"The Sea, the great unifier,is man's only Hope. Now,as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the Same Boat."~ J.Cousteau
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CALL NWF To report oiled or injured wildlife in the Gulf Coast area, call 866-557-1401. Read More HERE. If you want to help or Volunteer,there is a whole post on it that you can read here.
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VERY IMPORTANT ::as of 8:30PM AP is reporting Thursday Night that the Containment Box ( Cap/Dome) is not going well tonight, there are problems with the Heavy Oil Fumes are posing Health Risks and Ignition Risks. I have posted the whole article in the Comment section because it is worth reading. In light of the Explosion 3 weeks ago, it is hoped that BP is protecting the workers and that the Ignition Risk is being taken seriously. Air readings are being taken, and the Containment dome has been delayed in it's lowering. But one does wonder if this Rig is to sit 5000 feet over the Spill site,while it funnels the Oil and the Fumes, is this the best practice for this situation ?
Here is the Video the AP posted in the Afternoon:
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4am Video AP of the Dome being lowered.
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BBC has more about the Spill, how it is growing in nature, reaching shore and Islands of Louisiana Coast.The oil is heavy and thick and now starting to clump into long strings through the Gulf, it is sticky and viscous in nature and yet below it is still continuing to gush. One small leak is sealed, but there is still at least an estimated 210,000 gallons a day surging from the leak at seabed level. So if the Seabed leak is gushing atleast 5000 barrels/day, that is 210,000 gallons a day, which over 16 days means that the leak has put out atleast 3,570,000gallons.
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In light of increased fumes on shore being smelt on shore and oil reaching shores, OSHA has a fact sheet that is supposed to be for the Cleanup Workers, but in all practicality all Coastal people being exposed to this Oil Crisis should read the Fact Sheet. At this point winds and heat play a role in how much the Fumes are felt on shore. People with heart or respiratory conditions should have filtered air (AC) and stay inside. No Federal Agency has come forward and offered advice or instructions at this point, although DHHS or FEMA or NIOSH maybe have been told to intervene ? I am unsure as to WHO should give Guidance, but people are starting to ask questions on Twitter. They have been told to call BP, but what purpose that serves is unclear. I have sent emails to CDC,DHHS,EPA and asked What is the Plan for protecting Health. ( I will update in the Comment section the results,so far it has been an empty trail ).
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NOAA trajectory forecast is really a helpful site to go to to track the geographical track of the Gulf Oil Spill and when checked daily really does show the path in a predictable manner.Really helpful for the Gulf Coastal residents. On Twitter Navy News,Coast Guard and NOAA have increased coverage and information. The actual Link to the NOAA PDF shows that Chandaluer Sound and Breton Sound are clearly in the Spill Zone now. The PDF has great diagrams and maps that clearly map the spill.
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Louisiana Fish and Wildlife is has a video that is really stunning and worth seeing.
La. Dept. of Ag & Forestry ships animal crates to Plaquemines Parish for bird rescue due to oilspill
,and you can read more here about that effort.
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(Amazing photo of the Explosion Injured Rig before it sank posted on Twitter by Greg Palast really shows the extent of this event). His latest post on Truthout is a Must Read that explores BP 's responsibilities and problems.
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It is hard to look at the above photo and know that TransOcean made the Drill Rig Workers and Survivors were forced to sign Liability Waivers, and this has been unreported on the News.
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NPR has more information about the Growing interest in Hair Booms I have tried to promote this effort far and wide and sent it to the Cleanup Organizers with no results.But in the days ahead I am hoping that it is looked at as true scientific effort to stop the slick on shore, hair in nylons make booms can work absorbing the slick.
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More concerns arise about the Chemical Dispersant ( Solvent) and it's possible harm to sealife that it indeed may be harmful to fish,muilusks and seabed creature and the Chain of food.
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NolaNews.com has more updates from the day , including all efforts that are being made for the Fishermen and the seafood vessels and industry.
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Robert F.Kennedy Jr's "Sex,Lies and Oilspills" is a must read and explores the Industry's Liability and problems, and history.
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Another Must Read post is from the LA Times, about a Rig Widow, really raises questions about how the families will be cared for. 2nd Harvest in NOLA is already asking for funds due to impact on families in the region.
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Picayune Times is Nola.com on the internet and twitter tonight very late the story came out that safety Fluid was removed before teh Rig explosion, will this be publicly revealed and questioned is another story. As this explosion is investigated it seems that there are more and more pieces that need scrutiny.
