Gulf Oil Platform Explosion and Spill

Newsletter from: Louisiana Environmental Action Network & Lower Mississippi RIVERKEEPER©

Helping to Make Louisiana Safe for Future Generations

E-ALERT - December 7, 2010

View this E-Alert on LMRK.org

HOW TO CLEAN UP AN OIL SPILL
THE MANUAL THAT BP COULDN'T FIND

STEP ONE: Use an Oil Well Leak Solution
Go around and/or over the wellhead
One solution stabilizes pressure and 'adheres' to the ocean floor like a bandage over a wound while a chemical mixture is used to "clot" the oil
The other solution is a large ring that sinks to the ocean floor over the wellhead, is connected through strong oil resistant mesh walls to a second ring that floats at the surface - allowing the oil to be captured from this large "hose"

STEP TWO: Use Separation Machinery
Most tanker ships contain the machinery necessary to separate huge quantities of oil from water
Mounted on a skimmer vessel, the machine takes oil-laden water from the sea and spins it at high speed in a central cylindrical chamber. The resulting centrifugal force pulls the water to the outer edges of the chamber, leaving the oil in the middle. Once separated, that oil is then captured and stored in onboard holding tanks, while the water flows back into the ocean.
Separates water from oil at up to 3,000 gallons per minute; one of Kevin Costner's V20 machines can clean up to 210,000 gallons of oily water per day; ability to extract all oil from gulf if used over the spill site
The water is then more than 99% clean of crude

STEP THREE: Use Oxidation Technology to cleanse the more dispersed oil
Employs a combination of ozone, ultrasound and high-voltage electricity to separate oil, gas and other contaminants from water through a process known as sonoluminescence
This process is basic chemistry and physics and can separate oil from water, then eradicate all remaining co-mingled contaminants from the water after it's separated
Leaves pure freshwater that can be bottled and oil that can be reused
One tractor-trailer sized unit can process more than a million gallons of contaminated water a day

STEP FOUR: Use nontoxic dispersants at the outer edge of the spill site to ensure any unmanaged oil is safely going into the water
Nontoxic, plant and water-based and biodegradable versions of Corexit are available
They create a colloidal micelle to break down hydrocarbon bonds in oil, dispersing the oil and making it water soluble
They are on EPA list, tested and approved, and have even been used by BP

STEP FIVE: Protect beaches, barrier islands and marshes with Solidifiers, Sorbents and Biomass
Powders solidify oil and tar but not water are numerous and approved by EPA
Sponges, fabrics, absorbent booms, and mats absorb oil, which can be wrung out (and captured) and then they can be re-used - some are even biodegradable
Biomass fibrous grasses (like Kenaf), hay or BioChar are incredibly absorbent, leaving water clean and clear and once oiled, can be burned for energy

STEP SIX: Bioremediate any affected areas
Speed up natural process of oil degradation by using naturally occurring microbes to break down hydrocarbon bonds in oil leaving carbon dioxide and water
Nontoxic, not chemical based, rapid oxidation and biodegradation
Can "eat" up to 100,000 ppm (10% oil in water) in as little as 24 hours
Work on marshes, beaches, open water and protects marine and plant life
Numerous, world-wide tested and EPA approved but you do not get to recollect oil.

A document of the Oil Spill Prevention Alliance

Visit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!

US sues BP over Gulf oil disaster

http://presstv.ir/detail/155672.html


The US has filed a lawsuit against oil giant BP and 8 other oil firms to seek compensation for damages caused by this year's disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department with a federal court in New Orleans, charges the companies under the US Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act.

The move came as thousands of individuals and small businesses have already sued the oil giant.

The companies will face trial for "violations of safety and operational regulations" in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday.

"We intend to prove that these violations caused or contributed to the massive oil spill and that the defendants are therefore responsible under the Oil Pollution Act for government removal losses, economic losses, as well as environmental damages," AFP quoted Holder as saying.

