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Spill, Baby, Spill!
WC: "it was due to employees violating procedures. Like all corporations, BP is completely innocent, even if they fight inspections and tough regulations."
Whoopsies.
Crews to set fire to oil leaking in Gulf of Mexico
By KEVIN McGILL and CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer Kevin Mcgill And Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer – 3 mins ago
NEW ORLEANS – Crews geared up to set fire to oil leaking from the site of an exploded drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a last-ditch effort to get rid of it before it reaches environmentally sensitive marshlands on the coast.
A 500-foot boom will be used to corral several thousand gallons of the thickest oil on the surface, which will then be towed to a more remote area, set on fire, and allowed to burn for about an hour, the Coast Guard said. Such burns will continue throughout the day if they are working.
The slick was about 20 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
About 42,000 gallons of oil a day are leaking into the Gulf from the blown-out well where the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank last week. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.
Greg Pollock, head of the oil spill division of the Texas General Land Office, which is providing equipment for crews in the Gulf, said he is not aware of a similar burn ever being done off the U.S. coast. The last time crews with his agency used fire booms to burn oil was a 1995 spill on the San Jacinto River.
"When you can get oil ignited, it is an absolutely effective way of getting rid of a huge percentage of the oil," he said. "I can't overstate how important it is to get the oil off the surface of the water."
He said the oil will likely be ignited using jelled gasoline and lit rags soaked in oil. What's left afterward is something he described as a kind of hardened tar ball that can be removed from the water with nets or skimmers.
"I would say there is little threat to the environment because it won't coat an animal, and because all the volatiles have been consumed if it gets on a shore it can be simply picked up," he said.
Authorities also said they expect no impact on sea turtles and marine mammals in the burn area.
A graphic posted by the Coast Guard and industry task force fighting the slick shows it covering an area about 100 miles long and 45 miles across at its widest point.
Louisiana State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham told a legislative committee Wednesday morning that National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration projections show a "high probability" oil could reach the Pass a Loutre wildlife management area Friday night, Breton Sound on Saturday and the Chandeleur Islands on Sunday.
As the task force worked far offshore, local officials were mobilizing in case the oil reaches land.
In Plaquemines Parish, a sliver of Louisiana that juts into the Gulf and is home to Pass a Loutre, officials hoped to deploy a fleet of volunteers in fishing boats to spread booms that could block oil from entering inlets.
"We've got oystermen and shrimpers who know this water better than anyone," said Plaquemines Paris President Billy Nungesser. "Hopefully the Coast Guard will embrace the idea."
The parish's emergency manager planned to meet in Houma on Thursday with a Coast Guard official to discuss whether volunteers can help, Nungesser said.
"We don't want to just sit by and hope this (oil) doesn't come ashore," Nungesser said.
The decision to burn some of the oil comes as the Coast Guard and industry cleanup crews run out of other options to get rid of it.
Crews operating submersible robots have been trying without success to activate a shut-off device that would halt the flow of oil on the sea bottom 5,000 feet below.
Rig operator BP Plc. says work will begin as early as Thursday to drill a relief well to relieve pressure at the blowout site, but that could take months.
Another option is a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but that will take two weeks to put in place, BP said.
Winds and currents in the Gulf have helped crews in recent days as they try to contain the leak. The immediate threat to sandy beaches in coastal Alabama and Mississippi has lessened. But the spill has moved steadily toward the mouth of the Mississippi River, home to hundreds of species of wildlife and near some rich oyster grounds.
The cost of disaster continues to rise and could easily top $1 billion.
Industry officials say replacing the Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP, would cost up to $700 million. BP has said its costs for containing the spill are running at $6 million a day. The company said it will spend $100 million to drill the relief well. The Coast Guard has not yet reported its expenses.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100428/..._rig_explosion
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I am generally against offshore drilling for things like this, that inevitably happen, despite the best efforts of oil industry propaganda and apologists to claim otherwise.
As long as the companies that want to drill FULLY compensate and make all efforts to clean up, I can live with the drilling generally.
Exxon is still trying to weasel out of the costs of the Valdez spill, though and that kind of thing really irks me.
