Is U.S. Military Capable of Taking Over?

From ABC News.com

Top kill's failure means Gulf oil spill will only get worse

By Renee Schoof and Chris Adams

McClatchy Newspapers 5/30/10

WASHINGTON — If the growing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico isn't contained soon — and the latest efforts suggest that's unlikely — then the damage to the fragile region will intensify over the coming summer months as changing currents and the potential for hurricanes complicate the containment and cleanup efforts.

"It's all lose, lose, lose here," said Rick Steiner, a retired University of Alaska marine scientist who's familiar with both the current Gulf oil spill and the Exxon Valdez disaster two decades ago.

New York Times Opinion: An Unnatural Disaster

By Bob Herbert
Published May 28, 2010

"With all due respect to the president, who is a very smart man, how is it possible for anyone with any reasonable awareness of the nonstop carnage that has accompanied the entire history of giant corporations to believe that the oil companies, which are among the most rapacious players on the planet, somehow “had their act together” with regard to worst-case scenarios.
The oil companies and other giant corporations have a stranglehold on American policies and behavior, and are choking off the prospects of a viable social and economic future for working people and their families."

Criticism of White House Mounts

HOUSTON — The Obama administration scrambled to respond on Sunday after the failure of the latest effort to kill the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. But administration officials acknowledged the possibility that tens of thousands of gallons of oil might continue pouring out until August, when two relief wells are scheduled to be completed.
The New York Times May 30, 2010

Obama's Spill Conference: weakest moment of his presidency?

By Dana Milbank

Sunday, May 30, 2010

For eight years we had a president who refused to accept blame. Now we have one who seems to enjoy it. In the hour President Obama spent at the podium in the East Room this week holding a news conference on the Gulf oil spill, he practiced every form of self-flagellation short of bringing out a cat-o'-nine-tails.

The Washington Post

Oil flow is stemmed, for now, anyway

HOUSTON — By injecting solid objects overnight as well as heavy drilling fluid into the stricken well leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico, engineers appeared to have stemmed the flow of oil, Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, the leader of the government effort, said on Friday morning. But he stressed that the next 12 to 18 hours would be “very critical” in permanently stanching what is already the worst oil spill in United States history.

Big hurricane season on the way?

By Lauren Russell, CNN

May 27, 2010 9:36 p.m. EDT

A predicted busy hurricane season this summer is on a collision course with an unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the results are anyone's guess, weather experts say.

"The problem is that this is a man-made experiment we wish we hadn't made," said Jenni Evans, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University.

Scientists on Thursday said as much as 19,000 barrels of oil have been spewing every day from the BP well in the Gulf, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Most of the oily water lies off the coast of Louisiana, where marshes and wildlife have been coated and the state's fishing and tourism industries have taken direct hits.

Not only is it hard to track how contaminants would be redistributed by a hurricane, but it's also hard to predict how the slick would affect the storm, NOAA Public Affairs Officer Dennis Feltgen and Evans agreed.

Do your part to cut oil use: A letter to the editor

Times-Picayune May 28, 2010, 5:42AM

The biggest story in the country, really the world, is the oil spill in the Gulf. It is time to not only talk about the dangers of deep-water drilling but to take responsibility for our part in this disaster.

We are so dependent on oil and petroleum-based products that it may indeed be the end of us all. What can we do to help in this crisis? How about easing up on the gas pedal a little bit (like to the legal speed limit)? How about not cursing and trying to run over someone on a bicycle and realizing that they (we) are trying to help the cause by burning less fossil fuel.

State law requires motorists to give a bicyclist 3 feet of clearance while passing. All we ask is for you to pay attention while we share the road. Don't text, read, put on your makeup or (most importantly) drink and throw your beer can out the window.
We're doing our part -- can you do yours as well?

Mark Granier
Lafitte, LA

BP Resumes Work to Plug Leak

HOUSTON — BP on Thursday night restarted its most ambitious effort yet to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, trying to revive hopes that it might cap the well with a “top kill” technique that involved pumping heavy drilling liquids to counteract the pressure of the gushing oil.

BP officials, who along with government officials created the impression early in the day that the strategy was working, disclosed later that they had stopped pumping the night before when engineers saw that too much of the drilling fluid was escaping along with the oil.

