Bp Oil Spill Comment

[Catt]

Yelp, Katrana, Rita, & Gustav were only thunderstorms when they hit this area

Hurricane Gustav reached the Louisiana coast on the morning of September 1, making landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana (see rainfall map); however, at 9 a.m. wind speed at Grand Isle had been 115 mph (185 km/h), the highest eyewall speed, indicating the eyewall had traveled over 4 hours along the coast. The center of the storm continued northwest across the state, so damage and deaths were widespread in many areas.

48 deaths in the state of Louisiana were blamed on Hurricane Gustav. Five were due to falling trees, two due to a tornado and the rest were indirect deaths.

Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005.[1] Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

On August 29, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana with 125 mph (205 km/h) winds, as a strong Category 3 storm. However, as it had only just weakened from Category 4 strength and the radius of maximum winds was large, it is possible that sustained winds of Category 4 strength briefly impacted extreme southeastern Louisiana. Although the storm surge to the east of the path of the eye in Mississippi was higher, a very significant surge affected the Louisiana coast. The height of the surge is uncertain because of a lack of data, although a tide gauge in Plaquemines Parish indicated a storm tide in excess of 14 feet (4.3 m) and a 12-foot (3 m) storm surge was recorded in Grand Isle. Damage $81.2 billion (2005 USD) $90.1 billion (2010 USD)

MANY OF THE HOMES ALONG THE GULF COAST STILL HAVEN'T BEEN REBUILT

"Which is my theory of why nobody helping them and only "boycotting" BP"

Are you kidding me? There are no BP stations in this part of Louisiana.

[Root beer]

"Which is my theory of why nobody helping them and only "boycotting" BP"

Are you kidding me? There are no BP stations in this part of Louisiana.

Uh, the donation money would have came from rest of country. So, instead of donating money to gulf coast, they are just boycotting BP.

I'm sure the entire gulf coast was stunned that people were quick to help Haiti than they was to help New Orleans and surrounding communities..

[Catt]

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Emergency officials assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Rita in Cameron Parish said 100% of the homes there have been damaged and 80% are gone completely, Fox News reported Monday. 09/26/2005 02:59PM

Katrina left New Orleans with some thing to rebuild...Rita left the town of Cameron nothing to rebuild but a will to survive.

[Hookemdown.]

The classic "my disaster was worse than your disaster" game. 

[Dan:]

Yeah, I'm curious how this got so completely shifted to hurricanes.

[South FLA]

Wake up PEOPLE!

Imagine if this would have happened to a smaller market capped company such as ConocoPhillips,  where would we be then?  They operate oil platforms in the Gulf and I am sure an "accident" could have just as easily happened to them or any other oil rig operator.  The irony is that we should be thankful that it happened to a much larger capitalized public company, if not we would be as tax payers would be footing the bill immediately and our ill prepared government would have been trying to handle the situation.

Also, what percentage of industry is the OIL companies worth to the region. To add insult to injury wait until the backlash is so strong that the oil industry pulls out of the Gulf due to reactionary Government mandates and its economic impact in the Gulf states.  This is a disaster that reaches far beyond the environment.

[Catt]

Yeah, I'm curious how this got so completely shifted to hurricanes.

Everyone whined about New Orleans while this area was hit worse than New Orleans by hurricanes & now an oil spill.

Again is say!

Where are the T.V. benefits with celebrities and musicians giving heart felt speeches on the poor fisherman, wildlife, beaches, loss of income and sabotaged gulf economy?

I find it rather strange how these people (including our own government) are so quick to help New Orleans, Haiti and other countries...but sit on their butt for this one.

[K_Mac]

Catt no thinking person would suggest the loss of life, property, and the economic devastation caused by the major hurricanes you mention were not tragic, causing incredible hardship to the people of the region. I believe individually, and collectively as a nation, we have a responsibility to help when disaster strikes. I also believe politics, prejudice, and personal agendas often get in the way of effectively providing that help.

There is a major difference in the current disaster in the gulf and the others mentioned. This one is man made. The argument can be made that global climate changes, causing more severe weather patterns are man-made, but the bottom line is hurricanes happen. They have always happened and coastal areas will always be vulnerable. I am not saying we should not help and support these areas when hurricanes happen. We have a humanitarian responsibility to do this, and the cultural and economic diversity of this region makes it an essential part of our national fabric. What I am saying is this disaster is not natural. Maybe it is an inevitable consequence of our unquenchable thirst for oil, but the impact is horrifying. The Earth has amazing ability to heal itself, but we have the technology to destroy it. That is a frightening thought.

[Dan:]

I would think the difference is that the aforementioned disasters are more visual and they more directly impacted people in significant ways. Bodies floating on Bourbon St. is a stronger image than an oil slick off an impersonal coastline. Plus, those other disasters were sudden and caused a greater body count.

[Siebert Outdoors]

did you guys read there is another leaking rig not far from the one that blew.

[Catt]

K_Mac & Dan, the problem is radical "environmentalist" will use this as a reason not to drill any where while not understanding they are the reason for this disaster. Had this well been in water 1,500 foot deep or less it would have been capped and clean up with zero impact to the environment.

[Catt]

did you guys read there is another leaking rig not far from the one that blew.

Do y'all know how much oil enters every body of water through natural seepage?

[Dan:]

K_Mac & Dan, the problem is radical "environmentalist" will use this as a reason not to drill any where while not understanding they are the reason for this disaster. Had this well been in water 1,500 foot deep or less it would have been capped and clean up with zero impact to the environment.

I thought the problem was that people aren't jumping to aid in this crisis as they did with Katrina?

