Guard watches coast for oil slick's first wave

[MTK]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Here's a live picture of my lunch view today from the balcony at our place in southwest Florida on the gulf. This spill is really personal for me. If oil ruins these beaches for years, all the little shops and restuarants around here that rely on tourism are finito. Not to mention all the fishhermen. Property values are going to plummet as well, and that's bad news for a state like Florida that has already been crushed by the housing crisis. I have to think it's inevitable at this point. Just like what's already happening in LA.

Makes me so sick, so sad, and so angry.

I hear ya, my wife and I love to vacation in Florida in the Clearwater area. We were there a week before all this mess started. Those beaches are so beautiful. To think of the environment and wildlife there being ruined by this is so depressing.

[joethiesmanfan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I hear ya, my wife and I love to vacation in Florida in the Clearwater area. We were there a week before all this mess started. Those beaches are so beautiful. To think of the environment and wildlife there being ruined by this is so depressing.

Priceless!!!! Worth more than all the oil in under the Gulf, well what's left of it anyway.

[GMScud]

This is the scariest model I've seen yet. Florida could easily be totally engulfed on both coasts. Without their beaches and fisheries, Florida is done. Not to mention what's already happening to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Looks like NC and SC are going to be affected as well.

This thing is going to alter the entire Gulf and a large portion of the eastern seaboard for many years. I really could cry.

Ocean currents likely to carry oil along Atlantic coast | UCAR

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by joethiesmanfan

Priceless!!!! Worth more than all the oil in under the Gulf, well what's left of it anyway.

:confused:

[joethiesmanfan]

Big Oil - Dick Cheny, Bush (all of them), Palin - Big Oil. Do not vote for Big Oil to take their government back. If you want BP to pay, do not vote Republican, I repeat do not, or they will not pay. Rand Paul of the Tea Party says holding Big Oil responsible is Un-American. By principle the Tea Party will let Big Oil off the hook. BP must pay!!!!

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by joethiesmanfan

Big Oil - Dick Cheny, Bush (all of them), Palin - Big Oil. Do not vote for Big Oil to take their government back. If you want BP to pay, do not vote Republican, I repeat do not, or they will not pay. Rand Paul of the Tea Party says holding Big Oil responsible is Un-American. By principle the Tea Party will let Big Oil off the hook. BP must pay!!!!

LOL. You're silly.

[CRedskinsRule]

BreakingNews

Update: BP's chief operating officer says containment cap placed over leaking Gulf well has been collecting some oil - TODAY 12 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

[joethiesmanfan]

finally figured out how to siphon, huh. This is analagous to a coke head who accidentally sneezes while they are about to do a line, and now they got their straw down on the floor. LOL!!!

[joethiesmanfan]

mmm Those birds look delicious, covered in chocolate. Chocolate Pelican anyone? Oops my fault this should go in the dinner thread.

[MTK]

some really sad shit here, just pisses me off

Caught in the oil - The Big Picture - Boston.com

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

some really sad shit here, just pisses me off

Caught in the oil - The Big Picture - Boston.com

gesus christ didnt need to see that but glad i did.

what news is there of the coastal clean up?
what news is there of efforts to stop the oil from reaching the shores?

ok, the oil hole is 5000 ft underwater and is a hard to control. but we dont have people down there at state parks on the coastline ready and waiting?

wtf, is going on here.

if i hopped in my car (yeah i know) and drove down there i get the feeling i would be turned away or find no set up organization to offfer my services to.

solidsnake - what and who is down there trying to protect our coasts?

this is getign real fucking frustrating. we as a nation should be able to prepare and respond to oil coming on the shores that we knwe would happen for the past month now.

i need news on the coastal clean up efforts. they better have started a month ago and not start planning and getting ready now.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

what news is there of the coastal clean up?
what news is there of efforts to stop the oil from reaching the shores?

ok, the oil hole is 5000 ft underwater and is a hard to control. but we dont have people down there at state parks on the coastline ready and waiting?

wtf, is going on here.

if i hopped in my car (yeah i know) and drove down there i get the feeling i would be turned away or find no set up organization to offfer my services to.

i need news on the coastal clean up efforts. they better have started a month ago and not start planning and getting ready now.

Here's the info you need.

Deepwater Horizon Response

emergency.louisiana.gov

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

Here's the info you need.

Deepwater Horizon Response

emergency.louisiana.gov

thanks SS33. i read the deepwater horizon website rather quiclkly. only 2 things readbale on there with not much substance.

the other link provided me with some of the info i needed.

apparently in early to mid may, LA state submitted a proposal to BP to build 100 sand type barriers that would protect 4000 miles of coastline.

so far BP has not responded. LA said they could have had10 miles constructed by now if BP hasnt been delaying. \

appears those photos of the oil drenched brown pelicans are the coming from the same place. that 20 or so have been saved.

a us coast guard ship just arrived the other day.

apparently BP is delaying and the State of louisianna (sp?) is tired of sending proposals and is going to enter into emergency contracts with private companies for the clean up, dredge and sand/dirt protectors then recoup the money from BP instead of waiting and waiting and waiting for BP to either start the projects on their own or atleast start cutting checks.

seems BP is focused on clogging the hole and not putting money into the coastal problems.

also, BP attorneys have refused to turn over documents related to claims made and paid out to persons who lost their sea faring jobs b/c of the spill. some have been paid once, others nothing. these people and their families are living without a pay check for the past couple of months. LA state requested the documents to help accelerate the payments so families can eat, etc.