"We're also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act which prohibits the unauthorized use of oil in the waters," he added.

Holder said that the firms are also responsible for cleaning up costs in addition to economic and environmental losses.

BP has said that it will cooperate with the US government in this regard.

"BP will answer the government's allegations in a timely manner and will continue to cooperate with all government investigations and inquiries," said the firm in a statement.

On April 20, an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caused the largest oil spill in the US history.

According to official estimates, more than four million barrels of crude leaked into the Gulf of Mexico after BP's Macondo oil well blew up, killing 11 workers.

The disaster hit the region's fisheries and tourism industry from Louisiana to Florida.

The massive oil spill continues to impact the Gulf environment and economy.

The BP fund was set up in June in response to public outcry and political pressure from the White House, following the worst- ever offshore oil spill in the United States.

The Source of the Gulf Blue Plague [1/4]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOavVXZSPZ8


Love Always
mudra

*

burgundia wrote:

I agree this is a must watch. Follow the money trail tells all. Greed , it's all greed.

For The World Press

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkmcpnFNtbc&feature=player_embedded#!


NOAA SUBSEA SURVEY AT BILOXI DOME
http://www.noaa.gov/sciencemissions/P...

Save all these files
https://s1215.photobucket.com/home/201...
save all pictures from all albums they are for all of you

Another option
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/a...

FOLLOW THE MONEY
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/05...

Gulf Stream ( Loop Current )
http://www.associazionegeofisica.it/O...


Love Always
mudra

The Oil Slick BP Tried To Hide Has Been Discovered - In Thick Layers On the Sea Floor Over An Area of Several Thousand Square Miles
by Washington's Blog
December 22, 2010

BP and the government famously declared that most of the oil had disappeared.

But as I've noted, as much as 98% of the oil is still in the ocean.

I have repeatedly pointed out that BP and the government applied massive amounts of dispersant to the Gulf Oil Spill in an effort to sink and hide the oil. Many others said the same thing.

BP and the government denied this, of course.

But the oil is not remaining hidden.

Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal noted on December 9th:

A university scientist and the federal government say they have found persuasive evidence that oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico spill is settling on the ocean floor.

The new findings, from scientists at the University of South Florida and from a broad government effort, mark the latest indication that environmental damage from the blowout of a BP PLC well could be significant where it's hardest to find: deep under the Gulf's surface.

***

Scientists who have been on research cruises in the Gulf in recent days report finding layers of residue up to several centimeters thick from what they suspect is BP oil.

The material appears in spots across several thousand square miles of seafloor, they said. In many of those spots, they said, worms and other marine life that crawl along the sediment appear dead, though many organisms that can swim appear healthy.

***

Tests now have started to link some oil in the sediment to the BP well could add to the amount of money BP ends up paying to compensate for the spill's damage.

***

The test results also raise questions about the possible downsides of the government's use of chemical dispersants to fight the spill.

***

Under federal direction, about 1.8 million gallons of dispersants were sprayed on the spilled oil in an effort to break it up into tiny droplets that natural ocean microbes could eat up. At the time, officials said the dispersants shouldn't cause oil from the spill to sink to the seafloor. However, more recently, a federal report said dispersants may have helped some spilled oil sink to the sediment.

Scientific teams have reported in recent months finding a strange substance on the Gulf floor, in some cases as far as about 80 miles from BP's ill-fated Macondo well, which blew out in April and spilled an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf before it was capped.

***

"The chemical signatures are identical," said Mr. Hollander, who found the contaminated samples in an area of the Gulf floor off the Florida Panhandle. Although it's conceivable the tests could show a false match with the BP oil, "the statistical probability of something like that is unimaginable," Mr. Hollander said.

The federal government also has found oil matching Macondo oil in Gulf sediment, Steve Murawski, a top National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist, said in an interview. He declined to disclose how much sediment contamination the government found, or exactly where in the Gulf it was, saying experts still are analyzing the test results.

