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Author Topic: BP OIL SPILL  (Read 47357 times)
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trimmonthelake
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« Reply #40 on: June 10, 2010, 09:06:34 AM »

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10873470

Red Tape Vexes Gulf Residents Seeking BP Payments
As amount of oil collected at Gulf floor grows, so does frustration over BP claims process
 By BRIAN SKOLOFF and RAY HENRY Associated Press Writers
GRAND ISLE, La. June 10, 2010 (AP)
The reefs that David Walter makes for anglers to drop into the Gulf of Mexico   are fake, but his frustration as he tries to win compensation from BP for lost income is real.
State regulators stopped issuing permits for the reefs on May 4 because of the oil spill, effectively killing off $350,000 in Walter's expected business. It sent him into a labyrinth of archived invoices and documents lost by BP. Finally, an offer came: $5,000.

"I said that's not fair because if you say that, then I have to go out of business and I lose everything," said Walter, whose company is based in Alabama.

Fishermen, property owners and businesspeople who have filed damage claims with BP are angrily complaining of delays, excessive paperwork and skimpy payments that have put them on the verge of going under as the financial and environmental toll of the seven-week-old disaster grows.
Out in the Gulf, meanwhile, the oil company on Wednesday captured more of the crude that's been gushing from the bottom of the sea since April and began bringing in more heavy equipment to handle it.

The containment effort played out as BP stock continued to plunge amid fears that the company might be forced to suspend dividends and find itself overwhelmed by the cleanup costs, penalties, damage claims and lawsuits generated by the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
n a federal filing Thursday, the company said the cost of its response to the oil spill has grown to $1.43 billion.

BP tried to reassure investors before the London Stock Exchange opened Thursday, saying it was in a strong financial position and it saw no reason to justify the U.S. sell-off, and many analysts agree that the company can withstand the crisis.

Shares in BP plunged Thursday in early trading in London. The stock had dropped as much as 11 percent to a 13-year low at the opening as experts warned dividend payouts would likely be postponed. However, it recovered some ground by midmorning, trading 4.3 percent lower at $5.47, as analysts suggested the sell-off was overdone.

continued here...http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=10873470&page=2
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« Reply #41 on: June 10, 2010, 03:47:42 PM »

Today bring a really sad day for us here in Florida/Alabama.............after 3 days of no oil whatsoever, the oil has returned to the beach and far worse to the inland waters. Pensacola Bay has oil in it now and they are booming the mouth of the bay with containment booms which in reality are of no use except in extremely calm waters, and that definitely doesn't describe our winds. The oil simply goes over and under the booms and the inland waterways are so difficult to clean up as it creeps into marshes, estuaries etc., I would rather have it on the beach because that's the easiest to clean and is a natural barrier/boom to anything entering the inland waterways.
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« Reply #42 on: June 10, 2010, 10:10:04 PM »

I am livid right now........WTF is the administration right now and WTH haven't they implemented what is in the Oil Pollution Act and Clean Water Act???? Quit pointing fingers and DO YOUR F'ING JOB, Peeps in LA are losing not only their way of life, their jobs, their wetlands and marshes, and it will take decades to return for them, by then it will be too late:(


While an oil company is legally responsible to clean up a spill under the Oil Pollution Act and Clean Water Act,  if they fail or if the spill causes a substantial threat to the public or the environment, then the law appears to  mandate the President get involved in accordance with his National Contingency Plan for removal of the oil.

This federal authority was put in place when the OPA amended section 311 of the Clean Water Act to clarify the federal government’s authority and responsibility after an oil spill.   Before the OPA, the law sort of deferred clean-up efforts to the oil company who caused the spill.  But the OPA mandated the President take action to ensure “effective and immediate removal of a discharge, and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance.”

33 USC § 1321(c)(1)(A) provides:

The President shall, in accordance with the National Contingency Plan and any appropriate Area Contingency Plan, ensure effective and immediate removal of a discharge, and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil…

Section 1321(c)(1)(B) discusses specifically what the President may do to carry out the responsibility for an oil clean-up, providing in part:

In carrying out this paragraph, the President may–
         (i) remove or arrange for the removal of a discharge, and mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of a discharge, at any time;
         (ii) direct or monitor all Federal, State, and private actions to remove a discharge; and
         (iii) remove and, if necessary, destroy a vessel discharging, or threatening to discharge, by whatever means are available.

Furthermore, if the discharge of oil from an oil spill is determined to be a “substantial threat to public health or welfare,” then the President must take action to either remove it or mitigate it.  Section 1321(c)(2)(A) provides:

If a discharge, or a substantial threat of a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance from a vessel, offshore facility, or onshore facility is of such a size or character as to be a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States (including but not limited to fish, shellfish, wildlife, other the President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge.natural resources, and the public and private beaches and shorelines of the United States),
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« Reply #43 on: June 11, 2010, 11:57:28 AM »

http://blog.al.com/times-views/2010/06/editorial_on_oil_spill_trickle.html
EDITORIAL ON OIL SPILL: Trickle down oil economics
Published: Friday, June 11, 2010, 9:30 AM     Updated: Friday, June 11, 2010, 9:40 AM
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ The oil gushing from the blown well in the Gulf has triggered a tsunami of lawsuits from interests hurt financially by the destruction.

