5000 barrels a day of oil (210,000 gallons) leak off the coast of Louisiana

[MarquisBlack]

Didn't Obama send SWAT teams or some shit?

 

[pinkskunk]

my good mate works on a shrimp boat in the gulf and its gonna affect him as thats his livelyhood,so many people will be put out in more than one way.. and the worst thing about it is seeing what its gonna do to the oceans inhabbitants,and wild life who live and survive on the ocean. makes me so angry.

 

[Justa6655321]

It makes me sick to think about what it's doing to the sea!

Pink it's going to put an entire industry out or business!

Just think what we could have done with 25 billion in new solar panels instead of clean up. What also makes me vomit is a lot of the good old boy network like Halburton and the war industry companies are going to make a killing on cleaning it up.

 

[jdmramon]

The question I want to pose is who will be paying for the costly cleanup and millions of liveleyhoods that will be ruined right now and the countless problems that will be present for the next 30 years or so.
British Petroleum owns the rig and so far it seems that all the taxpayers already being rape by BP are going to be expected to pull our pants down bend over and get ready for rounds 2 and 3. Does anybody have any lube? this is going to hurt.

 

[Iron_Lion]

Say good bye to New Orleans.

 

[MrBluntfaced]

To all my ICM buds around the world....the oil crisis has the potential to change all our eating habits and the way we all live...

Sounds a little extreme but if the flow of oil isn't stopped soon the disaster will effect everyone

the gulf area is the largest producer of seafood in the world. 70%+ of the worlds shrimp comes from there, 60% of clams, and around 30%+ of crabs... The oil might destroy ALL the shrimp! It might kill ALL the clam beds...estimated time to get them back is 20 years!

That area is the 6th largest economy in the World! We r talking potential back to ression in the USA as everything from tourism to fish will be shut down for a long time.

So...better buy what shrimp u can get now and enjoy.

The area is bigger and more valuable than the Everglades. It's also the migratory spot for a lot of birds. Once that oil starts pushing into the grassy areas it won't be able to be removed and it will kill...

The dispersants used push the oil down to the sea bed...the bacteria used to help eat the oil take a long time to actually work...

All this and they still haven't stopped the flow of oil. 200,000 gallons a day are leaking.

Most people have no idea of just how bad this might be!

Can I just point out the possibility of a FEW different conspiracy theories I could make from this post? Had a teacher that loved playing that particular devil's advocate role

 

[RockyMountainHi]

Don't get me started,,, I don't see these ass holes fouling British coastline and killing British workers - the lying bastards keep saying all fine - then it blows up. It's OK!! Then it sinks - But it's OK,,, there are safety measures - That didn't work,, But it's OK, it's only a little leak,, but it's OK,,, oppps..... And the US government apparently fuckin believes B.P.


I wish I didn't have the bad feeling I got when this started.

But it's OK,, cause they wouldn't lie to us.


Ohhh and what will they pay the damages with? All the dollars they overcharged us FOR OUR FUCKING OIL!!

If we are going to get screwed,, shouldn't we let at US company reap the benefit?

ohhhh there are no more US companies.




Boys - they are in way over their heads and frankly - it's not their part of the world that is getting raped

 

[bentom187]

i really feel bad for luisiana i probably didnt spell it right but,seriously they are gettin chewwed up and spit outby BP. and yes this is completley the reason to switch to other energey sources. i like obama, i voted for him but WTF he opened off shore drilling on the e.coast. how many other POS platforms are out there, what would happen if just 5 more went out, on account of bad weather, or for that matter whatever this platform went down for,it could happen again.they want to drill diagnally from the surface to the hole underground to releive and circomvent pressure to another rig or ship ,it takes about a month why? they want to close it yeah,but they'll want somthing to replace the platform to collect the oil.MONEY is all they care about its capitalisim at its worst. america or its honor is now for sale you and the wild life can be bought.i dont beleive this is what vet's die for and its extremeley dishonorable for f'n pencil pushers to make this seem like no big deal. i find it really hard to deal with when i see people on fox saying this is just a bump in the road and to get over it,it was a girl republican who abandoned her state that wanted to run for pres. ill leave it at that.i myself am now commited to doing every little thing i can around me to not buy oil grow whatever i can and reley on bike instead of my truck. pls do what you can to put these POS'S out of bisnuesse.its america not some 3rd world crap.

 

[bentom187]

and another thing is since america lends its hand to every country who suffers from natural disasters ect.. where the hell is everyone now.

 

[FallenBuddha]

drill baby drill, becomes spill baby spill. We didnt need to spend money on researching oil rig safety, just like we didnt need to fund volcanology studies that worked out great too.

 

[cannabowl]

What a fucking shame.

When will these pompous fucks realize we don't want/need their product anymore.The technology is there, implement it. Maybe America will wake up and demand alternative means of Energy as a standard. The oil industry is a dying industry and let's hope this digs it a deeper grave.