It was the latest setback in the effort to shut off the leaking oil, which federal officials said was pouring into the gulf at a far higher rate than original estimates suggested.

Setback Delays ‘Top Kill’

HOUSTON — BP had to halt its ambitious effort to plug its stricken oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday afternoon when engineers saw that too much of the drilling fluid they were injecting into the well was escaping along with the leaking crude oil.
A technician at the BP command center said that pumping of the fluid had to be stopped temporarily while engineers were revising their plans, and that the company hoped to resume pumping by midnight, if federal officials approved.

Top Kill results remain uncertain

BP warned that success was not guaranteed and that it could fail at any moment. But engineers and geologists following the effort said the likelihood of success grew with each passing hour.

“The operation is proceeding as we planned it,” said Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, in a statement Wednesday evening. “We will be continuing for at least another 24 hours.”

New York Times May 27, 2010

BP Attempts ‘Top Kill’

HOUSTON — BP went ahead on Wednesday afternoon with its most ambitious — and potentially most consequential — effort to plug the mile-deep gusher of oil that has been streaming into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a month.

The procedure, known as a top kill, began at 1 p.m., the company said.

It involves pumping thousands of pounds of heavy fluids into a five-story stack of pipes in an effort to clog the well and stop the torrent of oil. BP officials said this method of containing spills had never been tried so far underwater, and that it could take days to determine whether it had succeeded. They cautioned there was no guarantee that the gambit would work.

New York Times May 26, 2010

Fox: BP's a Selfish Company, Working With a Do Nothing Administration

FOX News Editorial
May 26, 2010

So, what can be done? Who can help us? At this point, our only hope is that the American people will take this matter into their own hands, use the laws and the civil process that exist to right these types of wrongs, and hold BP and the other companies involved accountable. We know there is no other option. Whether this will be enough is the final unknown, but it’s all we can do – and must do – instead of idly watching our sea die.

How the Top Kill Works

Where does oil come from anyway?

Oil forms due to burial and heating of organic sediment, eg coal. The organic sediment breaks down, initially to oil. The 'oil window' refers to the temperature and pressure conditions at which oil forms. While geothermal gradients vary, the typical depth of the oil window is 4-6 kms. If heated to temperatures above the oil window the chemical reaction continues, forming natural gas and so on until there is nothing useful left.

Oil and natural gas, once formed, are more buoyant than the encompassing host rock and will rise due to buoyancy. Therefore, to 'trap' oil there must be a suitable structure above the buried sediment such as an anticline with a suitable reservoir rock such as a sandstone, and suitable capping rock such as a shale. Sandstone is generally porous and therefore oil can accumulate within this rock, while shale is considered an aquiclude; a rock type which prevents fluid from passing through it.

Therefore, from the discussion above, it can be seen that the process of oil formation requires the accumulation of large amounts of organic sediment, there burial to depths greater than 4 km BUT not greater than 6, and further requires suitable structures to trap the oil. If these structures are not in place the oil will simply escape to the surface and evaporate over geologically short timescales.

Thanks to Yahoo! Answers

To allow significant accumulations of organic material subsidence is generally required, this continuously lowers base level allowing sediment to continue to accumulate. Furthermore a low energy environment is needed as foreign sediments, eg silicates, will contaminate the organic sediment. Subsequent burial to the depths occurs over the timescale of 10's of millions of years, and deformation of overlying rocks to form suitable trapping structures generally requires orogenic (mountain building) events, which also occur over a similar time scale.

In conclusion, both the timescale, and the specific events required, make oil formation, and equally important; oil accumulation, very rare events. Currently there are locations in the world which are accumulating significant organic sediments, eg Bangladesh, however it will only be a matter of luck if they are exposed to the conditions suitable for oil formation in the future. And of course this won't be for millions of years.

If all else fails...

"I believe we will have that well capped before August. I don't think that's going to happen" [oil coming ashore in states other than Louisiana."]
Bob Dudley, BP
On The News Hour May 25, 2010

Anderson Cooper interview with Robert Dudley
From: citizens against pro-obama media bias

“This whole gulf is being destroyed. Soon it will be called the Gulf of Death.”

