Mouth of the Mississippi River — British Petroleum once downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore rig that exploded, causing the worst U.S. oil spill in decades along the Gulf Coast and endangering shoreline habitat.
In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.
At least 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled so far since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers, according to Coast Guard estimates. One expert said Friday that the volume of oil leaking from the well nearly 5,000 feet below the surface could actually be much higher, and that even more may escape if the drilling equipment continues to erode.
“The sort of occurrence that we’ve seen on the Deepwater Horizon is clearly unprecedented,” BP spokesman David Nicholas told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s something that we have not experienced before ... a blowout at this depth.”
Amid increased fingerpointing Friday, efforts sputtered to hold back the giant oil spill seeping into Louisiana’s rich fishing grounds and nesting areas, while the government desperately cast about for new ideas for dealing with the growing environmental crisis. President Barack Obama halted any new offshore drilling projects unless rigs have new safeguards to prevent another disaster.
The seas were too rough and the winds too strong to burn off the oil, suck it up effectively with skimmer vessels, or hold it in check with the miles of orange and yellow inflatable booms strung along the coast.
The floating barriers broke loose in the choppy water, and waves sent oily water lapping over them.
“It just can’t take the wave action,” said Billy Nungesser, president of Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish.
The spill — a slick more than 130 miles long and 70 miles wide — threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, including birds, dolphins and the fish, shrimp, oysters and crabs that make the Gulf Coast one of the nation’s most abundant sources of seafood. Louisiana closed some fishing grounds and oyster beds because of the risk of oil contamination.
BP’s 52-page exploration plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, says repeatedly that it was “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities.”
And while the company conceded that a spill would impact beaches, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas, it argued that “due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected.”
Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs, Miss.-based environmental lawyer and board member for the Gulf Restoration Network, said he doesn’t see anything in the document that suggests BP addressed the kind of technology needed to control a spill at that depth of water.
“The point is, if you’re going to be drilling in 5,000 feet of water for oil, you should have the ability to control what you’re doing,” he said.
Although the cause of the explosion was under investigation, many of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed in the wake of the explosion claim it was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped the well — a process known as cementing. Halliburton denied it.
Comments
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Hydra (Roger Ford) says…
Wasn't BP censured for bad management in the artic?
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
No. They plead guilty to a crime for their acts in the 2006 Prudhoe Bay oil spill.
That incident is not out of character, of course. Recall that they were also the corporate entity involved in the massive 2005 Texas oil refinery explosion that killed 15 workers.
BigPrune (anonymous) replies…
They were the perfect fall guy, especially since they are foreign owned. Now Obama can use this environmental disaster to stop off shore oil drilling and pass his cap and trade b.s.
If Bush blew the levies to hurt the black community in New Orleans, then who's to say that Obama wouldn't pull this kind of stunt, especially with his ties to the corrupt Chicago political mobster machine? Who will benefit from this tragedy? Obama's buddies like Soros and Buffett.
overplayedhistory (anonymous) replies…
Whether it is 9 /11, Katrina or or oil rig sabotage conspiracy. Left or right agenda conspiracy. Its suggestion disqualifies you for rational dialog.
Stay classy wing-nuts!
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
If one pleads guilty, one is hardly a fall guy.
I agree, Obama can and should use this environmental disaster to halt all off shore drilling. The risk of environmental devastation is simply far too great to trust to unchecked corporate interests.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
If oil companies have to actually plan on how to prevent such accidents, or stop the flow of oil afterward, or do the cleanup, the potential expenses will likely mean that drilling in such areas is considered just too expensive.
On the other hand, fossil fuels in general rely on huge externalized costs in order to be profitable.
overplayedhistory (anonymous) replies…
On the other hand, fossil fuels in general rely on huge externalized costs in order to be profitable. ---- Just like agriculture.
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
why should they have to clean up? I mean all they are pumping out of the crust is crude oil, which is natural? that is like saying I should go to jail for digging up a bunch of dirt and then it rains on my dirt pile and my neighbor gets stuck in my mudslide.
