I can smell it

Going outside at lunchtime I realized that I could actually SMELL the oil

from the Gulf of Mexico.  It's THAT close.  WWL radio confirmed that oil

is what I'm smelling by reporting that there have been several calls around

the New Orleans area from people smelling the same thing.  It's actually

pretty nauseating. 

 

Thanks, BP.

 

 

Navy coming to help with oil spill cleanup

The U.S. Navy sent equipment to help with cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Defense Department said Thursday it stands ready to expand its response to the disaster.

Navy spokesman Lt. Myers Vasquez said Thursday that 66,000 feet (20,000 meters) of inflatable boom and seven skimming systems were on their way to the Navy base in Gulfport, Miss. The help is being provided under an existing pollution cleanup agreement between the Navy and Coast Guard.

The Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida is in use as a staging area for more booms, recovery barges, tractor trailers, pumps and other related equipment used by Coast Guard contractors, Vasquez said.

He was unaware of any military personnel who might be sent to help with the cleanup.

The White House has asked the Defense Department to discuss possible additional requests. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the military is assessing how it might help and what resources could be deployed. He did not say how long that might take.

"There is a full-blown effort within this department to try to find the kinds of things that could be helpful," Morrell said.

He said the federal response is far wider than the Pentagon and should involve a close partnership with the energy industry. For example, he said, industrial research on submersible vehicles that can operate at great depth outpaces the military's.

Morrell said the focus of military efforts now is on helping to contain the spill at sea, but that the Pentagon would be ready to offer other kinds of help should the spill reach shore. He would not speculate on what that additional assistance might include, but one possibility would be an influx of U.S. troops to help with shoreline cleanup.

 

Obama's support (NOT)

Wow, the prez gave a less than 1 minute mention on the upcoming disastrophe.

 

He said they're sending "swat teams" to inspect all rigs.

And he said they're going to find out what caused the explosion of the rig.

 

WTF?  The Gulf Coast is in danger of an ecological disaster and he's sending SWAT TEAMS???

 

 

 

 

Help to lay boom

Any fishermen out there who are interested in helping to lay out boom,

here is some contact info:

 

Be sure to have your Vessel's dimesion/Specs/Location info ready

 

Call 425-745-8017

 

Or email

  vince.mitchell@lamor.com

  grant.johnson@bp.com

 

Thanks

 

 

Our State Agencies' Activities

Noon 4/29/10: Jindal declares state of emergency (48 hours late)

Actions By State Agencies

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF):

Yesterday (4/28), the Coast Guard began working to protect the Pass-A-Loutre Wildlife Management area by placing 55,000 feet of oil containment boom around the affected area. Due to weather conditions, only around 9,000 feet of boom have been placed at Pass-A-Loutre. The 55,000 feet of boom was requested by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). LDWF has requested 100,000 feet of boom to be staged at Venice. LDWF is working alongside their federal partners today to identify more priority areas to protect. Governor Jindal noted that these priority areas are where there is a concentration of wildlife and nesting birds.

LDWF is working with federal partners to see about the possibility of involving the fishing industry with the clean-up effort. LDWF’s biologists are also assessing the water to determine any potential closures for commercial and recreational fishermen. The earliest closures would come at some point late Friday or early Saturday morning.

After consulting with key fishing industry leaders and fisheries biologists, LDWF is also announcing that a special shrimp season will open this evening at 6PM in the portion of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds commonly-known as the “double-rig line.” “Reports have indicated that a number of large white shrimp are available in this portion of state waters and LDWF is making every effort available to the commercial fishing industry to harvest this marketable crop before the potential impact of the oil spill. These waters will remain open to shrimp harvesting until further notice.

The Governor stressed that Louisiana seafood is currently safe to eat and LDWF and other appropriate agencies will continue to monitor the fisheries. LDWF is also considering partnering with the Department of Corrections to train prisoners to help clean birds that may be impacted by the oil.

A toll-free number has been issued by the federal government to report oiled or injured wildlife. To report affected wildlife call (866) 557-1401.

Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ):

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has 40 regional staff members with oil spill and hazard experience deployed.

Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA):

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is evaluating models associated with the Caernarvon Diversion to identify the best way to use water from the Mississippi River to help mitigate the impact of the spill on Louisiana’s coast.

Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH)

The Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) will be issuing advisories if it is not safe to swim. Additionally, they are monitoring oyster beds and will take appropriate action shortly if oil impacts these areas. At this point, DHH does not anticipate a drinking water problem.

GOHSEP:(Governor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness)

GOHSEP has deployed its mobile command center to the Unified Area Command in Robert, Louisiana.

Why are they in ROBERT, LOUISIANA?????

A word about the "Unified Command"

From the Louisiana Environmental Action Network

We believe that releases of information from the Unified Command are glossing over the environmental aspects of this oil spill and failing in their duty to provide the public with accurate and unbiased information. From our experience and the experience of all of our colleagues in dealing with oil spills, once the oil is in the water it is impossible to eliminate all environmental impact. We believe that the government agencies in charge must make a full and accurate assessment of the environmental impacts of this spill.

"The vast majority of this slick will be addressed through natural means." This sounds an awful lot like: The vast majority of the oil slick will be left in the environment. What impact will this have to the Gulf environment?

The chemical dispersants are essentially a soap like material that emulsifies the oil and causes it to sink into the water column and to the sea floor. What impact will this sub-surface oil have on marine life, on the oyster beds and benthic organisms?

Oil booms proved to be pretty ineffective during the fuel-oil barge spill in the Mississippi River in 2008. How effective will booms be in rough seas?

We do agree that burning the slick is preferable to the surface oil coming on to shore but we also ask that the Agencies involved make a full and accurate assessment of the environmental impacts of the burning of the surface oil.

