Oil on the beach at Pensacola

TomD

TomD

e publius unum
I live here now. We were lucky for weeks as the oil stayed offshore but overnight---

I took a few pictures on the beach today. I think this one sums it up. One below that to show what it's like close up, it's pretty nasty. If you'd like to see a few more in the set, they are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomd77/sets/72157624086838627/

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Yep
That is bad and it's only going to get worse. The thing is, BP doesn't give a damn and our Gov't is too stupid to organize the clean up the way it should be done. I've lived down here in Alabama for 26 years and now am thinking of retiring to the Mts. of Tenn to get away from it.
 
Tom,

Those are the saddest photos you have ever posted. Why can't our government take care of the cleanup while BP fixes the leak? We can worry about the money and the lawyers after the cleanup is finished. Now is the time for working men.

Concho Bill
 
Bill Wynne said:
Tom,

Those are the saddest photos you have ever posted. Why can't our government take care of the cleanup while BP fixes the leak? We can worry about the money and the lawyers after the cleanup is finished. Now is the time for working men.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...


Bill IS spot on...................... Tragic and truly sinful, this oil blowout............ Yes, this is a full bore blowout.. NOT a "leak" as the mainstream press "reports".
 
Another thought is to bring in the Planes and Helicopters that are usually off fighting forrest fires. Have them come in and scoup up oil from the surface as they can and go and dump it on the BP Headquarters... BP afterall should know what to do with it all.

Paul
 
Bill Wynne said:
Tom,

Those are the saddest photos you have ever posted. Why can't our government take care of the cleanup while BP fixes the leak? We can worry about the money and the lawyers after the cleanup is finished. Now is the time for working men.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...
Bill,
How do you propose our government take care of the cleanup? What resources should be used, where would they come from, and who would pay for them?
Richard
 
Richard,

This is a big project but I am going to try to put it in simple terms. Remember it was our government who oversaw the building of the Interstate Hi-way system and has cleaned up after hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. With pick and shovel, we built a railroad across our country 140 years ago. Our best days are still ahead.

This should be thought of as just a project. We as a people have done big projects before. The way it works is you find the people who idenitfy the problems and hire the people who can best do the repair work and you hire people to oversee and check their work. When you get through, you add up the expenses and bill BP. It is our Ocean. We should clean it up.

"We choose to do this not because it is easy but because it is hard." That is what J. F. K. said before we put men on the moon and brought them back to earth.

Concho Bill
 
Allowing BP to take the reins in the cleanup is like asking a tornado to come back through town and put things back together.
BP has a great interest in stopping the leak as quickly as possible because every ounce of oil on the surface is worth money and the more barrels they save the more money they can make.
But cleaning up the GULF COAST is a money loosing proposition to them. It best serves them to cut every corner they can and save every penny possible.
Sort of like warranty support to a computer company. They make money selling the things. Not fixing them for free.
Ted
 
What's it like for swimmin' in ?
Just when ya think ya got it all figured out. Work 30 years in some crummy factory or some stuffy office, doing some daily, mundane task and dreaming about the day you'll retire in "paradise". Oh well, " the best laid plans of mice and men".
Best not to get too comfortable in this life. It is just a moment in eternity.
 
I'm sure Obama has good reason for doing everything he can to make this the worse man-caused ecological disaster in U.S if not world history. His refusal to lift the "Jones act", not allowing the help of dozens of other countries is, to say the least suspicious. What did Obama and BP need to gain momentum back for "Cap and tax" a crisis. I'm not suggesting that BP deliberatly blew the well with Obama's blessing I'm just thinking "how coincidental that BP has spent 10's of millions of $ lobbying for cap and tax and Obama, well we all know what his motivations are for such an enormous piece of legislation". Just when it looked like the Obama left-wing environmental agenda was going to go by way of back burner, POOF an ecological disaster created by, yes, that horrible, evil oil company, you know, the one that has given more $$$ in campaign contributions to the Dems and has contributed more $$$$ to BHO then any other president in history. Yea that same oil company that stands to make hundreds of billions of $$$$s on cap and tax legislation... Oh the horror look at what oil has done to our shores. We must stop all drilling and focus on wind and solar and yes, we must tax the sh** out of the American people.
Think about it what did Obama need to reignite the issue? A CRISIS! Rahm said it never waist a CRISIS. Even if they have to make one!:D
 
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Vinny,

Surely you don't think that there might be somebody in the White House who would not want this cleaned up for their own political reasons? Why, shame on you.

We should keep our thoughts above that level.

Concho Bill
 
I said two months ago...now Huckabee agrees. As a "leader" he should have called in the CEOs and oil ENGINEERS from all the major companies, pounded on a desk and said "I want this damn thing fixed, I want all the best input from you....DAMN it ) All the oil cos. are in this and they should be working tp protect ALL OF OUR interests. Noo, he's trying to decide to use a 9 iron or a maybe a 6 iron. I've lived through every president since FDR.....NONE as incapable as this one.
 
The Sad part (along with the ecological mess)is in the end it's US the taxpayer/consumer that's gonna pay for it to be done. The Oil Companies will up the rates to cover WHATEVER LIABILITIES they incur and their profits will just get bigger.
 
"Surely you don't think that there might be somebody in the White House who would not want this cleaned up for their own political reasons? Why, shame on you."

1...Surely you would think someone who was trained in that cesspool they call Illinois politics would know exactly how to deal with big compaines and big money!!

