| Testimony of Brenda Dardar Robichaux |
| Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation |
| Before the Subcommittee On Insular Affairs Wildlife and Oceans |
| Our Natural Resources at Risk: The Short and Long Term Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill |
| 10-Jun-10 |
| Good morning Chairwoman Bordallo, Ranking Member Brown and members of the Subcommittee. My name is Brenda Dardar Robichaux and I am Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation of Southeastern Louisiana. Thank you for the opportunity to testify at today’s hearing –“Our Natural Resources at Risk: The Short and Long Term Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.” We have several tribal citizens here today – Vice Principal Chief Michael Dardar, incoming Principal Chief Thomas Dardar and my father, Whitney Dardar a life-long commercial fisherman. |
| The United Houma Nation is an indigenous nation of approximately 17,000 citizens who currently reside along coastal, southeast Louisiana. The Houma, first encountered by LaSalle in 1682, have existed in the bayous and rivers of South central Louisiana long before Louisiana became a state and New Orleans became a French colony. Today, nearly 90% of our citizens reside in coastal Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Mary, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. The majority live in communities which are at or below sea level. |
| The relationship between the Houma People and these lands is fundamental to our existence as an Indian nation. The medicines we use to prevent illnesses and heal our sick, the places our ancestors are laid to rest, the fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters our people harvest, our traditional stories and the language we speak are all tied to these lands inextricably. Without these lands, our culture and way of life that has been passed down generation to generation will be gone. |
| Tribal citizens have been living, hunting, fishing, shrimping, crabbing, trapping and harvesting oysters in the coastal marshes and wetlands of our communities for centuries. Our people follow the seasons. In the summer we catch shrimp, crabs and garfish. In the winter we harvest oysters and trap nutria, muskrat, and otters. This is how my father and countless other tribal citizens make their living. This lifestyle is now in jeopardy. |
| Houma fishermen are intimately familiar with the lakes and bayous of our region. They know the stories of how these places got their names. They know how the tides flow and the winds blow. They can predict the weather without the help of technical gadgets. |
| Not only are many tribal citizens both directly and indirectly dependent on the commercial fishing industry, but Houma citizens harvest palmetto in the coastal marshes for basket weaving, Spanish moss for traditional doll making and many herbs and plants for traditional medicinal remedies used by tribal traiteurs or traditional healers. All of these traditions are in danger of disappearing once the continuing flow of oil infiltrates the inner |
| coastal marshes and wetlands of our communities. These plants are irreplaceable and many only grow in our rich marshes. |
| The United Houma Nation is no stranger to dealing with adversity. In the early 1900’s Houma children were not allowed into public schools because they were Indian. Christian missionaries came into our communities in the 1930’s and established schools for Houma children. Those schools only went up to the seventh or eighth grade, the teachers were often unqualified and children were punished for speaking their language. It was not until the passage of the Civil Rights Act that the Houma children were allowed into public schools. The lack of educational opportunities resulted in many Houma People continuing the traditional ways of making a living off the land. |
| Another obstacle for the Houma has been obtaining recognition from the federal government. We have been recognized by the State of Louisiana but have been mired in the Federal Acknowledgment Process since 1979, a year after the system for recognition was established.. In 1985, we filed our petition; we received a negative proposed finding in 1994. The proposed finding stated that we met four of the seven criteria for acknowledgment. Subsequently, we filed our rebuttal in 1996 to demonstrate that we do meet the remaining three criteria. Nearly fifteen years after we submitted our rebuttal and over thirty years after we began the process, we still do not have a final determination. We have one of the largest petitions on file and are the largest tribe to go through the federal acknowledgment process. Despite our lack of federal recognition, the United Houma Nation continues to function as a government and provides services to tribal citizens. |
| Located in coastal Louisiana, our communities face special challenges. We have long lived with hurricanes, and over the years, we have become efficient in preparing for and recovering from them. Within the last five years, we have dealt with four major hurricanes – Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Ike and Gustav in 2008 – and, though these storms presented incredible challenges, we have made significant progress in recovering and getting our lives back. The Tribe established a hurricane relief center where tribal citizens can receive cleaning supplies, food, clothing and other essential items. We coordinated hundreds of volunteers to help clean and rebuild homes. Through our own efforts, we have been able to get tribal citizens back on their feet and some back into their homes. |
| While it takes time to recover from hurricanes, even after these huge storms, our people were able to resume their lives and our fishermen have gone back to work. Because most of the Houma communities exist outside of hurricane protection levees, they are at constant risk from normal tidal flooding and from tropical storm and hurricane surges. With each hurricane, some tribal members move outside the tribal communities to areas less prone to flooding. Many cannot afford the insurance to rebuild. |
| Now, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster presents us with perhaps the greatest challenge in our history as we are at risk of losing the heart of our culture – our homelands. It is without question that the oil spill will affect the estuaries within which the Houma tribal fishermen make their living. As the oil enters our coastal marshes the wetland vegetation will be killed. This prevents fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters from reproducing because these marshes are where these species spawn and receive protection from natural predators. In addition, these marshes are home to already diminishing wetland mammals such as mink, otter and muskrat. |
| Once the vegetation is dead, mud plains poisoned with oil will become open water, thereby eliminating critical habitat. Not only will this spill change the environment we live in, but our land loss will be critically accelerated, dwarfing the impacts of Katrina and the other recent hurricanes. This spill will have far-reaching effects that will compromise the economic, environmental and mental health of all of southeast Louisiana. For the Houmas, it also looms as a death threat to our culture as we know it. |
| Our tribal citizens are deeply concerned about the short and long term impacts of this oil spill. Growing up I never knew we were considered poor by government standards because we had a rich culture, were surrounded by abundant natural resources, and always had fresh food on the table. I grew up eating fish, shrimp, crabs, oysters, ducks and rabbits. Providing our families with meals based on fresh seafood and game may no longer be an option, which means putting food on the table will be difficult for some of our people. |
| But seafood is more than just a major source of food for our tribal citizens. Working in the seafood industry is also a major source of employment. During shrimp season, my father says it is like Christmas every morning. I fear that he may not have another Christmas. While some tribal fishermen have received checks from BP, these do not replace what they have temporarily and maybe even permanently lost. The Tribe is also concerned about those making a living in related professions such as net makers, seafood distributors, restaurant owners and others. With a limited education through no fault of their own, many tribal citizens do not have options for alternative employment. How will they support themselves and their families once the checks stop.? The answer we do not know. |
| We are concerned that waste produced by the spill clean up (used booms, pads, etc.) will find its way into disposal sites in our tribal areas, in particular our Grand Bois community. Grand Bois is located adjacent to an open pit oilfield waste disposal site in Lafourche parish. The 1980 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) defined any wastes that are generated during the exploration and production of petroleum, which will include any wastes generated in the clean up of this spill, as non-hazardous. Neither the crude oil nor any dispersants used in responding to this disaster are regulated as hazardous waste. Although these materials are hazardous by nature, they can be “landfarmed” in Grand Bois and other communities as “Non-Hazardous Oilfield Waste” or NOW. We do not want these materials disposed of in our communities, and we would respectfully request that this law be changed to protect all US citizens from exposure to these harmful chemicals. The citizens of Grand Bois as well as the thousands of citizens who live near oilfield waste disposal sites can testify to the toxic effects of these supposedly non-hazardous materials. |
| Most worrisome is the fact that we are now in hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts between 14 and 23 named storms this year and between 3 and 7 major hurricanes. The entire United Houma Nation along the Louisiana coast is completely vulnerable to widespread inundation by oil-contaminated waters. Some of our communities have been totally excluded in parish and Army Corps of Engineers levee protection systems, and many communities have very little and/or compromised protection. |
| A tropical storm or hurricane coming ashore west of Louisiana before the oil flow is capped and existing surface and subsurface oil cleaned up will flood these communities with an oily waste storm surge, similar to the Murphy Oil incident in St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane |
| Katrina. Residents’ homesteads had to be purchased by Murphy Oil. These properties and homes are uninhabitable to this day. A minimal tropical storm or even a simple strong summer storm during high tide will be disastrous to our communities. Our citizens are now very concerned that if they are required to evacuate, they may never be able to return to their homes. Such a very possible scenario will equate to thousands of Houmas being permanently displaced. |
| We have a special concern for the effects of this disaster on our youth. In early May, the tribe held a tribal youth leadership conference. Participants were asked about their concerns for the future and nearly all of them mentioned the oil spill. They are concerned that they will not be able to carry on the traditions of our people. |
| As a result of our lack of federal acknowledgment, we do not receive services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs or any other agency that require federal recognition status. When a disaster hits, federal resources are filtered to federally recognized tribes. Although sympathetic to our needs, their hands are tied in providing financial assistance to the United Houma Nation that suffers the greatest impacts of these disasters. A final determination on our petition was due over 10 years ago. We have dealt with countless hurricanes during that time and now this massive oil spill. We most certainly could have used additional resources that would be available to federally recognized tribes and need them now more than ever. In this case of the oil spill, we have been contacted by the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We plan to continue discussions with these departments and are hopeful that sufficient resources will be made available to the United Houma Nation. |
| Because of the enormous scope of this disaster, our tribal leadership must make tremendous efforts to ensure that our members receive timely and accurate information about its ongoing environmental and health impacts. Due to limited educational opportunities in the past, many of our tribal elders lack the skills needed to read and understand written notices or effectively use the Internet to gather information. Many of our communities are isolated, and there is limited if any monitoring of environmental conditions in them. Our tribe will require resources to collect data on air, water, and soil quality and to provide the special outreach efforts our tribal citizens will need to respond effectively to changing conditions. |
| The Houma are a strong, very independent, and resilient people. We have seen small canals turn into large bayous; we have watched hundreds of acres of wetlands wash away; we have seen freshwater bayous turn into saltwater; we have seen our traditional medicines disappear; we have seen tribal members move out of our communities due to constant flooding; we have seen our lands taken from us because our people were not taught to read and write and we have spent 30 years in the federal acknowledgment process without a final determination. Throughout it all, we have done what was necessary to survive. |
| This oil spill presents a major challenge to our existence as a tribe. Therefore, I ask that you please support our efforts to bring resources to the United Houma Nation to preserve our way of life for current and future generations. |
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
United Houma Indians and the Oil Spill
Thursday, June 10, 2010
New Bayou Liberty Bridge open soon
Ending a 30-year saga that included a public outcry, a court injunction and "Save Our Bridge" bumper
The bridge will also have a nine-foot clearance, so that smaller boats can pass underneath, said John Housey, project manager for Coastal Bridge Co. of Baton Rouge.
"We hope to have it open before school starts," he said.
That's welcome news to Bayou Liberty residents, whose wait for a new bridge has spanned decades.
The drama began in the early 1980s, when the state declared the wooden, hand-cranked bridge built in 1941 a marine hazard and sought to replace it with a vertical lift span that would have towered 80 feet high above the serene bayou community.
"It wouldn't have looked good, also people with sail boats going up the bayou wouldn't have been able to pass under it because it wasn't tall enough," said Armand L. "Junior" Pichon, an area resident and member of the Save Our Bridge movement that formed in response to the state's plan.
Residents eventually won a court fight over the matter and obtained an injunction against the vertical bridge, and the state put in a metal-decked pontoon bridge as a "temporary" solution. That bridge, which often had to be closed due to problems with water levels and broken cables, was a constant headache for both residents and state officials.
"A lot of people didn't like the pontoon bridge because they were scared of it," Pichon said.
Approving plans for the new $6.3 million bridge in 2007, the state Department of Transportation and Development began construction about a year later. Workers last month demolished the pontoon bridge, which now lies in a pile of rusted metal and wood nearby. It will be returned to DOTD later this summer, Housey said.
The new bridge has been open as a single-lane crossing since last year, but officials closed the bridge to traffic for three days this week to install the final hydraulic piping and test the operational sequence--the mechanical gates, steel barriers, and locking mechanisms--which is used to open and close the hydraulic system.
Housey said workers will close the bridge for another few days later this summer to conduct another round of tests before completing construction, and finish work connecting the approach to the existing roadway.
Pichon, who lives on Dave Pichon Road, still has fond memories of the old bridge, an "engineering marvel" which could be opened by inserting a pin and hand-cranking the bridge open for traffic.
Nonetheless, he says he's moved on.
"It'll be good when they get it finished. I'm glad to hear that it'll be done soon," he said
The bridge will also have a nine-foot clearance, so that smaller boats can pass underneath, said John Housey, project manager for Coastal Bridge Co. of Baton Rouge.
"We hope to have it open before school starts," he said.
That's welcome news to Bayou Liberty residents, whose wait for a new bridge has spanned decades.