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National Geographic Society had some new posts up today, one in particular asks if the Gulf is now a Dead Zone in the making, presenting startling questions about the Damage and longterm effects.
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If anyone is still confused what happened at the Oil Platform, this article and diagrams explains all of it and is very educational. Also raises many questions about our Oil Drilling and Safety.
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Sierra Club has more on what is causing the growing leak, as the Dome is lowered , it points out that we need to ask why this Leak has gown over the past 2 weeks.
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9 comments:
AP 11PM update:
Some oil spill events from Thursday, May 6, 2010
By The Associated Press (AP) – 1 hour ago
Events May 6, Day 17 of a Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with an explosion and fire on April 20 on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP PLC, which is in charge of cleanup and containment. The blast killed 11 workers. Since then, oil has been pouring into the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well at about 210,000 gallons per day. The slick threatens the U.S. coastline.
ISLANDS OILED
Oil washed up Thursday on at least two barrier islands in the Chandeleur Islands chain off Louisiana. The pinkish oily substance lapped at the shore of New Harbor Island, washing into thick marsh grass. It looked like soggy cornflakes, possibly because it was mixed with chemicals that it had been sprayed to break it up before it reached land. The uninhabited islands are part of a national wildlife refuge and provide an important nesting ground for sea birds.
SPREADING WEST
Streaks of putrid, orange and rust-colored oil snaked well west of the mouth of the Mississippi River in an area that has received less attention. An Associated Press reporter saw hundreds of dead jellyfish in the area Thursday. The oil is in streaks ranging from a few feet wide to much larger swaths. Much of the oil west of the river was still miles out in the Gulf, but there appeared to be little or no effort to contain it or clean it up.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries halted shrimping in an area west from the mouth of the Mississippi River to a pass leading into Barataria Bay
.
STOPPING THE FLOW
Workers started lowering a giant concrete-and-steel box over the blown-out oil well at the bottom of the sea Thursday in a risky and untested bid to capture most of the gushing crude and avert a wider environmental disaster. "We haven't done this before. It's very complex and we can't guarantee it," BP spokesman David Nicholas warned. The 100-ton containment vessel is designed to collect as much as 85 percent of the oil spewing into the Gulf and funnel it up to a tanker. It could take several hours to lower it into place by crane, after which a steel pipe will be installed between the top of the box and the tanker. The whole structure could be operating by Sunday.
AP part 2:
CLEANUP
Skimmer boats continued to slurp up oil while shrimp boats pulling booms instead of nets gathered smaller amounts. Two pairs of boats attached at either end of two lengths of fireproof boom corralled some of the thickest oil to burn it. The Coast Guard said that on Wednesday, good weather allowed 18 flights to drop 150,000 gallons of chemical dispersant; crews skimmed 588,000 gallons of oily water, and conducted five controlled burns.
WHERE'S THE BOOM?
Coastal officials in Louisiana say they're waiting for enough boom to corral oil from the Gulf spill. Jefferson Parish spokesman Deano Bonano said Thursday that Grand Isle needs at least 50,000 more feet of oil-containing boom to protect its shores. He says supply has been a problem since parish officials requested boom and skimmers from BP and the Coast Guard.
THE RIG'S OWNER
The owner of the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico said Thursday its contract with BP should protect it from lawsuits by fishermen, hotel owners and other businesses damaged by the massive oil spill. Transocean Ltd. CEO Steven Newman said the company won't be held liable for "any expense or claim related to pollution" from the well.
BP CHIEF EXEC
The chief executive of BP PLC says the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico will be stopped, but gives no estimate of when that might happen or how much it will ultimately cost. Tony Hayward said in an interview with the BBC broadcast Thursday that it was too early to judge the cost of stopping the leak, mopping up the oil and compensating people for damages.
NEW DRILLING MORATORIUM
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered a halt Thursday to all new offshore drilling permits nationwide until at least the end of the month, stepping up scrutiny of the entire industry amid the catastrophic spill in the Gulf. Outside BP's Houston crisis center, he said lifting the moratorium on new permits will depend on the outcome of a federal investigation over the Gulf spill and recommendations to be delivered to the president May 28.
