A rosy outlook painted by a government oil spill report is being challenged. A conclusion by National Incident Command that most of the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico had been burned, collected or vaporized has been cast into doubt by 3 scientific studies. Those collecting shrimp are allowed to do so again. The president and his family swam within the gulf and ate seafood last week. A University of Georgia (UGA) study explains the ecosystem could be effected for years considering 75 percent of the oil hasn’t been collected yet. The sea floor has another plume of oil that was found by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF). The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that human health and seafood safety could be hurt by the oil spill for a long time.

Government reports the spill to have dispersed

Most of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 has been safely dispersed, according to government statements. Burning and skimming has only taken away 4.9 million gallons of the oil within the spill says National Incident Command in a Wall Street Journal article. There has also been 25 percent that evaporated away. Some of the scientists at UGA explain that there is nevertheless 79 percent of toxins and oil sitting within the gulf. Years can be required before a breakdown of petrochemicals might actually happen. There isn’t really any way 25 percent of oil could have evaporated unless 25 percent was on the surface. The area has numerous large areas where plumes are trapped.

Undersea canyon harbors toxic oil plume

There is a lot of the oil spill that has ended up settling in the bottom of the gulf, reports the USF team. CNN reports the USF study discovered that dispersants apparently have sent droplets of oil to the depths, where it’s suspended in an undersea canyon about 40 miles offshore from the Florida panhandle. The oil’s toxic chemicals are causing a strong reaction to the organisms like plankton. The surface has oil that might come out again. CNN talked to a UGA researcher who explained that the government failed to account for a third of the hydrocarbons like methane, and others, that are still in the water.

Gulf seafood safety faces long term threat

The safety of gulf seafood could be hurt for a while, says the AMA, from the BP oil spill. The Sacramento Bee reports that within the short term dangerous petrochemicals resembling cigarette smoke and soot will remain within the systems of gulf shellfish. Big game fish like tuna, swordfish and mackerel will amass high concentrations of mercury in the long term from consuming fish lower in the food chain. In case you are pregnant of have kids, I’d stay away from eating any seafood from the gulf.

Further reading

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575434074237252604.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

CNN

cnn.com/2010/US/08/17/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?npt=NP1

Sacramento Bee

sacbee.com/2010/08/17/2963788/gulf-oil-spill-still-a-threat.html

bp oil spill, government oil spill report, gulf seafood safety, oil plume

Scientists are challenging the optimistic scenario presented by a government oil spill report. National Event Command had concluded in a report that most of the BP oil spill evaporated or had been collected or burned, but 3 reports say nearly the opposite . Shrimpers were given the green light. President Obama ate shellfish and swam within the gulf last week with his family. But a University of Georgia (UGA) study estimates that three quarters of the oil hasn’t been recovered and remains a long-term threat to the ecosystem. University of South Florida (USF) researchers said a huge toxic oil plume has settled to the bottom. A study published by the American Medical Association (AMA) reports that the oil spill is a long-term threat to human health and gulf seafood safety.

Government oil spill report says impact is minimal

Official statements released by the administration declare that many of the BP oil spill has been dispersed to safe levels. The Wall Street Journal reports that National Incident Command, which managed the oil leak response, said about half of the 4.9 million gallon BP oil leak had been skimmed or burned. Evaporation and dissolution handled one more 25 percent. UGA researchers at the forefront of investigating underwater oil plumes created by the oil spill said as much as 79 percent of the oil and its toxic byproducts nevertheless remain below the surface. The petrochemicals will take years to break down within the environment, they concluded. The group said it was impossible for dissolved oil to evaporate because only oil at the surface can evaporate. Throughout the spill area, large oil plumes are trapped within the depths.

Undersea canyon site of toxic oil plume

A large portion of the BP oil leak has settled to the bottom of the gulf further east than previously suspected, according to the USF team. CNN reports the USF study discovered that dispersants apparently have sent droplets of oil to the depths, where it’s suspended in an undersea canyon about 40 miles offshore from the Florida panhandle. Plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain showed a “strong toxic response” to the crude. It’s possible the oil could return to the surface. A UGA researcher told CNN that a third of the hydrocarbons in the form of methane and other gas emissions that remain within the water weren’t measured by the government.

Gulf seafood safety affected for years

The AMA insists that gulf seafood safety will be affected for years by the BP oil spill. In the short term, the Sacramento Bee reports that gulf shellfish will retain dangerous petrochemicals likened to cigarette smoke and soot. Longer term, mercury consumed by fish lower within the food chain will concentrate in big game fish for instance tuna, swordfish and mackerel. As time goes on, the report said doctors may be warning pregnant women and children to strictly limit the amount of gulf seafood they eat.