The drama began in the early 1980s, when the state declared the wooden, hand-cranked bridge built in 1941 a marine hazard and sought to replace it with a vertical lift span that would have towered 80 feet high above the serene bayou community.
"It wouldn't have looked good, also people with sail boats going up the bayou wouldn't have been able to pass under it because it wasn't tall enough," said Armand L. "Junior" Pichon, an area resident and member of the Save Our Bridge movement that formed in response to the state's plan.
Residents eventually won a court fight over the matter and obtained an injunction against the vertical bridge, and the state put in a metal-decked pontoon bridge as a "temporary" solution. That bridge, which often had to be closed due to problems with water levels and broken cables, was a constant headache for both residents and state officials.
"A lot of people didn't like the pontoon bridge because they were scared of it," Pichon said.
Approving plans for the new $6.3 million bridge in 2007, the state Department of Transportation and Development began construction about a year later. Workers last month demolished the pontoon bridge, which now lies in a pile of rusted metal and wood nearby. It will be returned to DOTD later this summer, Housey said.
The new bridge has been open as a single-lane crossing since last year, but officials closed the bridge to traffic for three days this week to install the final hydraulic piping and test the operational sequence--the mechanical gates, steel barriers, and locking mechanisms--which is used to open and close the hydraulic system.
Housey said workers will close the bridge for another few days later this summer to conduct another round of tests before completing construction, and finish work connecting the approach to the existing roadway.
Pichon, who lives on Dave Pichon Road, still has fond memories of the old bridge, an "engineering marvel" which could be opened by inserting a pin and hand-cranking the bridge open for traffic.
Nonetheless, he says he's moved on.
"It'll be good when they get it finished. I'm glad to hear that it'll be done soon," he said
Billy Nungesser in D.C.
June 10th - Billy Nungesser addresses the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the ineptitude of BP. He tells it like it is.
Numbers as of Day 50
By the Numbers to Date:
• The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
• More than 24,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
• More than 4,500 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• Approximately 2.17 million feet of containment boom and 2.6 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 520,000 feet of containment boom and 2.3 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• Approximately 16 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 1.14 million gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—798,000 on the surface and 346,000 subsea. More than 500,000 gallons are available.
• More than 145 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 3.62 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
• 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines.
• From: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.
• The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
• More than 24,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
• More than 4,500 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• Approximately 2.17 million feet of containment boom and 2.6 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 520,000 feet of containment boom and 2.3 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• Approximately 16 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 1.14 million gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—798,000 on the surface and 346,000 subsea. More than 500,000 gallons are available.
• More than 145 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 3.62 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
• 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines.
• From: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
'BP has lied to us from day one.
In an article from the independent about PJ Hahn, director of coastal zone management for Plaquemines parish, here's an excerpt:
"Hell," says PJ Hahn, the man at the very tip of the sharp end of America's oil spill disaster, "we're under siege here. If somebody was breaking into your house, would you get on the phone to friends and neighbours to discuss it? You'd shoot the sonofabitch. It's that simple.".
"You don't wish it on anybody, but the bottom line is this: if the oil ends up on a beach in Mississippi, you get a big digger, scrape off the first layer, hump in some new fresh sand, and everybody's in bathing suits next day. It don't work that way for a marsh."
Read the article here
"Hell," says PJ Hahn, the man at the very tip of the sharp end of America's oil spill disaster, "we're under siege here. If somebody was breaking into your house, would you get on the phone to friends and neighbours to discuss it? You'd shoot the sonofabitch. It's that simple.".
"You don't wish it on anybody, but the bottom line is this: if the oil ends up on a beach in Mississippi, you get a big digger, scrape off the first layer, hump in some new fresh sand, and everybody's in bathing suits next day. It don't work that way for a marsh."
Read the article here
Investigation transcripts
If you have some spare time and are interested in transcripts a fact-finding joint investigation for
May 11 - 12, 2010, here are the links:
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Scuzzbucket of the Week
His name is Matthew Lynn and he's a British thriller writer and columnist for Bloomberg dot com.
In his latest column,
he shares his cold hearted feelings
about what BP should do regarding the oil spill.
BP likely is finished in the U.S. There is no form of apology that will make any difference. The average American consumer now hates BP and isn’t about to change that opinion for a generation or more. So BP should just hire the nastiest, meanest lawyers that money can buy -- the one commodity the U.S. has in over-abundance. Fight every lawsuit. Refuse every claim above the bare minimum. You’re going to get hammered anyway, so you might as well go down fighting.
Just say: “Thanks for everything guys. It was good while it lasted. Sorry about the oil spill, but so it goes. Goodbye and goodnight.”
In his latest column,
he shares his cold hearted feelings
about what BP should do regarding the oil spill.
BP likely is finished in the U.S. There is no form of apology that will make any difference. The average American consumer now hates BP and isn’t about to change that opinion for a generation or more. So BP should just hire the nastiest, meanest lawyers that money can buy -- the one commodity the U.S. has in over-abundance. Fight every lawsuit. Refuse every claim above the bare minimum. You’re going to get hammered anyway, so you might as well go down fighting.
Just say: “Thanks for everything guys. It was good while it lasted. Sorry about the oil spill, but so it goes. Goodbye and goodnight.”
Bless You Boys!
The Saints team went down to Plaquemines Parish today to lighten the hearts of those so affected by the BP Oil Spill. I love these guys.
Tide Turing?
Here is a transcript of President Obama's remarks after a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Oil Spill.
I'm not sure if it puts my mind at ease or if he's just saying empty words, but at this point I'm willing to see what happens
in the near future.
June 7, 2010 - 12:08 P.M. EDT
Remarks by the President After Meeting with Cabinet Members to Discuss the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Well, I just completed a meeting with the Cabinet that is directly in charge of dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From the beginning, we activated 15 agencies for what is now the largest national response ever to an environmental disaster. And what we wanted to do is make sure that every agency was coordinating and that there was clarity about how we’re going to proceed in the coming months.
Now, we have gotten reports that have been confirmed by our independent scientists that the top hat mechanism that was put in place is beginning to capture some of the oil. We are still trying to get a better determination as to how much it’s capturing, and we are pushing BP very hard to make sure that all the facilities are available so that as the oil is being captured it’s also being separated properly; that there are receptacles for that oil to go; that we have thought through contingencies in case there is an emergency or a hurricane so that these mechanisms are not disrupted and that there’s a lot of redundancy built in.
But here’s what we know: Even if we are successful in containing some or much of this oil, we are not going to get this problem completely solved until we actually have the relief well completed, and that is going to take a couple more months. We also know that there’s already a lot of oil that’s been released, and that there is going to be more oil released no matter how successful this containment effort is. And that’s why it’s so important for us to continue to put every asset that we have -- boom, skimmers, vessels; hiring local folks and local fishermen with their facilities, equipping them with skimmers; getting every asset that we have out there to make sure that we are minimizing the amount of oil that is actually coming to shore.
Now, there are a number of other issues that were raised during this meeting that I just want to touch on. Number one, when I was down in the Gulf on Friday, meeting with fishermen and small business owners, what is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing. And as I said on Friday -- and I want to repeat -- I do not want to see BP nickel-and-diming these businesses that are having a very tough time.
Now, we’ve got the SBA in there helping to provide bridge loans, and we’ve got the Department of Commerce helping businesses to prepare and document the damages that they’re experiencing. But what we also need is BP being quick and responsive to the needs of these local communities. We have individuals who have been assigned specifically to ride herd on BP, to make sure that that’s happening. We want the people who are in charge of BP’s claims process to be meeting with us on a regular basis. But we are going to insist that that money flows quickly, in a timely basis, so that you don’t have a shrimp processor or a fisherman who’s going out of business before BP finally makes up its mind as to whether or not it’s going to pay out.
And that’s going to be one of our top priorities, because we know that no matter how successful we are over the next few weeks in some of the containment efforts, the damages are still going to be there.
The second thing we talked about quite a bit is the issue of the health of workers who are out there dealing with this spill. So far, we have seen that onshore we are not seeing huge elevations in toxins in the air or in the water. But that may not be the case out where people are actually doing the work. And we’ve got to make sure that we are providing all the protections that are necessary. We’ve put processes in place to make sure that workers out there are getting the equipment and the training they need to protect themselves and their health. But this is something that we’re going to have to continue to monitor, because there are a lot of workers out there, and increasingly we’re starting to get individuals who may not be experienced in oil cleanup, because we’re trying to get an all-hands-on-deck process. We’ve got to make sure that they are protected.
Obviously, we’re also monitoring very carefully the impact to people who are not working out there, and that’s where the Environmental Protection Agency is doing constant monitoring of the air and the water quality. And we are also doing testing on the seafood to make sure that toxins aren’t being introduced into the overall population.
A couple of other points I just want to make. Dr. Lubchenco of NOAA reported on convening a scientific conference to make sure that on issues like the plume that’s been reported in the news and other questions about how large is this, what kind of damage do we anticipate, et cetera, that we have full transparency, that the information is out there, that it’s subject to scientific review so that nobody has any surprises.
And what we’re going to continue to strive for is complete transparency in real time so that as we get information, the public as a whole gets information, academics, scientists, researchers get this information in what is going to be a fluid and evolving process.
Let me just make one final point, and I think this was something that was emphasized by everybody here, and it’s something that I want to say to the American people. This will be contained. It may take some time, and it’s going to take a whole lot of effort. There is going to be damage done to the Gulf Coast and there is going to be economic damages that we’ve got to make sure BP is responsible for and compensates people for.
But the one thing I’m absolutely confident about is that as we have before, we will get through this crisis. And one of the things that I want to make sure we understand is that not only are we going to control the damages to the Gulf Coast, but we want to actually use this as an opportunity to reexamine and work with states and local communities to restore the coast in ways that actually enhance the livelihoods and the quality of life for people in that area.
It’s going to take some time. It’s not going to be easy. But this is a resilient ecosystem. These are resilient people down on the Gulf Coast. I had a chance to talk to them, and they’ve gone through all kinds of stuff over the last 50, 100 years. And they bounce back, and they’re going to bounce back this time. And they’re going to need help from the entire country. They’re going to need constant vigilant attention from this administration. That’s what they’re going to get.
But we are going to be -- we are confident that not only are we going to be able to get past this immediate crisis, but we’re going to be focusing our attention on making sure that the coast fully recovers and that eventually it comes back even stronger than it was before this crisis.
All right, thank you very much, everybody.
END
12:17 P.M. EDT
I'm not sure if it puts my mind at ease or if he's just saying empty words, but at this point I'm willing to see what happens
in the near future.
June 7, 2010 - 12:08 P.M. EDT
Remarks by the President After Meeting with Cabinet Members to Discuss the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Well, I just completed a meeting with the Cabinet that is directly in charge of dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From the beginning, we activated 15 agencies for what is now the largest national response ever to an environmental disaster. And what we wanted to do is make sure that every agency was coordinating and that there was clarity about how we’re going to proceed in the coming months.
Now, we have gotten reports that have been confirmed by our independent scientists that the top hat mechanism that was put in place is beginning to capture some of the oil. We are still trying to get a better determination as to how much it’s capturing, and we are pushing BP very hard to make sure that all the facilities are available so that as the oil is being captured it’s also being separated properly; that there are receptacles for that oil to go; that we have thought through contingencies in case there is an emergency or a hurricane so that these mechanisms are not disrupted and that there’s a lot of redundancy built in.
But here’s what we know: Even if we are successful in containing some or much of this oil, we are not going to get this problem completely solved until we actually have the relief well completed, and that is going to take a couple more months. We also know that there’s already a lot of oil that’s been released, and that there is going to be more oil released no matter how successful this containment effort is. And that’s why it’s so important for us to continue to put every asset that we have -- boom, skimmers, vessels; hiring local folks and local fishermen with their facilities, equipping them with skimmers; getting every asset that we have out there to make sure that we are minimizing the amount of oil that is actually coming to shore.
Now, there are a number of other issues that were raised during this meeting that I just want to touch on. Number one, when I was down in the Gulf on Friday, meeting with fishermen and small business owners, what is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing. And as I said on Friday -- and I want to repeat -- I do not want to see BP nickel-and-diming these businesses that are having a very tough time.
Now, we’ve got the SBA in there helping to provide bridge loans, and we’ve got the Department of Commerce helping businesses to prepare and document the damages that they’re experiencing. But what we also need is BP being quick and responsive to the needs of these local communities. We have individuals who have been assigned specifically to ride herd on BP, to make sure that that’s happening. We want the people who are in charge of BP’s claims process to be meeting with us on a regular basis. But we are going to insist that that money flows quickly, in a timely basis, so that you don’t have a shrimp processor or a fisherman who’s going out of business before BP finally makes up its mind as to whether or not it’s going to pay out.