BP needs to focus some energy and money on the coastal problems. i imagine when the pics start coming in and people like me wonder why coastal efforts didnt start until after the oil reached the coast, BP will start to do something.

honestly, the States should do what louisianna is doing, dont wait on BP, hire who you have to then bill BP later.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

apparently in early to mid may, LA state submitted a proposal to BP to build 100 sand type barriers that would protect 4000 miles of coastline.

so far BP has not responded. LA said they could have had10 miles constructed by now if BP hasnt been delaying.
...

apparently BP is delaying and the State of louisianna (sp?) is tired of sending proposals and is going to enter into emergency contracts with private companies for the clean up, dredge and sand/dirt protectors then recoup the money from BP instead of waiting and waiting and waiting for BP to either start the projects on their own or atleast start cutting checks.

seems BP is focused on clogging the hole and not putting money into the coastal problems.

also, BP attorneys have refused to turn over documents related to claims made and paid out to persons who lost their sea faring jobs b/c of the spill. some have been paid once, others nothing. these people and their families are living without a pay check for the past couple of months. LA state requested the documents to help accelerate the payments so families can eat, etc.

...

honestly, the States should do what louisianna is doing, dont wait on BP, hire who you have to then bill BP later.

BP's actions in this matter, to date, seem to me to be criminal, i.e. deserving of punishment other than merely administrative penalties (loss of licenses, revocation of permits, orders for restitution and punitive fines).

On one hand, they are focused on clogging the well. Fine, good. Not being an engineer or familiar with the pecular problems being posed by this repair, I cannot honestly judge as to whether their actions post spill have been up to the appropriate standard of care. Their actions may have been the best and most efficient responses to the problem - I just don't know. Certainly, there is plenty of incentive, both financially and from a point of public perception, to make every effort and expend all available resources to "stop the bleeding".

On the other hand, it seems to me that every day some new report of BP delaying, obfuscating, or otherwise dodging other issues that arise outside the immediate well closing activities. (injuries to fishermen due to toxins, failure to construct the sand bars, failure to respond to the proposals of local govt.'s). In addition, the few expert reports I have seen have not been particularly complimentary to BP's efforts.

All of this doesn't even consider BP's actions pre-spill, but, those actions (which seem to be blatantly negligent and perhaps grossly negligent) certainly give me a prism to look and through which to judge their post spill actions.

Given their prior complaint history and their obvious cost-cutting actions, I have little confidence BP's corporate culture. I strongly doubt that now, suddenly, BP has changed its corporate mindset from one of "cut costs, comply with the letter and not the spirit of regulations" (though, it appears they may not have even done that) to one of "F*** the bottom line, do what is right".

All this brings me back to my original point. It is time for the Feds and the States to look into and threaten some senior executives with jail time and the possibility of personal liability: "BP, Inc. goes under? Guess what: Don't care - We're selling your mansion, jets, etc. Oh and by the way, you better start finding ways to expend resources on the spill AND the peripheral issues or we will start expending some resources on finding ways to put you in jail."

If the Govt. threatens the corp., it just goes bankrupt, dissolves, or otherwise disappears and litigation pursuing its assets drags on for ever - and ultimately, the consumers and taxpayers pay for the clean up through higher prices and/or increased taxes to make up for where BP bailed.

Threaten the bastards in charge, who f***ed up by encouraging the corporate culture of minimal compliance and have now gone into CYA mode, with jail time and loss of personal wealth - well, let's see if that creates a little more urgency to have the corporation be more "helpful".

From a legal stand point, it's not that simple but, damn, this is one of those situations where you wish it could be.

[SolidSnake84]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

solidsnake - what and who is down there trying to protect our coasts?

.

I can only speak for the people in Gulf Shores, AL, where my family is. There are some local government people on the beaches there, as well as people from BP, and "company guys" who walk around in suits and hard hats.


Cleanup crews walk the beaches to pick up tar balls, and so far, oil has only showed up in a few places where it is a thick goo. The smell however is overpowering from crude, and it is believed that soon people there will have to evacuate their homes due to the overpowering crude aroma.

In town, they have hay bales and various home-made booms made from stockings and human hair on hand incase the oil overwhelms the beach and comes on land...no joke guys, they are prepared for that.

So far, local government has been very limited as to what they can do, because of the fact the Feds have allocated the cleanup operation to BP.

Until there is a changing of the guard, BP is running the show down there, not the local or even U.S. Gov't.