2...Does anyone remember a little publicised (sp) Middle East oil spill back in the 70's or 80's?? All they did was surround the spill with a few super tankers and suck it up. (you would not believe the pumps on them babies) Pumped the oil off-shore, separated the oil from the water, pumped the clean water back into the ocean, pumped the oil into the pipeline and USED IT!

3...I can only assume BP has not yet learned how to separate oil from water??
 
Wlouie said:
"Surely you don't think that there might be somebody in the White House who would not want this cleaned up for their own political reasons? Why, shame on you."

1...Surely you would think someone who was trained in that cesspool they call Illinois politics would know exactly how to deal with big compaines and big money!!

2...Does anyone remember a little publicised (sp) Middle East oil spill back in the 70's or 80's?? All they did was surround the spill with a few super tankers and suck it up. (you would not believe the pumps on them babies) Pumped the oil off-shore, separated the oil from the water, pumped the clean water back into the ocean, pumped the oil into the pipeline and USED IT!

3...I can only assume BP has not yet learned how to separate oil from water??
Click to expand...

You haven't heard? That process was rejected by the EPA. The separation process isn't 100.00% effective so the water returned has a small amount of oil remaining. And the EPA has rulled that NO oil contaminated water may be discharged, period, even in the case of 98% of the oil has just been removed. I'm not making this up!
 
If this were not so tragic, it would be comical. No amount of cleanup will ever return the marshes, estuaries and sensitive eco-systems to their former state; they will be dead for decades. And why?

Because of lack of government oversight, an emergency response plan in place along with pre-staged equipment to mitigate a major spill was not enforced. The oil industry along with the Materials Mgt. Service needs to look to the nuclear industry for the proper emergency procedures and current processes that assure equipment functions as designed during an emergency. Now before anyone brings up the accident at TMI, I would like to make a few points. The accident at TMI galvanized the nuclear industry, resulting in many of the current rules and regulations that are enforced at every operating nuclear plant in the U.S.. Safety systems are tested on a routine basis and need to perform their design basis in a certain defined amount of time. If the system does not perform, the utility has a short amount of time to correct the problem or face a unit shutdown. Most safety systems have a redundant operable system while the affected system is being worked on. The NRC monitors nuclear performance and has the mandate of pulling the utility's operating license. The operability of these safety systems are tied to the license of the nuclear plant.

The key difference with the TMI accident and the Gulf oil spill is that the worst possible scenario was anticipated at TMI and designed for; a core meltdown. The containment building at TMI did exactly what it was designed to do, minimize the release of any contamination to the environment. A deep water accident should have been anticipated and prepared for. Blow out preventers should be tested on a periodic basis, equipment should be pre-staged and emergency plans in place. Sadly, most of these rules have been in place since the Oil Pollution Act along with the Exxon Valdez accident. Those in charge turned a blind eye to the oil companies who pay lobbyists and contribute to campaign coffers.

Chino69
 
"You haven't heard? That process was rejected by the EPA. The separation process isn't 100.00% effective so the water returned has a small amount of oil remaining. And the EPA has rulled that NO oil contaminated water may be discharged, period, even in the case of 98% of the oil has just been removed. I'm not making this up"

Thanks Tom. I had not heard about the epa ruling.

It is not funny at all, but since you are already there, maybe you could do a couple of tests for us to see if any of this "goo" might be of use as a bolt lube. OR if you don't remove the sand, maybe a new source of really cheap bore cleaner. BUT then you would have to spend mega bucks for specialized protective clothing, sand buckets,shovels, and ten different permits etc. etc. And I guess a mini-refinery right on the beach would be totally out of the question.
 
chino69 said:
If this were not so tragic, it would be comical. No amount of cleanup will ever return the marshes, estuaries and sensitive eco-systems to their former state; they will be dead for decades. And why?

Because of lack of government oversight, an emergency response plan in place along with pre-staged equipment to mitigate a major spill was not enforced. The oil industry along with the Materials Mgt. Service needs to look to the nuclear industry for the proper emergency procedures and current processes that assure equipment functions as designed during an emergency. Now before anyone brings up the accident at TMI, I would like to make a few points. The accident at TMI galvanized the nuclear industry, resulting in many of the current rules and regulations that are enforced at every operating nuclear plant in the U.S.. Safety systems are tested on a routine basis and need to perform their design basis in a certain defined amount of time. If the system does not perform, the utility has a short amount of time to correct the problem or face a unit shutdown. Most safety systems have a redundant operable system while the affected system is being worked on. The NRC monitors nuclear performance and has the mandate of pulling the utility's operating license. The operability of these safety systems are tied to the license of the nuclear plant.

The key difference with the TMI accident and the Gulf oil spill is that the worst possible scenario was anticipated at TMI and designed for; a core meltdown. The containment building at TMI did exactly what it was designed to do, minimize the release of any contamination to the environment. A deep water accident should have been anticipated and prepared for. Blow out preventers should be tested on a periodic basis, equipment should be pre-staged and emergency plans in place. Sadly, most of these rules have been in place since the Oil Pollution Act along with the Exxon Valdez accident. Those in charge turned a blind eye to the oil companies who pay lobbyists and contribute to campaign coffers.

Chino69
Click to expand...
Blowout preventers are supposed to be function tested weekly. Activated from the rig floor 1 week and activated from the remote the next week. I have worked deep water and have seen MMS fine oil companies for not following this procedure.
 
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