***

Samantha Joye, a University of Georgia oceanographer, also has found what she believes to be evidence of BP oil in Gulf sediment. She is awaiting lab results tracing the chemical fingerprints of sediment samples she took.

On a research cruise in the Gulf that ended Friday, she saw worms that crawl along the Gulf floor "just decimated," she said. But eels and fish, which can swim away, often appeared fine, she said.

The Journal noted on December 18th:

Oil from BP PLC's blown-out well has lodged in the sediment of the Gulf of Mexico at levels that may threaten marine life, according to a federal report released Friday.

***

There is no practical way to clean up the spilled oil that has settled deep in the Gulf, officials said, adding that microbes in the water could eventually eat it up.

The massive application of dispersants to hide the amount of oil spilled has caused major problems to the Gulf:

* The use of dispersants prevented clean up of the oil by skimming, by far the easiest method of removing oil from the water

* Dispersants make the toxins in crude oil more bioavailable to sealife, and scientists have found that applying Corexit to Gulf crude oil releases many times more toxic chemicals into the water column than would be released with crude alone (and see this)

* Dispersant might have caused some of the chemicals in oil to become airborne (and see this and this)

* The crude oil which does not become aerosolized sinks under the surface of the ocean, and can delay the recovery of the ecosystem by years or even decades (see the Wall Street Journal article quoted above)

* The overwhelming majority of studies find that dispersants slow the growth of oil-eating microbes

* Dispersants cause Gulf fish to absorb more toxins and then make it harder for the fish to get rid of the pollutants once exposed

* Dispersants may bioaccumulate in seafood

* Blood tests show elevated levels of toxic hydrocarbons in Gulf residents

Extend-And-Pretend Will Fail
As I noted in May - shortly after the spill started - the responses of the government to the Gulf Oil spill and to the financial crisis are remarkably similar, as both have focused on covering up the problems, instead of actually fixing them. Because the financial system was never really reformed, the next financial shock will send the economy reeling. Because the oil was never properly cleaned up, the next hurricane will stir up immense quantities of oil now lying on the sea floor.

Extend-and-pretend is being attempted in both cases, and - in both cases - it will fail, because nothing has been fixed, and the fundamentals can only remain hidden for so long.

Moreover, in both cases, the government used "highly toxic" measures to try to hide the real problems. The government has used "emergency measures" and virtually all of its resources to prop up the giant banks instead of using the proven methods of restructuring insolvent banks and prosecuting the criminals who caused the crisis, which has caused major problems for the real economy.

Similarly, the government applied close to 2 million gallons of highly toxic dispersant to hide the amount of oil instead of using it's resources to deploy tried-and-true clean up methods, which has caused significant problems for the Gulf.

Finally, new and potentially bigger crises will take place, because regulation hasn't been put in place to prevent them. Regulation of the financial system - including international agreements like Basil III - have been gutted (and see this). And as Time magazine notes:

Congress never managed to pass legislation that would have overhauled drilling safety.

Source: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22487

University of Georgia. Don't even try to take 'em on! The science will prove what's in the big picture...go Dawgs!

New Orleans lawyers Ready, Set, GO!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40494122/ns/us_news-environment

The Gulf of Mexico is Dying
A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill

by Dr. Tom Termotto


Global Research, December 26, 2010
Concerned citizens of Florida - 2010-12-01
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22514

It is with deep regret that we publish this report. We do not take this responsibility lightly, as the consequences of the following observations are of such great import and have such far-reaching ramifications for the entire planet. Truly, the fate of the oceans of the world hangs in the balance, as does the future of humankind.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) does not exist in isolation and is, in fact, connected to the Seven Seas. Hence, we publish these findings in order that the world community will come together to further contemplate this dire and demanding predicament. We also do so with the hope that an appropriate global response will be formulated, and acted upon, for the sake of future generations. It is the most basic responsibility for every civilization to leave their world in a better condition than that which they inherited from their forbears.

