Rolling 2010 Oil Spill Thread

i just watched the clip of Cooper talking about that. i had no idea who this "fat allen" guy he was talking about was at first.

anyways. it's disgusting. for a nation so deranged about free speech i'm surprised this seems to be sliding.

did not need to read that methane article

fyi:

http://io9.com/5585294/methane-bubble-doomsday-story-debunked

^^^good science journalism, tbh - did need to read that one - ty max

On interference with media coverage (of the oil spill):

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/05/bp/index.html

it is seriously disturbing how the very second the oil reached the shores, the coverage and the images stopped coming to us

these images are just about the most important thing we could be seeing right now. nobody really wants to see them, but we absolutely need to

Here's a fun bit of irony: BBC are reporting that BP will be able to write off its cleanup and compensation expenses against UK and US taxes, saving itself 6 to 10 billion in tax payouts.

http://io9.com/5585294/methane-bubble-doomsday-story-debunked?skyline=true&s=i

Oh nevermind - Max beat me to it.

The Atlantic - Images BP Doesn't Want You To See

Toxicity of Corexit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLtsniN1RTw

etc.

http://akmcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/dalianspill_07_21/d03_24358707.jpg

Oil spill in Dalian, China

Five days ago, in the northeastern port city of Dalian, China, two oil pipelines exploded, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air and burning for over 15 hours, destroying several structures - the cause of the explosion is under investigation. The damaged pipes released thousands of gallons of oil, which flowed into the nearby harbor and the Yellow Sea. The total amount of oil spilled is still not clear, though China Central Television earlier reported an estimate of 1,500 tons (400,000 gallons), as compared to the estimated 94 - 184 million gallons in the BP oil spill off the Louisiana coast. The oil slick has now grown to at least 430 square kilometers (165 sq mi), forcing beaches and port facilities to close while government workers and local fishermen work to contain and clean up the spill. (29 photos total)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/07/oil_spill_in_dalian_china.html

http://akmcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/dalianspill_07_21/d28_24389075.jpg

Models Resemble Dead Birds in Italian Vogue’s Twisted Oil-Spill Fashion Spread
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/08/models_resemble_dead_birds_and.html

W T F

BP risks Obama row by hinting it may return to stricken oil well
Company's statement it may not give up all claims on Macondo well escalates ongoing struggle with White House

A struggle between BP and the Obama administration over the future of the cemented well in the Gulf of Mexico erupted in public today when the oil company suggested it may drill in the same reservoir again.

In a briefing with reporters meant to symbolise BP's return to business-as-usual in the Gulf, the chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, said the company may not give up all claims on the Macondo well, which leaked five million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

"There's lots of oil and gas here," Suttles said. "We're going to have to think about what to do with that at some point."

BP's former chief executive, Tony Hayward, told Congress in June that there were 50 million recoverable barrels of oil in the reservoir.

The company faces tens of billions of dollars of damages from the spill.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/06/bp-oil-spill-macondo-well

Great idea, geniuses!

Remember reports of submerged, miles-long, frighteningly condensed oil plumes floating around in the Gulf ready to get us? Fiction. Hooey.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/content/ambrose-still-waiting-apocalypse

So says conservative columnist Jay Ambrose, and references the famously impartial National Review to prove it! This revisionist "it was never any big deal" crap from the right wing is really pissing me off today.

this is prob the best magazine feature that i've read in years

http://www.esquire.com/features/gulf-oil-spill-lives-0910

From the Guardian:

LATEST: An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the Deepwater blast in April. More details soon ...

^ what's going on here?

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/02/rescue-efforts-underway-after-oil-rig-accident-in-gulf/

Asked about concerns regarding oil leaks or pollution, Colclough said "there are reports the rig was not actively producing any product, so we don't know if there's any risk of pollution."

Glad it wasn't producing any product, hope all the oil dudes are okay. Thanks Caek!

So first off it's not in production and yet now there's "a mile-long oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico west of the site of BP's massive spill"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/ns/us_news-life/

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill spill is nearing it's 6-month deadline to produce a report, and draft documents are beginning to be issued. A blog-style summary can be found here.

The bits regarding the wildly inaccurate low estimates are interesting:

By initially underestimating the amount of oil flow and then, at the end of the summer, appearing to underestimate the amount of oil remaining in the Gulf, the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem.

...The public may have an interest in knowing the rate of flow from the well, while the responsible party may benefit from obfuscating or underestimating the rate of flow because high flow means higher liability. Moreover, a responsible party has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders to minimize costs incurred. This fiduciary duty can be at odds with the public’s interest in maximizing cleanup efforts.

...Given that its potential liability under the Clean Water Act depended directly on the flow rate, BP had real incentives to maintain exclusive control over the ability to estimate that rate.

Just remembering the NYT article that Dayo quoted above way back in mid-May:

BP has resisted entreaties from scientists that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate picture of how much oil is really gushing from the well.

“The answer is no to that,” a BP spokesman, Tom Mueller, said on Saturday. “We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort.”

Tony Hayward, hanging near Brainerd. Well, Duluth, more accurately.

http://projectmindwake.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-oil-leaking-from-deep-water-horizon.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-holder-bp-oil-spill-settlement-20121115,0,335475.story

British oil giant BP is more than prepared for the $4.5 billion in settlement charges it agreed to Thursday, analysts said.

In the third quarter alone, BP raked in sales of more than $93 billion and had a net profit of more than $5.2 billion.

Poor BP

they must be feeling really down

still leaking

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/27/gulf-oil-spill-bathtub-ring_n_6056348.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/us/bp-to-pay-gulf-coast-states-18-7-billion-for-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill.html?_r=0