[Siebert Outdoors]

K_Mac & Dan, the problem is radical "environmentalist" will use this as a reason not to drill any where while not understanding they are the reason for this disaster. Had this well been in water 1,500 foot deep or less it would have been capped and clean up with zero impact to the environment.

I agree with that.  Its alot easier to cap at less then 1500ft then 5k ft. 

[tyrius.]

did you guys read there is another leaking rig not far from the one that blew.

Do y'all know how much oil enters every body of water through natural seepage?

Not enough to create a 10 mile long oil slick that requires dispersents to be applied to it.

[tyrius.]

K_Mac & Dan, the problem is radical "environmentalist" will use this as a reason not to drill any where while not understanding they are the reason for this disaster. Had this well been in water 1,500 foot deep or less it would have been capped and clean up with zero impact to the environment.

I agree with that. Its alot easier to cap at less then 1500ft then 5k ft.

Is it?  They'd still be using ROV's as 1500 feet is an INCREDIBLY deep dive for a person.

[K_Mac]

Catt while I agree with you that,  radical environmentalists share some of the blame for this, they are certainly not the only ones a fault. BP and Transocean took the risk of drilling 5000' below the surface. They knew the risks, whether they admit it or not. They made a business decision based on risk/reward, and decided the potential profit justified the risks. They then increased the risk of disaster by cutting corners to increase profits. The governmental agencies responsible for oversight of this industry are guilty of being asleep at the switch at best. They may be guilty of being asleep in the beds of the industry they were charged with overseeing. Politicians on both sides of the isle have done everything possible to distance themselves from this, but are not without guilt. Ultimately, We the people share some of the responsibility IMHO. Our addiction to cheap oil has caused us to pay more attention to feeding the beast than to our principles and planet. Saying this does not make me a radical environmentalist. I own a pick up and an SUV and waste as much energy as the next guy. I'm just saying there is plenty of blame to go around.

[1inStripes]

K_Mac & Dan, the problem is radical "environmentalist" will use this as a reason not to drill any where while not understanding they are the reason for this disaster. Had this well been in water 1,500 foot deep or less it would have been capped and clean up with zero impact to the environment.

I agree with that. Its alot easier to cap at less then 1500ft then 5k ft.

Is it? They'd still be using ROV's as 1500 feet is an INCREDIBLY deep dive for a person.

Of course it is.  Its a lot warmer temperature and first fix that was attempted would have had a high percentage of working due to no problems with ice crystals and etc.  Also, theres a lot higher likelihood that the mud attempted to plug it would have worked as well.

[Glenn]

re: the help

From what I understand, something like 20,000 national guard troops have been offered to provide cleanup help by the gov't, but the thought is to hire folks to do it instead, apparently in an effort get people earning a paycheck again in an area hit particularly hard by unemployment.  Hence the so-called "lack" of immediate help.

I saw this briefly on the national news, but didn't catch who was making that call. 

I don't know whether or not I agree with it.  I don't know enough about the benefits of an early response, or if it would even make a difference.  But let's say there was.  I still don't know if it's enough to outweigh a slight delay in order to hire a workforce of 20,000+ people who would otherwise struggle to put supper on the table.

I guess my point is this:  We may want to view things as black and white on this, but the reality is that there's a myriad of pieces in play here, making this a complex and complicated situation.  Something that requires answers well beyond simple armchair quarterbacking and sideline heckling can provide.

[Catt]

What is actually taking place vs what y'all hear

Glenn, they are hiring local boats & these boats are owned by lawyers/doctors many of whom are not even helping clean up. That's oversight on everyone's part!

tyrius, 1,500' is safe diving for humans; 1,800' is the world record for deepest weld done by man.

K_Mac, there is enough land based oil within the continental US for America never to buy a drop from any foreign nation. The US own the oil industry from the very beginning since no other nation knew how to drill it much less refine it, so what does our illustrious leader do? Give foreign nations all the technology and the stop drilling on our own soil making the US totally dependent on foreign oil

Almost forgot

Natural seepage of oil per day: 1,000,000 barrels

[K_Mac]

Catt I think this is an important issue that should be talked about. We all need to pay closer attention...

BTW you need to check your numbers on the natural seepage of oil into the Gulf. The seepage totals are all just estimates, but none are even close to that high.

[Skunked in DR]

Catt,

No one questions the existence of natural oil seeps and the GoM is one of the major locations in the North American offshore with seeps.  However, total numbers for North American are approximatley 160,000 tonnes per year. 

Taking an high average of 8 barrels per tonne would yield approximately 1 280 000 barrels per year.

[Root beer]

re: the help

From what I understand, something like 20,000 national guard troops have been offered to provide cleanup help by the gov't, but the thought is to hire folks to do it instead, apparently in an effort get people earning a paycheck again in an area hit particularly hard by unemployment. Hence the so-called "lack" of immediate help.

My uncle is in the National Guard and he is down there right now helping. He was ordered I think..

[Joe Boss]

So where are all the "Save the Gulf" concerts?

Where are the T.V. benefits with celebrities and musicians giving heart felt speeches on the poor fisherman, wildlife, beaches, loss of income and sabotaged gulf economy?

I find it rather strange how these people (including our own government) are so quick to help Haiti and other countries...but sit on their butt for this one.

Just the facts

Hurricane = act of God

Oil Spill = man made disaster

In the case of the oil spill we know who was responsible and they will have to pay restitution. The American people should not and will not have to foot the bill on this one. That's the reason you don't see benefit concerts.

It is a shame since I predict BP will drag out paying the restitution part as long as they can. It is the corporate way.