Discover more details on this subject

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575434074237252604.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

CNN

cnn.com/2010/US/08/17/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?npt=NP1

Sacramento Bee

sacbee.com/2010/08/17/2963788/gulf-oil-spill-still-a-threat.html

bp oil spill, government oil spill report, gulf seafood safety, oil plume

A federal judge has overturned the Obama administration’s six-month deep water drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. The ruling that was issued on Tuesday cited economic hardship as a result of the ban and said the government overreached by suspending all deep-water drilling operations either in progress or planned in the gulf. Oil companies hailed the ruling. The Department of Justice said they would appeal the decision. During that same time, as the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 gushed for the 63rd day, about 106 million gallons of crude and counting have spilled to the sea.

Source for this article: Drilling moratorium overturned by judge with oil company holdings

Drilling moratorium judge invested in oil

The drilling moratorium was overturned by Judge Martin L.C. Feldman. According to ABC News, recent disclosure documents indicate that Feldman, who was appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan, has had financial holdings in oil companies. Feldman said the Interior Department acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it issued a six-month moratorium on drilling new deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean. Feldman granted a preliminary injunction to Hornbeck Offshore Services to lift the drilling moratorium, saying that he believed the government “failed to cogently reflect the decision to issue a blanket, generic, indeed punitive, moratorium.”

Uncertainty involving deep water drilling in future

The moratorium was imposed to give a presidential panel time to come up with recommendations on how to stay away from a future oil spill disaster. It was reported by the Los Angeles Times that it remains uncertain whether the Interior Department would have to start issuing new permits to drill. With an appeal virtually certain to come from the Obama administration, some analysts doubt that oil companies would want to start a major deep-water drilling operation within the Gulf of Mexico with the possibility it may have to shut down if the appeal succeeds.

Oil companies want to spin drilling moratorium

The American Petroleum Institute praised today’s ruling, saying in a written statement, “The moratorium was an first response to concerns about the safety of offshore oil and natural gas operations. However, an extended moratorium would have a tremendous impact on the nation’s energy security – and cause significant harm to the region of the country that was already suffering from the spill – without raising safety or improving industry procedures.”

BP oil spill containment failure

Meanwhile, within the gulf, CNN reports that government estimates indicate as much as 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons) of oil may be flowing to the Gulf each day, and also the gusher has already taken a significant toll on tourism and the fishing industry in Gulf Coast states. BP said it had succeeded in collecting less than half of the estimated daily output: 25,830 barrels (1.08 million gallons) of oil over the past 24 hours on Tuesday. The amount is the most ever collected; the previous record was set June 18 when 25,290 barrels were collected. BP explained that it will donate net revenues it receives from the sale of oil recovered from the spill to help the National Fish and Wildlife Federation deal with the oil it won’t be collecting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010.

Find a lot more information on this topic

ABC News

abcnews.go.com/Politics/gulf-oil-spill-disaster-judge-overrules-white-house/story?id=10983980&page=2

Los Angeles Times

latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-moratorium-20100623,,7804590.story

CNN

cnn.com/2010/US/06/22/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?npt=NP1

bp oil spill, deepwater drilling, drilling moratorium, oil spill gulf of mexico 2010

Tony Hayward opened his testimony in Congress Thursday by apologizing on behalf of BP for the disaster that is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. But he was upstaged by one more apology from a Republican for the White House “shakedown” of BP for a $20 billion dollar fund to cover damages from the oil spill. Lawmakers vented predictable wrath on the oil business executive while at the House Energy and Commerce hearing investigating the oil spill. The shakedown apology to Hayward from Texas Republican Joe Barton was also fairly predictable considering the representative’s record.

Source for this article: Tony Hayward receives G.O.P. apology for White House shakedown By Personal Money Store

Tony Hayward sits when gusher flows

While Tony Heyward took his lumps, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reached at least 100 million gallons which is according to government estimates. The New York Times reports the oil spill cap BP has been using given that June 3 has collected about 15,000 barrels a day. Scientists estimated Tuesday that the BP oil leak ranges from 35,000 barrels to 60,000 barrels a day — up from the flow rate they issued only last week, of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day. It continues a pattern in which every new estimate of the flow rate has been dramatically higher than the one before.

Political posturing dominates listening to

For 90 minutes, Tony Hayward listened as lawmakers made opening statements. Democrats led by California Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, harshly criticized BP for the shortcuts it took that lead to the disaster. Republicans used the televised listening to as an chance to criticize the Obama administration for the way it handled the BP oil spill. As they used the hearing to score political points with their base, Republicans accused the administration for using the hearing to try desperately to put the oil industry out of business to advance its energy policies.

BP “shakedown” – Joe Barton ashamed

Before Tony Hayward could apologize, he received his own apology from Barton (video below). Barton said that he has been “ashamed of what happened within the White House yesterday. I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or corporation does anything wrong, they are subjected to such political pressure.” He called it “a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I’d characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown.” It was reported by Reuters that Republicans are seeking to pick up seats from majority Democrats in November’s congressional elections. Using BP’s $20 billion oil spill damage fund to criticize the Obama administration is an very risky stance that is bound to be unpopular in the Gulf region, where out-of-work fishermen are desperate for claims payments to survive economically.

