BP says it's ready to try, again, to seal the Deepwater Horizon well permanently. First up, maybe as soon as tonight, is an attempted "static kill." It's a new version of the failed top kill, which involved pumping mud and gunk into the well from barges on the surface. Now that the well has been capped, BP hopes to pump mud and gunk in at the level of the sea floor.
Which could totally work.
Now we can start picking through the mistakes that set the stage for this disaster and the ones that made the cleanup such a shame. In the former, we have a suggestion that humans are tired of alarms, too tired to keep like the ones on the Deepwater Horizon either to respond or to keep them in place. In the latter category, we have a new report from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) that the Coast Guard "rubber-stamped" BP's request to blanket parts of the Gulf of Mexico with the very yummy, carginogenic dispersant Corexit.
We're still getting reports that tarballs are washing into wildlife refuges, while cleanup crews scratch at far-less oiled beaches where tourists and news cameras roam.
Decades may pass before we fully understand the effects of this disaster. For now, we have the image of that stupid, stupid well pouring tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, day after day after day, from spring until summer. And we have the first hits of what's happened to the wildlife in that oil's path. Today's critter count from the Federal Wildlife Service says 3,271 birds were found dead, along with 503 sea turtles, 64 mammals and one reptile. The sun set for them early in this story.
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at some point, the oiled wetlands grasses will probably have to be controlled burned.
Part of the problem is the old revolving door between government and private industry. Thad Allen retired from the Coast Guard in the midst of the BP spill while remaining Incident Commander (or some such title). You can bet that he's going to want a lucrative job down the road and will do what he must to prepare the way for that career.
Another problem is that BP is using its vast financial resources to compromise science by putting scientists under contract with BP. Tainting science with corporate funds does not serve science, the public or most importantly, the ecology of the Gulf. It's great for BP, though.
Maybe now we can focus on the really big environmental issue we are still refusing to deal with: Global Warming. The Dems have caved on legislation that could show we (US) are serious about dealing with this problem. GOP has then WON by default by the inaction.
With the continuing scientific evidence of the catastrophic changes occurring to the planet, we cannot keep our heads "buried in the sand".
Agreed that GW should be front and center. I hope it's not too late to do something substantial about it. But that's more and more doubtful, as I fear we may have passed the tipping point. If that's the case, Katy bar the door.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C90DVNVORw
Is it just me, or is pretty much everyone except for the Gentleman from Mass. soft-stepping around the issue of the "tens of thousands of gallons" (estimates run as high as 800K to 1,000K US gals.) of solvents -- solvents that I think have got to qualify as hazardous materials -- that were dumped in the Gulf, by utilizing such vague euphemisms as dispersant and emulsifying agent? Okay, I'll give you points for "carcinogenic". I'd have given you more for close-cousin-of-ethylene glycol (anti-freeze) and still more for toxic.
I'm not surprised that little more scientific data has been accumulated since the Exxon Valdez fiasco regarding how these chemicals impact the people, wildlife and ecosystem effected, and nor am I surprised that Big Oil and the Administration had no problem turning the Gulf of Mexico into a petri dish in a blind rush to get this ecological disaster out of the headlines as soon as possible in this important mid-term election year.
I guess the Press is content to sit back and watch The Honorable Ed Markey do their investigative reporting for them. Pass the popcorn, please.
Friend of mine just showed me video from yesterday morning showing the sea floor rising and then falling, from methaine? wha? Looked like it had the U-Tube logo on it... The question is...is this real video or not? What Is happening on the Gulf floor?....Someone level!