The latest potential plaintiffs: Alabama public schoolchildren.
State Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton announced Thursday that the spill's impact on Alabama's tourism and fishing industries is hurting tax collections, particularly sales, income and utility taxes that go toward public education.

So Morton plans to use economic experts to calculate monthly losses and send BP the bill. If the oil giant balks, Morton says he'll sue on behalf of the state's 745,000 public school students.

Under federal law, BP PLC is required to pay for a range of losses, including property damage and lost earnings. Unclear in that law, though, is how far the liability must stretch. BP already faces billions of dollars in bills for cleanup costs and compensation to fishermen and tourism businesses hurt by the spill.

Alabama is not alone in seeking financial relief for starved government coffers.

Local officials in the Florida panhandle are pushing for a special session of the Florida Legislature to recoup lost taxes.

Tax appraisers have been hired to calculate lost property tax revenues to local governments from properties devalued by lost tourism. The bill would give tax relief to affected property owners and the state would legally try to recoup that from BP.
The domino effect from the oil spill is a catastrophe of epic proportions.
The environmental impact is the most visible and perhaps the most emotional. Who wouldn't wince at oil-lathered waterfowl suffocating under the weight or of precious marshlands dying in the toxic stew of crude.

The financial toll, of course,  is much harder to calculate. And where would the legal liability end?

Could economic interests here, for instance, sue for lost business if some of those now unemployed Gulf fishermen cancel family trips to Huntsville?

Morton said Thursday a tax revenue slowdown was apparent in just weeks after the Deepwater Horizon offshore well explosion in April. When Orange Beach reported a 50 percent drop in tourism over Memorial Day weekend, Morton said concerns increased.

Alabama places an unusually high reliance on sales and income taxes for its state budgets.

So when commerce slows for whatever reason - the recession, the oil spill or a natural disaster that wipes out livelihoods - tax coffers suffer accordingly.

If Morton succeeds in getting BP to pay for lost education revenue, state services funded from the General Operating Budget might also have a case. Medicare? The Department of Public Safety? Public Health? The Department of Environmental Management?
Morton said Alabama's unique system of a separate budget for pubic education makes it possible to specifically track revenue losses.

Other states affected by the spill don't have separate education budgets, so proving loss of specific education revenue could be harder for them, Morton said.

But that's not going to keep them from trying. Everyone seems to be piling on and we understand the frustrations.

A challenge will be determining which losses are truly from the oil spill and which ones are part of a lawsuit-frenzy against a company with mighty deep pockets.

Put this one in the tank. State and federal courtrooms will keep busy over the oil spill for years to come.

By John Peck, for the editorial board. E-mail: john.peck@times.com
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« Reply #44 on: June 13, 2010, 09:18:11 AM »

I have not read the entire board - but did anyone here see anything about the Jones act?  http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/10/jones-act-slowing-oil-spill-cleanup/?test=latestnews
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« Reply #45 on: June 13, 2010, 11:10:05 AM »

I have not read the entire board - but did anyone here see anything about the Jones act?  http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/10/jones-act-slowing-oil-spill-cleanup/?test=latestnews

Hi TBM!! I have and know it can be waived as it was in Katrina. Every day this continues, people here and elsewhere I'm sure are getting more pizzed.
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« Reply #46 on: June 13, 2010, 09:24:11 PM »

Again we are blessed to have had another oilfree day........still only a matter of time before we are ankle deep in sludge as it looks like we are dead center in the eye of the trajectory:(
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« Reply #47 on: June 13, 2010, 09:49:58 PM »

I live in Pensacola. WEAR TV posted these photos of Orange Beach on their Facebook page today. I'm so mad over this whole thing!!






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« Reply #48 on: June 13, 2010, 10:14:40 PM »

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/plan_for_relief_well_aimed_at.html

Plan for relief well aimed at stopping Gulf oil spill has no specifics
Published: Sunday, June 13, 2010, 4:12 PM     Updated: Sunday, June 13, 2010, 4:13 PM
 The Associated Press
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View full size(AP Photo/Dave Martin)The Transocean Deepwater Discoverer drilling rig operates over the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, June 13, 2010. Oil continues to flow from the wellhead some 5,000 feet below the surface.
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Share NEW ORLEANS -- In the chaotic days after the oil rig explosion, BP engineers and federal regulators desperate to plug the blown-out well scrambled to complete plans for a pair of deepwater relief wells that represent the best chance to end the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


But BP didn't begin drilling the relief well until 12 days after the start of the disaster as the company and government rushed through environmental reviews, permits and other plans. The government does not require oil companies to have relief well plans in place ahead of time, and the lack of planning cost the company valuable time to get the spill under control.