Given many corporate polluters' past efforts at being weasels when it comes to dealign with the ramifications of their actions, I find people leveling sweeping blame at environmentalists for being "anti-job" as being a bit ignorant/untruthful of the real costs of pollution.
Spill, Baby, Spill!
WC: "it was due to employees violating procedures. Like all corporations, BP is completely innocent, even if they fight inspections and tough regulations."
Get that bicycle horn fixed boutons.
and quit being racist.
It is sad that being "pro-business" has to blind one to the obvious failings of some businesses.Spill, Baby, Spill!
WC: "it was due to employees violating procedures. Like all corporations, BP is completely innocent, even if they fight inspections and tough regulations."
BTW, the spill is getting worse.
Wheee.
I seem to remember saying that spills were inevitable part of drilling for oil, and that increasing oil production offshore would necessarily involve sacrificing coastal property values/rights, tourism, and fishing industry jobs.
R.I.P. to the eleven oil workers missing and presumed dead that were from Louisianna, Mississippi, and Texas.
Haliburton is in on this too? Nice.
A federal class-action lawsuit was filed late Wednesday over the oil spill on behalf of two commercial shrimpers from Louisiana, Acy J. Cooper Jr. and Ronnie Louis Anderson.
The suit seeks at least $5 million in compensatory damages plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages against Transocean, BP, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. and Cameron International Corp.
How did Obama fall for these Oil Scammers a month ago with the offshore approval? We expect that from the Wingnutts.
Drill baby, drill!
Are you gonna stop driving?
Because BP, Halliburton-Bush-Cheney and Massey Coal Mines spend top dollar on preventative measures.
STFU
Unfortunately, no. Travel is part and parcel of my job.
The implication of your question is, by the way, a logical fallacy, ad hominem, variety.
Do you have a quota of logical fallacies you have to meet on a daily basis?
I mean are you working towards some kind of conservative scout Logical Fail merit badge?
I wonder if tea bags would make a good oil absorber?
After ing about taxes, now Jindal wants the U.S. govt to come to its rescue...
LinkWow, these idiots complain about big government and government take over of everything! And now this fool is asking the Federal Government to help with the oil spill! And down the road he will complain about how intrusive the government is in his states business.
What a joke this guy is!
Governor Jindal spoke with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano this evening to request additional resources from the federal government as the state prepares for the potential impact of the oil spill.
After ing about taxes, now Jindal wants the U.S. govt to come to its rescue...
LinkWow, these idiots complain about big government and government take over of everything! And now this fool is asking the Federal Government to help with the oil spill! And down the road he will complain about how intrusive the government is in his states business.
What a joke this guy is!
Governor Jindal spoke with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano this evening to request additional resources from the federal government as the state prepares for the potential impact of the oil spill.
Economic costs of spill begin to be tabulated
CHICAGO (Marke ch) -- As the massive spill from an offshore oil-drilling operation spreads ever closer to Gulf Coast shorelines, the region is bracing for economic fallout that could last years and potentially cost untold millions -- or even billions -- of dollars in lost revenue for the fishing, tourism and other industries.Yoni? WC? Anyone from the "drill here, drill now" camp want to keep chanting about how great everything would be if we just did more offshore oil drilling?If Alaska is any guide, it could last for quite a while. In its latest report on after-effects of the spill, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council noted that lingering oil remains on beaches and at least one commercial fishery -- herring -- is essentially gone.
"Commercial fishing, as a lost or reduced service, is in the process of recovering from the effects of the oil spill, but full recovery has not been achieved," the group said. The same goes for other uses as the council "finds recreation to be recovering from the effects of the spill, but not yet recovered."
The Exxon Valdez spill was in 1989, by the way. They are STILL cleaning it up AND this spill has a good possibility of being not only worse, but MUCH worse.
WC: I'm pertty sure it was the fault of the workers.
Yoni: Hey, you just have to accept species-endangering, economic destruction sometimes. Besides, who cares about a few animals?
Palin: When I, uh, talked about drilling for oil, also, I knew safety would be across our heads too, and really, it's very sad about these animals, that might have been hunted otherwise.
attached to the board tea bag supporters.
RG would hate to know how much oil seeps naturally each year.