"Our way of life is going to change." The fish are going to die. ... It was so depressing that I tried to think of something that would console me.
“Here in Grand Isle, we have had one tragedy after another. Three hurricanes, Katrina, Rita, Gustav and now the oil spill. ... I think things happen for a reason. Sometimes we forget to appreciate the things that we have. Perhaps now we will have a greater appreciation for it.”
“With all of our technology, we think that we have all of the answers. That we can drill down 5,000 feet,” he continued. “But by doing that, new questions arise. It reminds us that God is in control. Our need for him is great.”
Pastor Vidal Galvez,
United Pentecostal Church of Gretna, La

Gulf oil spill: Effort to seal well may be delayed

May 25, 2010 | 7:49 am

The much-anticipated attempt to seal the explosion-damaged well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico may not start on Wednesday, officials of oil giant BP said Tuesday morning.

Equipment is in place to begin the "top kill" -- an effort to stop the leak by pumping heavy drilling mud into the well at a rate of 40 to 50 barrels of per minute, followed by concrete -- said Kent Wells, BP senior vice president for exploration and production.

Before it can start, Wells said, engineers must complete "extensive" diagnostic testing of the pressure dynamics associated with the well. Wells said that testing will begin "in the next day or so" and last 12 to 24 hours.The start of the top kill could come Wednesday "or extend out from there" later into the week, he said."We want to make sure we're taking advantage of every piece of information we have" to succeed in the top kill, Wells said.BP officials had earlier said the procedure would likely begin Wednesday. Obama administration officials have expressed increasing irritation with the slipping time-line to start the attempt.

-- Jim Tankersley

Nice outfit, this BP.

Nice outfit, this BP. Anyone who thought this London-based wrecking crew gave a rat’s whisker about harming the Gulf of Mexico or threatening the environment of the Louisiana wetlands — or the livelihoods of families living here — has been inhaling way too much of BP’s toxic fumes.

Yet there was our government not only giving BP’s reprobates the go-ahead to drill for oil a mile deep in the gulf but also handing them a waiver, allowing them to avoid a detailed analysis of the effect of their operations on the surrounding environment. Giving an environmental waiver to a company as contemptuous of the environment as BP shows just whose side the government is on in the face-off between predatory giant corporations and the interests of ordinary American citizens.

By BOB HERBERT New York Times May 24, 2010

Gulf oil spill: Effort to seal well may be delayed

May 25, 2010 | 7:49 am

The much-anticipated attempt to seal the explosion-damaged well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico may not start on Wednesday, officials of oil giant BP said Tuesday morning.

Equipment is in place to begin the "top kill" -- an effort to stop the leak by pumping heavy drilling mud into the well at a rate of 40 to 50 barrels of per minute, followed by concrete -- said Kent Wells, BP senior vice president for exploration and production.

Before it can start, Wells said, engineers must complete "extensive" diagnostic testing of the pressure dynamics associated with the well. Wells said that testing will begin "in the next day or so" and last 12 to 24 hours.

The start of the top kill could come Wednesday "or extend out from there" later into the week, he said.

"We want to make sure we're taking advantage of every piece of information we have" to succeed in the top kill, Wells said.

BP officials had earlier said the procedure would likely begin Wednesday. Obama administration officials have expressed increasing irritation with the slipping time-line to start the attempt.

-- Jim Tankersley LA Times

BP Preps for ‘Top Kill’ Procedure to Contain Spill

BP said equipment was in place for what is known as a “top kill” procedure, in which heavy drilling fluids twice the density of water are pumped through two narrow lines into the blowout preventer to essentially plug the runaway well. Depending on pressure readings taken Tuesday, officials said they might start the procedure as early as Wednesday morning — but they left open the possibility of more delays.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, repeated that BP would be held responsible for damages. She also said the state would do a better job of processing claims in the future. “If you made $50,000 last year, and you can’t work this year,” she said, “BP is going to write you a check for $50,000.”

ABC News goes underwater: not a pretty picture

Minerals Management Service: a culture of lax oversight and cozy ties to industry

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators responsible for oversight of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico allowed industry officials several years ago to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil — and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency, according to an inspector general’s report to be released this week.
The report, which describes inappropriate behavior by the staff at the Minerals Management Service from 2005 to 2007, also found that inspectors had accepted meals, tickets to sporting events and gifts from at least one oil company while they were overseeing the industry.
New York Times May 24, 2010

Plan H for Spill Relief Revealed

Fishery disaster declared in Gulf

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has declared a fishery disaster in the Gulf of Mexico due to the economic impact on commercial and recreational fisheries from the Deepwater Horizon oil leak. The affected area includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
"We are taking this action today because of the potentially significant economic hardship this spill may cause fishermen and the businesses and communities that depend on those fisheries," Locke said. "The disaster determination will help ensure that the federal government is in a position to mobilize the full range of assistance that fishermen and fishing communities may need."

