We've mounted the biggest spill response in history," Odone said. (Reporting by Bruce Nichols, Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2020477120100620)

[boutons_deux]

Locals say BP is not letting them grab turtles caught in the burn circles. turtles (aka criminal/punishable evidence) burned.

Same is happening on shore with birds, and fish, dolphins. Not being counted, more evidence destroyed.

[jack sommerset]

Locals say BP is not letting them grab turtles caught in the burn circles. turtles (aka criminal/punishable evidence) burned.

Same is happening on shore with birds, and fish, dolphins. Not being counted, more evidence destroyed.

Barack Obama recieved more money from BP than any other candidate in 2008. 2 weeks before the accident , you know something unplanned, Obama supported Palins drill baby drill slogan by reversing the nations offshore drilling policy. The one that has been in play for 25 years or so. Obama supports BP, oil drilling and Sarah Palin so blame him for not letting the locals grab the turtles, birds, fish and dolphins.

[boutons_deux]

Repugs are responsible for nothing,
corps are responsible for nothing,
it's all on Magic Negro.
Jack, you're one twisted fuck.

[jack sommerset]

LOL@ locals thinking they can just grab dolphins!!!!!! In burn circles at that!!!!!!

You think it's because Obongo wants to burn evidence. That is twisted, u fuck!

[boutons_deux]

BP pipe tilting more than Leaning Tower of Pisa.


http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pisa_gusher.png

"The broken wellhead gushing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is tilting over, potentially threatening further disaster. The Deepwater Horizon riser package that sits on the seabed a mile below the ocean surface weighs over 450 tons, including the 48-foot-tall failed blowout preventer. In a press teleconference Monday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen announced that the riser package is tilting “10 or 12 degrees off perpendicular,” "

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/22/leaning-tower-oil/

=============

Is sub-surface oil leaking from the pipe and eroding the sand supporting the pipe? 450 tons?

[The Reckoning]

again...

8VfypUzx1tI

[boutons_deux]

Did BP Just Blow Up The Obama Presidency?

Forget about the new oil well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The big breaking news is BP's attempt to leverage its promised $20 billion Gulf Restoration Fund to get the US government to let it keep drilling for oil in the Gulf.

The New York Times reports:

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

[... ]

"If we are unable to keep those fields going, that is going to have a substantial impact on our cash flow," said David Nagle, BP's executive vice president for BP America, in an interview. That, he added, "makes it harder for us to fund things, fund these programs."

BP's global operations generated more than $33 billion in profits in 2009, so coming up with $20 billion shouldn't be an issue.


But, as the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 10, the Obama administration has permitted BP to finance the $20 billion exclusively from its Gulf of Mexico drilling operations:

The Obama administration and BP PLC are close to a deal to use future revenues from the oil giant's Gulf of Mexico operations to guarantee its $20 billion cleanup and compensation fund, a move that would give both sides an incentive to continue production in the Gulf, scene of the U.S.'s worst-ever offshore oil spill.

In his June 15 Oval Office address, President Obama explicitly said he would hold BP responsible for cleaning up the Gulf and compensating all those effected (Video link here): "We will make BP pay for the damages... This fund will not be controlled by BP... BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region."

And when he met with BP's executives on June 16, BP's Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg said they would pay to restore the Gulf, no strings attached (Video link here): "... a framework that will show the American people that we mean what we say... We will look after the American people."

Who would have guessed that a president who appeared to recognize the illegal as well as immoral nature of BP's business practices (after all, people died) would actually negotiate with them over the terms of the penalty they'd be paying?

Negotiating the terms of BP's penalty? Setting the stage for BP holding the $20-billion fund hostage to getting its way with the Congress of the United States?

Couldn't that be called "extortion"?

This is not how I thought the Obama administration would be treating BP in the face of this tragedy. BP does not deserve to be compensated for paying its debt to society.

This $20 billion is a penalty for operating the way it does. It is not some bizarre new form of political contribution.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-g-brant/did-bp-just-blow-up-the-o_b_704378.html?view=print

================

There was no doubt that BP would go Exxon and play legal/political game, even extortion, to avoid paying for its incompetence and recklessness.

[Wild Cobra]

Like I sid earlier, BP got a sweet deal. I'm sure their lawyers earned their pay the way they pulled the wool over the Obama administration. No lawsuit liability, only $20 billion to pay...

Sweet deal, and the funniest part of all, Obama gave them the sweet deal.

I doubt any president ever gave Big oil such a sweet deal in history!

[Winehole23]

Where'd you read that people can't sue? That's only if they settle with BP.

[LnGrrrR]

Like I sid earlier, BP got a sweet deal. I'm sure their lawyers earned their pay the way they pulled the wool over the Obama administration. No lawsuit liability, only $20 billion to pay...

Sweet deal, and the funniest part of all, Obama gave them the sweet deal.

I doubt any president ever gave Big oil such a sweet deal in history!

So you're applauding Obama's move? After all, we need to keep the big corporations in America!

[Wild Cobra]

So you're applauding Obama's move? After all, we need to keep the big corporations in America!
No.

I think it's one of the stupidest decisions they made.

BP should profit or fail like any other corporation. By merit. Thy fucked up, and need to pay applicable costs. I believe this saved them maybe double or more the expendable of the spill in the end.

[boutons_deux]

Will the govt really charge the BP $35 per barrel spilled, about $21B in penalties?

If BP contains/isolates all accounting for spill costs to the Drilling & Exploration subsidiary, as the govt has allowed, that division is bankrupt.

I expect there will be some kind light-touch, finger-rapping "settlement" for the BP Corporate-American, the kind of settlement not allowed to underwater/bankrupt Human-Americans.

[CosmicCowboy]

Personally I think BP should be responsible for every penny of damages, but adding a "fine" on top of it that goes to the US government that was equally responsible because of limited/non-existent oversight is total bullshit.

[boutons_deux]

So a regulatory crime is not to be punished if the hated, under-funded, Repug-compromised, oil-lobbyist-polluted regulators aren't there to enforce the regulations?

That's the old Repug/Nixonian ethics and defense, "It's not what you do (anthying goes), it's what you get caught doing"

[CosmicCowboy]

So a regulatory crime is not to be punished if the hated, under-funded, Repug-compromised, oil-lobbyist-polluted regulators aren't there to enforce the regulations?

That's the old Repug/Nixonian ethics and defense, "It's not what you do (anthying goes), it's what you get caught doing"

:lmao at BD blaming everything on Republicans.

[boutons_deux]

"BD blaming everything on Republicans."

Sure, it was Repug MMS employing oil lobbyists screwing and drugging with oil lobbyist whores.

It was dickhead whose National Energy Policy was Invade Iraq and greenlighted drill anywhere anyway, damn the regulations, while giving away federal lands and not collecting royalties

etc, etc, etc.

What exactly did Dems do to "cause" BP to be a criminal, regulation-flaunting company?

[Wild Cobra]

Personally I think BP should be responsible for every penny of damages, but adding a "fine" on top of it that goes to the US government that was equally responsible because of limited/non-existent oversight is total bullshit.
I could see a court case with the way the courts are today, you know... the Nanny state...

Where, BP sues the government for allowing them to make that mistake!