B.P.'s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Thread (it's all here).....

[Mowich]

Came across this article in the New York Times this morning and it rang so true, I decided to share it.

An Unnatural Disaster
By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 28, 2010

"The U.S. will never get its act together until we develop the courage and the will to crack down hard on these giant corporations. They need to be tamed, closely monitored and regulated, and constrained in ways that no longer allow them to trample the best interests of the American people.

Mr. Hayward of BP was on television on Friday referring to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent fouling of the Gulf of Mexico as a “natural disaster.” He was wrong, as usual. Like the unholy alliance of government and big business, this tragedy set in motion by Mr. Hayward’s corporation is a grotesquely harmful and wholly unnatural disaster. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/opinion/29herbert.html?th&emc=th

 

[Avro]

Drill baby drill!:roll:

 

[MHz]

At least there still pumping. What are you thinking . That money will disappear into the goverment coffers never to be seen again, at least for cleaning up the environment.

Excellent idea, pump money into the pipe and let inflation take care of the rest.

From some report I read the plug partial worked but the flow is too fast for the amount of mud they can pump in. Nor have I heard much about the possibility that this leak they are 'fixing' is not the 'largest leak'

Came across this article in the New York Times this morning and it rang so true, I decided to share it.

An Unnatural Disaster
By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 28, 2010

"The U.S. will never get its act together until we develop the courage and the will to crack down hard on these giant corporations. They need to be tamed, closely monitored and regulated, and constrained in ways that no longer allow them to trample the best interests of the American people.

Mr. Hayward of BP was on television on Friday referring to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent fouling of the Gulf of Mexico as a “natural disaster.” He was wrong, as usual. Like the unholy alliance of government and big business, this tragedy set in motion by Mr. Hayward’s corporation is a grotesquely harmful and wholly unnatural disaster. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/opinion/29herbert.html?th&emc=th

The Corporations were under more control at the beginning of the 20th century than they were at the end. The 'citizens' will pay the worst price possible for allowing themselves to be deceived. Tough luck hasn't even started. lol

 

[L Gilbert]

Holy crap! What oil spill? Is this the same oil spill that a dozen other threads are discussing?

 

[TenPenny]

Holy crap! What oil spill? Is this the same oil spill that a dozen other threads are discussing?

No, I think this one is about the spill in BC at the refinery...

 

[JLM]

Nothing we fine them will replaced the wildlife they have destroyed, but 10-20 billion would be a good start.

Yeah, I think this is pretty well the end of the world as we know it for probably hundreds of years to come. I always predicted it would be man's greed that would do us in.

 

[captain morgan]

I guess that the solution is pretty clear. Ban oil entirely. In fact, we out to ban nuclear to avoid the Chernobyls & 3-Mile Islands, we'll ban chemical manufacturing to avoid Bhopal style disasters. Coal is pretty dirty, so we ought to ban that.

hell, there's so much angst and violence in the world, we ought to bad bad feelings.

 

[Tonington]

I guess that the solution is pretty clear. Ban oil entirely.

Clearly not. The solution is similar to what the US financial system needs. Industry self-regulation is a bad idea. When you tell regulators that a blowout accident couldn't possibly happen, and they believe you, why would anyone be surprised that the diligence to make sure it doesn't happen is absent?

 

[L Gilbert]

No, I think this one is about the spill in BC at the refinery...

Right. I didn't know Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico was in BC.

Reporting from Houma, La.
Engineers have succeeded in stopping the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil spill commander, Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.

The so-called "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers in Houston, has pumped enough drilling fluid to block all oil and gas from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well is very low, but persistent, he said.

 

[Curiosity]

Re: Did Bush neglect strict laws on oil drilling due to favouritism?

Captain Morgan

Thanks for your reply to my earlier question.

I think the State has much to say - at least in California - off the beach areas - even closer than the far off rigs are drilling - the oil seepage lands on the beach intself (I've ruined many bathing suits on the dang stuff)....and after storms you
can see black plops all over the sand....it also gets the sea life regularly. Very sad
and California refuses to let any company contain that seepage becaused it would
spoil the "vista"..... like the black splotchy beaches I guess..... some vista....

I hope one day the world will find transportation less needy for oil than we are now.
The auto was a great invention for mankind but in many ways it has spoiled our living conditions too.

Someone said yesterday over the radio that oil mining on land is far safer for the environment than the undersea because of the lack of control and I guess Louisiana
is proof positive.

Poor Bobby Jindal - I adore the man but he has had two horrors thrown at him during his governorship....I'd vote for him as President if he ever chose to move north....very few guys could handle what he has been given.

