Headlining the New York Times today is BP's claim that, unless they are allowed to keep drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, times might get so tight they won't be able to pay the fines and restitutions they've pledged to cover their accident. . . in the Gulf of Mexico.
Everybody knows the boat is leaking.
Everybody knows that the captain lied.
A few people have asked me recently why I've stopped writing about The Hell, why issues other than the petro pus from the Macondo well have crept into my posts of late.
I figure it's mostly because I'm dumb. There are people way smarter than I who can tell you whatever you need to know about all that, and the consensus from the smarter people is clear: It's over. Move on.
BP's new well cap is in place and pressure tests have begun, with very appropriate caution. If the tests indicate that the well bore and casings have sufficient integrity to withstand the internal pressures of the well, there is a chance that the spigot may get turned off this week.
As wonderful as that news is, it will bring a chorus of sighs from the media, the government, the oil industry and well-meaning Gulf Coast residents, a chorus singing, "It's over!"
That chorus will echo throughout the mediasphere. And it will be dead wrong.
Hey, GOPer Gulf Coast governors: where are the National Guard troops President Obama authorized you to call up to help clean up and protect the Gulf? In this emergency that you blame the federal government for not addressing, what are you doing besides political showboating?
Thanks to Hurricane Alex and heavy winds pushing crude oil towards the Louisiana shoreline, tarballs from BP's deepwater blowout have now made their way from the Gulf of Mexico and into Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain:
Showing just how unpredictable and all-consuming the massive Gulf oil spill can be, tar balls and small sheens of oil have entered Lake Pontchartrain and are hitting Texas shores for the first time.
John Lopez, director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's coastal stainability program, spotted the first tar balls in the Rigolets Pass on Sunday. By Monday, the blobs of oil had washed ashore as far west as Treasure Isle in Slidell.
Cleanup crews used nets to scoop up the tar balls throughout the day, collecting more than 1,000 pounds of oil and waste. BP also deployed 19 manual skimming vessels and four decontamination vessels to the area, and placed 600-feet of hard and soft boom at a choke point in the Rigolets to prevent more oil from entering the lake. Cleanup efforts are expected to resume today.
The oil that has reached the lake has been heavily weathered and officials predict a "modest" impact. Nonetheless, the state has now expanded the area closed to recreational and commercial fishing to include the southeastern part of the lake (the region southeast of U.S. 11 in the map below).
Lake Pontchartrain is the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States (Utah's Great Salt Lake is the largest). It connects to the Gulf of Mexico through an eight-mile long strait known as the Rigolets.
"Death in the Gulf." BP and Halliburton committing ecocide.
This WineRev Model series provides a home for pics and vids. WineRev covered the 2009 Senate recount with a delightful 157 diary series. "Recounting Minnesota" at Amazon
Meanwhile, following its "1,000 gallons a day" lie, Coast Guard and BP referenced this map showing quick, clean flushing for the Gulf of Mexico:
No-no-no-no-no-no-no..... In deep water circular currents makes flow patterns quite complicated.
Greenpeace is brilliant:
More below :::
The original version of this (with graphics) was posted here.
Any chance for good cooperation between the federal government and the state of Louisiana in the response to the BP Gulf Gusher died on May 30 when the U.S. Department of the Interior declared a six-month moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the then month-old disaster.
Although the New York Times reported that Governor Bobby Jindal's personal dissatisfaction with the federal response to the disaster had gone public by May 3, the moratorium ratcheted up the pressure in the already tense situation by threatening losses in the industry that had caused the disaster.
"Death in the Gulf" is the subtitle.
BP and Halliburton are committing a massive ecocide. This WineRev Model series provides a home for pics and vids, plus material that focuses on corporate media distortions.
Here's the the MRGO channel. 500 yards and $3 MM for the booms:
And the CNN fable factory came up with a BP-friendly lie that the "Whale" skimmer will extract 21,000,000 gallons of oil a day.
Our whitis went to the sources and pulled out 63,000 gallons a day as a theoretical maximum.
Nice to see Recommended in the tags:::
Following the WineRev Model, this series will provide a daily diary for posting IMAGES and VIDEOS and research findings.
"Death in the Gulf" is the real subtitle. BP and Halliburton have committed a massive ecocide.
Today's big lies from MSM and the propaganda outlets astonish. NOAA repeats its shoreline threat map, but still leaves out tropical storms:
Then CNN online:
If... tests in a 5-by-5-mile area north of the underwater gusher are successful, the massive ship could play a key role in oil cleanup efforts
The boat, which swallows water with oil then separates it, can skim about 21 million gallons of oil a day. That's at least 250 times the amount that modified fishing vessels currently conducting skimming operations have been able to contain...
The ship processes a max of 21,000,000 gallons of water. Not oil. Water.
We learned earlier that 20% of the oil spew surfaces immediately and gets blown north. 80% goes south into the Loop Current.
IMAGES and VIDEOS and research are welcome.
I wrote a diary last week about Pensacola, Florida beaches smelling like a gas station, well on Hardball today Chris Matthews asked MSNBC's Science and Environment Expert, Jeff Corwin does it smell like that? Corwin replied, "...it smells like a gas station...."
I never would have thought I'd say this, but Ken Salazar is a freaking genius.
When Judge Feldman granted a preliminary injunction against the federal government for ordering a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling yesterday, he called the drilling hiatus "arbitrary and capricious" and its basis "factually incorrect." The administration vowed to immediately appeal.
I've been hesitant to write a diary about this, not only because I have no real answers to the questions it asks, but because I fear to learn them.
Maybe I'm going about this all wrong.
Liz thinks so, and, though I don't believe her, I have to respect her opinion. She calls herself a glorified recycler, but her job requires her to coordinate message with environmental educators and advocates around the world. She knows message. She knows the words people hear.
"People don't care about oil jobs. The average person eats shrimp maybe twice a year at parties. They can't understand economic impacts, unless it's on their lives.
"They care about cute animals."
More than once in these posts I've cited the work of Times-Picayune business reporter Rebecca Mowbray. She is deeply knowledgeable in many of the industries that affect our state's economy, particularly energy and insurance. And this Sunday, she drove a stake through the heart of a simplistic talking point at the crossroads where those sectors meet.
Boatloads of thanks to Prof. Robert Young for his continued vocal--and credible--opposition to Bobby Jindal's beloved berms, taken today to the editorial pages of the New York Times.