And the plan ultimately approved by the government offers virtually no details outlining the relief well effort or what dangers might lurk in the depths as the company drills 18,000 feet below the surface -- the equivalent of 16 Eiffel Towers. Experts say the relief effort could be exposed to the same risks that caused the original well to blow out in catastrophic fashion, while potentially creating a worse spill if engineers were to accidentally damage the existing well or tear a hole in the undersea oil reservoir.

The gaps in the relief well process mirror other regulatory issues and oversights that have been exposed since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killed 11 workers and sent tens of millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf. The Associated Press earlier found that BP's voluminous spill plans for the Gulf and rig were riddled with omissions and glaring errors, leading to criticism that the company has essentially been making things up as it goes. Among the omissions were a lack of a clear plan for a relief well.

BP says the relief well has been a success and ahead of schedule, representing a welcome change for engineers who have been attempting one risky, untested maneuver after another. Relief wells are a more proven method in the industry, and engineers are comfortable and confident in the process.

Engineers plan to dig the well 18,000 feet below the surface and then drill sideways into the blown-out well and plug it with cement. Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production, said this week that more details would be released when the process nears completion in early August.

U.S. regulations are more lax than other countries when it comes to relief wells. In Canada, for example, energy companies must have plans and permits for relief wells before drilling is approved. These plans must describe exactly how engineers would drill a relief well if required to do so -- down to identifying the drilling vessel and spelling out how long it would take.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point-man in the response, has taken it a step further, suggesting that it might be worth requiring oil companies to drill relief wells in tandem with the main well. He said the idea "would be a legitimate point to be raised" and put in front of a commission investigating drilling regulations.

That would be a considerable expense to oil companies -- relief wells can cost $100 million.

In the Gulf disaster, BP officials put together relief well plans on the fly in the days after the explosion. BP submitted a relief well plan six days after the blowout. It began drilling the well on May 2 -- 12 days after the explosion. The British oil giant also started drilling a second relief well on May 16 under pressure from the White House.

To get permits for the relief wells, the company used similar wording from earlier papers and submitted them to the federal Minerals Management Service. The plans lacked specifics about how it planned to drill the wells or how long it would take.

But the company underscored the danger of such hasty planning when it noted that a mishap could lead to another blowout that could leak more oil into the ocean. The permits also discuss a worst-case scenario that would involve inadvertently puncturing the reservoir.

BP did not respond to repeated requests by The Associated Press for more information about their strategy and approach in drilling the wells.

"The plan on file mirrors what they were likely asked to do by MMS to get the approval -- it's a pretty voluminous document that doesn't have a lot of meat on it," said Eric Smith, associate director of the Entergy-Tulane Energy Institute. "It's a bunch of people pushed for time, but then they've got pages of material about possible Co2 emissions, animals and archaeology. There's really no details about the relief wells."

Some oil company executives told the AP that submitting a "template procedure" with scant details is often necessary because the plans can change often depending on the type of relief well needed.

U.S. Department of Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said the MMS "approved the relief wells in accordance with our regulations and requirements." She added that the agency has applied rigorous inspections and oversight of the entire relief well process, including having an inspector and engineer on site when BP conducted tests on the blowout preventers in the two wells.

"We applied additional testing and safety requirements to the drilling of the relief wells because the situation demanded both urgency but also precision and the highest level of oversight and safety. We weren't willing to let BP move forward with the relief wells without raising the bar for safety on those wells," she said.

Ira Leifer, a University of California, Santa Barbara researcher who is on the government team measuring the amount of oil spewing from the well, has raised questions about the safety of BP's efforts to stop and contain the leak, including the relief well.

He said the many unknowns about the flow rate and pressure and quantity of oil coming from the well make it difficult to "design and engineer safe oil recovery systems, such as the 'cap,' nor design and engineer ultimate solutions safely such as the relief wells."

The company and outside experts alike say the tried-and-true method will eventually work, but it's no simple task. Engineers must drill more than three miles beneath the surface and hit a target only a few inches across before pumping in drilling fluids to plug the breached well.

As with any deepsea drilling effort, there are risks -- including the potential for a blowout in the relief wells just like what happened in April. BP said in a filing that if a relief well were to blow out, each could spew 250,000 gallons more crude into the Gulf's waters each day -- and force engineers to try to plug a new, separate leak.

The relief wells drilled into the blown-out Ixtoc well in Mexico three decades ago took about three months to quell the gusher. Engineers in the current spill are confident they can pull it off by August, although some are skeptical.

"The petroleum engineers seem pretty cocky about that," Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental studies. "It just strikes me that there are so many unknowns. My guess is that it's going to take more than one try."

