the oil slick is coming....
 

The oil slick will hit our beloved Louisiana coast soon.
Pray that they can clean this up quickly for the animals,
plants and us......and the rest of the coast.
bizi

Huffington post showed a satellite picture of the oil -- !
 

This really stinks.
BP is a terrible oil company with a lousy safety record. (In Texas they call it the company that kills people.)

And the well at the bottom of the water is not capped yet -- more oil is coming.

I'm so freeking mad at our government for
1) not having better safety enforcement in place
and
2) not having developed a big enough and fast enough response to the crisis.


M.

It is a scary situation not only for people, ocean and aquatic life, it means higher gas prices, and huge clean up cost.
The only thankful thing is that it is not anywhere as large as the Valdez catastrophe. If that can be called a good thing.

I hope the wind changes and carries it out, maybe they can burn it off...then pollute the air ????

I can understand your concerns ladies. :(

I've been watching the news about the oil slick from here in Australia, and it really upsets me to think what might happen to the environment because of it.

Just recently we had something similar here in Australia when a foreign tanker took an illegal short cut through the Great Barrier Reef, but ran aground and tore a hole in the boat's hull. Oil spilled out and they're still trying to clean the oil from the coral, and trying to prevent large areas of this beautiful reef from dying.

I hope the current spill can be cleaned up quickly without much damage, but I wish there was some way we could prevent the spills to start with.

I'll be watching the news closely.

i have been watching cnn but think i want to stop. it is so heart breaking.
boy we really know how to destroy things.
bobby

This is unpardonable
 

What an absolutely horrific tragedy!

It's too close to home for comfort. It always seems like such disasters happen in far away places but this is close to home. I can only imagine how bad it has you feeling.

barbra

EPA and air quality
 

Dear Bizi,

The news is telling us that the EPA is monitoring the air quality in New Orleans and that folks might have to be evacuated.

Is there a smell from the oil and the wind gusts now?
They say that tomorrow will be windy.

Can you give updates if you are up too it?
I hope that you are safe.

M.

Things sound like there is a turn for the worse on this, I was so hoping the optimism they had earlier would pan out.
keeping you all on the coast in my prayers
Di

At this point it is a wait and see what happens...there is not a quick fix to this......we are going to be dealing with this issue a long time unfortunately.
bizi

Dear Beth
 

sending you hopeful thoughts and (((HUGS)))

~ waves ~

Bizi, what's the latest news on it?

barbara

I'm not Bizi. Here's my take so far.
 

HI,

1. Here is a New York Times map that shows the oil spill as it grows.
Click on "Play."
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...racker.html?hp

=-=-=-=-=-

also this

2. Winds and waves are slowing down efforts to clean up the oil as the oil moves toward vital wet lands and shrimp and oyster beds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02spill.html?hp

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/o...ticleLarge.jpg



3. Florida has declared a state of emergency -- asking for the federal government to help. The oill could hit our FL beaches in three days.

It could be that the oil slick continues to grow and then goes around Florida, destroys our coral reef, and heads up the East Coast of the US.
No one is telling us when British Petroleum can cap the well and stop the leak.
It could take months for the leak to stop.


M.

when i think...
 

... about all the wildlife - coastal life and sea life that will be destroyed by this it just makes me cry. for instance many of the corals and sponges are already endangered species, and the creatures that live on the reefs depend on them... this thing could kill entire ecosystems.

i wish there were a way to make these people answer for their actions - you know, DO SOMETHING about it. it seems like there "oughtta be a law" for this kind of stuff - at international level, you know????

and while prevention is better than cure, it seems like the big oil companies are just allowed to charge forward like a bull in a china shop, with no effective liability for prevention OR cure.

:(:(:(

~ waves ~

and it's still gushing uncontrolled from 20 miles below the Gulf's floor
 

From today's Huffington Post -
"The Gulf Coast spill will have eclipsed the Exxon Valdez in terms of total gallons of oil before the weekend is over -- making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history -- according to calculations made by oceanographer Ian MacDonald after studying aerial Coast Guard photos taken earlier in the week.

MacDonald, a professor at Florida State University who counts "oil and gas development" among his areas of expertise, stopped short of comparing the Deepwater Horizon spill to that of the Alaskan oil tanker, but said Saturday, "The spill is growing. I'm comfortable saying that the size and extent of this slick is 10 million gallons."

Given that just over a million gallons are leaking into the Gulf per day, according to MacDonald's calculations, the spill will shortly top the Exxon Valdez's estimated 11-million-gallon spill. It is almost certain to cost more than the Exxon spill, which cost $3.5 billion for cleanup and another $5 billion worth of lawsuits and other settlements.

The environmental whistleblowers at SkyTruth, which debunked earlier lowball estimates from the government and BP, said the spill will top the Exxon spill by the end of the day Saturday."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow. How do we wrap our minds around this one, Gulf Coasters? And what can we do? Makes me want to imagine a PR campaign to "Adopt A Fisherman & Family".

Sincerely,
Theta Z.