GardenMomma (anonymous) replies…
Not really a good comparison.
parrothead8 (anonymous) replies…
But if they weren't pumping it out of the crust, it would stay there. Instead, it's now going to coat the Gulf Coast in a sticky, suffocating sheen of black death. This is going to wipe out the Gulf Coast fishing industry and devastate the habitat of thousands of species, and it's all because Americans can't get by without driving their precious vehicles for every trip longer than a few hundred yards.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
Devastating for Louisiana. My heart goes out to everyone on the coast trying to make a living from the sea. Anyone know how long it took for the full extent of the Valdez impact to be felt?
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Far different situation, Jay. That was one large ship that emptied a finite amount in to an Alaskan Sound that acted to keep the oil in one area. The impacts continue to reverberate, although in diminishing amounts. This tragedy, on the other hand, involves amounts of oil that continue to gush, and will for the foreseeable future, and which will spread in a wide swath of ecological devastation. Those who opposed the risk of off shore drilling were right and that point will be driven home for many, many, many years to come.
esteshawk (anonymous) says…
I cannot believe some would blame this on Obama? This, Mr. Shewmon, proves once and for all that you are an idiot.
Who was at the controls when this was approved? Who's former company was involved in the actual construction? Who traded the cost of building in correctly from BP for the cost of cleanup to the taxpayers and residents of the Gulf coast? How's that whole free-market-get-no-role-for-government ideology treating those who live along the gulf coast?
Bozo- "expense"? What's this going to cost to clean up? Not just the clean up costs, but also the damage done to the local economy. If you like shrimp or oysters, your cost just went up. How much taxpayer expense just went here? Your cost just went up. How much cost from the unpredictable nature of off shore oil? Your cost just went up.
And I gotta believe pudleglum is joking, right?
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) replies…
"Bozo- "expense"? What's this going to cost to clean up? Not just the clean up costs, but also the damage done to the local economy. If you like shrimp or oysters, your cost just went up. How much taxpayer expense just went here? Your cost just went up. How much cost from the unpredictable nature of off shore oil? Your cost just went up."
This is precisely the point I was making.
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Strange, the right wingers have spent much of the last year decrying the "socialist" interference of the government in the holy private marketplace, yet there is no hue and cry from this crowd about the US taxpayers cleaning up after BP's negligence. Wonder why?
whats_going_on (anonymous) replies…
people will find any reason to blame the guy-in-charge whom they despise.
People did it with Bush and Katrina and with Bush and the towers. What makes you think now is any different?
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
My point is that their motivations have nothing to do with socialism, or government action, and more to do with why they despise President Obama.
whats_going_on (anonymous) replies…
oh I totally wasn't disagreeing with you, it makes total sense. Just saying, people did it back then for probably the same reasons. Well, lack of reasons really, just general dislike.
esteshawk (anonymous) says…
Earlier post didn't even mention the moral cost for the damaged ecosystems.
tbaker (anonymous) replies…
Moral cost? Do tell.
AreUNorml (anonymous) replies…
it's similar to white guilt.
esteshawk (anonymous) replies…
You feel no more moral remorse for the killing of animals without just cause?
Aiko (anonymous) says…
Damn that George Bush! LOL
thuja (anonymous) says…
Think about this long and hard before you get into your car to drive and do one of the stupid things we all do in our cars that we really don't need to.
grammaddy (anonymous) replies…
Amen!!
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Or before you EVER spend another nickel at a BP gas station.
Why there are no organize efforts to boycott BP in response to this man-made tragedy, I will never understand.
thuja (anonymous) replies…
I do, I think... We know that they know that we need them.
Go anywhere and you'll see what I mean.
The lines of cars burning oil.
Everywhere.
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Yes we need cars and will for the foreseeable future. The prior post's point was let's cut demand for oil by reducing our consumption. And I agree.
If we are going to continue to use oil, however, my point is that we have a choice about those with whom we choose to do business. I am sure we have all seen the BP commercials. Clearly they chose to spend money on advertising for more business, rather than doing business in an ethical manner. There ought to be a reaction to that decision.
thuja (anonymous) replies…
Agreed on your point too.
Advertising full of green trees and sunshine.
What a load of crap.
smitty (anonymous) replies…
Haven't seen one of their green ads since this happened.
yourworstnightmare (anonymous) says…
Time to stop studying it. Time for action. Drill baby drill, not stall baby stall.