The digging is a trial-and-error process. As the drill plunges deeper through the Earth's crust, crews will probe the area with a high-tech metal detector to guide their way to the shaft. If they punch it too far, engineers will have to reverse and then plug the hole with cement. Experts say each miss could take days or longer to fix.

"In order to do this perfectly you'd have to know exactly where the original well is," said David Rensink, incoming president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "And unfortunately the directional data that goes into this is not perfect."

(This report was written by Greg Bluestein and Jason Dearen of The Associated Press.)

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« Reply #49 on: June 13, 2010, 10:18:04 PM »

I live in Pensacola. WEAR TV posted these photos of Orange Beach on their Facebook page today. I'm so mad over this whole thing!!








Hi Flmom47~I live on P-Cola beach and I'm mad as hell too!!!!!!!!! Mad at BP, the Adminstration and the list continues.....such a lack of urgency as we are now closing in on 8 weeks and the Jones Act has yet to be waived and no supertankers (which is a tried and true method of containment) are in the Gulf...........if they had been, it may have never hit the shores as it successfully contained 800 million gallons in the Persain Gulf, that begs the question WTF hasn't the coast guard brought them in???
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« Reply #50 on: June 13, 2010, 10:21:26 PM »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/13/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-obama

Obama heads to Gulf in hoping of exerting control over oil spill disasterAnger in Alabama over damage to tourism and presidential response locals compare to that after hurricane Katrina
   (8)Tweet this (18)Suzanne Goldenberg in Orange Beach guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 June 2010 22.09 BST Article history
Barack Obama survey damage along the Louisiana coastline. Photograph: Larry Downing/Reuters
 
Barack Obama flies into the Gulf tomorrow to try to take charge of an environmental disaster that is spreading beyond human control, with a stinking tide of oil from BP's ruptured well now advancing on the white sand beaches of Alabama and Florida.

Obama's visit is his fourth since the gusher began, but the first so far to Mississippi, Albama, and Florida, which are now joining Louisiana on the frontline of the spill. Several miles of Alabama's beaches were splattered with a thick sludge of oil at the weekend, with a slick now three or four miles off the Florida resort of Pensacola. Two barrier islands off Mississippi were also covered in oil. In Panama City, Florida, 190 miles from the ruptured well, a steel tank was discovered, oozing oil, that appeared to come from the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig.

Obama's two-day visit is the latest attempt by the White House to assert the president's mastery over the spill crisis – a difficult case to make given that BP and his administration admit the oil will continue to spew until at least August.

He also has a tricky task of balancing public pressure to get tough on BP with economic and diplomatic concerns. That task will be put to the test on his return from the Gulf with a television address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, and a meeting with BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, on Wednesday.

At Alabama's Orange Beach, at the western edge of a stretch of highrise hotels and condominiums that some call the Redneck Riviera, the oil was washing up in thick lumps faster than the hundreds of cleanup workers could shovel it up.

"This absolutely sucks," said Carolyn Kerin, coming off the beach with her three children. None were swimming. Two red flags were flying, indicating that swimmers would face fines and penalties – not that Kerin would let her children in the water anyway. "Ewww," she said.

Was she impressed with Obama's handling of the crisis so far? "I don't think he did everything he could do. I think he was way to slow to act like he was serious."

Further down the beach, opinion was divided. A man held up a sign for TV cameras reading: "We've been BPeed on." Overhead, a propeller plane flew a banner reading: "Look Obama 54 days and still nothing."

The summer holidays have just started here and normally the beaches would be a crush of umbrellas and tanned bodies, with traffic jams stretching for miles. But this weekend, the car parks were packed with pickup trucks and tractors from the cleanup crews.

The sands were mainly empty, barring the workers in their rubber boots and gloves shovelling up the clumps of oil that washed up to 3.5 metres (12ft) up the beach, and dumping the stuff in plastic rubbish bags. But the oil was landing ashore as fast as they could clean. A few workers admitted they had cleaned the exact same patch of sand earlier in the day.

"It is a liquid and it is very difficult to pick it up mechanically and pick it up physically," Alabama's governor, Bob Riley, told CBS television today. "We are trying to find something to coagulate it today so we can pick it up."

Others also had problems to attend to. At 3pm yesterday, Judy Robertson was so jittery, walking up to each new arrival to ask if they were with the wedding party she was organising. The event planner has had three brides cancel – and that was before any of the oil reached the beach.

Now she said she was expecting a wave of lost bookings. Looking down the beach at a tractor pulling bundled up bags, she said: "My grandkids are not going to know what a beach is if it continues like this. We are not going to be able to swim here. It's going to destroy our economy."

Robertson, like many of the people in this solidly Republican part of the country, was never a supporter of Obama. "To me he's not presidential material," she said.