Thank you all for the information. I saw on the news that it's hurting the fishermen's way to make a living.

barbara

all fishing (commercial and recreational) is now banned from Louisiana to Florida

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_560217.html

this is way worse than the Valdez disaster:(

the pics coming in of the sea creatures washing up covered in the oil is heartbreaking

I dont know how they are going to close this gusher but I pray they find a way.

according to our local pundits, the Gulf Stream currents are going to likely carry the oil around the Florida peninsula and up the east coast......

nomatter how much blame and money this costs BP, the damage is done and the consequences are horrible and nothing they do now can change that. :mad:

I'm sure this will also affect the seafood restuarants all along the coast. I didn't at 1st realize just how many people's lives are going to be affected by this. And yes, it's a shame to see all those sea creatures dying too.

barbara

"An estimated 80 percent of the country's domestic, wild seafood supply is harvested in the region, and leads the nation in production of shrimp." - SeafoodSource.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
The impact of this mind boggling environmental crisis is going to reverberate far and wider than the Gulf Coast South region alone.

I just cannot fathom how bad this really is going to be. The mind boggles that they can drill into the planets crust and NOT have some manner to CAP it if a disaster struck, that just makes like NO sense! :( So very upset here. My home state of Florida is going to be ruined up one coast and down the other if the currents take this oil where they think it might potentially go. *Sigh*

words can't describe how this will effect the whole seafood industry and animals and wild life and livelyhoods of thousands of workers and the environment, coral reefs, white beaches, communities, travel industry...the list goes on and on.....
sigh

So sorry this is going on.

Hoping that the american people start working on taking up collections
for helping with this.

Just like the earthquakes, and things in other countries.

Donna:grouphug:

This deep sea oil gusher is spewing 200,000 gallons of oil into the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico a day. There is going to be allot of deep Gulf ocean damage,and the clams,shrimp,and etc. are going to perish in a large area. Birds,turtles,and etc.,and etc. are going to perish.

It seems to me that they should put a priority in plugging that hole,but again they don't seem to act very fast around the Gulf coastal area in that part of the country. They should cork that thing as fast as possible. BF:mad::hug::hug::hug:

:I-Agree:

Dear Friend,
You speak the truth.
M.

i thought they were in the process of drilling a relief well. i read a few things that could be done but the problem is the engineering work takes so long...

you know i hope this doesn't sound callous but, the impact on people doesn't bother me nearly as much as the impact on the creatures, land air and water alike.

i mean, you can throw money at a fisherman and it will help him. you can pay for his rent, his utilities, his clothing, his medical bills, his kids' college tuition, his dog's trip to the vet.

and for our inconvenience? we don't have to go to the beach or swim in the sea. we will survive if we don't. we don't have to have shrimp for lunch every day, every week, not even once a year. we don't have to eat fish. we can eat corn and still survive.

tell the egrets they need to skidaddle out of the wetlands, scurry on over a few states, and feed off that corn field over yonder. rrright. egrets live where egrets live and if they can't live there and eat there, they DIE there.

stick a couple hundred dollar bills in the beak of an oil-drenched gull and see if that will save it, or its starving young. :(

some of the chemicals they use on spills - dispersants - to accelerate the decomposition of the oil - are lethal to corals. so what don't die with the problem could die with the fix.

and you know, while i understand that BP has assumed responsibility and legal liability, and i read that they didn't observe certain regulations... well, i was thinking that really they are a bit of a scapegoat for all of us. i do, i feel guilty. because come down to it, nobody would be sucking crude out of the bottom of the ocean, if WE didn't run around the planet in burning fuel planes trains and automobiles, on ways paved with asphalt and tar, using disposable everything made out of PLASTIC... all petroleum derivatives.

we did this. all of us. me you and the next guy. :eek:

:(:(:(

~ waves ~

long term mental health effects of those living in the area of the spill
 

Here is a good article about the Valdez's 20 year anniversary:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/analysis/640

Here is an article published today about what Alaskams learned that could help the people on the gulf coast.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...uSLXgD9FFGF8O0

Also, here is a good study:
http://stevenpicou.com/pdfs/communit...-oil-spill.pdf
Community Impacts of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: A Synthesis and Elaboration
of Social Science Research




M.

we cross poster
 

Dear Waves,
Thanks.

We cross posted.
I was trying to clean up links and didn't read your post first.


I agree with you.

wow Mari. i was clueless about this stuff. looks like some of us DON'T survive. while suicide is the only obvious "death" substance/alchol abuse can end in accidental or degenerative death and domestic abuse sometimes ends in the death of the abusee.

:(

~ waves ~

Now,for lack of better words,we have smog in the Gulf of Mexico. I am estonished that BP wasn't prepared for a deep sea oil rig accident. They didn't have a stopper for these deep rig sea disasters! Where are the think tanks when you need them. This oil is going to go in the waters in all directions,and up,and down.

I'm alarmed about this all. Forgive me. I'm not in the affected area. I'm close to Washington DC,in Virginia.