We simply ask that an honest and accurate assessment of the full environmental impacts of this spill be conducted by the relevant government agencies and then released to the public.

To report affected wildlife, call 1-866-557-1401.

For more information regarding the Deepwater Horizon incident, contact the joint information center at (985) 902-5231 or (985) 902-5240.

You can contact us at 1-866-msriver.

Where are the booms?

Garland Robinette is talking to Billy Nungusser, president of Plaquemines Parish about preparations for the oil spill coming ashore on WWL radio right now. Billy said there are 6 hours left before the winds shift to the south. There are hundreds of fisher people willing to lay the boom out to protect Plaquemines. There are no booms in Plaquemines Parish. What gives?

This video said there's boom out there



Billy is close to tears out of frustration. It's unbelievable, just like Katrina. The Coast Guard and BP are "handling" this horrendous situation while our fragile wetlands and coastline sit unprotected.

Our president tells BP they're paying for the whole mess. You think this is gonna happen? Obama is stepping up the government's response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by sending three Cabinet members to oversee the effort. Do they have booms?

Joining Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at the site will be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and environmental protection administrator Lisa Jackson.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration also may send military ships and personnel to help control damage from the spill. Will they be here this afternoon??

Just give the booms to the fishermen in St. Bernard and Plaquemines, y'all. We can protect ourselves, as those in charge have their heads up their asses, as usual.

BP

From the comments section of this article:

You know, as a former news reporter who covered South Louisiana and wrote stories on offshore oil rig blowouts, I am absolutely amazed over how British Petrolium has been able to spoon-feed their version of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Further, I am amazed over how the White House, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA have allowed British Petrolium to woefully minimize this catastrophe for so long a time. Case in point: we just "learned" late yesterday that there was "a second leak" from the floor of the Gulf, and that the outflow into the Gulf is 5,000 barrels instead of 1,000 barrels per day. This morning we read where apparently there is "a third leak" from the floor of the Gulf. Now how can this be? Simply because these types of platforms are used to drill multiple wellheads on the ocean floor--as many as a dozen or more for obvious reasons: to extract the oil more quickly and economically and increase profits. So, Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc. , please ask your reporters why they haven't "discovered" this fact, and demand that they get off their butts and begin doing some legwork instead of relying on British Petroleum's "spoon-fed news"!

Mr. Hayward? Screw You

From the New York Times today


Earlier on Wednesday, Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, described the spilled oil as very light, like “iced tea,” and only one-tenth of a millimeter thick, as thin as a human hair.



“We will be judged primarily on the strength of our response,” said Mr. Hayward, who is in southwest Louisiana.

Sorry, Tony. We don't buy the description of the size. As of tonite it's being described as the size of Jamaica What you saw was from space. What WE ARE GOING TO SEE is going to be on our coastline. It is going to DEVASTATE our seafood industry. It is going to RUIN our wildlife refuges when the "iced tea" oil slick washes ashore. Louisiana already has an extremely strong dislike for you and your company, Mr. Hayward based on your slow-as-a-tortoise response to this tragedy. But we DO appreciate that you had your people add the "iced tea" reference for us 'ignorant' Southerners. You have no idea of the possibilities of how deep we can go in our anger towards fuckmooks like you.

The explosion happened on April 20th. You tried to plug the spewing well for a week when you realized that "oh shit! the winds are going to be shifting in the Gulf of Mexico". As if that doesn't happen every other day, you moron! Know your territory, Tony!

Tony, the 'strength of your response' ain't nothing if this monster comes ashore in the Gulf Coast.

Your response isn't going to help the more than four hundred species in harm's way because of your "mistake".

From the above link The area under threat produces the largest total seafood landings in the lower 48 states, is a vital wintering or resting spot for more than 70 percent of the nation's waterfowl, is used by all 110 neo-tropical migratory songbirds, and produces 50 percent of the nation's wild shrimp crop, 35 percent of its blue claw crabs and 40 percent of its oysters. Ressearchers say 90 percent of all the marine species in the Gulf of Mexico depend on coastal estuaries at some point in their lives, and most of those estuaries are in Louisiana -- endangered by an oil spill that could last months.

Just when we where coming out of the darkness of Katrina's wrath.

Update 9PM CST 4/28/10:
Mr Hayward is passing the buck, saying the rig's owner is at fault for the explosion ! At this point in time I think what's more important is WHAT IS GOING TO BE DONE AS A RESULT OF THIS EXPLOSION. We can sort the rest out later, idiots.

That dang oil spill

Let all the wacko's come out of the woodwork and proclaim that we shouldn't be dependent on oil.



What sickens me is what's going to happen to our coastline. And our seafood industry. God help us all.

What REALLY gets my ire up is knowing the fact that BP fought off new safety rules before this explosion.

Granted this incident happened for a reason. I'm just extremely sorry and disgusted that it had to happen to the Gulf Coast. Dammit.

From Rachel Maddow

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tragedy

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina, when many places are
finally showing signs of healing, we are faced with a tragedy that
we cannot stop. All we can do is prepare for it.

My condolences go out to the families and friends of the eleven workers
who are presumed dead as a result of the explosion of the oil rig

Deepwater Horizon on April 20th. I can't imagine the pain they are experiencing.



One week after the blast, the sunken rig is still spewing oil at the rate of
42 thousand gallons a day from 5,000 feet under water.
If crews cannot stop the leak quickly, they might need to drill another well to redirect the oil, a process that could take about two months while oil washes up along a broad stretch of shore, from the white-sand beaches of Florida's Panhandle to the swamps of Louisiana.

You can track the oil spill at this website.



It's predicted that - even though conditions are in our favor today - the oil could be close to
landfall by the end of this week.

We could use a meteorlogical miracle.