Obama's earlier attempts to show his control over events, including the threat to "kick ass", may have made Robertson dislike him even more. "That's what teenagers say. It's not official. He talks like he's just some worker on a beach," she said.

Striking the right balance will be a difficult challenge for Obama during his visit. This was hostile territory even before the oil spill. On the ground a lot of people accuse their fellow Americans of rushing to New York's aid after 9/11 while ignoring hurricane Katrina and this latest tragedy to befall the Gulf. "It's like we are Haiti," said one popular US radio host.

BP is also less than willing to act as Obama's fall guy. As preparations got underway for the White House visit the oil company was moving to mollify local opinion, with BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, appearing in local TV adverts to offer a personal apology for the spill.

"The gulf spill is a tragedy that never should have happened," he said. "We will get this done. We will make it right."

The governors of Mississippi and Alabama want reassurances that Obama will continue to support offshore oil drilling, and are pressing him to end his six-month moratorium on new projects. Florida's governor, however, wants the president to introduce an outright ban.

But all three want assurances from Obama that BP will make good on its promise to pay for the spill cleanup and any economic losses. Such fears have heightened in recent days, with Louisiana's treasurer warning that BP could face bankruptcy.

The governors are also trying to stave off the collapse of their tourist industries. "Most of the experience of coming to the Gulf coast is still as great as it's ever been," Riley said. "Rent a condo, play golf."

Or take souvenirs of the spill. At Orange Beach, a few people came with cameras to take snaps of the sludge. Kevin Kaullen, an environmental engineer from near San Diego, California, arrived with battles to take samples of the water.

Otherwise the idea of helping Alabamans out by taking an eco-disaster holiday was not finding many takers, even among neighbouring Louisianans, who are going through their own economic pain owing to the spill.

On a local talk radio station, a host mused about how much of a discount on a condo it would take to make a beach holiday without an actual beach experience an attractive proposition. "A 40% discount?" he said. "I don't think I would go for 40%. It would have to be at least 60."
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« Reply #51 on: June 14, 2010, 09:12:45 AM »

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/oil_slick_in_mobile_bay_appear.html
Video: Oil slick in Mobile Bay appears several hundred acres large
Published: Monday, June 14, 2010, 5:00 AM     Updated: Sunday, June 13, 2010, 9:32 PM
Video  http://videos.al.com/mobile-press-register/2010/06/weathered_oil_near_gaillard_is.html

Pelicans dove on menhaden swimming in a huge oil slick dotted with globs of emulsified oil of all shapes and sizes Sunday morning in Mobile Bay. The slick appeared to be several hundred acres in size.
Also, an estimated 3-acre slick with a small amount of floating oil in it was seen just southeast of Little Sand Island, within two miles of the Causeway spanning the bay. The biggest globs of the floating oil were about the size of half a postage stamp.

The larger slick surrounded the south and east sides of Gaillard Island, home to one of the largest pelican rookeries on the Gulf Coast. At this time of the year, pelicans, terns and gulls are sitting on eggs on the island, and many young birds have already hatched.

Hand-sized blobs of oil are seen in Mobile Bay on June 13, 2010.

Crews worked diligently to repair broken 6-inch-diameter boom around the island, even as the slick and oil globs floated north on the incoming tide.

Reporters in a boat examined a mile of boom on the island's east side and did not spot any oil caught in the boom or on the rock-lined shore.

At one point, a tugboat towing a large barge north toward Mobile passed through thick patches of oil, while sending large waves washing over the boom.

The thickest part of the slick and greatest concentration of oil lay in and across the ship channel to the east-northeast of marker No. 64.

Despite the large volume of oil and the presence of several spotter boats, there was no apparent effort to skim or collect the globs seen floating on the bay's surface as of 2 p.m.

Two boats were seen skimming in sheen a mile west of the Fairhope Pier during a fly-over of the bay earlier Sunday morning.

BP PLC spokesman Justin Saia said from the Unified Command Center in Mobile that the Coast Guard had concentrated the four skimmers working Mobile Bay at Fort Morgan.

"The skimmers are working the entry point to the bay and are focused there to stop the oil from entering the bay," Saia said. "That's the Coast Guard's point of attack. They want to keep the oil out. That's not to say they won't move skimmers or deploy more of them if large quantities of oil are confirmed farther up the bay."

Saia said the Coast Guard scheduled a fly-over of the Gaillard Island area and the northern part of the bay for later Sunday afternoon.
With so much oil now in the bay, Alabama Marine Resources Director Vernon Minton said he has given up plans to open the state's shrimp season later this week.
 
(This report was written by Outdoors Editor Jeff Dute and Staff Reporter Ben Raines.)
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« Reply #52 on: June 14, 2010, 12:54:21 PM »

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100611/NEWS/100619951?p=1&tc=pg
University science team joins oil clean-up effort
Federal grant funding research
By Jason Morton Staff writer
Published: Friday, June 11, 2010 at 2:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, June 11, 2010 at 2:19 p.m.