As much as two Exxon Valdez' worth each year just in the Gulf of Mexico.
You know Boutons, you should be less obvious, and get informed.Because BP, Halliburton-Bush-Cheney and Massey Coal Mines spend top dollar on preventative measures.
STFU
If I recall correctly, there are only two companies in the world that can handle such an oil maintenance endeavor. Halliburton is one. Can you name the other, and what country they are based out of?
Didn't think so.
Too bad some people don't understand there is a time and place to actually spend lots of money.
This is a disaster. Something we shouldn't worry about spending money on.
What I don't understand is why wasn't there an automatic shut-off valve on it? Is it such an old rig, it was before such safety features were implemented?
What caused the explosion? Is this possibly another environmentalist whacko attack to show such dangers, knowing this one had no automatic shut off valve, and only a manual one a mile down?
Think such a design would be allowed today? Technology changes. I will keep open the possibility this was effectively an environmentalist terrorist attack, planned because of the lifting of offshore development bans.
I'm pretty sure it's not smart to assume what I think.
RandomGuy,
This woman is your soulmate.
Did Gulf Oil Spill Cause Massive Tornado in Mississippi?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...do.html?cat=49
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, 2010 has resulted in 42,000 gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf every day. One of many negative affects of the Gulf Oil Spill may have already been seen. Just four
days after the oil rig explosion, a massive tornado almost a mile wide and another reportedly 1.75 miles wide hit Mississippi. Other tornadoes and severe weather conditions were also reported in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama.
The oil rig sank after the explosion and it could take months to stop the Gulf oil spill from leaking out of two pipes that are now well below the ocean's surface. Amazingly, only 11 of the 126 oil rig workers are presumed dead. The cleanup is set to resume now that the weather has calmed after the massive tornado in Mississippi and severe weather has subsided.
Tornado season is off to a rough start this spring. According to CBS News, nearly 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed after approximately 50 tornadoes hit the southeast on April 24, 2010, tearing through 17 counties in Mississippi. The massive tornado in Yazoo City, Miss., was an F4 with winds of as much as 170 mph; killing at least five. The death toll has risen to 12, but more bodies could be found in the wreckage.
Did Gulf Oil Spill Cause Massive Tornado in MS?
My first reaction to hearing about the massive tornado in Mississippi was that it was an affect of the gulf oil spill. I am far from a scientist but did find supporting evidence to back my atmosphere theory.
According to Wikipedia, "an increase in the sea surface temperature of a source region (e.g. Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea) increases atmospheric moisture content. Increased moisture can fuel an increase in severe weather and tornado activity, particularly in the cool season."
A study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates the primary driver of 'atmospheric moistening' is the increase in carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Based on the noted evidence, the Gulf oil spill 'fueled the fire'. The burning oil caused an increase in carbon dioxide levels, which increases atmospheric moisture thereby causing or contributing to massive tornado
strikes that hit the Southeast. The study from Academy of Sciences supports my initial reaction that oil spills cause tornado and severe weather conditions. As we know, water and oil do not mix. The Gulf oil spill is either responsible for the massive tornadoes or exacerbated an already brewing storm.
The negative effects of the Gulf oil spill and burning of fossil fuel will continue to hurt the economy and ecology. We can only hope alternative energy will soon take hold and that this is not a predictor of future massive tornadoes to come.
Pink ponies?
Ramma lamma ding dong?
Are you still trying for that Logical Fail merit badge?
Can you explain for us lib s just what the implications of this are?
Use small words, so I can understand it. Do enlighten me.
This is an interesting tidbit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_Oil_Point_seep_field
The Coal Oil Point seep field offshore from Santa Barbara, California is a petroleum seep area of about three square kilometers adjacent to the Ellwood Oil Field, and releases about 40 tons per day of methane and about 19 tons of reactive organic gas (ethane, propane, butane and higher hydrocarbons), about twice the hydrocarbon air pollution released by all the cars and trucks in the county in 1990.
There was an automatic shut-off valve attached at the sea floor. It failed, and repeated attempts to manually activate it have also failed.
As (I think) the Louisiana governor put it: "where was the plan B, should this thing fail?"
(heard the quote and seem to remember it was the gov)
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