R.I.P. Mother Nature


Canna

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

...up to 2-3 months to drill a hole next to it to plug it...this may sound like a dumb question but, why don't they just blow the leak shut using explosives? They do that above ground....

 

[bentom187]

thats not a profitable solution,for them they want to come back and put a new platform or whatever once the shit storm passes. why would they just leave that money. they are true assholes to the letter.

 

[LeenieBean]

no shit. they still haven't paid for Exon, and that area of Alaska relies almost exclusively on the fishing industry, wiped out nearly everything. No one got any money for it. But I have a feeling this will effect more than just the US at this pace. Traveling up the eastern seaboard into the north Atlantic current? yikes.

 

[DevilsReject]

Between the volcano in Iceland shutting down the UK & All points going North, South, East & West we now have this huge oil spill going to cave in the economy even more so by the time we are done with all of these unseen events we need to roll a tommy chong joint & crack open a cold one and just say Fuck it!! were's the dorito's!!!!!!!

 

[SpasticGramps]

This really hits home. It's going to cripple Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. It really makes sick to my stomach.

 

[Frozenguy]

...up to 2-3 months to drill a hole next to it to plug it...this may sound like a dumb question but, why don't they just blow the leak shut using explosives? They do that above ground....

I'm not too sure about this because maybe explosives down an underwater well act differently then in open underwater situations, but the concussion, the shock waves, are detrimental to underwater creatures in a large radius in all directions. Its not like setting off a bomb in the forest, the waves go through the water differently.

 

[pine boy]

The big show is getting crazier than a Spielburg flick.
Spark it up!

 

[arcticsun]

Id just like to say to all my our brothers and sisters over there on the American east coast that im very sorry to hear about this catastrophe, I am planting some auto AK47/east coast sour dieselx blueberry to this honor.

Wish I had some real ecsd, but okies this will work.


Blessings all.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Oil Headed Around Florida?

Oil Headed Around Florida?

Gulf Stream May Send Oil Up East Coast
ALLEN G BREED AND SETH BORENSTEIN 05/01/10

VENICE, La. — A sense of doom settled over the American coastline from Louisiana to Florida on Saturday as a massive oil slick spewing from a ruptured well kept growing, and experts warned that an uncontrolled gusher could create a nightmare scenario if the Gulf Stream carries it toward the Atlantic.

President Barack Obama planned to visit the region Sunday to assess the situation amid growing criticism that the government and oil company BP PLC should have done more to stave off the disaster. Meanwhile, efforts to stem the flow and remove oil from the surface by skimming it, burning it or spiking it with chemicals to disperse it continued with little success.


"These people, we've been beaten down, disaster after disaster," said Matt O'Brien of Venice, whose fledgling wholesale shrimp dock business is under threat from the spill.


"They've all got a long stare in their eye," he said. "They come asking me what I think's going to happen. I ain't got no answers for them. I ain't got no answers for my investors. I ain't got no answers."


He wasn't alone. As the spill surged toward disastrous proportions, critical questions lingered: Who created the conditions that caused the gusher? Did BP and the government react robustly enough in its early days? And, most important, how can it be stopped before the damage gets worse?


The Coast Guard conceded Saturday that it's nearly impossible to know how much oil has gushed since the April 20 rig explosion, after saying earlier it was at least 1.6 million gallons – equivalent to about 2 1/2 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The blast killed 11 workers and threatened beaches, fragile marshes and marine mammals, along with fishing grounds that are among the world's most productive.


Even at that rate, the spill should eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident as the worst U.S. oil disaster in history in a matter of weeks. But a growing number of experts warned that the situation may already be much worse.


The oil slick over the water's surface appeared to triple in size over the past two days, which could indicate an increase in the rate that oil is spewing from the well, according to one analysis of images collected from satellites and reviewed by the University of Miami. While it's hard to judge the volume of oil by satellite because of depth, it does show an indication of change in growth, experts said.


"The spill and the spreading is getting so much faster and expanding much quicker than they estimated," said Hans Graber, executive director of the university's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing. "Clearly, in the last couple of days, there was a big change in the size."


Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production, said it was impossible to know just how much oil was gushing from the well, but said the company and federal officials were preparing for the worst-case scenario.


In an exploration plan and environmental impact analysis filed with the federal government in February 2009, BP said it had the capability to handle a "worst-case scenario" at the Deepwater Horizon site, which the document described as a leak of 162,000 barrels per day from an uncontrolled blowout – 6.8 million gallons each day.


Oil industry experts and officials are reluctant to describe what, exactly, a worst-case scenario would look like – but if the oil gets into the Gulf Stream and carries it to the beaches of Florida, it stands to be an environmental and economic disaster of epic proportions.