New Orleans Times-Picayune

Blame finding its way to the White House

The uncontrolled, environmentally and politically toxic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now lapping at the White House. "I'm angry and the people back in my state are very angry," Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, fresh back from home, said in a speech on the House floor Monday afternoon, in which he waved a photo of a dead pelican and a copy of the Oil Pollution Act mandating the president to "ensure the effective and immediate removal of discharge." Scott Threlkeld/The Times-Picayune archiveRep. Steve Scalise was photographed May 14 during a news conference at Fort Pike.Instead, he said, "the finger-pointer in chief" had been "ceding power to BP."

New Orleans Times-Picayune

Community meeting unleashes anger, frustration

"It's not just lost money, it's our heritage," said Erwin Menesses, a shrimp net maker from the parish. "All you've sat here and talked about is money, money, money, money. ... Can you replace my heritage?" "No sir, I can't," Carpenter replied. "Nobody can replace a heritage."

Hurricane Season Approaching and Mixing Oil and Water May Not Be Bad

We’re rolling into the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane season and Forecasters say if a storm brews in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil continues to spew from the Deepwater Horizon, surprisingly enough it may not be all bad. National Hurricane Center Senior Forecaster, Stacy Stewart says the more aggressive mixing with the oil and water can lead it to degrade much quicker. But on the other hand, what if a man-made disaster combines with a natural disaster? Stewart says the winds from the tropical system could force the oil onto beaches much more quickly— but with heavier wave force, it could also be removed much more quickly. A storm surge would also lead to the oil residue being deposited farther inland than with normal tides. The biggest threat and problem though would be any ongoing effort in mid-ocean to cap the rigm because crews would have to be evacuated. But Stewart says history is on our side. Gulf storms are typically extremely rare in June, and even when they do form, they just don’t usually become hurricanes.

AM 850 Gainesville, Florida

BP ordered to scale back use of dispersants

Angry with BP's inability to find a less toxic dispersant against the gulf oil spill, the federal government will order BP to dramatically scale back its use of surface dispersants, chastising the company for an "insufficient" response to the issue.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Coast Guard Adm. Mary Landry used frank language to describe a Sunday night meeting with BP officials. Jackson called BP’s response to the agency’s order to find a substitute dispersant “insufficient.”

“We are not satisfied that BP has done extensive analysis of other dispersant options," Jackson said. "They were more interested in defending their original decisions than studying other options.” Jackson said that the Coast Guard, not BP, will make the ultimate decision about the daily amount and manner of dispersant use and that the product could be scaled back by 50% to 75%.

Obama's people hit the PR circuit, but there's not much to say

It's official: no one knows what to do

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now there's something to worry about

"The government "is doing everything humanly and technologically possible to plug the hole."

"Every bit of government has been activated," Gibbs said. "The president has told the team to spare nothing in trying to cap this well."

Great Unkowns in Gulf Oil Spill

Any oil in the deep-sea environment could persist for a long time. The majority of oil on the surface evaporates, washes up on shore, or is degraded by natural weathering and oil-eating microbes. In the deep sea, on the other hand, it's dark and still, meaning no weathering and no evaporation. Microbial degradation is pretty much the only mitigating process—but it's slow. As a result, there's some possibility that deep-sea oil could get churned up by storms and have a limited shoreline impact sometime in the future, Joye says.
Newsweek Magazine
http://www.newsweek.com/

Louisiana still loves Big Oil

Despite the BP oil spill, which has wreaked havoc on Louisiana's environment and economy, talk of coming down hard on offshore drilling is virtually nonexistent.

Palin criticizes Obama on oil cleanup

Sarah Palin, who popularized the "drill, baby, drill" slogan as the GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008, criticized President Obama's efforts to clean up the Gulf oil spill.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin criicized President Obama's cleanup efforts in the Gulf oil spill.