And that’s going to be one of our top priorities, because we know that no matter how successful we are over the next few weeks in some of the containment efforts, the damages are still going to be there.
The second thing we talked about quite a bit is the issue of the health of workers who are out there dealing with this spill. So far, we have seen that onshore we are not seeing huge elevations in toxins in the air or in the water. But that may not be the case out where people are actually doing the work. And we’ve got to make sure that we are providing all the protections that are necessary. We’ve put processes in place to make sure that workers out there are getting the equipment and the training they need to protect themselves and their health. But this is something that we’re going to have to continue to monitor, because there are a lot of workers out there, and increasingly we’re starting to get individuals who may not be experienced in oil cleanup, because we’re trying to get an all-hands-on-deck process. We’ve got to make sure that they are protected.
Obviously, we’re also monitoring very carefully the impact to people who are not working out there, and that’s where the Environmental Protection Agency is doing constant monitoring of the air and the water quality. And we are also doing testing on the seafood to make sure that toxins aren’t being introduced into the overall population.
A couple of other points I just want to make. Dr. Lubchenco of NOAA reported on convening a scientific conference to make sure that on issues like the plume that’s been reported in the news and other questions about how large is this, what kind of damage do we anticipate, et cetera, that we have full transparency, that the information is out there, that it’s subject to scientific review so that nobody has any surprises.
And what we’re going to continue to strive for is complete transparency in real time so that as we get information, the public as a whole gets information, academics, scientists, researchers get this information in what is going to be a fluid and evolving process.
Let me just make one final point, and I think this was something that was emphasized by everybody here, and it’s something that I want to say to the American people. This will be contained. It may take some time, and it’s going to take a whole lot of effort. There is going to be damage done to the Gulf Coast and there is going to be economic damages that we’ve got to make sure BP is responsible for and compensates people for.
But the one thing I’m absolutely confident about is that as we have before, we will get through this crisis. And one of the things that I want to make sure we understand is that not only are we going to control the damages to the Gulf Coast, but we want to actually use this as an opportunity to reexamine and work with states and local communities to restore the coast in ways that actually enhance the livelihoods and the quality of life for people in that area.
It’s going to take some time. It’s not going to be easy. But this is a resilient ecosystem. These are resilient people down on the Gulf Coast. I had a chance to talk to them, and they’ve gone through all kinds of stuff over the last 50, 100 years. And they bounce back, and they’re going to bounce back this time. And they’re going to need help from the entire country. They’re going to need constant vigilant attention from this administration. That’s what they’re going to get.
But we are going to be -- we are confident that not only are we going to be able to get past this immediate crisis, but we’re going to be focusing our attention on making sure that the coast fully recovers and that eventually it comes back even stronger than it was before this crisis.
All right, thank you very much, everybody.
END
12:17 P.M. EDT
Monday, June 07, 2010
Killed Oil Rig worker was worried
From rawstory dot com one of the eleven men killed when the Transocean/BP oil rig blew up on April 20th was worried about safety practices aboard the rig. An excerpt from the story:
Transocean toolpusher Jason Anderson told his wife, Shelly, that he was concerned about BP's safety practices on the rig. Anderson was so worried about an accident that he spent his last trip home getting his affairs in order.
"Everything seemed to be pressing to Jason about getting things in order. In case something happened. Teaching me how to do certain things on the motor home so that I could go and do things with the kids, make sure that I knew how to do everything..." according to his wife.
To view an interview with Jason Anderson's widow follow this link
An interview with his father, in which his father is quoted as saying “He loved his work and thought of his crewmates as family. He was the kind of son a man wants and loves and hopes his son will be.” can be found at this link.
Transocean toolpusher Jason Anderson told his wife, Shelly, that he was concerned about BP's safety practices on the rig. Anderson was so worried about an accident that he spent his last trip home getting his affairs in order.
"Everything seemed to be pressing to Jason about getting things in order. In case something happened. Teaching me how to do certain things on the motor home so that I could go and do things with the kids, make sure that I knew how to do everything..." according to his wife.
To view an interview with Jason Anderson's widow follow this link
An interview with his father, in which his father is quoted as saying “He loved his work and thought of his crewmates as family. He was the kind of son a man wants and loves and hopes his son will be.” can be found at this link.
Buccaneer State Park Reopens
WAVELAND — Five years after Hurricane Katrina smashed its buildings and wiped out its waterslides, Buccaneer State Park is open to visitors again.
Slightly more than 100 camp sites opened last month, offering visitors full hook-ups to water, sewer and electricity. Another 74 are under construction with a scheduled completion by mid-summer. When it’s all finished, campers will have almost 300 sites to choose from.
Renovating and rebuilding the park is a $17 million project.
So far, the main office has been rebuilt, along with a playground, a maintenance facility, three bath houses, two pavilions, the administrators’ residences.
Here is their website.
Slightly more than 100 camp sites opened last month, offering visitors full hook-ups to water, sewer and electricity. Another 74 are under construction with a scheduled completion by mid-summer. When it’s all finished, campers will have almost 300 sites to choose from.
Renovating and rebuilding the park is a $17 million project.
So far, the main office has been rebuilt, along with a playground, a maintenance facility, three bath houses, two pavilions, the administrators’ residences.
Here is their website.
Why didn't we get this?
From Deepwater Horizon Response External Affairs deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
MIAMI -- A Sentry plan has been initiated to provide real-time ocean monitoring off the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. Vessels will be used to conduct maritime patrols to provide early identification of any weathered oil products such as light sheen, which will naturally dissipate, or mousse mats and tar balls that could potentially threaten the Florida Keys and east coast of Florida. A vessel departed from John's Pass, near St. Petersburg, Fla. on the first patrol and patrols will generally last from four to 10 days.
Additional vessels and aircraft Sentry patrols may be implemented as necessary to provide early warning detection of any weathered oil products.These vessels are intended to provide a minimum of 48-hours additional notice so responders can maximize preparedness and response activities and notify the public There have been no reports of Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill-related oil products reaching shore in the Florida Peninsula and there is no indication that it will have impacts from weathered oil products in the near future. Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill activities in the Florida Panhandle are being coordinated by the Incident Command Post in Mobile, Ala.
MIAMI -- A Sentry plan has been initiated to provide real-time ocean monitoring off the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. Vessels will be used to conduct maritime patrols to provide early identification of any weathered oil products such as light sheen, which will naturally dissipate, or mousse mats and tar balls that could potentially threaten the Florida Keys and east coast of Florida. A vessel departed from John's Pass, near St. Petersburg, Fla. on the first patrol and patrols will generally last from four to 10 days.
Additional vessels and aircraft Sentry patrols may be implemented as necessary to provide early warning detection of any weathered oil products.These vessels are intended to provide a minimum of 48-hours additional notice so responders can maximize preparedness and response activities and notify the public There have been no reports of Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill-related oil products reaching shore in the Florida Peninsula and there is no indication that it will have impacts from weathered oil products in the near future. Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill activities in the Florida Panhandle are being coordinated by the Incident Command Post in Mobile, Ala.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
More on the Queen Bess Pelicans
"As of noon Saturday, only five oiled birds were crated up for rescue, Carloss said, adding that was a sign improvement over 34 feathered victims rescued on Friday and 59 on Thursday
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/spill+hits+pelicans+hard/3119379/story.html#ixzz0q7ECx31F"
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/spill+hits+pelicans+hard/3119379/story.html#ixzz0q7ECx31F"
Saturday, June 05, 2010
2010 Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races
ARE CANCELLED
Friday, May 14, 2010 St. Tammany bureau
For the first time in 60 years, the arrival of June will not be synonymous with the Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races.
According to Beth DiMarco, who with her father, Armand "Junior" Pichon, have been the key figures in the judge's reviewing stand at the annual pirogue races, this year's event has been canceled.
Sponsored by the Bayou Liberty Civic Center, the annual festival always has been as much a family reunion as a pirogue competition and fundraiser. Families greet each other, citing familial ties; paddlers churn through the water, hoping this might be their year to go home with a gleaming trophy and a fistful of cash; and civic center volunteers serve up cheeseburgers, refreshments and heaping dishes of nachos until, at some booths, there are no more festival foods to be devoured.
This year, families will have to keep in touch through more mundane means, festivalgoers will have to get their food and music fix elsewhere, and paddlers will have to keep on dreaming.
DiMarco explained that bids are being let on a construction contract for St. Genevieve Catholic Church and that, coupled with the Bayou Liberty bridge work, necessitated the cancellation.
"It's sad, but with all the activity with the pontoon bridge being dismantled and one lane on the new bridge, I guess it would be best on the safety side," DiMarco noted.
Money raised from the event traditionally has been used for playground maintenance at the Bayou Liberty Civic Center, still in disrepair since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Bayou Liberty area in 2005. Anyone wishing to contribute to this cause, or other civic center efforts, may send a check payable to the Bayou Liberty Civic Center to 33154 Dave Pichon Road, Slidell, LA 70460.
Though disappointed about this year's turn of events, DiMarco is hopeful that by 2011 all obstacles will have been cleared for the return of the races.
As her father always says, "This is part of our heritage."
Until the event is next held, the reigning champion of the Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races will remain Richard Savoie, who lives in Bayou Gauche near Des Allemands.
Published on NOLA.com
Published in The Times-Picayune Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010 St. Tammany bureau
For the first time in 60 years, the arrival of June will not be synonymous with the Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races.
According to Beth DiMarco, who with her father, Armand "Junior" Pichon, have been the key figures in the judge's reviewing stand at the annual pirogue races, this year's event has been canceled.
Sponsored by the Bayou Liberty Civic Center, the annual festival always has been as much a family reunion as a pirogue competition and fundraiser. Families greet each other, citing familial ties; paddlers churn through the water, hoping this might be their year to go home with a gleaming trophy and a fistful of cash; and civic center volunteers serve up cheeseburgers, refreshments and heaping dishes of nachos until, at some booths, there are no more festival foods to be devoured.
This year, families will have to keep in touch through more mundane means, festivalgoers will have to get their food and music fix elsewhere, and paddlers will have to keep on dreaming.
DiMarco explained that bids are being let on a construction contract for St. Genevieve Catholic Church and that, coupled with the Bayou Liberty bridge work, necessitated the cancellation.
"It's sad, but with all the activity with the pontoon bridge being dismantled and one lane on the new bridge, I guess it would be best on the safety side," DiMarco noted.
Money raised from the event traditionally has been used for playground maintenance at the Bayou Liberty Civic Center, still in disrepair since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Bayou Liberty area in 2005. Anyone wishing to contribute to this cause, or other civic center efforts, may send a check payable to the Bayou Liberty Civic Center to 33154 Dave Pichon Road, Slidell, LA 70460.
Though disappointed about this year's turn of events, DiMarco is hopeful that by 2011 all obstacles will have been cleared for the return of the races.
As her father always says, "This is part of our heritage."
Until the event is next held, the reigning champion of the Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races will remain Richard Savoie, who lives in Bayou Gauche near Des Allemands.
Published on NOLA.com
Published in The Times-Picayune Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, June 04, 2010
A surviving pelican from Queen Bess Island
After six weeks with one to four birds a day coming into Louisiana's rescue center for oiled birds, 53 arrived Thursday and another 13 Friday morning.
And, center spokesman Jay Holcomb said more are on their way from the rookery on Queen Bess Island, near Grand Isle.
He described it as a change from one level of crisis to another, but said it was something that people with Tri-State Bird Rescue and the International Bird Rescue Research Center always knew would happen. About 20 people are working at the center, and so far that's plenty, Holcomb said.
He and veterinarians Heather Nevill of Tri-State and Sharon Taylor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the birds were not yet ready for cleaning.
They're being kept in wooden pens with mesh covers, white cloths over those and heat lamps to keep them warm so they won't preen themselves until they can be washed.
God bless the people from International Bird Rescue Research Center and TriState Bird Rescue.
If you want to donate money to these angels, click here for Internatikonal Bird Rescue and for TriState Bird Rescue. Please.
And, center spokesman Jay Holcomb said more are on their way from the rookery on Queen Bess Island, near Grand Isle.
He described it as a change from one level of crisis to another, but said it was something that people with Tri-State Bird Rescue and the International Bird Rescue Research Center always knew would happen. About 20 people are working at the center, and so far that's plenty, Holcomb said.
He and veterinarians Heather Nevill of Tri-State and Sharon Taylor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the birds were not yet ready for cleaning.
They're being kept in wooden pens with mesh covers, white cloths over those and heat lamps to keep them warm so they won't preen themselves until they can be washed.