( page 1 of 2 )

TUSCALOOSA | Fueled by a federal grant, scientists from the University of Alabama are researching a method to hasten the clean-up of coastal areas contaminated by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The research team is led by Behzad Mortazavi, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Patricia Sobecky, a professor and chair of UA’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Mortazavi said the aim of the year-long research program is to increase the rate at which organisms, in essence, “eat” the oil.

“We know that there are microbes in the ocean that can naturally degrade oil,” said Mortazavi, who is also director of the university’s master’s degree program in marine science. “What we’d like to do is speed up their metabolism to break down the oil.”

The team, working from UA’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab, is now collecting samples of water from the Gulf. Once that’s done, the researchers will test their methods in the lab, and the most effective microbes and organisms will then be tried in the field.

Mortazavi said the team is focusing on organisms found in the remains of dead fish and marsh vegetation.

“All of these are materials that already exist in the ocean, so we wouldn’t be introducing any new chemicals,” he said.
The research is being funded by the National Science Foundation’s Rapid Response Research program, which awarded the $125,000, one-year grant to UA earlier this month.

The program reviews and funds research proposals related to disasters and other unforeseen events for which a timely response is critical.
( page 2 of 2 )

TUSCALOOSA | Fueled by a federal grant, scientists from the University of Alabama are researching a method to hasten the clean-up of coastal areas contaminated by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Related Links:

    * Obama plans speech, victims’ fund for Gulf Coast
    * BP agrees to expedite payments to spill victims
    * Big flaws seen in BP response plans
    * Oil leak may be bigger than BP says
    * Red tape surrounds attempts to keep oil from river
    * More Stories

The research team is led by Behzad Mortazavi, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Patricia Sobecky, a professor and chair of UA’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Mortazavi said the aim of the year-long research program is to increase the rate at which organisms, in essence, “eat” the oil.

“We know that there are microbes in the ocean that can naturally degrade oil,” said Mortazavi, who is also director of the university’s master’s degree program in marine science. “What we’d like to do is speed up their metabolism to break down the oil.”

The team, working from UA’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab, is now collecting samples of water from the Gulf. Once that’s done, the researchers will test their methods in the lab, and the most effective microbes and organisms will then be tried in the field.

Mortazavi said the team is focusing on organisms found in the remains of dead fish and marsh vegetation.

“All of these are materials that already exist in the ocean, so we wouldn’t be introducing any new chemicals,” he said.

The research is being funded by the National Science Foundation’s Rapid Response Research program, which awarded the $125,000, one-year grant to UA earlier this month.

The program reviews and funds research proposals related to disasters and other unforeseen events for which a timely response is critical.

According to the NSF, the Rapid Response program has funded research on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other events. Earlier this year, the program awarded grants for research on the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and other awards are being made related to the Gulf oil spill, which began with the explosion and collapse of a deepwater oil drilling platform on April 20.

In the weeks since, thousands of gallons of crude oil have washed ashore, contaminating beaches and wetlands along the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle.

Mortazavi said these areas will be the targets of the research team’s findings. From there, the researchers will look for other areas that can use the newfound knowledge.

“Our shores are going to get impacted, and marshes act as a nursery for many marine organisms,” Mortazavi said. “They’ll be highly susceptible to oil contamination.”

Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.
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« Reply #53 on: June 14, 2010, 08:42:45 PM »

http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/14/4509459-us-explores-foreign-assistance-in-gulf
U.S. explores foreign assistance in gulf 2hrs ago
UPDATE: The State Department has just issued a statement adding to what it said about seeking foreign assistance in the gulf cleanup. The new statement acknowledges that the United States has already accepted foreign assistance with equipment from 17 countries and four international agencies, among them skimmers, booms and other equipment from Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada.

The State Department is now involved in the gulf oil spill cleanup, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

In written responses to questions raised earlier in the day, the State Department acknowledged that it has sought information about possible foreign assistance in getting more booms to contain the spill and high-speed skimmers from foreign governments.

In particular, the State Department has asked foreign governments and the European Union about the availability of 18- to 24-inch containment booms and fire booms. So far, it has not issued a formal request, however.

The State Department said the United States would pay for whatever foreign assistance it received.

Following is the State Department response:
• The Department of State has sought information about possible sources of supply and equipment. We have not issued an appeal for assistance.

• The National Incident Command (NIC), headed by the U.S. Coast Guard, is working with the Department of State to support the Unified Area Command (UAC) as it sources equipment, supplies and expertise.