CAPTION

By Ethan Miller, Getty Images

The former Alaska governor, speaking on Fox News Sunday, questioned whether there's "any connection" between Obama's campaign donations from oil companies and him "taking so doggone long to get in there, to dive in there, and grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico."

Oil will threaten Florida's coral reefs

Obama's Weekly Address: Creates Spill Independent Commission

Pres. Obama announced the formation of a new bipartisan commission charged with investigating the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The seven-member commission, modeled after federal panels established after other disasters like the space shuttle Challenger accident, will have six months to come up with recommendations on how to avoid another spill. Amid criticism of how the administration has responded to the disaster and the practices of federal agencies that oversee drilling, Mr. Obama called for “a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how we regulate them.”

BP excluded from Obama task force

WASHINGTON -- An Obama administration task force formed this week to determine how much crude is surging into the Gulf of Mexico from a wrecked oil well includes an engineering professor who has told Congress he believes the spill is far larger than originally thought, but not a representative from BP, the oil company responsible for the spill. The move to keep BP from being a full member of the task force may be intended to provide credibility for the new estimate after nearly two weeks of open challenges to the official 5,000-barrel-a-day estimate. Experts who have studied videos of the spill pegged the amounts at many times that.

Miami Herald May 21, 2010

Do you know about Ixtoc I?

The largest accidental spill of all time was also in the Gulf of Mexico. IXTOC I, a two-mile deep exploratory well, leaked at an estimated rate of 10,000 to 30,000 barrels per day for almost ten months until it was capped in March 1980.

On June 3, 1979, the 2 mile deep exploratory well, IXTOC I, blew out in the Bahia de Campeche, 600 miles south of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The IXTOC I was being drilled by the SEDCO 135, a semi-submersible platform on lease to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). A loss of drilling mud circulation caused the blowout to occur. The oil and gas blowing out of the well ignited, causing the platform to catch fire. The burning platform collapsed into the wellhead area hindering any immediate attempts to control the blowout. PEMEX hired blowout control experts and other spill control experts including Red Adair, Martech International of Houston, and the Mexican diving company, Daivaz. The Martech response included 50 personnel on site, the remotely operated vehicle TREC, and the submersible Pioneer I. The TREC attempted to find a safe approach to the Blowout Preventer (BOP). The approach was complicated by poor visibility and debris on the seafloor including derrick wreckage and 3000 meters of drilling pipe. Divers were eventually able to reach and activate the BOP, but the pressure of the oil and gas caused the valves to begin rupturing. The BOP was reopened to prevent destroying it. Two relief wells were drilled to relieve pressure from the well to allow response personnel to cap it. Norwegian experts were contracted to bring in skimming equipment and containment booms, and to begin cleanup of the spilled oil. The IXTOC I well continued to spill oil at a rate of 10,000 - 30,000 barrels per day until it was finally capped on March 23, 1980.

Incident News: This .gov site has news, photos, and other information about selected oil spills.

Feds demand that BP provide confidential spill data

BP has yet to comply with federal requests to produce confidential internal data regarding the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Nor is it providing direct answers to an order that it use another, less toxic dispersant to mitigate the oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson wrote to BP Group Chief Executive Tony Haywood Thursday demanding that the company produce all data it has collected and plans to collect following the April 20 explosion that capsized the Deepwater Horizon.

The Christian Science Monitor
May 21, 2010

Engineering a solution to the oil spill

At BP's Houston offices, hundreds of scientists are at work on the Gulf spill. They have an unlimited budget, an international team of the sharpest minds in modern engineering — and they have no time.
Lately, engineers have rehearsed the "top kill," which will pump drilling fluid, or a rubbery mixture dubbed the "junk shot," or both, into the well. They have made dry runs on a blowout preventer elsewhere in Houston. In the command center, they've been "killing it on paper," Linegar said, going step by step through the process, game-planning for every possible problem. The stakes are high: Poorly executed, the top kill could blow the top of the blowout preventer and dramatically increase the oil spill's volume.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Oil Track May 21 2010: expanded no-fishing grounds

More Than Just an Oil Spill--NYT Editorial

The risks unleashed by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are profound — the latest to be set in motion by the scandalous, rapacious greed of the oil industry and its powerful allies and enablers in government. America is selling its soul for oil.
By Bob Herbert
New York Times May 21, 2010