God bless the people from International Bird Rescue Research Center and TriState Bird Rescue.
If you want to donate money to these angels, click here for Internatikonal Bird Rescue and for TriState Bird Rescue. Please.
Here it comes, East Coast
Computer models show Gulf oil reaching East Coast
This is kind of ironic in that the East Coast is so against oil drilling of their coast……
POSTED: 02:04 PM Thursday, June 3, 2010
BY: The Associated Press
Computer models show oil leaking from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico could wind up on the East Coast and even get carried on currents across the Atlantic Ocean toward Europe.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research models showed today that oil could enter the Gulf’s loop current, go around the tip of Florida and as far north as Cape Hatteras, N.C. According to researchers, oil could threaten East Coast beaches by early July, but they cautioned the models were not a forecast.
The oil could then head by Bermuda on its way to Europe.
Martin Visbeck, a research team member with the University of Kiel in Germany, says it is unlikely any oil reaching Europe would be thick enough to be harmful.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
STUPID SCUZZBUCKET
QUOTE:
Gulf Oil Spill 'Not An Environmental Disaster'
Don't worry about the oil spilling into the Gulf, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) says, because the worst spill in U.S. history is "not an environmental disaster," just nature taking its course.
"This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon," Young said after Congressional hearings last week. "Oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries, will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilt from ships, and no natural catastrophe. ... We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sealife, but overall it will recover."
Young, of course, has notoriously close and longstanding ties with oil companies, and went on to criticize the Obama administration's stated moratorium on new offshore drilling permits in the wake of the Gulf spill.
The Alaska Republican has already taken heat for those comments from his challengers on both sides of the aisle. "The man is an ostrich," Democrat Harry Crawford said. "He has his head in the sand if he can't see that this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, man-made disaster in history."
Republican challenger John Cox acknowledged, "We know there's a problem. We know that this is a major disaster."
Gulf Oil Spill 'Not An Environmental Disaster'
Don't worry about the oil spilling into the Gulf, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) says, because the worst spill in U.S. history is "not an environmental disaster," just nature taking its course.
"This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon," Young said after Congressional hearings last week. "Oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries, will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilt from ships, and no natural catastrophe. ... We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sealife, but overall it will recover."
Young, of course, has notoriously close and longstanding ties with oil companies, and went on to criticize the Obama administration's stated moratorium on new offshore drilling permits in the wake of the Gulf spill.
The Alaska Republican has already taken heat for those comments from his challengers on both sides of the aisle. "The man is an ostrich," Democrat Harry Crawford said. "He has his head in the sand if he can't see that this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, man-made disaster in history."
Republican challenger John Cox acknowledged, "We know there's a problem. We know that this is a major disaster."
We are NOT okay
The latest pictures from Boston dot com, taken today, June 3, 2010 shows the brown pelican suffering, suffocating to death in that fucking BP oil that washed ashore. I can't stop crying. It's been 45 days, people have lost their livlihoods, their futures. Our wildlife is suffering.
Our state bird reflects what's happening to US. Look at these pictures, see what's happening to them, know that this is MORE than the politics...can someone tell Obama? Please? He's due here tomorrow and will probably be shown another clean beach.
My heart hurts too much to show the pictues. These birds are suffering needlessly, so are Ridley Kemp turtles, oysters, shrimp larvae, crabs, fish and God knows what else.
Yet we still have to go to BP or the fucking Coast Guard (the spineless whores) with our hats in our hands and say "please can I use this to clean up my shores", "please sir can I have another".
Our state bird reflects what's happening to US. Look at these pictures, see what's happening to them, know that this is MORE than the politics...can someone tell Obama? Please? He's due here tomorrow and will probably be shown another clean beach.
My heart hurts too much to show the pictues. These birds are suffering needlessly, so are Ridley Kemp turtles, oysters, shrimp larvae, crabs, fish and God knows what else.
Yet we still have to go to BP or the fucking Coast Guard (the spineless whores) with our hats in our hands and say "please can I use this to clean up my shores", "please sir can I have another".
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
NYT on Billy Nungesser
An excerpt from the NY Times:
Within hours of the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Mr. Nungesser, 51, became a go-to guy for the news media. In the ensuing weeks, he has turned into the angry everyman of the oil spill, whether delivering a broadside against the government and BP’s response efforts on CNN or standing in the gymnasium of Boothville-Venice Elementary School (Home of the Oilers!) before an anxious crowd of shrimpers and fishermen.
“I know it’s going to be rough,” he said to the crowd in a speech that sounded at times like a locker room pep talk. “I know everything’s not going to go our way. But they’re not going to beat us.”
“Go get ’em, Billy,” someone shouted from the bleachers.
To hear Mr. Nungesser tell it, the big boys — BP, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers — have all been better at pointing fingers than solving problems.
Along with Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mr. Nungesser has been a dogged advocate for a plan to build barrier islands out of dredged material to keep the oil off the shores.
There are a number of experts, including the Army Corps of Engineers, who think this is a bad idea, citing cost, time and environmental impact. In Mr. Nungesser’s gospel, that kind of response, even if it turns out to be true, is only half an answer. Come up with a better idea, he tells critics, or keep your reservations to yourself.
“These guys have no clue and no ability to think outside the box,” he said at the morning staff meeting.
Despite an affinity for the spotlight, Mr. Nungesser is a hard man to pin down. Between a cellphone that buzzes like an angry wasp, an unending string of interview requests, a visit by the president and the actual work of managing the parish, it is nearly impossible to slow him down long enough to confirm some basic biographical facts.
For example: How did Mr. Nungesser come to own an elk ranch in the parish?
The elk, he said late Thursday night over a 10-minute dinner of Sun Chips and soda, were bought from a man in Nebraska with the money he got from selling his house to his sister when he went to live in a shipping container.
Mr. Nungesser throws out sentences like that, and before one has a chance to ask him to elaborate, he is back on the phone, talking to a state trooper or a parish official or his fiancée, who needs to know that a television camera crew was following him home that night.
Back to the shipping container.
“I had a Jacuzzi,” he clarified. “It was nice.”
In his 20s and early 30s, Mr. Nungesser worked for his father’s business, a catering company that served offshore drilling rigs. In 1991, before he got involved with the elk (he sells the velvet off the antlers for arthritis medicine), Mr. Nungesser realized that metal shipping containers could be modified and used as living quarters for workers on offshore rigs.
He had a hard time at first selling the idea to investors, mainly friends and friends of friends, and so he moved into a container himself. The company, General Marine Leasing, eventually reached $20 million in sales, and now, instead of a shipping container, he lives on a palatial estate built on a man-made hill in front of an artificial lake.
Mr. Nungesser rode out Hurricane Katrina on this estate and decided to run for parish president as a Republican in 2006, he said, out of frustration over the local response to the recovery.
It was a big decision. A run for state representative in his early 20s had left him cynical about politics, despite his pedigree: his father was the chairman of the State Republican Party when there was not much of one to speak of, and he was the chief of staff for Gov. David C. Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, in the early 1980s.
Mr. Nungesser’s preparations for public office had come from running a business, an experience that made him good at laying into uncooperative oil companies but not always agile when it came to the give and take of a democracy.
“In private business, Billy was, in essence, the chief cook and bottle washer,” said Anthony Buras, a member of the parish council. “In the private business mentality, you move forward the minute you make a decision. Sometimes in government that isn’t always doable. There have been some times where there’s been some conflict with that.”
Mr. Nungesser’s impatience with the parish council is not something he takes pains to hide, railing against “the egos and the jealousy” of his political opponents with the same irritation he displays when criticizing the response to the oil spill.
That is the mode he seems to enjoy most, and one he was fully engaged in late Thursday night on the front porch of the Myrtle Grove Marina.
He had just taken a regiment of journalists out in boats to see oiled pelicans, and now, his clothes drenched from a sudden downpour, he was balancing a flurry of phone calls with the demands of the news media.
Standing in white shrimp boots that he called his Cajun Reeboks, he kept up the phone conversation while hooking up his microphone for a CNN interview like a seasoned correspondent.
Within hours of the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Mr. Nungesser, 51, became a go-to guy for the news media. In the ensuing weeks, he has turned into the angry everyman of the oil spill, whether delivering a broadside against the government and BP’s response efforts on CNN or standing in the gymnasium of Boothville-Venice Elementary School (Home of the Oilers!) before an anxious crowd of shrimpers and fishermen.
“I know it’s going to be rough,” he said to the crowd in a speech that sounded at times like a locker room pep talk. “I know everything’s not going to go our way. But they’re not going to beat us.”
“Go get ’em, Billy,” someone shouted from the bleachers.
To hear Mr. Nungesser tell it, the big boys — BP, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers — have all been better at pointing fingers than solving problems.
Along with Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mr. Nungesser has been a dogged advocate for a plan to build barrier islands out of dredged material to keep the oil off the shores.
There are a number of experts, including the Army Corps of Engineers, who think this is a bad idea, citing cost, time and environmental impact. In Mr. Nungesser’s gospel, that kind of response, even if it turns out to be true, is only half an answer. Come up with a better idea, he tells critics, or keep your reservations to yourself.
“These guys have no clue and no ability to think outside the box,” he said at the morning staff meeting.
Despite an affinity for the spotlight, Mr. Nungesser is a hard man to pin down. Between a cellphone that buzzes like an angry wasp, an unending string of interview requests, a visit by the president and the actual work of managing the parish, it is nearly impossible to slow him down long enough to confirm some basic biographical facts.
For example: How did Mr. Nungesser come to own an elk ranch in the parish?
The elk, he said late Thursday night over a 10-minute dinner of Sun Chips and soda, were bought from a man in Nebraska with the money he got from selling his house to his sister when he went to live in a shipping container.
Mr. Nungesser throws out sentences like that, and before one has a chance to ask him to elaborate, he is back on the phone, talking to a state trooper or a parish official or his fiancée, who needs to know that a television camera crew was following him home that night.
Back to the shipping container.
“I had a Jacuzzi,” he clarified. “It was nice.”
In his 20s and early 30s, Mr. Nungesser worked for his father’s business, a catering company that served offshore drilling rigs. In 1991, before he got involved with the elk (he sells the velvet off the antlers for arthritis medicine), Mr. Nungesser realized that metal shipping containers could be modified and used as living quarters for workers on offshore rigs.
He had a hard time at first selling the idea to investors, mainly friends and friends of friends, and so he moved into a container himself. The company, General Marine Leasing, eventually reached $20 million in sales, and now, instead of a shipping container, he lives on a palatial estate built on a man-made hill in front of an artificial lake.
Mr. Nungesser rode out Hurricane Katrina on this estate and decided to run for parish president as a Republican in 2006, he said, out of frustration over the local response to the recovery.
It was a big decision. A run for state representative in his early 20s had left him cynical about politics, despite his pedigree: his father was the chairman of the State Republican Party when there was not much of one to speak of, and he was the chief of staff for Gov. David C. Treen, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, in the early 1980s.
Mr. Nungesser’s preparations for public office had come from running a business, an experience that made him good at laying into uncooperative oil companies but not always agile when it came to the give and take of a democracy.
“In private business, Billy was, in essence, the chief cook and bottle washer,” said Anthony Buras, a member of the parish council. “In the private business mentality, you move forward the minute you make a decision. Sometimes in government that isn’t always doable. There have been some times where there’s been some conflict with that.”
Mr. Nungesser’s impatience with the parish council is not something he takes pains to hide, railing against “the egos and the jealousy” of his political opponents with the same irritation he displays when criticizing the response to the oil spill.
That is the mode he seems to enjoy most, and one he was fully engaged in late Thursday night on the front porch of the Myrtle Grove Marina.
He had just taken a regiment of journalists out in boats to see oiled pelicans, and now, his clothes drenched from a sudden downpour, he was balancing a flurry of phone calls with the demands of the news media.
Standing in white shrimp boots that he called his Cajun Reeboks, he kept up the phone conversation while hooking up his microphone for a CNN interview like a seasoned correspondent.
Fired for wearing safety equipment?
From Save Our Gulf dot org:
BP Tells Fishermen Working On The Oil Spill That They Will Be Fired For Wearing A Respirator
We have had numerous fisherman, that have been hired through BP's Master Vessel Charter Agreement to work on the oil spill response, tell us that their BP "bosses" have told them that if they use a respirator or any safety equipment not provided by BP that they would be fired.
Hundreds of fisherman have been hired to attach booms to their shrimp boats in place of nets and drive their boats directly through the oil slicks to corral and collect the oil that is spilling from BP's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico. These fisherman have one of the highest potentials for exposure to toxic air pollutants from the crude oil out of all of the responders working the spill. In addition to crude oil there is the added danger posed by the aerial application of dispersant chemicals and there have already been reports that fishermen working on the spill feel that they have been impacted by the dispersants.
It is only prudent that these fisherman be provided respiratory protection and encouraged to use it. Instead, they have not only NOT been provided respiratory protection, they have been threatened with being fired for using their own respiratory protection.
When we first realized that these workers were not being provided with adequate safety gear we activated our project that provides safety gear to people working on hurricane recovery but, in this case tailored to oil spill response. We have since distributed hundreds of half face respirators with multiple packs of organic vapor cartridges a piece as well as nitrile gloves, sleeve protectors and booties.
LEAN also participated in what we thought was a successful Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), brought by a team of layers led by attorney Stuart Smith, requiring BP to provide the volunteers with safety gear. As a result of that TRO, "the Judge ordered a consent agreement, now court record, wherein British Petroleum has agreed to amend the Master Vessel Charter Agreement and take responsibility to ensure workers are properly trained in haz-mat protocol and are provided all necessary equipment at BP's expense," said James Garner, of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C.
"It appears that, despite the obvious potential for exposure to respiratory toxins, BP does not consider respiratory protection necessary equipment," said Paul Orr, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, "and even so to prevent the fishermen from using their own respiratory protection if they chose to do so is deeply troubling."
"The fisherman have entered into this (Master Vessel Charter) agreement with BP in order to make some income while they are unable to fish," Orr went on to say. "These fisherman are choosing to put themselves in harms way in order to provide for their families and that BP would force them to sacrifice their health in order to make ends meet when simply using a respirator could protect their health is unconscionable."
"There's no way you can be working in that toxic soup without getting exposures," said Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) office of solid waste and emergency response. Kaufman likened the situation to the World Trade Center cleanup after 9/11, which left workers with long-term respiratory problems despite repeated official claims that workers did not need respirators because the working conditions were safe. "It's unbelievable what's going on. It's like deja vu all over again," he said.
Monday, May 31, 2010
A restraining order against BP
from
CNN dot com
John Wunstell Jr., is asking BP to give the workers masks and not harass workers who publicly voice their health concerns.
Wunstell, a shrimper, said he was paid by BP to use his boat, Ramie's Wish, to clean up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf since an oil rig sank about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, gushing an estimated 19,000 barrels (798, 000 gallons) of crude a day.
In an affidavit, Wunstell wrote he started experiencing severe headaches and nasal irritation on May 24. Over the next few days, he also developed nosebleeds, an upset stomach, and aches.
On Friday, Wunstell was airlifted to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, Louisiana, where he remained hospitalized Sunday.
Eight other workers were brought to the hospital this week and were all released.
"We need to start protecting these guys," said Jim Klick, Wunstell's lawyer.
In his affidavit, Wunstell described his experience at the hospital.
"At West Jefferson, there were tents set up outside the hospital, where I was stripped of my clothing, washed with water and several showers, before I was allowed into the hospital," Wunstell said. "When I asked for my clothing, I was told that BP had confiscated all of my clothing and it would not be returned."
The restraining order requests that BP refrain from "altering, testing or destroying clothing or any other evidence or potential evidence" when workers become ill.
Graham MacEwen, a spokesman for BP, said he could not comment on the restraining order, or on allegations that BP confiscated clothing.
CNN dot com
John Wunstell Jr., is asking BP to give the workers masks and not harass workers who publicly voice their health concerns.
Wunstell, a shrimper, said he was paid by BP to use his boat, Ramie's Wish, to clean up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf since an oil rig sank about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, gushing an estimated 19,000 barrels (798, 000 gallons) of crude a day.
In an affidavit, Wunstell wrote he started experiencing severe headaches and nasal irritation on May 24. Over the next few days, he also developed nosebleeds, an upset stomach, and aches.
On Friday, Wunstell was airlifted to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, Louisiana, where he remained hospitalized Sunday.
Eight other workers were brought to the hospital this week and were all released.
"We need to start protecting these guys," said Jim Klick, Wunstell's lawyer.
In his affidavit, Wunstell described his experience at the hospital.
"At West Jefferson, there were tents set up outside the hospital, where I was stripped of my clothing, washed with water and several showers, before I was allowed into the hospital," Wunstell said. "When I asked for my clothing, I was told that BP had confiscated all of my clothing and it would not be returned."
The restraining order requests that BP refrain from "altering, testing or destroying clothing or any other evidence or potential evidence" when workers become ill.
Graham MacEwen, a spokesman for BP, said he could not comment on the restraining order, or on allegations that BP confiscated clothing.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Remembering Ixtoc
By Chris Hawley, USA TODAY
COATZACOALCOS, Mexico — Here on Mexico's Gulf Coast, the Deepwater Horizon disaster has revived memories of the world's worst accidental oil spill, a 1979 blowout that spewed oil for nine months, devastated marine life and covered the Texas and Mexican coasts with gobs of crude.
Now, people here are worried they may be in for a repeat of that disaster as ocean currents begin to catch oil from the Deepwater Horizon well and the Atlantic hurricane season gets underway June 1.
There are strong parallels between the two spills. Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Ixtoc 1 spill on June 3, 1979, involved the failure of a blowout preventer device, a kind of emergency shutoff valve. In both cases, metal domes put over the well failed to stop the leaks.
And in both cases, crews turned to something called relief wells dug horizontally through the seafloor to stop the spills, a technique that can take months.
The Ixtoc I was an exploratory well being drilled in 160 feet of water about 60 miles northwest of Ciudad del Carmen on Mexico's Gulf coast. By comparison, the Deepwater Horizon well is 5,000 feet deep. The Ixtoc 1 well was owned by Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state oil company, known as Pemex. But it was being drilled by Sedco, a predecessor to Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
At about 3 a.m. that 1979 day, the drill bit hit a high-pressure pocket of gas and oil. The drill pipe bent, the blowout preventer failed, and an oil geyser shot 150 feet before bursting into flames.
Armando Rodriguez was a deckhand on a ship that was laying pipe for the Ixtoc 1 well. He was standing watch when the drilling platform exploded, shooting a pillar of blue flame into the night sky.
"The tower bent in half and went down in sparks," Rodríguez said. "We pulled out all the survivors. Then the oil started getting sucked into the engines, and the captain ordered us to back away."
All 63 crewmembers were rescued without injury. In the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, 11 died.
The Ixtoc spill wiped out fishing along the Mexican coast for nearly two years, said fisherman Agapito Quintana Gomez, 73.
Reaching under a boat behind the offices of the Miguel Aleman Fisherman's Cooperative in Coatzacoalcos, Quintana pulled out what looked like a lump of rubber: hardened sludge from a more recent oil spill. Inside, it was glossy black and smelled like especially pungent tar. "This stuff is poison," Quintana said. "It's going to go everywhere. We saw this happen in '79."
Pemex and a series of U.S. contractors struggled for months to stop that leak. One company managed to close the well casing, but the oil broke through below the seal and caused another blowout. Another contractor built a dome for the well that it called the "Sombrero," Spanish for "hat," but oil continued to seep from cracks in the seafloor.
In August 1979, balls of sticky tar began washing up on the hotel beaches of South Padre Island in Texas. Crews scraped them up with construction equipment and giant vacuum cleaners, and the Coast Guard stretched a net across the Port Mansfield inlet to catch submerged tar balls.
Pemex began drilling two horizontal relief wells soon after the spill in June 1979, but they did not reach the Ixtoc 1 well until November, five months later. The crews used the relief wells to pump mud and steel balls into the gusher, finally capping the leak on March 25, 1980.
BP, which owns the well in the Deepwater Horizon spill, began drilling its own relief wells on May 2 and May 16. They will take about three months to complete, the company says.
Other techniques tried on the Ixtoc 1 might not work in the Deepwater Horizon spill. During the Ixtoc spill, scientists experimented with spreading fertilizer on the slick to encourage bacteria that break down the oil. That may not be a good idea near the Louisiana coast, which already has too much algae because of fertilizer runoff from the Mississippi River, said Terry Hazen, an oil spill cleanup expert at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The algae created a "dead zone" of low oxygen levels in the Gulf.
The Ixtoc 1 leak spilled between 126 million and 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it second only to the intentional oil spill of about 462 million gallons caused by retreating Iraqi troops in 1991 during the Gulf War, according to the Interior Department.
After the 1979 spill, sea turtles and dolphins suffered. Scientists dug up hundreds of oil-covered turtle eggs and flew them to cleaner beaches to save them.
Many residents now fear the BP spill will bring a repeat disaster. A variation in the Gulf currents that occurs every six to 11 months could eventually carry the oil toward Mexico, said Mike Pigott, a meteorologist with the AccuWeather forecasting firm.
"The winds are dead out there now, but in June, they're going to start blowing again," said Roman Dominguez of the Gavilan del Rio Fisherman's cooperative in Coatzacoalcos. "That's what people are worried about. Everyone here remembers Ixtoc."
COATZACOALCOS, Mexico — Here on Mexico's Gulf Coast, the Deepwater Horizon disaster has revived memories of the world's worst accidental oil spill, a 1979 blowout that spewed oil for nine months, devastated marine life and covered the Texas and Mexican coasts with gobs of crude.
Now, people here are worried they may be in for a repeat of that disaster as ocean currents begin to catch oil from the Deepwater Horizon well and the Atlantic hurricane season gets underway June 1.
There are strong parallels between the two spills. Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Ixtoc 1 spill on June 3, 1979, involved the failure of a blowout preventer device, a kind of emergency shutoff valve. In both cases, metal domes put over the well failed to stop the leaks.
And in both cases, crews turned to something called relief wells dug horizontally through the seafloor to stop the spills, a technique that can take months.
The Ixtoc I was an exploratory well being drilled in 160 feet of water about 60 miles northwest of Ciudad del Carmen on Mexico's Gulf coast. By comparison, the Deepwater Horizon well is 5,000 feet deep. The Ixtoc 1 well was owned by Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state oil company, known as Pemex. But it was being drilled by Sedco, a predecessor to Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
At about 3 a.m. that 1979 day, the drill bit hit a high-pressure pocket of gas and oil. The drill pipe bent, the blowout preventer failed, and an oil geyser shot 150 feet before bursting into flames.
Armando Rodriguez was a deckhand on a ship that was laying pipe for the Ixtoc 1 well. He was standing watch when the drilling platform exploded, shooting a pillar of blue flame into the night sky.
"The tower bent in half and went down in sparks," Rodríguez said. "We pulled out all the survivors. Then the oil started getting sucked into the engines, and the captain ordered us to back away."
All 63 crewmembers were rescued without injury. In the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, 11 died.
The Ixtoc spill wiped out fishing along the Mexican coast for nearly two years, said fisherman Agapito Quintana Gomez, 73.
Reaching under a boat behind the offices of the Miguel Aleman Fisherman's Cooperative in Coatzacoalcos, Quintana pulled out what looked like a lump of rubber: hardened sludge from a more recent oil spill. Inside, it was glossy black and smelled like especially pungent tar. "This stuff is poison," Quintana said. "It's going to go everywhere. We saw this happen in '79."
Pemex and a series of U.S. contractors struggled for months to stop that leak. One company managed to close the well casing, but the oil broke through below the seal and caused another blowout. Another contractor built a dome for the well that it called the "Sombrero," Spanish for "hat," but oil continued to seep from cracks in the seafloor.
In August 1979, balls of sticky tar began washing up on the hotel beaches of South Padre Island in Texas. Crews scraped them up with construction equipment and giant vacuum cleaners, and the Coast Guard stretched a net across the Port Mansfield inlet to catch submerged tar balls.
Pemex began drilling two horizontal relief wells soon after the spill in June 1979, but they did not reach the Ixtoc 1 well until November, five months later. The crews used the relief wells to pump mud and steel balls into the gusher, finally capping the leak on March 25, 1980.
BP, which owns the well in the Deepwater Horizon spill, began drilling its own relief wells on May 2 and May 16. They will take about three months to complete, the company says.
Other techniques tried on the Ixtoc 1 might not work in the Deepwater Horizon spill. During the Ixtoc spill, scientists experimented with spreading fertilizer on the slick to encourage bacteria that break down the oil. That may not be a good idea near the Louisiana coast, which already has too much algae because of fertilizer runoff from the Mississippi River, said Terry Hazen, an oil spill cleanup expert at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The algae created a "dead zone" of low oxygen levels in the Gulf.
The Ixtoc 1 leak spilled between 126 million and 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it second only to the intentional oil spill of about 462 million gallons caused by retreating Iraqi troops in 1991 during the Gulf War, according to the Interior Department.
