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Today's BPocalypse Link Roundup
(Thanks for the nice shout-out from Doc Brite.)
Our story thus far, for those of you just tuning in. On April 20, the British Petroleum drilling rig "Deepwater Horizon" exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 on board. After initially claiming everything was under control, B.P. admitted there was an ongoing oil leak of up to 1,000 barrels a day. Outside observers raised the estimate first to 5,000 barrels, and then to 70,000 barrels a day.
Dead turtles, fish, dolphins, birds washing ashore, most productive fisheries in the USA closed down, already worse than Exxon Valdez, yada yada. Giant bendy straw successfully inserted to siphon off a fraction of the flow, but cutting it off may still be months away.
Multiple huge under-sea oil plumes are discovered, including one "10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick". Hm, anyone care to make a ballpark estimate of what that would be in barrels?
----
And now for the latest episode:
CNN: That plume thing we mentioned? How about "probably 15 or 20 miles long and maybe 4 or 5 miles wide."
The Independent: Tony Hayward, BP chief executive had claimed the spill – which could yet end up as the biggest in the history of offshore exploration – was "tiny" by comparison with the amount of water in the area.
A very helpful observation, Mr. Hayward. (Much like, for example, 148 grains of lead in the head would be tiny by comparison to the mass of an oil company CEO.)
University of South Florida: "Projections from the Ocean Circulation Group show oil from the northern gulf spill entering the Loop Current. Forecasts say – assuming persistence of the Loop Current and absent significant dispersion and evaporation of the oil – the slick may reach the middle Keys in the Florida Straight by May 26."
Ooops, the pessimists turn out to be overly optimistic yet again:
CNN: Tar balls are washing up at Key West Florida
The Hill: "Human health is the real oil spill issue"
One of the huge issues.
HuffPost:BP Spill Responders Told to Forgo Precautionary Health Measures in Cleanup
"Venice, Louisiana -- Local fishermen hired to work on BP's uncontrolled oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are scared and confused. Fishermen here and in other small communities dotting the southern marshes and swamplands of Barataria Bay are getting sick from the working on the cleanup, yet BP is assuring them they don't need respirators or other special protection from the crude oil, strong hydrocarbon vapors, or chemical dispersants being sprayed in massive quantities on the oil slick.
"Fishermen have never seen the results from the air-quality monitoring patches some of them wear on their rain gear when they are out booming and skimming the giant oil slick. However, more and more fishermen are suffering from bad headaches, burning eyes, persistent coughs, sore throats, stuffy sinuses, nausea, and dizziness. They are starting to suspect that BP is not telling them the truth."
BP not telling the whole truth? Whoa, let's not jump to any hasty conclusions here!
Houston Chronicle demonstrates how to bury a lead: BP declined to comment on a report Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes that the blowout preventer may have been damaged in an accident four weeks prior to the April 20 explosion on the rig and that BP overruled the drilling operator on key operations.
So how are things going for Transocean, the company that owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon rig? Just great, thanks for asking! Rig owner approves $1 billion dividend to shareholders
Your Right Hand Thief has a good set of links to coverage and comments around the CBS/60 Minutes investigative report. The horrible tale of one of the last people to escape the Deepwater Horizon rig alive, and the heated argument over safety that took place during the "Seven Hour Gap". It's becoming clearer that, while others are not off the hook, the biggest glob of blame is all over B.P.
Your Right Hand Thief also has some interesting quotes about the disaster:
General Russell Honoré: "Look, we've got to go Draconian, Don. The president's going to have to appoint and take charge of this thing. He may have to seize [BP's] assets and charge them a billion dollars a day until that thing gets closed."
Oh PLEASE General Honoré, do run against Senator David "Diaper Boy" Vitter.
The Great Spill has even prompted Bill O'Reilly to say some things that came surprisingly close (for him) to making sense: "[BP has] got to pay every bill. Every pelican that gets wounded, they got to pay the pelican's mom."
Gulf Coast friends: Tomorrow, we will all be the pelican's mom.