Barton’s shakedown wasn’t a surprise

Tony Hayward and a majority of Americans may have been shocked at Barton’s shakedown apology. But it was reported by the Washington Post that for Barton, outrageous statements about energy and climate change are nothing new. Barton is the biggest recipient of oil and gas industry campaign contributions in the House of Representatives according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Some of these comments were:

Barton on wind energy: “Wind is God’s way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it’s hotter to areas where it is cooler. That’s what wind is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if within the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up?” Barton on climate change: “I think that it’s inevitable that humanity will adapt to global warming. I also believe the longer we postpone finding ways to do it (adapt) successfully, the more expensive and unpalatable the adjustment will become. Adaptation to shifts in temperature is not that difficult.” Barton on Co2: “CO2 is odorless, colorless, tasteless – it’s not a threat to human health in terms of being exposed to it. We create it as we talk back and forth. So, and if you go beyond that, on a net basis, there’s ample evidence that warming generically — however it is caused — is a net benefit to mankind.”

In edgewise, Hayward gets his apology

Tony Hayward finally got his chance to apologize after a protester, smeared in black, disrupted his testimony by shouting that he should be charged with some kind of a crime. After she was hustled out of the room, Hayward said he was “deeply sorry,” and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 should not have ever happened. He also offered his condolences to the families and friends of the 11 people who died in the explosion of the oil rig that set the disaster in motion. Hayward has yet to face any questions from a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which recessed after his statement to allow members to vote. No a lot more apologies could be expected.

Citations

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/06/17/us/17spill.html

Reuters

reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65G42D20100617?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/06/joe-bartons-bp-shakedown-comme.html

bp oil spill, joe barton, shakedown, tony hayward

An oil slick is covering the Yellow Sea after a pipeline explosion. Cleanup efforts are already underway concerning the China oil spill. The work is certainly cut out for the containment workers; the oil slick at the moment covers 165 square miles of water. It is far smaller than the BP oil spill off Louisiana.

Exploding pipeline touched off China oil spill

An oil pipeline exploded in Dalian, a port in Liaoning province. It is one of the largest shipping and receiving ports in China. The explosion dumped thousands of tons of crude oil to the ocean, and set it alight. The fire raged for 15 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. Over 1,000 vessels were mobilized to clean up the China oil spill, and they’re deploying oil consuming bacteria.

Response to spill was fast

By Tuesday, shipping activity was back to normal, but tourist beaches were still closed. The fire was contained early on, but the size of the oil slick has increased since the explosion. The estimates for the area of water covered by oil have doubled as of Wednesday, though it is still far smaller than the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The China oil spill at the moment covers fewer than 200 square miles of ocean, whereas the BP oil spill covers more than 2,000 square miles of water. The government in Dalian estimates it can have the spill cleaned up within a week. It is the second largest oil receiving port in China.

Greenpeace sounds off

Greenpeace saw an opportunity in the China oil spill to remind every person of the hazards of depending on fossil fuels. The Gulf oil spill and also the numerous accidents of coal mining were mentioned also. The pipelines that exploded were at an oil storage facility owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Additional details at these websites

csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0721/China-oil-spill-spreads-but-not-as-big-as-BP-oil-spill-in-Gulf

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100719/wl_asia_afp/chinaenvironmentoilpollution

bp oil spill, China oil spill, Dalian, gulf oil spill

For more than a month the BP oil spill has been pumping oil into the ocean. Just a few days ago, BP released the oil spill live feed at the request of Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts. The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is co-hosting the oil spill live feed.

Source of Article: Oil Spill Live Feed | Keeping 24-7 watch on the oil spill

Heavy traffic flowing to oil spill live feed

Shortly after the oil spill live feed was put on the web, it experienced incredibly high volume of traffic. For both the BP website and the committee website, the oil spill live feed went down several times. Since then, though, the feed appears to be fairly reliable. There to maintain an all-day-every-day feed of the oil spill is the Spillcam website.

What is the purpose of the oil spill live feed?

Following repeated requests to British Petroleum, the oil spill live feed was made public. BP has not been able to provide definite answers on a constant basis regarding how much oil is spilling into the ocean. Credit repair for this beleaguered company will most likely take years – and for good reason. The oil spill live feed has been made public not only in the name of public information, but in the name of possible solutions.

The range of the oil spill

Hundreds of thousands of raw crude oil spilling into the ocean every day can be seen in the BP oil spill live feed. Scientists are studying the live feed as well as the oil that is starting to show up on the coast of the United States. The Loop Current of the Gulf Stream is already starting to pick up the oil, and it could most likely travel as far as Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Eastern Seaboard or farther. BP is claiming partial responsibility for the spill, but Haliburton, Transocean and others are refusing to take part of the responsibility for the spill.

No matter who ultimately is responsible, the oil spill live feed is providing a view into the impact of the BP oil spill. The cleanup of this environmental disaster is sure to take years, if not decades.

bp oil spill, Credit Repair, Oil spill, oil spill live feed