This isn't going to be like the man caused Dust bowls of the thirties,but it looks bad to me. It's going to affect the food chain. Like I said forgive me for being so alarmed. I am a person who is very scientific. BF:(:hug::grouphug:

you have cause to be alarmed!!!!
we all do!!!!!
bizi

HI,
I skipped the news today. I have to take a day or two off every once in a while.



Companies responsible in no particular order:

1. Halliburton -- contractor in the drilling project and perhaps most directly responsible for the actual explosion and 11+ deaths

2. Transocean -- owned the oil rig

3. BP -- leased the oil rig from Transocean

4. lots of politicians

5. government regulators -- the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service for one, . . .

6. voters

7. people who own stock in these companies (Halliburton,Transocean, BP, and other companies who do business with them)

8. people / politicians / businesses that have not been supporting alternative energies

9. those of us who use oil -- Waves pointed this out up thread.

Good site with Interesting facts about oil, gas and
ocean environment

I am really on edge too so don't apologize BF. I am scared of te lasting effects of this spill as it merges into pristine areas. Heart breaking....They should have been prepared for this, every rig should have a floating stopper nearby, NOT days away but like HOURS from being useful. :(

Thank you Pamster
 

They should have stoppers,and rapid response teams. They have the money,and they should be prepaired for this type of disaster. They should have proof that they have a emergency plan when they get a license to drill.

We have fire departments on the Land. We have the coast guard for the sea. There should be a rapid responder team located between the riggs,or something. ???

It's to late now for the current disaster,but they need to cork it quickley. I heard some unusual things on the Anderson Cooper program at 10:00 PM last night about what's going on out there. BF :mad::(:grouphug::hug::hug:

Those darn oil people. Three different companies involved where pointing fingers at the other companys while speaking to the congress.:mad: Other Companies are learning how to dodge the bullet while speaking to the congress.:mad: BF:mad:

a couple of my friends are going down to the keys for their anniversary. they pretty much go every year. i told them, enjoy ... while you still can. :o

i couldn't help thinking about this. it's not making headline news any more. but they still haven't fixed it from what i have seen on the internet.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...SxVPAD9FTT9S80
By GREG BLUESTEIN and MATT BROWN (AP) – 1 hour ago

~ waves ~

Hi,

I tune in the news for a few minutes three times a week in order to catch what is happening.

I saw the CEO of BP talking about the 60%-70%. What a mess.
Today engineers are running diagnostic tests to see if they can do that "top kill." BP still has more options after that.
We are still looking at August for them to drill a new relief well.

BP is spraying a detergent into the deep waters.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/brea...-94730904.html

Oil Dispersants an Environmental "Crapshoot" By KARI HUUS
Updated 10:15 PM PDT, Mon, May 24, 2010


Dear Waves,
Regarding your friends in Key West:
It might be quieter than usual in the keys this year.
Florida Tourism officials say it will take two years and millions of dollars of advertising to recover from the spill.

M.

Thanks, Mari and Waves for the updates & excellent links.
Like you, Mari, I've chosen 'measured doses' of various news sources 2-3 times during the week, e.g. when I'm not already feeling exhausted, overwhelmed on other fronts I've been busy with in the past few weeks.

I just watched it on BBC News tonight on PBS, which was a good change for me.

The Top Fill of dense mud and cement ... this proposed dense mess also is to include such environmental goodies, i.e. ground-up old tires and old golf balls. (Golfballs? Really?) This is real high-tech, eh? Wow.

I find it hard to not imagine the marine life 'harvesting' a golf ball lunch,
to wash down with its faux-sashimi appetizers of glittery gems of pretty oil, resulting in the deep water dispersant release, described above. The marine life mistake it for food as they're swimming through it.
Oh, {{{{ s-i-g-h }}}} ... deep breaths. (Ah, smell that oil.)

Apologies. Apparently, I'm more tired & stressed than I thought I was.

Best to you each and all.

Dear Theta Z

no need to apologize. your post gave me a good chuckle. ;) not that the situation is funny - i just like the way you express yourself.

i hope you feel better soon. :hug:

~ waves ~

link to full article: USF researchers confirm massive underwater plume from gulf oil spill

By Craig Pittman and Katie Sanders, Times Staff Writers
Posted: May 27, 2010 01:23 PM

this confirms earlier reports of such phenomena by research vessel Pelican.

It's a major disaster,and I look at the news about this oil gushing into the Gulf on a regular basis. The President is going to be there tomorrow.

It's turned apart of the Gulf into a dead sea. There is curruption involved,and this should be treated as a criminal case. Greed. This is disgusting.

The wild life in a few areas are gone. Even insects have left these areas. I hope that we don't have any hurricanes in that area any time soon.

I care about the marsh lands. So much life,and a food chain is disrupted. Birds,turtles,fish,dolfins,clams,and etc. are dieing. They can't breath in that mess that is coming to the coast.

We don't even know how deep these oil masses are in those areas. Someone has to stop that oil mess from touching the beaches,and marsh lands. BF:mad: