Oil Spill - Not Looking Good

bitslammer

Just ran across this site. Amazing photos that really put the extent of this into prespective.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978200803

My heart goes out to those who are probably going to suffer from this. I know there is a crowd here who will probably claim this is no big deal and say it's just an insignificant blip. Who cares right? It's only going to kill some birds and a bunch of marine life.

I think this really drives home the risk of allowing drilling in fragile areas. Sure there's been a pretty good record in the past years, but it only takes one event like this to really screw things up. Parts of Alaska are still feeling the effects of that. Let's see if BP can step up and do the right thing and not pull another Exxon.

If nothing else it gives us some real food for thougt as to the cost of being addicted to oil.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

we just had "Cape Wind" approved out here... took ten years to approve some frigging windmills. Apparently birds will fly into them and tourists will stop coming to Cape Cod if they can see windmills on the horizon. I am looking forward to all the homes going up for sale because of the loss of value from the impact to their views. No one will want any of that ocean front property if it's blighted by turbines. Frankly, it's my only hope to afford the real estate. I wonder of Ted's place is up for sale?

Yeah. sarcasm.

I just have to howl at all the claims of coming devastation that have been made against a windfarm. And damn near the day it gets approved, an oil rig explodes and threatens a major chunk of the Gulf Region. Comical serendipity.

"drill, baby, drill!"
yeah. got it. thanks, Sarah.

bitslammer

Personally I like the way some of those wind farms looked when I was in Germany. I think they've figured out ways to make the impact of birds getting killed in them negligible.

In fact I'd say that if we had widespread use of them and they replaced the need to oil rigs and coal plants they end factor would be on the plus side as loss of life to wildlife. No hard facts to back that up but the amount of birds this spill will kill will likely be high and I'm sure that the mercury and other stuff coming from coal plants accounts for a few bird deaths as well as other animals like us.

fishlessman

we have a third party inspector that comes here for the danderous stuff, he says you would not believe the amount of grease and oil that gets dumped out of those windmill bearings, stuff is continuously pumped in to keep the bearins free of dirt, water and salt. real environmentally healthy

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i think each one could be filled with oil, tip over and spill it all and you'd not even come close to the amount of oil that gets spilled in the oil industry.

in my opinion, which means nothing to no one, we should attack on all fronts. wind, nuclear, oil, etc.

it just makes no sense to me for some to talk about how the windmills are an environmental disaster waiting to happen, while those who take issue with the environmental impact of other energy sources are mocked and derided.

fishlessman

all for the nukes, it was my major for a few years, used to play in the little nuke plant in lowell. likes been pointed out by others, change the name to green power and we have a winner :laugh: i really dont see wind power adding much, and the destruction of environment from dam water power to the fisheries is crazines

Gator Bait

 
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I'm glad you knowItAlls have all the answers and constructive criticisms.

Hahahahahahahaha, what a bore!

It's the same old song and dance.

Why not try saying something intelligent?

Just my 2¢,

Gator

 

bitslammer

Gator Bait wrote:

 
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I'm glad you knowItAlls have all the answers and constructive criticisms.

Hahahahahahahaha, what a bore!

It's the same old song and dance.

Why not try saying something intelligent?

Just my 2¢,

Gator

 

???? Given your recent pics of the shore birds I'd have thought you would have had some opinion. If you note I did say those were my thoughts only and not backed up by any research.

Gator Bait

Hi Chris

My thoughts are not directed at you but to those that pirate and trash any thread that has anything to do with the environment. There a few on this board that take it upon themselves to pass judgment on the topic of conversation here and anything that does not meet their approval gets trashed. I am all in favor of your original post but some here think it has to do with wind turbines off Cape Cod. There are those here that can't see that is not the case and have to have their fun at the expense of anything intelligent but pirating your post.

I found your post of interest and am contributing to it. This is a more resent satilite image of the spill.


I am with you 100%, there is no good going to come of this and the level of disaster will be determined by how well and how fast we can respond.

Gator

 

bitslammer

Damn...that new photo looks even worse. Looks like it's going to make a direct hit on that preserve. For what it's worth it sounds like the gov't is at least holding nothing back in trying to fight this but it's likley goign to be way too little way to late.