After conducting the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference for over seven months, we can now disseminate the following information with the authority and confidence of those who have thoroughly investigated a crime scene. There are many research articles, investigative reports and penetrating exposes archived at the following website. Particularly those posted from August through November provide a unique body of evidence, many with compelling photo-documentaries, which portray the true state of affairs at the Macondo Prospect in the GOM.

http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/



https://www.facebook.com/pages/Transitioning-The-Planet-Away-From-The-Hydrocarbon-Fuel-Paradigm/154984831192787?v=wall&ref=ts


Love Always
mudra

TSA targets Gulf filmmakers at check-point (video)
December 31st, 2010

At California's Ontario Airport this week, TSA targeted three of the most active filmmakers documenting the crime of the millennium, the Gulf of Mexico operation. After working in Los Angeles where they are residents, in trying to board a plane to return to the Gulf region, the three young human rights defenders were pre-selected for harassment and intimidation at the check-point.

"It started the minute we got to the airport,” Project Gulf Impact film director, Matt Smith said in a telephone conversation Thursday from Orange Beach, Alabama.
When Smith and his crew members, Gavin Garrison and Heather Rally arrived at the nearly empty Ontario Airport on Tuesday evening, heading back to document ongoing atrocities along the Gulf Coast, they were soon alerted they were in for a rough ride – not on the plane but instead, in the terminal with TSA.

Read more : http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/tsa-targets-gulf-filmmakers-at-check-point-video

Gulf Activists Harassed By TSA Agents Who Claim Filming Is Illegal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMttt6Gw6tM&feature=player_embedded


Love Always
mudra

BP Oil Disaster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cksCB7HF-YI&feature=player_embedded


Love Always
mudra

wow! never seen a ventura show before.. very very good.. 2011 = by by obama and all out revolution id say.. if not the world is doomed.. its up to the last free nation on earth to take the lead.. then europe will follow as always..

Illnesses linked to BP Oil Disaster: Widespread Sickness due to Toxic Chemicals
by Dahr Jamail
05-01-2011

Despite BP having capped its well in the Gulf of Mexico in July, the health-related after-effects of the disaster subsist.

Gulf Coast residents and BP cleanup workers have linked the source of certain illnesses to chemicals present in BP's oil and the toxic dispersants used to sink it - illnesses that appear to be both spreading and worsening.

Dr. Rodney Soto, a medical doctor in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, has been testing and treating patients with high levels of oil-related chemicals in their blood stream. These are commonly referred to as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's). Anthropogenic VOC's from BP's oil disaster are toxic and have negative chronic health effects.

Dr. Soto is finding disconcertingly consistent and high levels of toxic chemicals in every one of the patients he is testing.

"I'm regularly finding between five and seven VOCs in my patients," Dr. Soto told Al Jazeera. "These patients include people not directly involved in the oil clean-up, as well as residents that do not live right on the coast. These are clearly related to the oil disaster."

Chronic health effects
Lloyd Pearcey, from Bonsecour, Alabama, worked on a BP clean-up team as a foreman for four months.

During that time, he collected oil-soaked boom and drove a bulldozer "filled with the tar balls and tar mats we collected. Other times we stood in the water in Tyvek suits putting out shore boom with oil all over us. The fumes got to you."

"I just got my results from the blood tests," Pearcey told Al Jazeera, "I have the chemicals of the oil and dispersants in my blood."

Pearcey had experienced many of the now common symptoms of acute exposure to BP's chemicals.

Dr. Soto is testing his patients, and said he has ample documentation attesting to the levels of toxins people are being exposed to.

Dr. Soto classifies two types of symptom groups: acute exposure that includes skin and respiratory problems; and a second, larger group of people with no symptoms, but who still have toxicity. He believes the pathways of exposure occur through air, skin, and contaminated seafood.

One of the more extreme cases he treated was a woman who developed acute respiratory problems after a visit to the beach.

"This is a young woman in good health, with good nutritional intake, no health issues, hates to take any medication, and ate only organic foods," he explained, "But shortly after going to the beach, where she was likely exposed to toxins, she developed respiratory illness and developed cancer within weeks. I think this was due to direct exposure to chemicals in the dispersants and VOCs."

According to the US Government, BP's oil disaster released at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP has used at least 1.9 million gallons of toxic dispersants, that are banned in at least 19 countries, to sink the oil.

Many of the chemicals present in the oil and dispersants are known to cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, kidney damage, altered renal functions, irritation of the digestive tract, lung damage, burning pain in the nose and throat, coughing, pulmonary edema, cancer, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion, irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat, difficulty breathing, delayed reaction time, memory difficulties, stomach discomfort, liver and kidney damage, unconsciousness, tiredness/lethargy, irritation of the upper respiratory tract, and hematological disorders.

While there are many examples of acute exposures like Pearcey and Dr. Soto's patient who developed cancer, his concern is that most residents who are being exposed will only show symptoms later.

"This latter group develops symptoms over years," he told Al Jazeera. "I'm concerned with the illnesses like cancer and brain degeneration for the future. This is very important because a lot of the population down here may not have symptoms. But people are unaware they are ingesting chemicals that are certainly toxic to humans and have significant effect on the brain and hormonal systems."

Dr. Soto is most concerned about the long-term effect of the toxins, because they have "tremendous implications in the human immune system, hormonal function, and brain function."

The toxic compounds in the oil and dispersants are "liposoluble," meaning they have a "high affinity for fat," according to Dr. Soto.

"The human brain is 70 percent fat," Dr. Soto added, "And these will similarly effect the immune cells, intestinal tract, breast, thyroid, prostate, glands, organs, and systems. This is also why this is so significant for children."

His particular concern for children involves toxins which cause "development of the depressed immune system and a resurgence of cancer."

Dr. Soto believes that for residents along the area of the Gulf Coast affected by BP's toxic chemicals, the solution is either to relocate or to engage in an intensive, long-term detoxification regime that includes intravenous detoxification programs.

All clear?
State health departments in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had issued swimming advisories while BP's well continued to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico last summer. Since then, however, all three states have declared their beaches, waters, and seafood safe from oil disaster related toxins.

Florida never issued any advisories, despite many residents reporting illnesses they attribute to the oil disaster.

US federal government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with President Barack Obama himself, have declared the Gulf of Mexico, its waters, beaches, and seafood, safe and open to the public.

In addition, most doctors in the effected coastal areas are not treating people as though they are suffering acute exposure to toxic chemicals.

While Al Jazeera has heard of incidences where doctors having received threats, and while many fear litigation for talking openly about patient illnesses being attributed to BP's oil disaster, most doctors are simply not trained to deal appropriately with acute chemical toxicity on a mass scale.

Dr. Mary Jo Ghory a general and pediatric surgeon, and a member of the American College of Surgeons, told Al Jazeera she believes most doctors along the Gulf Coast are unlikely to connect the illnesses they treat to BP’s chemicals, because of a lack of adequate training.

"Toxicology is not usually a course, and there is not much discussion of the toxic effects of chemical exposure," Dr. Ghory said. "When confronted with an array of confusing and widely varying symptoms related to chemical exposure, it is difficult for each individual physician to sort things out, especially without a definite profile of what to expect."

Dr. Soto says he is in a very unique - but isolated - position, as he is one of the only medical doctors he knows in the region who is treating people accordingly.

Like Dr. Ghory, Dr. Soto believes this is largely due to lack of training.

The Exxon Valdez legacy
Merle Savage was a cleanup worker for the Exxon Valdez oil disaster in Alaska in 1989, and she is still suffering health effects from chemicals in the oil and dispersants.

"The first few weeks I was on the beach spraying hot water onto the oil covered rocks," Savage explained to Al Jazeera. She was soon promoted to a foreman working on the support barges where workers returned each evening.

"So when they started spraying the dispersant, the crews that came back in from spraying it returned with it all over their suits and boats. They were sprayed off with water, and the steam that came off them was dispersant chemicals and we all breathed this in."

"The symptoms mimicked the flu, and everyone was coughing," Savage added, "Then it came on and stayed. I went to the doctor during some time off the cleanup, and at that time I was congested with bronchial problems. Then it became a stomach disorder. My whole system since then has been jeopardized."

After finishing her work on the oil disaster clean up, she returned to her home in Anchorage, where her problems worsened.

Savage moved out of Alaska, thinking that would improve her health. Yet after moving, a liver biopsy showed cirrhosis of the liver.

"I have always been physically active and very healthy," she explained, "I don't drink or smoke, and I eat health food."

Savage, now 72-years-old, completed a chemical detoxification program three years ago, and is now feeling better.

"There was 21 years of watching my body break down like that, and nothing I could do helped, until I learned I was chemically toxified, and could treat that appropriately," she said.

Reacting accordingly
Independent scientists and activist groups have been carrying out their own blood testing of Gulf Coast residents.

Recent results released in a report involve a 46-year-old male who lives 100 miles from the coast. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, was not a BP cleanup worker, yet tested as having higher levels of chemicals from BP's oil in his blood than the actual cleanup workers.

Dr. Wilma Subra, a chemist and Mcarthur Fellow, analysed his blood and found the highest levels of ethylbenzene than anyone tested to date. Ethylbenzene is a form of benzene present in the body when it begins to break down; it is also present in BP's crude oil.

Styrene, a chemical produced in industrial quantities from ethylbenzene was also found, along with Hexane. M,p-Xylene, a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is refined from crude oil and is used as a solvent, was also present in the man's blood.

"I've never even seen a tar ball," the man, from Louisiana, told Al Jazeera, "I tried to stay away from all of it. So for me to have the high levels I have, tells me that everyone must have it."

Gregg Hall lived in Pensacola, Florida, and also had his blood tested by Dr. Subra.

"I have a cough that won't go away, my feet have been numb for months, I have headaches and nausea all the time," Hall said.

Hall recently moved to Idaho, and is among a growing number of Gulf Coast residents who feel that they are victims of an environmental catastrophe that has received inadequate response from the federal government.

Dr. Soto, whose list of patients related to the BP oil disaster continues to grow, feels similarly.

"It's criminal for the government to tell people to eat the contaminated seafood, and that it's alright for people go to our toxic beaches and swim in the contaminated water," Dr. Soto concluded, "This crisis has to be taken seriously by the government and health care community."

Dahr Jamail is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

SOURCE: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22652

Panel: Massive oil spill could happen again

WASHINGTON (AP) — Decisions intended to save time and money created an unreasonable amount of risk that triggered the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a disaster that could happen again without significant reforms by industry and government, the presidential panel investigating the BP blowout concluded Wednesday.

The commission findings — the result of a probe requested by President Barack Obama after the April 20 rig explosion — described systemic problems within the offshore energy industry and government regulators who oversee it.

Poor decisions led to technical problems that the commission, and inquires by BP and Congress, have identified as contributing to the accident that killed 11 people and led to more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing from BP's well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico.

BP, Halliburton and Transocean, the three key companies involved with the well and the rig that exploded, each made individual decisions that increased risks of a blowout but saved significant time or money.

But ultimately, the Deepwater Horizon disaster came down to a single failure, the panel says — management. When decisions were made, no one was considering the risk they were taking.

In one example cited by the commission, a BP request to set an "unusually deep cement plug" was approved by the then-Minerals Management Service in 90 minutes. That decision is one of the nine technical and engineering calls the commission says increased the risk of a blowout.

"The blowout was not the product of a series of abberational decisions made by a rogue industry or government officials that could not have been anticipated or expected to occur again. Rather, the root causes are systemic, and absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur," the commission concluded in a 48-page excerpt of its final report, obtained by The Associated Press. A final report is due to the president Jan. 11.

Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said the report focused on areas in which the agency in charge of offshore drilling has already made improvements.

"The agency has taken unprecedented steps and will continue to make the changes necessary to restore the American people's confidence in the safety and environmental soundness of oil and gas drilling and production on the Outer Continental Shelf, while balancing our nation's important energy needs," Barkoff said in a statement.

BP PLC in a statement issued Wednesday said the report, like its own investigation, found the accident was the result of multiple causes, involving multiple companies, but the company was working with regulators "to ensure the lessons learned from Macondo lead to improvements in operations and contractor services in deepwater drilling."

Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig being leased by BP to perform the drilling, said in response to the commission's findings that the "the procedures being conducted in the final hours were crafted and directed by BP engineers and approved in advance by federal regulators."

Halliburton Co., the cement contractor on the well, also said it acted at the direction of BP and was "fully indemnified by BP."

The panel underscores its central conclusion with a quote from an e-mail written by BP engineer Brett Cocales on April 16, just days before the disaster. The e-mail was first unearthed in an investigation conducted by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who at the time led the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"But, who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine and we'll get a good cement job," Cocales wrote, after he disagreed with BP's decision to use fewer centralizers than recommended. Centralizers are used to center the pipe to ensure a good cement job. The cement failed at the bottom of the Macondo well, allowing oil and gas to enter it, according to investigations.

The suggestion that the BP disaster may not be an isolated incident runs counter to assurances by the oil industry, which has worked hard to portray the accident as a rare occurrence.

"This clearly was a rare incident," the president of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack Gerard, said Tuesday when his organization published a new report urging Congress and the Obama administration to open more areas to oil and gas drilling.

Outside experts in technological disasters were split by the report's excerpt. They lauded the commission's focus on organizational and managerial failures instead of blaming the rig workers. But they were divided whether the panel went far enough in criticizing the companies for taking time- and money-saving shortcuts.

University of California at Berkeley engineering professor Bob Bea, who has studied and worked on offshore oil rigs for decades and is an international expert on technological disasters, lauded the panel for "articulating the hows and whys."

"This was a preventable disaster," said Bea, who ran a Berkeley investigation into the accident. "We failed to manage and we were managed."

Weber reported from New Orleans. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9oug9ZYKQLri8jO48BquHw3HHJA?docId=def40f0485864f678d13101f9c0521fc

Blood Beach eight month later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ppt0kJS1XU&feature=player_embedded


Love Always
mudra

BP Oil Spill Worker Sues Memorial Company Over Corexit Exposure
December 6, 2010

A Louisiana man is suing his former employer and the BP Corp., claiming it never warned him he was working with dangerous chemicals during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill clean-up effort.

Seaman David Leon Brooks filed the Jones Act complaint against Tidewater Marine LLC, the BP Corp. and Nalco Co. on Nov. 30 in Harris County District Court. Brooks accuses the defendants of negligence for allowing him to be splashed with and to inhale toxic chemicals while working in the Gulf. Tidewater Marine maintains an office in Memorial.

Brooks says he was working for Tidewater Marine when the BP drilling platform exploded 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. In May, BP began releasing two types of dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico to remediate the massive oil spill caused by the explosion. Brooks was aboard a Tidewater vessel and responsible for spraying the dispersant into the water.