• Department of State assists in this effort to source equipment, supplies and services from foreign governments and international bodies in three ways: 1) receiving offers of assistance, forwarding these offers to the UAC through the NIC, and communicating with those governments and bodies about their offers; 2) reaching out through our posts abroad to locate potential sources of critical supplies and equipment; and 3) supporting BP's international sourcing through our diplomatic and consular functions, such as reaching out to relevant ministries and expediting visa processing.
The Unified Area Command has identified a need to locate sources of 18-24" containment boom and fire boom. On June 10, the Department of State requested information from foreign governments and international bodies, including the EU nations, about possible sources of this equipment and supply. We have begun to receive information and inquiries from governments and private companies worldwide and have shared that with the Unified Area Command. We are also in the process of contacting foreign governments and international bodies to identify possible sources of high speed, high capacity off-shore skimmers.

• With few exceptions, these international offers of assistance are made on a reimbursable basis, which means that the assistance is provided only if paid for by the recipient.
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~ Peter Frampton
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« Reply #54 on: June 14, 2010, 11:10:22 PM »

i feel for all that are on the coasts of the gulf of mexico. i just wish i could
do more than just donate info to the effort, i lived in tampa for 11yr, and im quite
fond of the west coast of fl, i spent a lot of leisurely hrs day sailing the coast.
i met several people that make their living from the coast, the thought that, could be lost is saddening. i wish and hope everyday, that the BP FLOW, does not wreck the
the lives and livelihoods of the gulf coast peoples

http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/14/4509459-us-explores-foreign-assistance-in-gulf

• With few exceptions, these international offers of assistance are made on a reimbursable basis, which means that the assistance is provided only if paid for by the recipient.
time to do it and BP should be footing the bill
=======================================
whats really happening in the gulf, look at the taxes lost if our gov moves
in haste, it appears to be all about the $$$$$$$$

How Much of the Gulf is Leased?
By Michael Mechanic
 Thu Jun. 10, 2010 2:34 PM PDT
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/bp-gulf-oil-lease-map

A BoingBoing commenter on my "Who Really Owns the Gulf of Mexico" post points out that there are plenty of non-leased cells in the map highlighted in that piece, and suggests that people check out the following map, too. This is just a detail; you can download the larger version here. But I think it just further underscores the notion of a corporate feeding frenzy around our Gulf resources. The leased areas are denoted in green. There are 6,652 of them, covering 35,637,392 acres--more than 22 percent of the leaseable Gulf.

larger version
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/mau_gom_pa.pdf

Gulf under lease, big map
http://www.offshore-mag.com/etc/medialib/platform-7/offshore/maps-and_posters.Par.36859.File.dat/0110%20GOM%20OS%20Map-ADs.pdf

Who Really Owns the Gulf of Mexico?
By Michael Mechanic
| Tue Jun. 8, 2010 12:34 PM PDT
Here's another map that shows more clearly the proportion of the Gulf under lease
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/who-owns-gulf-BP-spill-oil-leases
==================================================
and they are not going to stop, here is how the gulf of mexico is veiwed by oil co.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-03-19/news/17287453_1_oil-boom-crude-oil-drilling-ship
snipped
"Let 'er rip," he said.

The Gulf of Mexico is in the midst of an oil boom.

Oil companies flush with the largest profits in their corporate lives -- $36.1 billion for Exxon Mobil last year, $14.1 billion for Chevron -- are spending billions to hunt for crude oil and drill more wells in the gulf, even as they struggle to repair what the hurricanes smashed.

In the search for oil, they are pushing to the edge of what is possible, exploring ever farther from shore and drilling deeper than before. Technological improvements let the oil companies bore wells 30,000 feet down. And with crude oil prices doubling in the last three years, projects that didn't make financial sense in the past now do.

The companies need the oil. Asia's hard-charging economies have strained supplies, and worldwide production has struggled to keep up. In most of the United States, including Alaska, oil production has dwindled for years.

But it has surged in the gulf, rising roughly 70 percent in the last decade. In 2004, the last year for which complete government statistics are available, the gulf produced about 531.9 million barrels of oil compared with 313.8 million 10 years earlier. In 2003, before Hurricane Ivan damaged rigs and undersea pipelines, production was even higher, 569.1 million barrels.

The gulf produces more than any other oil patch in the nation, even though its 4.1 billion barrels of proven reserves rank behind those in Alaska and Texas. And, compared with Saudi Arabia's 261.9 billion barrels in reserves, it's a mere pittance.

Still, if federal projections hold true, the gulf could pump enough crude in the next two or three years to raise America's overall production figures, even as other fields decline.

"We haven't gone up in decades," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy research fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. "It's very important, not only to the companies but to the United States."

The companies know they are building multibillion-dollar projects in a sea prone to violent hurricanes. They are willing to take that risk. Despite the storms, the gulf is a far friendlier environment than many of the places where they work.

No armed insurgents roam the waters, kidnapping oil workers as they do in Nigeria. No populist president wants to hike the companies' taxes, as happened in Venezuela. OPEC doesn't control the gulf.