Or is that spill baby spill?
Dejacrew423 (anonymous) says…
It's so frustrating when big companies like BP and even the Massey Coal Co. in West Virginia have something like this happen and then we find out that they had no plan of action in case of oil spill, they weren't probably releasing gases in the coal mine, etc. Who regulates these companies? Shouldn't it be required that there be a spill clean-up plan, just in case. I don't get how these companies are virtually left to do whatever they want until something or somebody gets hurt and then all their shady operating is exposed. I don't get it.
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Go read the Citizen's United case from the current right wing majority on our Supreme Court and the "how" and the "why" will begin to dawn on you.
Dejacrew423 (anonymous) replies…
Maybe.... then again you might be over estimating my word comprehension skills. :-) I'm just curious who the big companies answer to. We recently had an accident in Lawrence that cost two people their lives and it seemed like it was something preventable that just slip through the cracks.
tomatogrower (anonymous) says…
Seize all of BP's assets not before they have hidden them all. Throw the executives in jail, now.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
@Tom:
Get off of it!
You know full well that this was done well before President Obama was elected. Stop showing your a** and realize he is not the root cause of the problem. Unless, of course, he engineered this so it would happen while he was in office.
However, I do remember something about a junior senator from Illinois being gone for a few weeks while the oil rig was being constructed by Halliburton. Something to do with a deep sea excursion, timed explosives, and all sorts of neffarious doings.
Once again, we (yes, you included Tom) are saddled with the cost of picking up the pieces from BP's excess. Keep in mind, they're just an example. But the last time (remember Texas City) all gas prices went up and theirs went up 10 cents more. Wonder how much they'll go up now?
Regarding safety concerns, can anyone tell me why the US is the only country that does not require an automatic shut-off valve at the well head? Also, why was the rig allowed to continue operating after failing safety inspections. Note to Tom: This also happened before President Obama was elected.
Final note to Tom: Just so you'll be at ease President Obama had nothing to do with original sin, the apple and Eve. I'll conceed that President Bush also had nothing to do with that event.
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
Yeah, but what was his old hag, she devil mother doing at the time?
beatrice (anonymous) says…
The conservatives who whine about how intrusive the government is in business affairs now think the government should be instantly on the spot to handle a business caused disaster. What a joke. This is a horrible, MAN made disaster. Katrina was a natural disaster. Huge difference.
The other difference is that lives are not on the line right now, as in the days following Katrina. Following Katrina, people died because of government inaction. Now, the coastline is in danger because the oil business is inable to control its own disaster. What is on the line right now aren't human lives, but the environment -- and since when have Republicans cared about the environment? As the mantra goes, Drill Baby Drill!
I know. Maybe we really do need greater regulation on business practices after all. Anyone whining that Obama hasn't solved the oil businesses disaster are the same people who whine that Obama is too involved in business issues. Fools.
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
With all due respect, beatrice, I think the more appropriate term is "corporate-made disaster." The Citizen's United arm of the right wing may think a corporation is a person, but I never will and the distinction needs to be made whenever possible. Cowardly men acting behind the protection of the corporate structure did this and the right wing fascists in this country have afforded those entities the same rights and privileges as you and me, but require far, far less responsibility.
beatrice (anonymous) replies…
Correction noted -- corporate-made disaster, absolutely.
tomatogrower (anonymous) says…
The only reason Bush was criticized after Katrina is because he made a political appointment to FEMA based on campaign contributions, not competence. The government is doing everything possible this time. They were right there to help rescue survivors and they are trying to stop the oil spill, an impossible task. What is BP and Halliburton doing? Trying to cover their behinds. How many tea party people, BP executives, or Halliburton people are out there cleaning birds? I'll bet none.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
A popular definition of insanity is, "Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result."
I've come to realize that I must be somewhat insane. I keep trying to have a cogent debate with Tom, expecting that he'll find another argument than his Obama/Pelosi/Reid mantra. Obviously, this isn't going to happen. But, it is fun trying and I do love when he froths at the mouth online.