Part 3:::AP ::: 11PM
LAWSUITS
Attorneys general from five Gulf coast states say they're cautiously optimistic BP will pay fishermen and others for losses caused by the massive oil spill. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said they wanted to make sure BP would put the claims process in writing and that people who get quick payments won't have to promise not to sue the company later. Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell says BP has promised to make the claims process quick and easy.
A federal judicial panel in Washington has been asked to consolidate at least 65 potential class-action lawsuits claiming economic damage from the Gulf oil spill.
Shrimpers, commercial fishermen, business and resort owners, charter boat captains and even would-be vacationers have filed lawsuits from Texas to Florida since the April 20 oil rig disaster. They seek damages possibly in the billions of dollars from oil giant BP PLC, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and other companies. The companies won't comment.
SEAFOOD
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says his agency is working to assure the public that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe. Locke also says that applies to Gulf seafood already in grocery stores and in restaurants. He said Thursday that part of the Gulf has been closed to fishing to send a signal that any seafood harvested from the Gulf is safe.
THE FOOD CHAIN
While people anxiously wait for the mess to wash up along the coast, globules of oil are already falling to the bottom of the sea, where they threaten virtually every link in the ocean food chain, from plankton to fish that are on dinner tables everywhere. Hail-size gobs of oil with the consistency of tar or asphalt will roll around the bottom, while other bits will get trapped hundreds of feet below the surface and move with the current, said Robert S. Carney, a Louisiana State University oceanographer.
WILDLIFE
Louisiana's secretary of wildlife and fisheries has arranged to credential out-of-state veterinary specialists to help rescue oiled birds and animals. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says veterinarians from Delaware, California and Alaska have already volunteered. It says the state Board of Veterinary Medicine agreed to grant emergency waivers for veterinarians who have treated oiled animals such as birds, dolphins, whales and sea turtles.
AP part 4::
WHERE WILL IT GO?
Scientists are watching carefully to see whether the slick will hitch a ride to the East Coast by way of a powerful eddy known as the "loop current," which could send the spill around Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean. If that happens, the oil could foul beaches and kill marine life on the East Coast.
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warns that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a long-term event. Napolitano said Thursday during a visit to Biloxi that she doesn't think the spill will be over soon. She says she hopes the device being deployed to cap the spewing well is successful, but officials are still planning for the worst.
OIL SPILL LOANS
The Obama administration is offering low-interest loans to businesses in parts of the Gulf Coast that have suffered financial losses from the massive oil spill. The Small Business Administration says the loans will be available immediately to businesses along the Louisiana coast, as well as in some counties in Mississippi.
NATIONAL GUARD
The National Guard is building a 300-foot temporary wharf at a St. Bernard marina, to be used to load booms and supplies onto boats. Sgt. Denis Ricou says the 2225th Multi-Role Bridge Company, 205th Engineer Battalion is launching bridge erection boats and float ribbon bridge sets at Campo's Marina.
SUGGESTION LINE
Government officials are being inundated with homespun remedies to prevent the nightmare scenario of oil washing up all over the Gulf Coast. More than 3,500 suggestions have come in by phone and e-mail. Ideas range from the goofy — putting a cork in the blown-out well — to the possible. One business plans to demonstrate a product that shoots a carbon dioxide solution from guns to freeze parts of the slick, which could then be scooped up and refined.
1am:::twitter: Stench:
kareng
@The_Gambit lot's of reports of smell #oilspill #oilstench
11 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to The_Gambit
The_Gambit
Mid-City smells like petrochemical melted
RT @NWF: To report areas with oil washing ashore call 1-866-448-5816 #OilSpill
safety fluid was removed:
http://fwix.com/nola/share/1ae4c80eb0/safety_fluid_was_removed_before_oil_rig_exploded_in_gulf_nolacom
NatGeoSociety
Satellite Pictures: Gulf Oil Spill's Evolution - http://on.natgeo.com/aAlj5z #news #oceans #oilspill #photos
8:57 PM May 4th via TweetDeck
Retweeted by you and 68 others
NatGeoSociety
Gulf Oil Spill a "Dead Zone in the Making"? - http://on.natgeo.com/8XhdEe #news #oceans #environment #oilspill
10:46 PM May 4th via TweetDeck
Retweeted by you and 60 other
s
NatGeoSociety
Take a look at the massive domes being constructed to lower onto the #oil leaks in the #Gulf of Mexico http://on.natgeo.com/90MlHy #photos
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