Chevron already owns or co-owns more than 3,000 oil and natural gas wells in the gulf. They account for roughly 8 percent of the company's worldwide production. The gulf will play a key part in the company's plan, announced earlier this month, to boost production 3 percent per year.

"We still feel there's a tremendous amount of resources to be found," said Scott Davis, Chevron's general manager of capital projects in the gulf.

The federal government may let the companies avoid paying some $7 billion in royalties on oil pumped from deepwater gulf wells in the next five years, although that arrangement has come under fire in Congress (see sidebar). And most states along the gulf welcome offshore drilling in a way that California emphatically does not.

Florida has resisted offshore drilling, but President Bush is pushing to open some of those waters for exploration.

The result: Oil companies are ramping up in the gulf, even as they brace for the next hurricane season, three months away.

"Where else are they going to go?" said analyst Jeb Armstrong with Argus Research. "This is the place that's open to them."
===================================================
Country Comparison :: Oil - consumption
This entry is the total oil consumed in barrels per day (bbl/day). The discrepancy between the amount of oil produced and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery gains, and other complicating factors.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html
 

 Offshore mag online
http://www.offshore-mag.com/index.html
http://www.offshore-mag.com/index/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-2010.html






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goodmorn,goodnite, got to go, as always its been wonderful, talking with you, and most of all have a great day, and dont forget to smile
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« Reply #55 on: June 14, 2010, 11:27:37 PM »

Here is the news story about the photos I took today when I drove home:

http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_vid_8961.shtml

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PENSACOLA - President Barack Obama is scheduled to make stops in Pensacola and Pensacola Beach tomorrow. But tonight, the anger towards BP is growing. Channel Three's Liz Nagy continues our team coverage live from Pensacola Beach.

The sign posted here outside Key Sailing says it all. "Help us now." Everyone that drives onto Santa Rosa Island can see this, and they're hoping the President is one of them. This is one of at least five signs posted outside businesses here on the beach asking the President to waive legislation called "The Jones Act".

Business owners say the Jones Act keeps foreign vessels from coming to US waters and taking work from American boats. But today, during a visit to Pensacola, Senator Bill Nelson said that the Jones Act doesn't apply in times of emergency. Either way business owners on Pensacola Beach want President Obama to step in, demand more action and answers out of BP, and get money moving back into the Panhandle's economy.

"They are stealing our lifestyle, the livelihood of everyone here on the Gulf Coast, destroying out ecosystem, and not doing enough to clean it up. There's a lot that needs to be done, but it doesn't seem like we can do anything. Our hands are tied behind our back."

Levin Papantonio Law Firm also flew a banner over Pensacola beach today saying "Prosecute BP"

 One business' sign is inviting Mr. Obama in for a beer to talk about the oil spill. Tonight at ten, what these business owners say they need to hear from the President for his visit to be a game changer. Reporting live from Pensacola Beach, Liz Nagy, Channel Three News.
Signs for the President



LMAO.......they don't even call him Prez down here !!
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« Reply #56 on: June 15, 2010, 11:48:55 AM »

After shutting down all major routes into and off the Island and thru Gulf Breeze, and Pensacola O spent maybe 40 minutes at the Beach........curious why there are no pic's with ANYONE mingling with O except Crist, and Thad Allen??? Odd, oh snap he's in hardcore conservative area I forgot!!!










Then pics from the meetings the day before in MS, AL....







More at this link: http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DP&Dato=20100615&Kategori=NEWS10&Lopenr=6150801&Ref=PH_blank

Finally a family on the beach with signs for O.........granted I'm sure they weren't able to get any closer than 500 yds of him.





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islandmonkey
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« Reply #57 on: June 15, 2010, 11:51:24 AM »

Forgot one............this shows how far back the people are????

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« Reply #58 on: June 15, 2010, 12:20:44 PM »

I haven't been following on this thread but will go back as time permits today and read.  Watching on TV, too devastating day in and day out and nothing being done.

I was extremely gratified yesterday to see Obama served lunch outside in the heat.  We had a heat index of over 105, lol.  He is so miserable from the heat and he has to be feeling the "love" from the locals as well.

.
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All posts reflect my opinion only and are not shared by all forum members nor intended as statement of facts.  I am doing the best I can with the information available.

Murder & Crime on Aruba Summary http://tinyurl.com/2nus7c
islandmonkey
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« Reply #59 on: June 15, 2010, 12:27:25 PM »

I haven't been following on this thread but will go back as time permits today and read.  Watching on TV, too devastating day in and day out and nothing being done.

I was extremely gratified yesterday to see Obama served lunch outside in the heat.  We had a heat index of over 105, lol.  He is so miserable from the heat and he has to be feeling the "love" from the locals as well.

.
I saw that yesterday, but he arrived around 9ish at the Island this morning and didn't stay long, LOL about feeling the "love", no love for him in this area, ZERO, ZIP, NADA unless they imported the love from inland:)
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