After the 1979 spill, sea turtles and dolphins suffered. Scientists dug up hundreds of oil-covered turtle eggs and flew them to cleaner beaches to save them.
Many residents now fear the BP spill will bring a repeat disaster. A variation in the Gulf currents that occurs every six to 11 months could eventually carry the oil toward Mexico, said Mike Pigott, a meteorologist with the AccuWeather forecasting firm.
"The winds are dead out there now, but in June, they're going to start blowing again," said Roman Dominguez of the Gavilan del Rio Fisherman's cooperative in Coatzacoalcos. "That's what people are worried about. Everyone here remembers Ixtoc."
wackenhut?
It just goes on and on, doesn't it?
While precious wildlife and marshes slowly die due to BP's lacksadasial (sp) response to saving Louisiana's coastline, it has now come to light that those bastards are employing a security company called Wackenhut to take care of the perimeter of BP's and the "Unified Command" Center in Robert, Louisiana (formerly known as the home of Global Wildlife) to hold back the real story from the world.
An excerpt from naomiklein dot org:
I just got off the phone with my friends Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," and her husband Avi Lewis, host of al Jazeera English's popular program Fault Lines. They are traveling around the devastated US Gulf reporting on the horrific disaster caused by BP's massive oil spill. They described to me a run in that they just had with the private security company Wackenhut, which apparently has been hired to do the perimeter security for the "Deepwater Horizon Unified Command." The "Unified Command" is run jointly by BP and several US government agencies including the US Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security.
Wackenhut, of course, is the notorious private security company that operates in the US and around the globe. It recently became part of the huge British mercenary network G4S. Most recently, Wackenhut gained global infamy for the conduct of guards from its subsidiary Armor Group after it was revealed by whistleblowers that the company created a "Lord of the Flies environment" at the embassy "in which guards and supervisors are 'peeing on people, eating potato chips out of [buttock] cracks, vodka shots out of [buttock] cracks... [drunken] brawls, threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity." According to the Project on Government Oversight, "Multiple guards say this deviant hazing has created a climate of fear and coercion, with those who declined to participate often ridiculed, humiliated, demoted, or even fired. The result is an environment that is dangerous and volatile. Some guards have reported barricading themselves in their rooms for fear that those carrying out the hazing will harm them physically."
In other words, Wackenhut is the perfect choice to "guard" the joint BP-US government-US military operation in the Gulf.
Bastards.
While precious wildlife and marshes slowly die due to BP's lacksadasial (sp) response to saving Louisiana's coastline, it has now come to light that those bastards are employing a security company called Wackenhut to take care of the perimeter of BP's and the "Unified Command" Center in Robert, Louisiana (formerly known as the home of Global Wildlife) to hold back the real story from the world.
An excerpt from naomiklein dot org:
I just got off the phone with my friends Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," and her husband Avi Lewis, host of al Jazeera English's popular program Fault Lines. They are traveling around the devastated US Gulf reporting on the horrific disaster caused by BP's massive oil spill. They described to me a run in that they just had with the private security company Wackenhut, which apparently has been hired to do the perimeter security for the "Deepwater Horizon Unified Command." The "Unified Command" is run jointly by BP and several US government agencies including the US Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security.
Wackenhut, of course, is the notorious private security company that operates in the US and around the globe. It recently became part of the huge British mercenary network G4S. Most recently, Wackenhut gained global infamy for the conduct of guards from its subsidiary Armor Group after it was revealed by whistleblowers that the company created a "Lord of the Flies environment" at the embassy "in which guards and supervisors are 'peeing on people, eating potato chips out of [buttock] cracks, vodka shots out of [buttock] cracks... [drunken] brawls, threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity." According to the Project on Government Oversight, "Multiple guards say this deviant hazing has created a climate of fear and coercion, with those who declined to participate often ridiculed, humiliated, demoted, or even fired. The result is an environment that is dangerous and volatile. Some guards have reported barricading themselves in their rooms for fear that those carrying out the hazing will harm them physically."
In other words, Wackenhut is the perfect choice to "guard" the joint BP-US government-US military operation in the Gulf.
Bastards.
We are not okay
It starts again, not even five years post Katrina. Our government allows itself to be lied to about the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico and we are forgotten. BP is in charge because "it's their money", so they won't allow journalists to do their jobs. Our two state senators are removed from this disaster. One wants to limit big oil's liability, the other is just a wack job. All I can say is thank the lord for Billy Nungesser, Craig Tafarro, Kevin Davis, Charlie Melancon, Anderson Cooper and WWL radio.
Friday, May 28, 2010
BP's dog and pony show
from nola dot com:
BP, the oil company taking flak for its inconsistent response to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, bused in 400 extra cleanup workers to Grand Isle during President Obama's visit today, Jefferson Parish Council Chairman John Young said.
"It appears to have been a PR stunt by BP, not to say we don't appreciate the extra participation," Young said. "We certainly need them, but we don't need them for just one day that happens to coincide with a visit from the president."
Obama made his second visit today to Louisiana's oil-stricken coast, stopping in Grand Isle and Port Fourchon.
Young said he saw the workers dressed in red shirts, blue jeans and black shrimp boots mulling across the beaches and in the mess hall during the president's appearance. They were uniformed in a way "which you don't normally see workers dressed like that," Young said.
After Obama's departure, Young said, the work crews all but vanished.
"This is a total shame that a mockery has been made of this visit by the executives of BP," Councilman Chris Roberts said.
"What we want to make clear (is) if they're going to send them, then send them everyday, not just on the day of the president's visit," Councilman Tom Capella said.
BP spokesman Mike Abendhoff denied it was done solely for publicity.
"Obviously, it's unfortunate that that's what people are thinking," Abendhoff said. "We're not sending people for PR stunts.We're sending people to clean up this oil."
Abendhoff said the additional workers are part of BP's efforts gradually to increase its presence on Louisiana beaches to meet the incoming oil. "We've continued to add resources every day," he said
Young stopped short of saying Jefferson Parish officials were frustrated with BP's response to a disaster that has affected more than 100 miles of coastline. But he noted that parish officials commandeered idle BP-hired vessels last week to begin skimming oil that had traveled into Barataria Bay.
He said there appears to be a disconnect between the oil company and the Coast Guard, which is in charge of the response effort.
"I would compare BP today to FEMA after Katrina," Young said, recalling the halting response of the federal emergency agency in the days following the 2005 hurricane.
BP, the oil company taking flak for its inconsistent response to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, bused in 400 extra cleanup workers to Grand Isle during President Obama's visit today, Jefferson Parish Council Chairman John Young said.
"It appears to have been a PR stunt by BP, not to say we don't appreciate the extra participation," Young said. "We certainly need them, but we don't need them for just one day that happens to coincide with a visit from the president."
Obama made his second visit today to Louisiana's oil-stricken coast, stopping in Grand Isle and Port Fourchon.
Young said he saw the workers dressed in red shirts, blue jeans and black shrimp boots mulling across the beaches and in the mess hall during the president's appearance. They were uniformed in a way "which you don't normally see workers dressed like that," Young said.
After Obama's departure, Young said, the work crews all but vanished.
"This is a total shame that a mockery has been made of this visit by the executives of BP," Councilman Chris Roberts said.
"What we want to make clear (is) if they're going to send them, then send them everyday, not just on the day of the president's visit," Councilman Tom Capella said.
BP spokesman Mike Abendhoff denied it was done solely for publicity.
"Obviously, it's unfortunate that that's what people are thinking," Abendhoff said. "We're not sending people for PR stunts.We're sending people to clean up this oil."
Abendhoff said the additional workers are part of BP's efforts gradually to increase its presence on Louisiana beaches to meet the incoming oil. "We've continued to add resources every day," he said
Young stopped short of saying Jefferson Parish officials were frustrated with BP's response to a disaster that has affected more than 100 miles of coastline. But he noted that parish officials commandeered idle BP-hired vessels last week to begin skimming oil that had traveled into Barataria Bay.
He said there appears to be a disconnect between the oil company and the Coast Guard, which is in charge of the response effort.
"I would compare BP today to FEMA after Katrina," Young said, recalling the halting response of the federal emergency agency in the days following the 2005 hurricane.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
WTF????
"BP's much-anticipated attempt to cap its undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, a spill now estimated at twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster, was suspended for more than 16 hours before it was restarted late Thursday afternoon, a BP executive said Thursday."
Birds affected by the Oil Spill
LOS ANGELES, May 24 (Reuters) - More than 300 sea birds, the bulk of them brown pelicans and northern gannets, have been found dead along the U.S. Gulf Coast during the first five weeks of BP's huge oil spill off Louisiana, wildlife officials reported on Monday.
The 316 birds found dead along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida -- plus 10 others that died or were euthanized at wildlife rehabilitation centers after they were captured alive, far outnumber the 31 surviving birds found oiled to date.
The raw tally of birds listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as dead on arrival at wildlife collection facilities include specimens obviously tainted with oil and some with no visible signs of oil contamination.
But all are being counted as potential casualties of the oil gushing since April 20 from a ruptured wellhead on the floor of the Gulf because of their proximity in time and space to the spill, said Jay Holcomb, who directs a rescue center for birds in Fort Jackson, Louisiana.
The specimens eventually will be analyzed to determine more conclusively if the birds were contaminated with oil from the BP spill, he said.
Holcomb, director of the California-based International Bird Rescue Research Center, said mortality for sea birds, many of them in the midst of their breeding season, is expected to climb sharply, especially if hurricanes move into the region and sweep more oil ashore.
"The potential for this being catastrophic is right there because there's a massive amount of oil in the water, and it's still pouring out, and there's a lot of nesting birds and a lot of birds using the coast," he told Reuters. "If the tropical storms take that oil and move it, that's when you're going to see the real impact, I think."
DIVING BIRDS HARDEST HIT SO FAR
The birds known to be hardest hit by oil in the Gulf so far are those that feed by diving into the water for fish, including the brown pelican, removed last year from the endangered species list, and the northern gannet, Holcomb said.
But shorebirds, wading birds and songbirds will increasingly be put in harm's way as more oil washes onto beaches and into marshlands.
Oil impairs the insulating properties of birds' feathers, exposing them to cold and making it difficult for them to float, swim and fly. Chemicals in the petroleum also can burn their skin and irritate their eyes. They also end up ingesting the oil when they preen, damaging their digestive tracts.
Affects on Marine Life in the Gulf
From the NOAA incident news (http://www.incidentnews.gov/attachments/8220/527747/DeepH20web_26May.pdf)
Marine mammals and turtles (effective May 25):
Sea Turtles
The total number of sea turtles verified from April 30 to May 25 within the designated spill area is 223. The 223 includes three entirely oiled sea turtles that were captured alive during dedicated on-water surveys last week: two small Kemp's Ridley and a larger sub-adult Loggerhead turtle. They were taken to the Audubon Aquarium where they are undergoing de-oiling and care and are doing well. In addition, 207 dead and 13 live stranded turtles (of which three subsequently died in rehab) have been verified. None of the dead or alive stranded turtles have had visible evidence of external oil.
Dolphins
From April 30 to May 25, there have been 22 dead dolphins verified within the designated spill area. The dolphin collected on May 24 is being evaluated. The other 21 dolphins have had no visible evidence of external oil.
Oil Plume in Gulf
From AP
Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama.
The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume recorded since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20.
The thick plume was detected just beneath the surface down to about 3,300 feet, and is more than 6 miles wide, said David Hollander, associate professor of chemical oceanography at the school.
Hollander said the team detected the thickest amount of hydrocarbons, likely from the oil spewing from the blown out well, at about 1,300 feet in the same spot on two separate days this week.
The discovery was important, he said, because it confirmed that the substance found in the water was not naturally occurring and that the plume was at its highest concentration in deeper waters. The researchers will use further testing to determine whether the hydrocarbons they found are the result of dispersants or the emulsification of oil as it traveled away from the well.
The first such plume detected by scientists stretched from the well southwest toward the open sea, but this new undersea oil cloud is headed miles inland into shallower waters where many fish and other species reproduce.
The researchers say they are worried these undersea plumes may are the result of the unprecedented use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil a mile undersea at the site of the leak.
Hollander said the oil they detected has dissolved into the water, and is no longer visible, leading to fears from researchers that the toxicity from the oil and dispersants could pose a big danger to fish larvae and filter feeders such as sperm whales.
"There are two elements to it," Hollander said. "The plume reaching waters on the continental shelf could have a toxic effect on fish larvae, and we also may see a long term response as it cascades up the food web."
Quotes
April 27, 2010
“I am going to say right up front. The BP efforts to secure the blowout preventer have not yet been successful, If we don't secure the well, yes, this will be one of the most significant oil spills in US history." Rear Admiral Mary Landry – U.S. Coast Guard
April 29, 2010
"I've asked several times over the last few days for a detailed plan in terms of a quantifiable number of people and resources that will be deployed to help clean up and protect our coast. We haven't gotten those plans yet," Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
April 30, 2010
It is of grave concern, I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling." David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive. As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms." Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice
"While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and clean-up operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the Department of Defense, to address the incident," President Barack Obama
"As it gets into the wildlife management area it is going to kill us. It's the worst-case scenario for shrimpers, oyster harvesters, crabbers — all the commercial fisherman," Brent Roy-charter boat captain, referring to Louisiana's $2.4-billion-a-year fishing industry.
May 1, 2010
"These people, we've been beaten down, disaster after disaster," 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." Matt O'Brien of Venice, whose fledgling wholesale shrimp dock business is under threat from the spill.
"These next few days are critical. Our focus is to mitigate the damage on the coast." Bobby Jindal - Louisiana Governor
May 2, 2010
"The oil industry is constantly given free rein in Louisiana," said historian Douglas Brinkley. "It's been treated as a third world society out there in the Gulf of Mexico; it's almost laughed at by oil executives - 'You can do what you want in the Gulf.'
"We should have started the cleanup while we were still watching that rig burn," said Billy Nungesser - President, Plaquemines Parish
“And we're going to do everything in our power to protect our natural resources, compensate those who have been harmed, rebuild what has been damaged, and help this region persevere like it has done so many times before.” Barack Obama
May 3, 2010
“The sky is not falling,” said Quenton R. Dokken, a marine biologist and the executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, a conservation group in Corpus Christi, Tex. “We’ve certainly stepped in a hole and we’re going to have to work ourselves out of it, but it isn’t the end of the Gulf of Mexico.”
May 4, 2010
"It's too much oil, too fast, not to have a pretty big impact on generations of wildlife that's in the water column. Birds eating shellfish getting sick and dying, marine mammals, land mammals getting sick and dying. You have birds feeding oiled fish to their chicks, the chicks have stunted growth," Riki Ott, a toxicologist who wrote two books about the Exxon Valdez spill.
"It wasn't our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do," BP CEO Tony Hayward
"We will absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation. There's no doubt about that," Hayward told NPR. "Where legitimate claims are made, we will be good for them."
May 5, 2010
"Oil spills are ecological events, not human health events. Themost dangerous gases that come off the hydrocarbons in crude oil, benzene and toluene, will disperse as they come up through 5,000 feet of ocean water and then into the air, she says. And as the entire event "is happening in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, they won't have much effect on people on land.” LuAnn White, a toxicologist and director of Tulane University's Center for Applied Environmental Public Health
"This is another sad milestone in a disaster unfolding in slow motion. This massive oil slick is churning around in the Gulf and emulsifying into a thick, deadly 'mousse' that will extinguish life and destroy habitats. Seabirds like the Northern Gannet and an array of marine life have already been hit and now, many more victims are now likely to succumb. We may never know the full extent of the damage to the creatures that spend their lives beneath the waves or suspended between sea and sky. Millions of birds migrate across the Gulf at this time of year, returning from their winter homes in South America.” Frank Gill, president of National Aububon Society
May 9, 2010
“I wouldn’t say it has failed yet. What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn’t work.” Doug Suttles - BP spokesman (after the containment dome failed to stop the oil flow)
May 13, 2010
"We would much rather fight the oil," one worried fishermen told Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration representatives.
May 16, 2010
"We have no idea where the oil that isn't reaching the surface is going," James Cowan Jr., an oceanography professor at Louisiana State University, to the Los Angeles Times. "It could go everywhere.”
May 18, 2010
BP CEO Tony Hayward told Britain's Sky News on Tuesday morning that he didn't think the spill would seriously hurt the Gulf ecosystem. "Everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact will be very, very modest," he said.
"We are nowhere close to the finish line, oil has already been found along 29 miles of the state's coast Oil continues to pour into the gulf and hit our shores." Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
May 19, 2010
"In the use of dispersants we are faced with environmental trade-offs," acknowledged Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson at a Senate hearing Tuesday. She noted, "I'm amazed by how little science there is on [these chemicals]."
"The heavy oil is here. This was the day everybody was worried about, everybody was concerned about. That day is here, that heavy oil is in the marshes. This was not the weathered, the emulsified oil,it wasn't tar balls. This wasn't sheen. ... This is oil that is going to be very, very difficult for them to clean up. More than 30 miles of the coastline has been oiled " Bobby Jindal - Louisiana Governor
May 21, 2010
"It's so sad when you look around here and you just think of what was here, what's happening to it now and what's gonna happen to it," says P.J. Hahn, the director of the Parish Coastal Zone Management Department. "Unless we stop that oil out there, it's just going to continue to keep coming in here and wipe out everything we have. ... I think we're just starting to see the first wave of what's really coming — and what's really coming I think is going to be devastating."
May 22, 2010
"Oil in the marshes is the worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the head of the federal effort to contain and clean up the spill.
"I'm tired of being nice. I'm tired of working as a team," Billy Nungesser - president of Plaquemines Parish
"The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word," declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Florida, an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
"Work to disperse and burn the oil offshore was making good progress. Our near-shore activities were also quite successful yesterday. . . . We're quite fortunate; we have only had oil show up on seven locations onshore." Doug Suttles – BP Spokesman
"They ought to all lose their jobs, because none of them gives a rat's ass about this marsh," said Nungesser. "Something stinks here. It was too good of a plan (building of sand berms). Everybody was on board and all they did was take four or five days to rip it apart. And, I'm sorry Coast Guard, you got B.S. excuses. There was nothing you told me that's a reason we don't have dredges out there pumping today."
May 23, 2010
"We are 33 days into this effort, and deadline after deadline has been missed. If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately." Ken Salazar – Secretary of the Interior
"As we talk, a total of more than 65 miles of our shoreline now has been oiled," Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
“This is an absolute tragedy, where are the leaders in the Corps? In the Coast Guard? In BP? All we’ve heard from them is excuses. I am so disappointed in these agencies.” Billy Nungesser – President of Plaquemines Parish
“The lesson learned by Katrina, Rita, and later, Gustav and Ike, is if we wait, we will die. I don’t have a crystal ball, but if I were a betting man I’d bet the plan was to let us die, then come back and do $75 million worth of cleanup.” Craig Taffaro – President of St. Bernard Parish
“This is the danger of not acting. We’re fighting a war here against this oil, and we’re going to do everything it takes to protect our coasts.” Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
May 24, 2010
"We failed at preventing the spill. Now, we're failing in the response simply because we'd never gotten ready. Nobody has invested in these technologies." Richard Charter, oil spill expert for conservation group Defenders of Wildlife
"It is clear we don't have the resources we need to protect our coast. We need more boom, more skimmers, more vacuums, more jack-up barges that are still in short supply. Let's be clear: Every day that this oil sits is one more day that more of our marsh dies." Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
“BP in my mind no longer stands for British Petroleum - it stands for Beyond Patience. People have been waiting 34 days for British Petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that’s happening across the Gulf of Mexico What we need to tell BP, is excuses don’t count anymore. You caused this mess, now stop the damage and clean up the mess. It’s your responsibility.” Sen. Richard Durbin
May 26, 2010
"There's definitely some confusion about who's in charge," says G. Paul Kemp, a coastal ecologist with the National Audubon Society. "We hear from shrimpers that they're under contract (to help) but they're not, they don't know what they're supposed to be doing or whether they're going to be doing anything, and this is at a time when it would seem we need pretty much everybody working round the clock on this."
"The Obama administration's response is "dysfunctional, there's no chain of command, no one's in charge," Billy Nungesser - President Plaquemines Parish
"We have yet to see a plan from the Coast Guard, a plan from BP, a plan to keep it from coming in, a plan to pick it up," Billy Nungesser said of the oil. “"There's no wildlife in Pass a Loutre. It's all dead”
May 27, 2010
“National Guard is at Port Fouchon hauling sand to the beach” call into WWL radio
"BP is not the equal of the United States government. This president needs to tell BP 'I'm your daddy, I'm in charge, you're going to do what we say. You're a multinational company that is greedy and you may be guilty of criminal activity.' It's time that we understand, BP does not wish this thing well. They have been negligent. They need to whip out their checkbook and start moving into action and the president needs to push them." James Carville - American political consultant
“Fishermen near the spill are getting sick from the working on the cleanup, yet BP is assuring them they don't need respirators or other special protection from the crude oil, strong hydrocarbon vapors, or chemical dispersants.” Riki Ott, a toxicologist who wrote two books about the Exxon Valdez spill.
“I am going to say right up front. The BP efforts to secure the blowout preventer have not yet been successful, If we don't secure the well, yes, this will be one of the most significant oil spills in US history." Rear Admiral Mary Landry – U.S. Coast Guard
April 29, 2010
"I've asked several times over the last few days for a detailed plan in terms of a quantifiable number of people and resources that will be deployed to help clean up and protect our coast. We haven't gotten those plans yet," Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
April 30, 2010
It is of grave concern, I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling." David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive. As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms." Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice
"While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and clean-up operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the Department of Defense, to address the incident," President Barack Obama
"As it gets into the wildlife management area it is going to kill us. It's the worst-case scenario for shrimpers, oyster harvesters, crabbers — all the commercial fisherman," Brent Roy-charter boat captain, referring to Louisiana's $2.4-billion-a-year fishing industry.
May 1, 2010
"These people, we've been beaten down, disaster after disaster," 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." Matt O'Brien of Venice, whose fledgling wholesale shrimp dock business is under threat from the spill.
"These next few days are critical. Our focus is to mitigate the damage on the coast." Bobby Jindal - Louisiana Governor
May 2, 2010
"The oil industry is constantly given free rein in Louisiana," said historian Douglas Brinkley. "It's been treated as a third world society out there in the Gulf of Mexico; it's almost laughed at by oil executives - 'You can do what you want in the Gulf.'
"We should have started the cleanup while we were still watching that rig burn," said Billy Nungesser - President, Plaquemines Parish
“And we're going to do everything in our power to protect our natural resources, compensate those who have been harmed, rebuild what has been damaged, and help this region persevere like it has done so many times before.” Barack Obama
May 3, 2010
“The sky is not falling,” said Quenton R. Dokken, a marine biologist and the executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, a conservation group in Corpus Christi, Tex. “We’ve certainly stepped in a hole and we’re going to have to work ourselves out of it, but it isn’t the end of the Gulf of Mexico.”
May 4, 2010
"It's too much oil, too fast, not to have a pretty big impact on generations of wildlife that's in the water column. Birds eating shellfish getting sick and dying, marine mammals, land mammals getting sick and dying. You have birds feeding oiled fish to their chicks, the chicks have stunted growth," Riki Ott, a toxicologist who wrote two books about the Exxon Valdez spill.
"It wasn't our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do," BP CEO Tony Hayward
"We will absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation. There's no doubt about that," Hayward told NPR. "Where legitimate claims are made, we will be good for them."
May 5, 2010
"Oil spills are ecological events, not human health events. Themost dangerous gases that come off the hydrocarbons in crude oil, benzene and toluene, will disperse as they come up through 5,000 feet of ocean water and then into the air, she says. And as the entire event "is happening in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, they won't have much effect on people on land.” LuAnn White, a toxicologist and director of Tulane University's Center for Applied Environmental Public Health
"This is another sad milestone in a disaster unfolding in slow motion. This massive oil slick is churning around in the Gulf and emulsifying into a thick, deadly 'mousse' that will extinguish life and destroy habitats. Seabirds like the Northern Gannet and an array of marine life have already been hit and now, many more victims are now likely to succumb. We may never know the full extent of the damage to the creatures that spend their lives beneath the waves or suspended between sea and sky. Millions of birds migrate across the Gulf at this time of year, returning from their winter homes in South America.” Frank Gill, president of National Aububon Society
May 9, 2010
“I wouldn’t say it has failed yet. What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn’t work.” Doug Suttles - BP spokesman (after the containment dome failed to stop the oil flow)
May 13, 2010
"We would much rather fight the oil," one worried fishermen told Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration representatives.
May 16, 2010
"We have no idea where the oil that isn't reaching the surface is going," James Cowan Jr., an oceanography professor at Louisiana State University, to the Los Angeles Times. "It could go everywhere.”
May 18, 2010
BP CEO Tony Hayward told Britain's Sky News on Tuesday morning that he didn't think the spill would seriously hurt the Gulf ecosystem. "Everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact will be very, very modest," he said.