Or the pelican.
Remember, this is only just beginning.
Our story thus far, for those of you just tuning in. On April 20, the British Petroleum drilling rig "Deepwater Horizon" exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 on board. After initially claiming everything was under control, B.P. admitted there was an ongoing oil leak of up to 1,000 barrels a day. Outside observers raised the estimate first to 5,000 barrels, and then to 70,000 barrels a day.
Dead turtles, fish, dolphins, birds washing ashore, most productive fisheries in the USA closed down, already worse than Exxon Valdez, yada yada. Giant bendy straw successfully inserted to siphon off a fraction of the flow, but cutting it off may still be months away.
Multiple huge under-sea oil plumes are discovered, including one "10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick". Hm, anyone care to make a ballpark estimate of what that would be in barrels?
----
And now for the latest episode:
CNN: That plume thing we mentioned? How about "probably 15 or 20 miles long and maybe 4 or 5 miles wide."
The Independent: Tony Hayward, BP chief executive had claimed the spill – which could yet end up as the biggest in the history of offshore exploration – was "tiny" by comparison with the amount of water in the area.
A very helpful observation, Mr. Hayward. (Much like, for example, 148 grains of lead in the head would be tiny by comparison to the mass of an oil company CEO.)
University of South Florida: "Projections from the Ocean Circulation Group show oil from the northern gulf spill entering the Loop Current. Forecasts say – assuming persistence of the Loop Current and absent significant dispersion and evaporation of the oil – the slick may reach the middle Keys in the Florida Straight by May 26."
Ooops, the pessimists turn out to be overly optimistic yet again:
CNN: Tar balls are washing up at Key West Florida
The Hill: "Human health is the real oil spill issue"
One of the huge issues.
HuffPost:BP Spill Responders Told to Forgo Precautionary Health Measures in Cleanup
"Venice, Louisiana -- Local fishermen hired to work on BP's uncontrolled oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are scared and confused. Fishermen here and in other small communities dotting the southern marshes and swamplands of Barataria Bay are getting sick from the working on the cleanup, yet BP is assuring them they don't need respirators or other special protection from the crude oil, strong hydrocarbon vapors, or chemical dispersants being sprayed in massive quantities on the oil slick.
"Fishermen have never seen the results from the air-quality monitoring patches some of them wear on their rain gear when they are out booming and skimming the giant oil slick. However, more and more fishermen are suffering from bad headaches, burning eyes, persistent coughs, sore throats, stuffy sinuses, nausea, and dizziness. They are starting to suspect that BP is not telling them the truth."
BP not telling the whole truth? Whoa, let's not jump to any hasty conclusions here!
Houston Chronicle demonstrates how to bury a lead: BP declined to comment on a report Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes that the blowout preventer may have been damaged in an accident four weeks prior to the April 20 explosion on the rig and that BP overruled the drilling operator on key operations.
So how are things going for Transocean, the company that owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon rig? Just great, thanks for asking! Rig owner approves $1 billion dividend to shareholders
Your Right Hand Thief has a good set of links to coverage and comments around the CBS/60 Minutes investigative report. The horrible tale of one of the last people to escape the Deepwater Horizon rig alive, and the heated argument over safety that took place during the "Seven Hour Gap". It's becoming clearer that, while others are not off the hook, the biggest glob of blame is all over B.P.
Your Right Hand Thief also has some interesting quotes about the disaster:
General Russell Honoré: "Look, we've got to go Draconian, Don. The president's going to have to appoint and take charge of this thing. He may have to seize [BP's] assets and charge them a billion dollars a day until that thing gets closed."
Oh PLEASE General Honoré, do run against Senator David "Diaper Boy" Vitter.
The Great Spill has even prompted Bill O'Reilly to say some things that came surprisingly close (for him) to making sense: "[BP has] got to pay every bill. Every pelican that gets wounded, they got to pay the pelican's mom."
Gulf Coast friends: Tomorrow, we will all be the pelican's mom.
Or the pelican.
Remember, this is only just beginning.