 

[TenPenny]

Re: Did Bush neglect strict laws on oil drilling due to favouritism?

Makes sense. Must be the same for provinces.

I believe that in Canada, onshore oil is totally provincial, offshore is federal, which is what the issue with NL is.

 

[ironsides]

Brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=42E2fAWM6rA

 

[Avro]

Interesting that you would find that brilliant.

 

[ironsides]

Re: Did Bush neglect strict laws on oil drilling due to favouritism?


Wonder if this is still a go?

MONTREAL - Chevron Canada has begun drilling the country's deepest offshore oil well, as the firm sought to soothe fears over a repeat of the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.

The exploratory well in the North Atlantic, a prospect known as Lona 0-55, is set to establish a new record in Canada with water depth at 2,600 meters (8,530 feet), Chevron said. The Stena Carron drill ship is sinking the well.
http://www.canada.com/life/parentin...da+deepest+well/3013186/story.html?id=3013186

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Re: Did Bush neglect strict laws on oil drilling due to favouritism?

Not lost at all.... History has been made and it won't shine to favorably on the sitting government.

That remains to be seen. No doubt Republicans tried and convicted Obama of treason the day the spill occurred. And no doubt many Republicans agree with Limbaugh that Obama caused the spill to happen and wants it to do the maximum possible damage, so that he will be able to ban offshore drilling.

So yes, as far as Republicans are concerned, Obama is already convicted of treason. It remains to be seen how American people view the matter. The jury is still out.

 

[lone wolf]

Re: Did Bush neglect strict laws on oil drilling due to favouritism?

I suppose if one can find someone upon whom to heap the blame, one's little world is fine indeed.

 

[Stretch]

Re: US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

man may have shot himself in the foot this time........................

Is It Raining Oil In Florida? This Is Just The Beginning

By: Saladin
Tags:

• CURRENT EVENTS

Oil is semi-volatile, which means that it can evaporate into the air and create a heavy vapor that stays near the ground -- in the human breathing zone. When winds whip up oily sea water, the spray contains tiny droplets -- basically a fume -- of oil, which are small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs. We know that's happening in the Gulf Coast, because people are reporting a heavy oily smell in the air. Already my colleagues in Louisiana are reporting that people in the coastal community of Venice, Louisiana are suffering from nausea, vomiting, headaches, and difficulty breathing.
The following eyewitness account came to our attention yesterday:

 

[JLM]

Re: US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

How big is this "hole". At the risk of sounding ignorant, I'm going to ask why they just can't drop a huge cast iron "lid" over it?

 

[L Gilbert]

Re: US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

How big is this "hole". At the risk of sounding ignorant, I'm going to ask why they just can't drop a huge cast iron "lid" over it?

That would be extremely temporary. It would last until the oil oozed out throught the uneven parts of the pipe and wormed its way out from under your lid.
As Anna posted a while back, I am pretty sure that sending a balloon down inside the pipe and inflating it with seawater would work like a charm. Think about it: push on the end of an inflated balloon and watch what happens to the sides of the balloon. The more the oil pushes on the end of the balloon in the pipe, the more the balloon's sides want to expand but the pipe restricts it from doing that.
We use balloons in the fire dept. for a variety of things like expanding crushed car parts to make space when portapowers (jaws of life) couldn't access them. We also use them to lift heavy objects from lake beds. So they are built from pretty tough materials.
The toughest thing to this would be connecting a mile of decent strength waterhose together and figuring out how much pressure is needed to inflate the balloon and keep it in place.
When everything's ready they could dive again with a cap and cap the pipe at their leisure.

 

[JLM]

Re: US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

That would be extremely temporary. It would last until the oil oozed out throught the uneven parts of the pipe and wormed its way out from under your lid.
As Anna posted a while back, I am pretty sure that sending a balloon down inside the pipe and inflating it with seawater would work like a charm. Think about it: push on the end of an inflated balloon and watch what happens to the sides of the balloon. The more the oil pushes on the end of the balloon in the pipe, the more the balloon's sides want to expand but the pipe restricts it from doing that.
We use balloons in the fire dept. for a variety of things like expanding crushed car parts to make space when portapowers (jaws of life) couldn't access them. We also use them to lift heavy objects from lake beds. So they are built from pretty tough materials.
The toughest thing to this would be connecting a mile of decent strength waterhose together and figuring out how much pressure is needed to inflate the balloon and keep it in place.
When everything's ready they could dive again with a cap and cap the pipe at their leisure.

Thanks, Les. I was afraid it might be a stupid question but it's been gnawing away at me. :lol::lol::lol: