Living on a dying delta

[bunkie]

here we go again...

BP claims progress on new cap as oil spews freely

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100711/...gulf_oil_spill

NEW ORLEANS – [/I]Oil was spewing freely into the Gulf of Mexico as BP crews claimed progress Sunday in the first stages of replacing a leaky cap with a new containment system they hope will finally catch all the crude from the busted well.

There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation nearly a mile below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.

"It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste," Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said........[/I]

[bunkie]

**** Has Come to South Louisiana

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/****-has-c...iana#more-1857

Clint Guidry is a shrimper from Lafitte, Louisiana. As we sit together, he shows me a picture of his house with 18 inches of water in it as a result of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

In his deep voice, he looks me in the eye and says, “My fear is repeating this situation, but with this water with oil on top of it.”

Guidry represents all the shrimpers in Louisiana, given that he is the Shrimp Harvester Representative on the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force that was created by the state’s governor.

Prior to this fishing season, he, like the rest of Louisiana’s fishermen, was excited for good season, with the price of shrimp per pound finally weighing more in their favor.

“We were primed for a great season,” Guidry says, “And it all got taken away.”


Unlike most fishermen who’ve had their livelihoods decimated by BP’s oil disaster, Guidry has chosen not to work for BP doing skimming and booming operations with his boat.

“I worked for Brown and Root in the oil industry,” Guidry informs, “I know the dangers of oil and chemicals, so there’s no way I’m going to go work out in this stuff. Instead, I’m trying to help make sure BP is paying people, and being safe. But I’m not accomplishing either one yet.”

Guidry is incensed at what he is seeing.

“There has been a BP cover-up from day one,” he says, as I write furiously in my notepad, trying to keep up, “The US Government, OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration], the Coast Guard, NIOSH [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health], all of them are in on it.”

On May 24th, in Galliano, Louisiana, Guidry testified to a delegation of US Senators, Congressmen, and Agencies and departments under Obama’s administration. He sent the testimony to the president as well, urgently requesting help.

Here is his testimony, verbatim:

–

My name is Clint Guidry. I am a third generation Louisiana Commercial Shrimp Fisherman. I am sixty-two years old and a lifelong resident of Lafitte, LA. I am a Vietnam Veteran and the son of a WWII Veteran.

I am on the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Shrimp Association and the Shrimp Harvester Representative on the LA Shrimp Task Force created by Executive Order of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

I have been invited here today to testify about the current disaster that is occurring concerning the blowout and oil spill from the British Petroleum (BP) DeepWater Horizon Catastrophe and what effects it is having on the fishermen and the families I represent.

Ladies and gentlemen, **** has come to South Louisiana. A **** created by British Petroleum (BP) and a failed U.S. Government response to the disaster.

First of all I would like to put into perspective BP’s role in this disaster and show them for what they are.

BP committed fraud in furnishing oil spill response data required to obtain a permit to enable them to drill the MC 252 location. The reality is they were not prepared to handle or control a blowout and resulting oil spill of this magnitude. Simply put, they LIED.

BP, in their haste to cut corners and save money in the completion process on the well location at MC 252, exhibited willful neglect in their duties to complete the well safely which led to the blowout and explosion that killed eleven people. Eleven souls that will never come back. Eleven families with mothers and fathers and wives and children. Children who will never see their fathers again.

This neglect and loss of life constitutes negligent homicide and all involved should be arrested and charged as such.

So now I have established what kind of people we are dealing with, LIARS and KILLERS. It appalls me that they are still in total control of this disaster after almost a month has passed.

Now I would like to speak about our Federal Response to the disaster.

The first response to the disaster was the U.S. Coast Guard, who has assumed duties of protecting BP and aiding them in downplaying the spill, providing BP representatives with armed guards to keep away the press and TV camera crews and sending representatives to local communities to provide false information on safety and health dangers related to the oil spill and the chemical dispersants used.

The second response came from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who in an effort to minimize the spill and save BP face, unleashed two dangerous chemical dispersants which were injected into the water column at the sea floor and sprayed on the surface over the oil and workers in the areas of the spill and along the coast close to coastal fishing communities. These chemical dispersants contain solvents that are dangerous to marine populations in the Gulf and coastal estuaries and were never fully tested for dangers to humans. In the product sheets for these chemical dispersants, there is always a disclaimer: “This listing does not mean that EPA approves, recommends, licenses, certifies or authorizes the use of this product on an oil discharge.”

And that IS exactly what EPA did and is still doing with total disregard to marine populations that will collapse because of it and human populations that will get sick and may die because of this decision.......more.......

[bunkie]

Could the Russian Mir Submersible Stop the Oil Leak?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010...paign=daily_nl

"The Mir-2 captain underlined that the subs were probably the only deep-sea vessels in the world capable of stopping the leak."

What if the Russian Mir submarines could stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Russians say that they are ready to help, but BP never asks? That seems to be what is happening right now. Read on for details..........

[bunkie]

Two New Fish Species Described Live in Gulf Oil Area

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/two...-oil-area.html

Research published in the Journal of Fish Biology describes two new species of pancake batfishes (Halieutichthys intermedius and H. bispinosus). They live in, or partially in, the area where oil has impacted the Gulf of Mexico. John Sparks, curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, “One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area.”

The other one’s habitat includes part of the same area affected by the oil disaster. Researchers initially had the idea to see if there were similar species because they had noticed variations between samples stored in museum jars. Prasanta Chabaraty decided to venture out into the Gulf to collect samples. From the new samples and further investigation it was discovered there were actually an additional two species rather than just the one.

The three species are distinguished by:........

[Alabamy]

It's almost too much.

[bunkie]

finally, maybe some good news...the new cap seems to be working. they're testing it tonight...tho...that does not help all those who will be receiving the 'oil wash' on their shores for the next months? years? i don't understand wgy they had to let 5 or 6 days go by with the oil flowing freely till they recapped?! and, why are they working at night on this thing?

[bunkie]

Toxic Dispersants Near Gulf Harm Humans and Wildlife

http://www.truth-out.org/bad-air-barataria61296

My eyes are burning as I type this. We’ve just returned from spending the day down in Barataria, located about an hour drive south of New Orleans. The community of fishermen is swimming in oil. Within minutes of arriving, our eyes begin to burn and we begin to feel dizzy from airborne chemicals from the oil and dispersant.

Like most of the rest of the Louisiana Estuary, the further south one drives the more one enters a culture that lives/eats/breaths/loves the water. Moss-laden oak trees, some with trunks more than four feet in diameter line the road in places, before quickly giving way to canals, bayous, and swamps that lap against the pavement.

We went to Barataria to meet with Tracy Kuhns, the executive director of Louisiana Bayoukeeper, a group whose goal is “To engage and empower coastal communities for the purpose of promoting sustainable management of Coastal Louisiana’s Bayou Country and it’s natural resources for the benefit of all citizens.” Tracy, who is also a member of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, is talking rapidly before I can get my recorder started.

Tracy is concerned about the dispersant BP has been using on the oil.

The dispersants Tracy references are Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527, both of which BP has used and continues to use (more than 1,400,000 gallons to date and counting) to disperse crude oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and near the wellhead 5,000 feet below the surface where the volcano of oil gushes toxicity into the Gulf. The pathways of exposure are inhalation, ingestion, skin, and eye contact. Health impacts include headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, dizziness, chest pains and tightness, irritation of eyes, nose, throat and lungs, difficulty breathing, respiratory system damage, skin irrigation and sensitization, hypertension, central nervous system depression, neurotoxic effects, genetic damage and mutations, cardiac arrhythmia, and cardiovascular damage, among several others.

According to the EPA’s latest analysis of dispersant toxicity released in the document Comparative Toxicity of Eight Oil Dispersant Products on Two Gulf of Mexico Aquatic Test Species, Corexit 9500, at a concentration of 42 parts per million, killed 50% of mysid shrimp tested.

Tracy tells us of the 44 reports for exemption BP has been issued to use dispersant. She and her husband Mike who are both fisherpersons, are tortured by what they are witnessing where they live, fish, work, and play.

“Just days ago Barataria Bay was full of oil,” Tracy informs while sweeping an arm out towards the south, where the large Bay sits, toxified, “Then they hit it with dispersants and the oil goes to the bottom. But then during the day, it heats up and the oil bubbles up to the surface.”

Tracy, like many other shrimpers I will soon speak with, refers to this effect as that similar to a “Lava lamp.”

“The oil, after they hit it with dispersants, moves around beneath the surface and they can’t track it,” she continues, “They are using dispersants so they can minimize their liability.”......more........

[FAADAN]

They're just red states, not to worry.

[bunkie]

Originally Posted by FAADAN

They're just red states, not to worry.

nice...not!

...Barely two hours after our arrival, I pull Erika aside. My eyes are burning with pain, I feel dizzy and light-headed. “So are mine, and so do I,” she says, “And my skin burns. Look at this.” She turns her head and one of her cheeks has a light-red rash. Pressure pulses against my forehead, and I can feel my heartbeat in my nose. We are both already exhibiting several symptoms of exposure to the dispersant. I’m shocked by the rapidity of the onset of symptoms.

But we’re in the majority, because according to every shrimper we talk with today, everyone has some, or more commonly, most, of the symptoms of exposure....

i can't believe that they are not stopping the use of the dispersants?!

[FAADAN]

Originally Posted by bunkie

nice...not!

I agree, but that's pretty much how the Administration looks at it.