We simply have to hold corporations like Exxon, BP, Sago and Maassey accountable. I'm not in favor of more gov't but it's clear that for these companies they will do anything and everything for the sake of the shareholders with no regard for safety to the environment or workers.

Right after seeing that article with the photos I see another saying Mattel Toys gets to do their own testing for lead. What they hell is wrong with people? We have got to get this kind of crap under control.

Little Steven

Chris,

Just reading about the ramifications to the fishing industry, oysters and shrimpers. Unbelievable how much of a resource that area is. That is if they keep it from coming ashore. Sea turtles are just ready to nest too.

Steve

fishlessman

back when i was a kid i remember a spill hitting the beaches, took a year for it to go away, small spill and i dont remember anything getting done. all the beach houses had kerosine to wash it off probably adding to the problem :ermm: it didnt look anything like that spill though. theres probably some type of out catch for the oil company to boot, ive seen it in other industries. one plant with high air pollution buying air credits from a company below polution levels, i bet there is something similar with the oil companies. :ermm:

Boilermaker Ben

bitslammer,

Please understand that there are a lot of people who work for those companies, who devote their professional lives to doing their job safely. Pulling oil out of the ground is a very risky business, and things go wrong. We take every measure we can to prevent it from happening, but sometimes we fail. That does not mean that we are working for the sake of shareholders with no regard to the safety of the environment or our fellow workers.

Even if you take the incorrect stance that only money matters, it is never in an oil company's best interest to cause accidents like this. The money lost, production time lost, money spent on cleanup, lawsuits, fines, recovery, etc, is crippling. BP and Transocean will certainly be held accountable for this. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_bp_oilspill

So I ask that you consider how you would feel if the company you work for experienced an accident that cost people their lives, and then someone came along and said that your company had "no regard for safety to the environment or workers."

Gator Bait

 

Hi Chris,

I moved the topic of conversation back to where it belongs, out from under the pirates.

That is a photo from yesterday. The site it is HERE at NASA, the first image "MODIS Terra True Color". I cropped a small portion of it, the original is huge.

I am afraid your right, here is a map of the National Wildlife Refuges in Louisiana.



. . and one of Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas in that part of the state.

Which says nothing for the lands outside those managed boundaries.

On the news locally they were saying that if it is not controlled soon that it eventually will reach our coast, it is just a matter of time before it gets caught up in the "loop current" in the gulf and deposited here.

The Government is getting better at holding cooperations accountable. It sounds like BP is going to be held responsible, I hope they have deep pockets!

Let's hope Mattel is more responsible then China was, they must have learned something about lead paint on toys by now.

As for more or less government . . . lets not go there. That's getting to political and inflammatory for the forum. LOL.

Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
I have to agree Ben, it's not going to help standing around pointing fingers. Our attention needs to be on the short term cure and then a long term one so it may not happen again.

To sound like a true capitalist, it is probably a good time to by stock in Procter and Gamble the makers of Dawn Dishwashing Detergent.

Gator

 

Boilermaker Ben

Not quite, but not far off...try finding the company(ies) that make the oil dispersant. Within a couple days of the incident, BP had their hands on a third of the world's supply of dispersant. That's a LOT to replace.

Gator Bait

 
Very interesting Ben, your probably right, might want to look into Dow Chemical or some company like that. I have read that they tried to use oil dispersants in Alaska at the Exxon spill and gave up on them because there was not enough wave action to mix it in. I wouldn't imagine that would be a problem in the gulf. Lets hope it works.

Gator

 

Bacchus

This IS a BFD. A horrific, environmental travesty in fact. It is spreading the gulf at an alarming rate with an extimated 7M gallons spilled so far.

bitslammer

Sorry to sound a little jaded BB but I've seen what I speak of happen first hand when working for a large chemical manufacturer. They had numerous "accidents" where they dumped stuff into a local waterway.

Recently I don't know how anyone could say that Massey was making an honest effort to protect their mine workers. Seems there's more to that story on the way soon: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/04/npr-fbi-probing-possible-bribery-of-mine-safety-officials-in-w-va-disaster/1

Yes I know that they average Joe out there wants to do the right thing, but money often wins out over doing the right things.

This case may in fact turn out to be due to true unavoidable accidents. We'll have to wait and see, but my point is how the Drill Baby Drill camp kept saying over and over there's no reason to worry. Quite clearly there is, be it accidents or negligence.