I think I'll stay the way I am. It's more fun to be insane and watch other people scurry around like Chicken Little. Thanks Tom, you're a great show. Keep it up.
lawrenceguy40 (anonymous) says…
Tom - liberals will never own anything. Take solace in the fact that they will screw everything up so bad that they will be unelectable for the next 12 years at least. The media can only hide the truth for so long.
As for the oil, they should never have allowed foreigners into our waters. What do the Brits care about the Gulf coastline? More and more I thing we would be better off shipping home all foreigners, foreign investment and foreign products. Long live the USA.
184
tomatogrower (anonymous) says…
Seize BP and Halliburton assets now. Make them pay for this. They could care less about what they have done. Make they care.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
Tom,
Let's play Q&A for a bit. No anti "everything I don't believe in" rants please, just answer the questions.
1. Did BP own the oil rig? Yes or No
tuschkahouma (anonymous) says…
I'm a former resident of Lake Charles, Joneville, and Shreveport. I have family members
who lost their homes in Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Having grown up in the
Cancer Petrochemical Triangle in Lake Charles in the late 1970's, I remember all of the
stuff like PPG and Tenneco and the other chemical work that was done there then.
Baton Rouge is nothing but chemical smoke stacks lining the Mississippi River
from the Atchafalaya Basin side view.
I laugh at the Shewmon and Penders chuckleheads who put this on Obama.
really!!! You dumblicans are always for deregulation and watering down
of EPA powers. The Bush Administration was so good at wrecking EPA authority
to promote capitalism that Christine Whitman left. Why do the dumblicans
get so much money from industry and allow closed door energy policy meetings
as what happened with Cheney during Bush. I love how selectively short your
dumblicans memories are. I've been to Cameron and Avery Island. I hope
YOUR captialism has a conscience because you obviously don't. The Houma
people of southern LA love how you look the other way also.
independant1 (anonymous) says…
Where does the buck stop?
We could all go down there and get us some of that "Organic" oil before the huge evil corporations (who provide good jobs with cafeteria style benefits and pensions) add all those perservatives and crap that make us sick.
The Republicans mopped up, the Democrats gummed up, and I will now try and sum up. Things are terribly dull now. We won’t have any more serious comedy until Congress meets. (Will Rogers Okie with 8/32 Cherokee blood)
independant1 (anonymous) says…
oh my gosh (omg)
deja vu?
Just another gratuitous presidential mississippi delta flyover
Wouldn't want to get the feet wet
Where's the press when a good feeding frenzy is on the table?
Busch's fault.
repaste (anonymous) says…
This rig was leased, not owned by BP ,I believe. It was not an active well, it was capped by Haliburton to be retapped at another time. I am unclear as to why more holes help our supply when so many are held, like money in the bank. Refinement seems to be the carefully controlled bottleneck. I am also confused as to why we pump oil up, transport great distances to strategic reserves, pump it back down. Why not drill and cap as this was? This has nothing to do with Dem/Pub, the corporations run this country/world.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
Sorry Tom, I'm asking the questions, you'll have your turn when I'm done. Also, don't use a diminutive of my name, I've not given you permission to do that. I don't try and offend you by doing that to you, now do I?
2. Was Halliburton the oil contractor on the BP rig? Yes or no.
(NOTE: I had to do the same thing with "He Who Shall Not Be Named" in order to get a straight answer out of him.)
phoggyjay (anonymous) says…
Hemp oil, hemp oil, hemp oil... problem solved.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
Not sensitive Tom, it's more of an insult from people I don't know, and that's how I considerate it when you call me that. I don't call you Tommie or Tommie Boy, now do I?
I'm asking a series of questions Tom, trying to get to a point. I'll respond to yours when I'm done, fear not. I know you answered yes to the first one, now what is your answer to the second one?
overplayedhistory (anonymous) says…
Keep spinning, ratchet it up, take it to the next level, bring violence in the way certain media types are giving you the nod to do. The only scary thing about this scenario is that if you don't start your own party separate from the republicans. If the republicans can't get rid of you tea people and come up with ideas that are based in reality than we are sure to be stuck with only Democrats in charge. If that happens than they will quickly ascend to level of corruption of the republicans during the last two decades.
The Bubbas of your base inability to realize that they are no longer a large enough voting block. That level of delusion like the Native Americans thinking that the Ghost Dance would make the whites leave and the buffalo come back.