Oil threatens French-speaking Cajuns, Choctaw

by Clement Sabourin Clement Sabourin – Thu May 20, 10:00 am ET

MONTEGUT, Louisiana (AFP) – The encroaching Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have sounded the death knell for the vanishing cultures of the last French-speaking Cajun communities and Louisiana native Americans.Here in the deep Louisiana south, the Cajun people and the French-speaking Choctaw Indians can do nothing but maintain an anxious vigil, angrily accusing US authorities of abandoning them to their fate.Since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed a huge oil leak in the Gulf, no barriers have been erected to protect their home on a speck of land off the Louisiana coast called Isle de Jean Charles.

http://news.yahoo.com

Oil coming ashore on gulf coast; Florida prepares

Wildlife officials predict widespread impact on birds, food web

Biologists and other wildlife experts said Friday that the Gulf of Mexico oil leak was an "unprecedented" event in terms of its potential impact on animals and habitats, and warned that the absence of oil-slicked birds in large numbers doesn't mean that the impact won't be severe.

"We have seen some wildlife that have been impacted -- oiled birds, for example," said Ralph Morganweck, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service senior scientist. "But no one should believe that because we haven't recovered thousands of oiled wildlife to date that the impact may not be widespread."

http://www.latimes.com/ May 21, 2010

Kevin Costner may hold key to oil spill cleanup

The " Kevin Costner solution" to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may actually work. Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995.
Costner bought the technology, which was originally developed with help from the Department of Energy, after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster and turned it over to a team of scientists and engineers for fine-tuning.
The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed. On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99% pure water."
http://www.latimes.com/

Republicans again oppose raising oil company liability for spill

For the past week Democrats have tried to raise the liability caps for oil spills only to be blocked by Republicans. The current limit on oil spill damages is $75 million. Democrats have proposed a bill which would raise that limit to $10 billion (many experts say the damages from this spill will actually be much more). However, in order for the bill to advance procedurally in the Senate it must have unanimous consent. Under arcane Senate rules just one Senator can delay the bill for days by simply raising an objection.

So far two Republicans have raised objections effectively preventing a raising of the liability cap. First was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) a few days ago followed by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) today. Both argued that raising the liability cap would somehow help companies like British Petroleum by pushing out small businesses who may want to drill.

Liberals argue that the Republican argument is absurd. First, BP and other companies have every interest in keeping the current low cap. If the cap remains they can effectively drill for oil and make huge profits while completely being able to push off the costs of a disaster to the government. In addition there are really no "mom and pop" companies trying to drill for oil, nor should there be. If we allow a company with only $10 million in capital to drill then the taxpayers will effectively be taking on the risks for any environmental damages which exceed $10 million. At the very least, any company should be forced to purchase insurance which would cover the potential costs from an environmental disaster. The only other alternative involves the taxpayer insuring those costs. It seems Republicans are opposed to bailouts except when they are for oil companies.

Manchester Examiner.com

Coast residents complain of health issues following spill disaster

The Gulf oil spill may now be causing health impacts to various Gulf Coast residents. Many residents near the spill, such as one person from Venice, Louisiana seen in the video below, are reporting headaches, nausea, coughing and throat irritation. These symptoms have been linked to oil spill disaster before, though it is hard to prove a direct link between any chemical and a medical symptom.

The impact on human health from this disaster could come from many sources including:

- Contamination of the water supply with diluted oil.

- Increased toxicity in the air due to oil that is either burned or evaporates. The burned and evaporated oil does not simply disappear, instead the chemicals are essentially diluted further into the air.

- A contamination of the food supply as the oil works its way up the food chain.

In addition, all of these potential dangers may be heightened by the use of chemical dispersants on the oil spill. BP is spraying the dispersants from the air and also using dispersants underwater at the source of the leak. Over 400,000 gallons of dispersants have already been used and over 500,000 more gallons are on order from BP. The dispersants are actually much more toxic than the oil, but they are still being used under the theory that the massive oil spill is the greater evil.