Gator Bait

 
The latest satellite image has been release by NASA but is incomplete. Great!


Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
I guess NASA is trying . . .


Gator

 

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

never said i had the answer or implied that i did.

no where in my answer did i dercy oil as a source of energy. please think before you type.

i'm only laughing at the simpletons who attack using sound bites. every angle to take down the wind farm has been played by both sides. i simply love those who scream drill baby drill attacking the wind farm for its "oh the horror!" potential damaging effects on the environment. environment has never been a criterion in their decision making before, why should it now?

you obviously completely misunderstood my post, and assumed a whole slew of things i didn't say.

Gator Bait

 
Jeff, I whole heartedly apologize if I have wronged you. I may have miss interpreted some of your sarcasm and I may have also been out of line. I wasted time trying to have a half way intelligent conversation on Earth Day on this forum and when I joined this thread and saw the vast majority of conversation up to that point was about wind turbines off Cape Cod I thought that this topic was not getting the attention it deserved. Bitslammer had made a post regarding a very tragic situation and it was not a far stretch of the imagination to think that the topic was going to get hi-jacked or diluted.
I have a great respect for you and most of your opinions, on top of that I consider you a highly gifted and talented artist. Once again, my apologies.

Gator

 

Little Chef

This entire oil spill truly makes me sick to my stomach. Having our fondest memories on the gulf coast, with some of the most amazing interactions with the wildlife there, I honestly can barely watch. I truly don't understand.....we have had MANY days to plan. Why have there not been more preventive measures? I am truly sick over this.

As Tim says, and I have to choose to look at this as the "bright side"....if this stops Obama from tapping a whole lot more rigs in the Gulf and off the East coast....I can't say it's worth it, but perhaps a blessing in disguise. :huh: :S

As Stike said...."Drill Baby Drill!!" Yeah...RIGHT! Glad you aren't in office Sarah. Sorry to vent, but truly, SO heartbroken watching this all unfold. Just aweful....

Gator Bait

 
I agree LC, this thing is scareing the daylights out of me. It will probably be weeks before it is under control.
Here's an interesting article that gives some idea what the whole state may be facing, Brevard emergency officials focus on oil spill. From what I have heard on the news there were more preventative measures that were allowed to be relaxed durring the previous administration. That is no excuse for why those measures were not reinstated with the current administration. This is part of that issue;

"According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig lacked a device called an acoustic switch that could have shut off the flow of oil. The remote controlled device sends acoustic impulses through the water that can trigger an underwater valve to shut down the well.

All offshore rigs have one main switch to shut off the flow of oil by closing a valve located on the ocean floor. There is also supposed to be a backup, a so-called “dead man,” that will shut down the well in the event of a catastrophe on the rig. Apparently neither of these devices worked on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The crewmembers who would have been closest to the shutoff switch are among those missing and presumed dead.

With an acoustic trigger a crew can shut down a well even if the rig is damaged or evacuated. However, BP, which reported profits of $5.598 billion for the first quarter of 2010, vigorously resisted changes to US regulations that would have required acoustic triggers on deep sea rigs, citing effectiveness and costs, about $500,000 per unit. Compliant US regulators agreed, saying other backup plans were sufficient. They called the acoustic triggers unreliable and prone to causing unnecessary shutdowns."
(http://nyc.indymedia.org/es/2010/04/110594.html)

I agree 100% about the "bright side", I hope we can see a bright side when this is all over.

Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
The first image is from 4/29/2010, the other two are from today 5/1/2010. In todays images the very light orange tint highlights the spill. Wind, waves and curents are spreading the spill more to the east. They have been saying that it would be breaking up and coming ashore in globs, not as a single wave, you can see that breaking up action taking place.

4/29/10


5/1/10


5/1/10


Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
Todays image is very difficult to see anything definite.



Gator

 

pattikake

I feel sorry for the wildlife and the impact it is going to have on all of us, especially the enviroment. They need to find a better way to drill for oil, instead of putting everything in jeopardy.

Patti
Wichita, KS

Gator Bait

 
Clouds obscure the spill today.



Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
I agree Patti.

Gator

 

BENTE

just so you know i look at each picture you post of the spill and have been keeping up..


i just did not want you to think no one was looking at them since no one has responded to each day's new image

thanks for the updates