Please come back to planet Earth, where the President was not born in Kenya, 9/11 was not a government conspiracy, the oil rig was not sabotaged by left wing activists, and the President isn't even a liberal let alone a socialist.
tomatogrower (anonymous) says…
This whole forum has gotten away from the original story, hijacked again. Why didn't BP have a plan? Should the government seize all their assets? What can we do to prevent this again? What should happen to BP? How was Halleiburton involved? Are the hijackers of this forum just doing their usual ranting or do they own a lot of stock in BP and Halliburton?
scott3460 (anonymous) replies…
I vote for a corporate death penalty, but at a minimum - no State with coastal oil drilling capabilities should ever allow them to do business unless they demonstrate a viable plan for catastrophic events that is validated by an independent government agency. Should also have to post sufficient surety bond that would cover the result of a failure of any plan.
Citizens should demonstrate their appreciation for the way BP and their corporate partners have elected to do business by choosing not to do business with them in the future. There are multiple alternative entities from which to buy gas and convenience store items.
whats_going_on (anonymous) replies…
No one forced them to have a plan. Easier, cheaper way always wins.
It's like the seatbelt argument. "No one needs a seatbelt" until something terrible happens. Or like food regulation. No one regulated the temperature and way meat should be handled until people died.
I don't know if the government should seize assets, but they should be punished, extremely punished, and be forced to pay HUGE losses in damages and honestly...probably stop doing business altogether until they can find a definite solution of this not happening again.
I don't know how they drill for oil really, so I don't know about a solution. They need to be forced to come up with one though, PROVE that this can be done safely.
And as for this forum, it's all Obama's fault. It's always somebodies fault. Anybody but the actual company that failed and caused it, that is. Just the usual finger pointing and name calling, shouldn't expect anything else from this blog or any other. :(
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
right_thinker's drug-induced psychosis is skyrocketing to newer levels. No biggie, though--when you're paid by the post, it's all about eyeballs, eyeballs, eyeballs!!
whats_going_on (anonymous) says…
http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Edit...
:(
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
Has anyone mentioned that the feds had a plan and failed to act on it in a timely manner?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opi...
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Bill Maher is one of the better offerings of both HBO, and political talk/commentary shows, in general. "Sacred cows make the best steak," and Chef Maher regularly serves up some of the best Political Porterhouse you'll find anywhere. I don't need to watch the clips--I saw it live @ 9pm Friday, as I do most weeks. At the end of the show, Maher also ripped Islamic extremists "a few new ones," if you get my meaning.
Just as the kooks at Westboro Baptist Church brand anyone outside the cult as a "fag," so do neoconservative extremists brand anyone who "only" shares 99.9% or less of their views as "left"... "liberal"... "Demonrat" etc.
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
What is "it" with "people" getting "all" egregious with "quotation marks" "today"?
Agnostick (anonymous) replies…
Same thing it always is, che: "Gee, I'd love to argue with this person, but I have nothing relevant or tangible in my sac that would logically and factually refute even the smallest portion of their argument. So, I'll resort to my usual standby of picking on their quotation or spelling or some other trivial thing. Hey, as long as it makes me feel good about myself, who cares if it's actually true, right?"
I know, che, that you can relate to this line of thinking, on a wholesale level. ;)
Agnostick (anonymous) replies…
To paraphrase the old Chinese proverb:
"Take the imbecile out in the Gulf for the day, and he'll have enough oil to slick back his hair.
"Teach the imbecile to make his own wild fishing expeditions out into the Gulf, and he'll be able to lube up for a lifetime."
http://grammartips.homestead.com/Gene...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotatio...
Cappy (anonymous) says…
Famous last words (like before the Iraq invasion): Nothing could possibly go wrong.
KS (anonymous) says…
It appears that neither BP or the Feds had a plan for this disaster. Last I heard, a North Korean sub blew it up. Not much on that story because BO would rather blame BP than have to deal with the international crisis.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) replies…
Fortunately, KS, Obama doesn't get his intel from the wingnut wackosphere, so he'll likely deal with this as an environmental crisis, rather than creating an international one.
KS (anonymous) says…
bozo, you could be right, but this one came from the Russians.