Oil From Spill Reaches Current

VENICE, La. — Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said Wednesday that sheets of heavy crude oil from the offshore spill had seeped deep into the delicate marshes around the mouth of the Mississippi River. He called on the federal government to approve a plan to build sand berms to protect the bayou country. “These are not tar balls, this is not sheen, this is heavy oil,” Mr. Jindal told reporters on a pier here, holding up a plastic bag full of sticky brownish liquid, after taking a helicopter and boat tour of the area. “What we are seeing yesterday and today is literally this heavy oil coming into our wetlands.”

NY Times May 20, 2010

Scientists Fault U.S. Response in Assessing Spill

Scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the magnitude of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean. They are especially concerned about problems that may be occurring from large plumes of oil droplets that appear to be spreading beneath the ocean surface. They point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean. And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well.

New York Times May 20, 2010

BP chief says oil leak impact 'very modest'

LONDON (AFP) –BP chief executive Tony Hayward said Tuesday the Gulf of Mexico leak will have only a "very modest" environmental impact, adding that its engineers are siphoning up twice as much oil as previously thought.
A tube inserted into the gushing leak "is estimated to be collecting and carrying about 2,000 barrels a day," said a BP statement. On Monday it had said 1,000 barrels a day, or 20 percent of the flow, was being retrieved.
Yahoo! May 18, 2010

After pipe insertion, is flow slowing?

Death Hook

A new image released by NASA today shows a massive column of oil extending out Southeast towards the open ocean. This column has not been visible in any satellite photos taken so far and will no doubt change the estimated extent of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
The Huffington Post May 19, 2010

Spill moves toward loop current

National Gepgraphic News May 18, 2010

Some oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is "increasingly likely" to be dragged into a strong current that hugs Florida's coasts, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said today.

But other experts say that the oil is already there—satellite images show oil caught up in one of the eddies, or powerful whorls, attached to the Loop Current, a high-speed stream that pulses north into the Gulf of Mexico and travels in a clockwise pattern toward Florida.

And you thought nuking the spill was a joke

Don't allow emotion to stifle oil-spill options

By JACKIE BUENO SOUSA, The Miami Herald

The term "nuclear option'' has become synonymous with a last-resort action in trying to solve a problem. When it comes to the Gulf oil spill, its meaning is quite literal.

Talk of using an underwater nuclear explosion to seal the oil well leaking from the ocean floor has been gathering momentum since news reports emerged recently that the Russians have used the tactic at least five times to seal off gas-well fires. Now the idea is being pushed by some U.S. observers as well.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/18/1636196/dont-allow-emotion-to-stifle-oil.html#ixzz0oNqbHJsq

Coast Guard: : oil in Keys not from spill--yet

Seafood testing from oil disaster could last years

The danger posed by the Gulf oil spill to the U.S. food supply is worse than previously thought, and could make testing of seafood necessary for decades to come, officials and scientists say.
Oil contains harmful chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that can cause cancer if ingested by humans in high concentrations, said LuAnn White of the Tulane University Center for Applied Environmental Public Health. However, she said monitoring efforts by the government and the seafood industry make the possibility of significant levels of toxic contamination "extremely unlikely … in anything that gets to market."
USA TODAY 5/18/2010

Scientists Escalate Warnings About Spill

Time Magazine May 19, 2010

Quote of the day

"Salazar took issue with any assertion that the administration had been slow to respond, noting that his top aide was rushed to the Gulf Coast the day after the April 20 rig explosion "without a change of underwear and without a toothbrush because of the urgency that we brought to this matter."

So who wants to talk about this thang, anyway?

The Obama administration is actively trying to dismiss media reports that vast plumes of oil lurk beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, unmeasured and uncharted.

But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose job it is to assess and track the damage being caused by the BP oil spill that began four weeks ago, is only monitoring what's visible -- the slick on the Gulf's surface -- and currently does not have a single research vessel taking measurements below.

What, No News??

Sure, if you look for it, you'll find this or that. Tar balls in the Florida Keys. Giant oil plumes beneath the seas. But there's really nothing new; everybody's just running scared: the government, the scientists, the oil companies. All trying to avoid the blame. That's too bad, because there's no one to blame--except me. I did it. I admit that I spilled the oil--all of it. So now that the blame problem's been resolved, can we come together and stop the spill?