Less than a month after the clean-up began, BP had released more than 600,000 gallons of the Corexit 9527 and Corexit 9500 dispersant into the Gulf. The EPA determined the chemicals were extremely toxic and could cause “red blood cell damage, kidney damage, liver damage, respiratory distress, flu-like symptoms and other serious, permanent and disabling injuries and conditions.”
On May 23, the EPA ordered BP to drastically reduce its use of the toxic dispersant. Despite the actions of the EPA, Brooks says he was not warned by Tidewater or BP about the dangers of the Corexit chemicals or the need to wear protective equipment or clothing while using them. Brooks says he inhaled the dispersant and had the toxic chemical splash onto him causing him “substantial physical injury.”

read more: http://www.ultimatememorial.com/stories/222706-bp-oil-spill-worker-sues-memorial-company

Love Always
mudra

Canaries in the Coal Mine -- Gulf Blue Plague Warnings 1/07/11


https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-UsaDZLdhu0



Love Always
mudra

Everything you need to know about the oil spill commission's report
01/12/11 04

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/137581-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-oil-spill-commissions-report

The energy and environment world is buzzing about the national oil spill commission’s final report on the causes of last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

After covering the report in great detail Tuesday (we wrote more than a dozen items on it), E2 thought it was time to take a step back and put the report in context for those people who don’t follow every jot and tittle of energy policy.

What is the oil spill commission and why does it matter?

First, some background. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling was formed by President Obama in May, just a month after the start of the massive Gulf oil spill.

The commission was charged with investigating the cause of the spill. Specifically, the commission was asked to determine what caused the blowout of the Macondo well and the resulting explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig; what role individual companies played in the disaster; and whether the federal government’s response was adequate, among other things. The commission was also asked to develop a series of recommendations.

Love Always
mudra

Dr. Riki Ott redeploys to Battle of the Gulf
January 13th, 2011 4:07 pm ET
The person who single handedly declared the Gulf states a public health emergency when the Obama administration failed to do so, has returned to the Battle of the Gulf to fight the continued spray of dispersants, find a university to partner in a 20-year research project, and strengthen the warriors of goodwill call for America to abandon its dirty, dangerous, lethal, corrupt business of fossil fuels and drilling.
Dr. Riki Ott has released a report on her Gulf of Mexico deja vu experience, having worked through the Exxon Valdez spill 21 years earlier. For six months following the April 20 Macondo well explosion, Ott contributed to the Gulf states by outreaching, meeting with injured survivors, and documenting the atrocities.
Having said she would not return after her 290-day front-line tour of duty amidst the Gulf crime scene, the "Crime of the Millenium," as it is recognized by non-corporate researchers and non-bought-off reporters, Dr. Ott will again be among Gulf Coast survivors.
Dr. Ott holds her doctorate in marine pollution.


Continue reading on Examiner.com: Dr. Riki Ott redeploys to Battle of the Gulf - National Human Rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/dr-riki-ott-redeploys-to-battle-of-the-gulf?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1B71FI67Y

Love Always
mudra

"Man, look at all this oil" says scientist on Florida beach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN-j8gNkDwM&feature=player_embedded


Love Always
mudra

the GUlf oil disaster is WAR on we the people


30 Chilling Facts Proving We The People Are Under Attack, in an Undeclared War, With the Rothschild League of Bankers:
SNIP

1)The media is grossly censoring the extent of the devastation in the Gulf. The poisons—oil and chemical dispersants (Corexit)--are destined to spread globally, but honest reporting is restricted, and independent investigators are being arrested. This censorship is a sure sign of fascism, not freedom or democracy. In this way, the media, financially directed by leading investment bankers (cited below), accomplices this global poisoning, or omnicide. (Click here for an example of more accurate reporting from the Gulf by a private party.)

2)The news and network “programming” is mind-controlling propaganda issued by the “partners” in the Rothschild League of Banks including Goldman-Sachs, JPMorgan-Chase and UBS that direct BP, Transocean, Halliburton, the clean-up capitalists, Corexit suppliers, even the trailers used by clean-up crews, through co-investors heavily represented in the Partnership for New York City (PFNYC), founded by David Rockefeller and chartered by the Royal Family of England. All together, these “partners” wield the most formidable economic power in world history.

END SNIP

http://web.mac.com/len15/WAR_on_We_The_People/WAR_on_We_The_People__The_Gulf_Oil_Attack_by_The_Rothschild_League_of_Investment_Bankers.html