Distortions about oil boom from Packgen

by DollyMadison

Over the last 2 months, I've read with great interest all the stories about how the Obama Administration and BP were messing up when it came to failing to purchase enough oil containment boom. Turns out that most of those stories weren't true.

In my latest searches for new news about the results of recent real-world trials of Packgen's boom product, I discovered some new and disturbing info to add to my collection of info about how dishonest this company has been.

They were out to get paid for untested oil containment boom before it had ever been approved in any real-world tests as a satisfactory product. They solicited references and praise from Republican elected officials in Maine, and those officials then portrayed the company as one that was not being treated fairly by BP and the Obama Administration. That portrayal is not accurate and was unfair to both BP and Obama.

Follow me below the fold for more.

continued at Daily Kos....

Waiting for Oil in Apalachee Bay

by matching mole

This diary is really just a report on the state of booming and biodiversity in the northeastern gulf which is still awaiting its first oil (at least on the surface).  No analysis - just a feel for what things are like.  Today I visited the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in a month.  During May I visited virtually every week and each time I left I remember taking a final look and wondering what I would see the next time.  It is now two months since I made the first of those visits and, at least on the surface, the far northeastern reaches of the gulf are much as they were.  However when I made my way down to St. Mark's NWR with the idea of doing some bird censusing I did notice one rather obvious difference.

continued at Daily Kos....

How You Can Help

by Crashing Vor

It's inevitable. Inescapable. You write a diary or a comment, noting a worthwhile effort or the need for one, and somebody pops up within minutes, crying "You do it! Why are you sitting around staring at a screen stuffing Cheetos in your face? Get off your duff! Make it happen! You do it!"

Noble sentiments, that certainly apply in a lot of situations. In the face of the oil hell, eh, not so much. Not many of us have the leisure to head down to the gulf, or the proper gear and training if we did. Some of us, in fact, are burned out old farts who can barely get around the block.

But perhaps there is a way for bloggers to use our natural strengths to help out in this crisis.

continued at Daily Kos....

Volunteer Boom Department

by asterlil

It was something Fishgrease said, of course. Why weren't the coastal towns armed in advance for spills? Where was the preparedness? The throwaway comment hit me between the eyes, however; why don't towns and parishes that are under threat by oil have Volunteer Boom Departments, in the same way my town has a Volunteer Fire Department (VFD)?

The idea has been percolating in my head for about a week, and this morning I had a conversation with Bennie Long, my town's fire chief. Working from what she told me, in answer to my questions, and my own informal thoughts, I decided to write a diary and find out whether the idea is possible through feedback from the rest of Kos. I am grateful to the crew and all my fellow travelers on the Oilpocalypse Liveblog Mothership whose newborn friendship gave me the courage to publish this.

continued at Daily Kos....

Gulf Citizens take matters into their own hands -- Updated

by jamess

Here's a Town, that said "Hell No, to the Crude" -- NOT on their Watch! Magnolia Springs, Alabama,  Weeks Bay. Updated: Tuesday, June 8, 2010

continued at Daily Kos....