Kate Hudson Talks Weight Gain, Spankings, Her Body's Imperfections

In the midst of all this oil doo-dah, finally, we have some reality:
Kate Hudson opens up about her body image in a new interview in UK's Telegraph, although she does not address her rumored breast implants. Kate also talks about being naked and spanked in her new film 'The Killer Inside Me."

Speaks for itself

The nearest Coast Guard base is Kodiak, more than 900 air miles away. Nearby coastal communities such as Point Hope are tiny and lack deep-water harbors and large airports. Cleanup assets are stationed at Prudhoe Bay, hundreds of miles away on Alaska’s north coast. Unlike at Prince William Sound, where more than 300 fishing boats are under contract to lay down boom if another supertanker hits a reef like the Exxon Valdez, there’s no one to call for local assistance. If a blowout occurred late in the summer, it could be impossible for another rig to arrive and drill a relief well before the water freezes, leaving a well to flow until it plugged itself or spill response vessels reached it the following summer, according to drilling opponents.”

Let's repeat that:
If a blowout occurred late in the summer, it could be impossible for another rig to arrive and drill a relief well before the water freezes, leaving a well to flow until it plugged itself or spill response vessels reached it the following summer, according to drilling opponents.”

New Fears About Shell Oil’s Arctic Drilling

According to a report by the Associated Press, native Alaskans and environmental groups are now pushing to stop Shell’s offshore drilling plans in the Arctic. The controversial federal Minerals Management Service agency already approved Shell’s drilling plans. And Shell oil is assuring Alaskans that they are prepared for a spill, and the company also insists that comparing its project to Deepwater Horizon is not justified.

Go Lenny! I mean for what it's worth.

"I'm just here to play some music and just assist these people in having a voice."



BBC

Plumes premature: more scientific study required

Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called media reports of large underwater oil plumes "premature," adding that research conducted by an academic ocean institute was inconclusive. "Media reports related to the research work conducted aboard the R/V Pelican included information that was misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate," Lubchenco said in a statement. She was referring to research, including water sampling, done by the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology

Dolphins view of "truth" was not considered

The New York Timesreported Friday that regulators allowed BP and other companies to drill in the gulf without obtaining the required permits concerning endangered species and waived environmental impact statements despite the protests of staff biologists and engineers. BP had claimed in its drilling plan that the odds of an oil spill were slight and that drilling would not have an adverse impact on endangered species.

This departure from standard procedure raises questions about the possibility of preferential treatment and what might have caused regulators to short-circuit their approval process. Moreover, the BP claim of a minimal threat to the environment now strikes some as a misleading assessment that regulators either accepted blindly or knew to be false and failed to challenge.

A criminal probe is an important next step in finding the truth because many questions are not likely to be fully answered until regulators and drilling executives are hauled into court – with more than civil penalties at stake. Americans deserve a full and appropriate accountability of those involved.

Isn't that what he's supposed to do?

Associate Director of the Offshore Energy and Minerals Management Program, Chris Oynes, "has been actively involved in how MMS conducts its resource projections and its environmental reviews, and the operational safeguards it imposes," according to the MMS website.

Oynes, who has held his current position since 2007, informed his staff via email that he will retire on May 31. Ironically, his own MMS webpage touts his prolific leasing abilities, "During his tenure in the GOM, Oynes conducted 30 lease sales and oversaw a 50 percent rise in oil production."

Paradise Lost

Here come the judge.

Is there a blackout of accurate news on the spill?

We're faced with a virtual blackout of truly accurate news on the event. Both the oil industry and the Obama administration are desperately trying to limit the videos, photos and stories about the spill, spinning everything to make it seem like it's not really much of a problem at all.

It's much like the media coverage of the War in Iraq, where all video footage had to be vetted by the Pentagon before being released to the public. Remember the uproar over the leaked photos of coffins draped in American flags? That's what the Obama administration no doubt hopes to avoid by suppressing photos of dead dolphins and sea birds in the Gulf of Mexico.

NaturalNews.com May 17, 2010

Legal battles brew in Gulf spill

Oil spill imperils an unseen world at the bottom of the gulf

This is the unseen world imperiled by the uncapped oil well a mile below the surface of the gulf. The millions of gallons of crude, and the introduction of chemicals to disperse it, have thrown this underwater ecosystem into chaos, and scientists have no answer to the question of how this unintended and uncontrolled experiment in marine biology and chemistry will ultimately play out.