"We are nowhere close to the finish line, oil has already been found along 29 miles of the state's coast Oil continues to pour into the gulf and hit our shores." Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
May 19, 2010
"In the use of dispersants we are faced with environmental trade-offs," acknowledged Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson at a Senate hearing Tuesday. She noted, "I'm amazed by how little science there is on [these chemicals]."
"The heavy oil is here. This was the day everybody was worried about, everybody was concerned about. That day is here, that heavy oil is in the marshes. This was not the weathered, the emulsified oil,it wasn't tar balls. This wasn't sheen. ... This is oil that is going to be very, very difficult for them to clean up. More than 30 miles of the coastline has been oiled " Bobby Jindal - Louisiana Governor
May 21, 2010
"It's so sad when you look around here and you just think of what was here, what's happening to it now and what's gonna happen to it," says P.J. Hahn, the director of the Parish Coastal Zone Management Department. "Unless we stop that oil out there, it's just going to continue to keep coming in here and wipe out everything we have. ... I think we're just starting to see the first wave of what's really coming — and what's really coming I think is going to be devastating."
May 22, 2010
"Oil in the marshes is the worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the head of the federal effort to contain and clean up the spill.
"I'm tired of being nice. I'm tired of working as a team," Billy Nungesser - president of Plaquemines Parish
"The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word," declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Florida, an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
"Work to disperse and burn the oil offshore was making good progress. Our near-shore activities were also quite successful yesterday. . . . We're quite fortunate; we have only had oil show up on seven locations onshore." Doug Suttles – BP Spokesman
"They ought to all lose their jobs, because none of them gives a rat's ass about this marsh," said Nungesser. "Something stinks here. It was too good of a plan (building of sand berms). Everybody was on board and all they did was take four or five days to rip it apart. And, I'm sorry Coast Guard, you got B.S. excuses. There was nothing you told me that's a reason we don't have dredges out there pumping today."
May 23, 2010
"We are 33 days into this effort, and deadline after deadline has been missed. If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately." Ken Salazar – Secretary of the Interior
"As we talk, a total of more than 65 miles of our shoreline now has been oiled," Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
“This is an absolute tragedy, where are the leaders in the Corps? In the Coast Guard? In BP? All we’ve heard from them is excuses. I am so disappointed in these agencies.” Billy Nungesser – President of Plaquemines Parish
“The lesson learned by Katrina, Rita, and later, Gustav and Ike, is if we wait, we will die. I don’t have a crystal ball, but if I were a betting man I’d bet the plan was to let us die, then come back and do $75 million worth of cleanup.” Craig Taffaro – President of St. Bernard Parish
“This is the danger of not acting. We’re fighting a war here against this oil, and we’re going to do everything it takes to protect our coasts.” Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
May 24, 2010
"We failed at preventing the spill. Now, we're failing in the response simply because we'd never gotten ready. Nobody has invested in these technologies." Richard Charter, oil spill expert for conservation group Defenders of Wildlife
"It is clear we don't have the resources we need to protect our coast. We need more boom, more skimmers, more vacuums, more jack-up barges that are still in short supply. Let's be clear: Every day that this oil sits is one more day that more of our marsh dies." Bobby Jindal – Louisiana Governor
“BP in my mind no longer stands for British Petroleum - it stands for Beyond Patience. People have been waiting 34 days for British Petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that’s happening across the Gulf of Mexico What we need to tell BP, is excuses don’t count anymore. You caused this mess, now stop the damage and clean up the mess. It’s your responsibility.” Sen. Richard Durbin
May 26, 2010
"There's definitely some confusion about who's in charge," says G. Paul Kemp, a coastal ecologist with the National Audubon Society. "We hear from shrimpers that they're under contract (to help) but they're not, they don't know what they're supposed to be doing or whether they're going to be doing anything, and this is at a time when it would seem we need pretty much everybody working round the clock on this."
"The Obama administration's response is "dysfunctional, there's no chain of command, no one's in charge," Billy Nungesser - President Plaquemines Parish
"We have yet to see a plan from the Coast Guard, a plan from BP, a plan to keep it from coming in, a plan to pick it up," Billy Nungesser said of the oil. “"There's no wildlife in Pass a Loutre. It's all dead”
May 27, 2010
“National Guard is at Port Fouchon hauling sand to the beach” call into WWL radio
"BP is not the equal of the United States government. This president needs to tell BP 'I'm your daddy, I'm in charge, you're going to do what we say. You're a multinational company that is greedy and you may be guilty of criminal activity.' It's time that we understand, BP does not wish this thing well. They have been negligent. They need to whip out their checkbook and start moving into action and the president needs to push them." James Carville - American political consultant
“Fishermen near the spill are getting sick from the working on the cleanup, yet BP is assuring them they don't need respirators or other special protection from the crude oil, strong hydrocarbon vapors, or chemical dispersants.” Riki Ott, a toxicologist who wrote two books about the Exxon Valdez spill.
It's all dead
Anderson Cooper's piece on May 26 taking a tour of oil soaked Pass a Loutre, Louisiana
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
don't get stuck on stupid
Russel Honore's view of this BP spill:
(CNN) -- It's interesting how many people have swallowed the BP public relations' bait to call the explosion from Deepwater Horizon oil rig the Gulf oil spill. We need to call it what it is: the BP oil spill. The federal government needs to take control and take punitive action against BP and any negligent government regulators immediately.
As a concerned citizen, preparedness speaker and author, and former commander of federal troops in disaster response, I watched with interest as BP brought out its big PR guns to protect its brand and its platoon of expert engineers, paid by BP to talk about how it happened and how they intended to fix it.
BP's reaction was much like Toyota's when it was confronted with safety issues. It, too, focused on PR to protect its brand, versus telling the truth, and sent out its engineers to talk about the problem and the fix.
The U.S. Coast Guard was the first responder. The Coast Guard's priority always is to save lives. They spent days looking for the 11 missing men. Meanwhile, BP took advantage of this time to make itself the authoritative voice in the news about the spill and blame other companies.
The No. 1 rule when dealing with disaster is to figure out which rules you need to break.
--Lt. Gen. Russel Honore
The U.S. government response was based on laws and rules that were created after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After Valdez, the law changed to make the offending company responsible for the cleanup. A fund was created that all oil companies contributed to. If there was an emergency oil spill, a company could draw up to $75 million from this fund to fix the problem. But the fund was meant to help small wildcat operations, not huge conglomerates like BP.
Sticking to that regulation was part of the problem. The No. 1 rule when dealing with disaster is to figure out which rules you need to break. Rules are designed for when everything is working. A democracy is based on trust. BP has proved it can't be trusted.
iReporters share views on oil spill response
The government needs to change the game and make this a punitive effort. The government has been too friendly to oil companies.
The government should immediately freeze BP's assets and start to charge the corporation -- say $100 million -- each day the oil flows. The money could be held in a fund that U.S. government draws on to take care of the people along the Gulf Coast and pay the states for doing the cleanup.
Next, BP and the government bureaucrats who broke a law and put the public at risk need to go to jail.
The latest curse going around in southern Louisiana today is, 'BP you.'
--Lt. Gen. Russel Honore
Video: BP: '24 hours before we know' RELATED TOPICS
BP plc
Deepwater Horizon
Exxon Valdez
Hurricane Katrina
Oil Spills
I remember when we were evacuating New Orleans on Saturday following Katrina. We pushed the survivors to the airport and a major called and said the pilots refused to fly the plane without a manifest and there was trouble with weapons scanners.
I told him to direct everyone to put the people on the planes as fast as possible, and we would to do the manifest en route or on landing. As a result, we flew 16,000 people out of NOLA airport in less than seven hours.
The priorities of the response to the spill must be to stop the flow of oil, prevent the oil from getting into the shoreline as much as possible, mitigate the effects of the oil in the ocean, and take care of the people who have lost their source of employment, such as fishermen and those in the tourist industry.
BP's job is to focus on stopping the flow of oil. The government needs to provide more military "command and control" of the situation. As BP works to stop the gusher, the government must address the problem of the oil coming ashore and take care of the people affected, possibly retraining them in other jobs. The government could do this by using the Stafford Act to fund the states so they can protect their shoreline and clean up the oil. Then, the long-term effects of the spill must be mitigated.
The people of the Gulf Coast, particularly South Louisiana, are still recovering from Katrina. They've been through hurricanes Rita, Gustav and Ike.
They know hurricane season is right around the corner and this BP oil spill has the potential to get much worse. And they don't trust BP.
In fact, the latest curse going around in southern Louisiana today is, "BP you."
Punitive action must start immediately, with BP supplying the money, from fines, to help the Gulf Coast get over this catastrophe.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Russel Honoré.
(CNN) -- It's interesting how many people have swallowed the BP public relations' bait to call the explosion from Deepwater Horizon oil rig the Gulf oil spill. We need to call it what it is: the BP oil spill. The federal government needs to take control and take punitive action against BP and any negligent government regulators immediately.
As a concerned citizen, preparedness speaker and author, and former commander of federal troops in disaster response, I watched with interest as BP brought out its big PR guns to protect its brand and its platoon of expert engineers, paid by BP to talk about how it happened and how they intended to fix it.
BP's reaction was much like Toyota's when it was confronted with safety issues. It, too, focused on PR to protect its brand, versus telling the truth, and sent out its engineers to talk about the problem and the fix.
The U.S. Coast Guard was the first responder. The Coast Guard's priority always is to save lives. They spent days looking for the 11 missing men. Meanwhile, BP took advantage of this time to make itself the authoritative voice in the news about the spill and blame other companies.
The No. 1 rule when dealing with disaster is to figure out which rules you need to break.
--Lt. Gen. Russel Honore
The U.S. government response was based on laws and rules that were created after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After Valdez, the law changed to make the offending company responsible for the cleanup. A fund was created that all oil companies contributed to. If there was an emergency oil spill, a company could draw up to $75 million from this fund to fix the problem. But the fund was meant to help small wildcat operations, not huge conglomerates like BP.
Sticking to that regulation was part of the problem. The No. 1 rule when dealing with disaster is to figure out which rules you need to break. Rules are designed for when everything is working. A democracy is based on trust. BP has proved it can't be trusted.
iReporters share views on oil spill response
The government needs to change the game and make this a punitive effort. The government has been too friendly to oil companies.
The government should immediately freeze BP's assets and start to charge the corporation -- say $100 million -- each day the oil flows. The money could be held in a fund that U.S. government draws on to take care of the people along the Gulf Coast and pay the states for doing the cleanup.
Next, BP and the government bureaucrats who broke a law and put the public at risk need to go to jail.
The latest curse going around in southern Louisiana today is, 'BP you.'
--Lt. Gen. Russel Honore
Video: BP: '24 hours before we know' RELATED TOPICS
BP plc
Deepwater Horizon
Exxon Valdez
Hurricane Katrina
Oil Spills
I remember when we were evacuating New Orleans on Saturday following Katrina. We pushed the survivors to the airport and a major called and said the pilots refused to fly the plane without a manifest and there was trouble with weapons scanners.
I told him to direct everyone to put the people on the planes as fast as possible, and we would to do the manifest en route or on landing. As a result, we flew 16,000 people out of NOLA airport in less than seven hours.
The priorities of the response to the spill must be to stop the flow of oil, prevent the oil from getting into the shoreline as much as possible, mitigate the effects of the oil in the ocean, and take care of the people who have lost their source of employment, such as fishermen and those in the tourist industry.
BP's job is to focus on stopping the flow of oil. The government needs to provide more military "command and control" of the situation. As BP works to stop the gusher, the government must address the problem of the oil coming ashore and take care of the people affected, possibly retraining them in other jobs. The government could do this by using the Stafford Act to fund the states so they can protect their shoreline and clean up the oil. Then, the long-term effects of the spill must be mitigated.
The people of the Gulf Coast, particularly South Louisiana, are still recovering from Katrina. They've been through hurricanes Rita, Gustav and Ike.
They know hurricane season is right around the corner and this BP oil spill has the potential to get much worse. And they don't trust BP.
In fact, the latest curse going around in southern Louisiana today is, "BP you."
Punitive action must start immediately, with BP supplying the money, from fines, to help the Gulf Coast get over this catastrophe.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Russel Honoré.
Help Needed
Call this fool and ream him out:
From The Lens
And to those worried restaurateurs facing rising prices for shrimp and oysters? In the words of BP rep Randy Prescott: “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp.”
His office number is 713-323-4093. Email: randy.prescott@bp.com
From The Lens
And to those worried restaurateurs facing rising prices for shrimp and oysters? In the words of BP rep Randy Prescott: “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp.”
His office number is 713-323-4093. Email: randy.prescott@bp.com
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