The Deepwater Horizon well is at the end of one branch of the Gulf Stream, the famed warm-water current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic. Several experts said that if the oil enters the stream, it would flow around the southern tip of Florida and up the eastern seaboard.


"It will be on the East Coast of Florida in almost no time," Graber said. "I don't think we can prevent that. It's more of a question of when rather than if."


At the joint command center run by the government and BP near New Orleans, a Coast Guard spokesman maintained Saturday that the leakage remained around 5,000 barrels, or 200,000 gallons, per day.


But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, appointed Saturday by Obama to lead the government's oil spill response, said no one could pinpoint how much oil is leaking from the ruptured well because it is about a mile underwater.


"And, in fact, any exact estimation of what's flowing out of those pipes down there is probably impossible at this time due to the depth of the water and our ability to try and assess that from remotely operated vehicles and video," Allen said during a conference call.


The Coast Guard's Allen said Saturday that a test of new technology used to reduce the amount of oil rising to the surface seemed to be successful.


During the test Friday, an underwater robot shot a chemical meant to break down the oil at the site of the leak rather than spraying it on the surface from boats or planes, where the compound can miss the oil slick.


From land, the scope of the crisis was difficult to see. As of Saturday afternoon, only a light sheen of oil had washed ashore in some places.


The real threat lurked offshore in a swelling, churning slick of dense, rust-colored oil the size of Puerto Rico. From the endless salt marshes of Louisiana to the white-sand beaches of Florida, there is uncertainty and frustration over how the crisis got to this point and what will unfold in the coming days, weeks and months.


The concerns are both environmental and economic. The fishing industry is worried that marine life will die – and that no one will want to buy products from contaminated water anyway. Tourism officials are worried that vacationers won't want to visit oil-tainted beaches. And environmentalists are worried about how the oil will affect the countless birds, coral and mammals in and near the Gulf.


"We know they are out there" said Meghan Calhoun, a spokeswoman from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. "Unfortunately the weather has been too bad for the Coast Guard and NOAA to get out there and look for animals for us."


Fishermen and boaters want to help contain the oil. But on Saturday, they were again hampered by high winds and rough waves that splashed over the miles of orange and yellow inflatable booms strung along the coast, rendering them largely ineffective. Some coastal Louisiana residents complained that BP, which owns the rig, was hampering mitigation efforts.


"I don't know what they are waiting on," said 57-year-old Raymond Schmitt, in Venice preparing his boat to take a French television crew on a tour. He didn't think conditions were dangerous. "No, I'm not happy with the protection, but I'm sure the oil company is saving money."


As bad as the oil spill looks on the surface, it may be only half the problem, said University of California Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea, who serves on a National Academy of Engineering panel on oil pipeline safety.


"There's an equal amount that could be subsurface too," said Bea. And that oil below the surface "is damn near impossible to track."


Louisiana State University professor Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, worries about a total collapse of the pipe inserted into the well. If that happens, there would be no warning and the resulting gusher could be even more devastating because regulating flow would then be impossible.


"When these things go, they go KABOOM," he said. "If this thing does collapse, we've got a big, big blow."


BP has not said how much oil is beneath the Gulf seabed Deepwater Horizon was tapping, but a company official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the volume of reserves, confirmed reports that it was tens of millions of barrels – a frightening prospect to many.


Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said that he has asked both BP and the Coast Guard for detailed plans on how to protect the coast.


"We still haven't gotten those plans," said Jindal. "We're going to fully demand that BP pay for the cleanup activities. We're confident that at the end of the day BP will cover those costs."


In a statement late Saturday, a Coast Guard spokesman said the governor's office helped develop the plans that Jindal referred to.


Capt. Ron LaBrec said federal and company officials had been working closely with the governor's office "since day one" to implement contingency "which were developed in coordination with state and local leadership before this incident began."


Obama has halted any new offshore drilling projects unless rigs have new safeguards to prevent another disaster.


As if to cut off mounting criticism, on Saturday White House spokesman Robert Gibbs posted a blog entitled "The Response to the Oil Spill," laying out the administration's day-by-day response since the explosion, using words like "immediately" and "quickly," and emphasizing that Obama "early on" directed responding agencies to devote every resource to the incident and determining its cause.


In Pass Christian, Miss., 61-year-old Jimmy Rowell, a third-generation shrimp and oyster fisherman, worked on his boat at the harbor and stared out at the choppy waters.


"It's over for us. If this oil comes ashore, it's just over for us," Rowell said angrily, rubbing his forehead. "Nobody wants no oily shrimp."


Borenstein reported from Washington; Associated Press writers Tamara Lush, Brian Skoloff, Melissa Nelson, Mary Foster, Michael Kunzelman, Chris Kahn, Vicki Smith, Janet McConnaughey, Alan Sayre and AP Photographer Dave Martin contributed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/01/oil-east-coast-gulf-stream_n_559910.html