What's Happened to Oil in the Gulf
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-05/whats-happened-oil-gulf
A new government report says about three quarters of oil from the massive BP spill has been contained, dispersed, or has evaporated..... ongoing efforts to plug the well, clean up the Gulf, and risks posed by the remaining oil
Guests
Joel Achenbach
reporter, The Washington Post; writer for Achenblog.
Barbara Shook
Houston Bureau Chief and Reporter-at-Large for the Energy Intelligence Group
Rayola Dougher
senior economic adviser, American Petroleum Institute
Dr. Samantha Joye
Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at
University of Georgia, researching underwater oil plumes in the Gulf oil spill.
Bob Deans
Federal Communications Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council
Comments
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The report is reported to be 4 pages long with no referenced. This does not inspire confidence.
It would be much easier to assess the studies that are being conducted by the federal agencies if they would create a website for Standard Operating Procedures for the field sampling, testing, and collections and for the laboratory testing. Right now, scientists cannot really assess the value of the work being done if we do not know what is being done, with what frequency, and at what locations and depth. Are these basic methodology being embargoed?
I understand some need for secrecy in the data collected since litigation will inevitably ensue but there is certainly no reason why the methods being used in the scientific studies should not be provided. EPA has provided some of the laboratory approach for the toxicology testing but has provided no data nor sampling procedures to back up their statements about the presence or effects of the dispersant in the water column whether combined with oil or alone. How are we to make long term studies of the impacts of these materials when we have no experience with the dispersant used at depth? On humans from consumption as well as organisms?
dan.b: "The Big Lie" doesn't have to be long: It only has to be repeated.
About a week ago when Thad Allen was on drshow I suggested he was far from candid and recommended an interview with Carol Browner, the President's Chief Adviser on Energy and Climate Change, former EPA Director under Clinton. I have since changed my mind as she seems part of a fauna-kill and underwater plume cover-up in her latest news conferences. I expect it takes a tough cookie (like 'Screw the permit: I'll pay the fine Browner.") to adapt to the mafia tactics of the oily arm of oligarchy, where you can be snuffed by a plane crash or brain cancer at any time. I have met Browner and do not feel she is exceptional in her behavior, that almost every federal appointee or staffer would do the same.
The opportunity for truth is now reduced to interviewing whistleblowers from the EPA and other agencies. It is not plausible that the oil and toxicity are gone so soon and so completely. Every indication points to a conspiracy between the Obama Administration and the petroleum industry to minimize the spill disaster. A horrible chance is being taken with people's health and the Gulf of Mexico environment. So often the Barack Obama Administration, on which the majority of us pinned our last hopes, has proven itself to be a booster agent for business and against public well-being. The "economy" might suffer if the facts got out, but the ECOnomy may collapse if they don't.
It's not only Obama or democrats, but republicans and radicalized former republicans too who compete to please the big corporations and the super-wealthy behind them. We the people are no more than an oversupplied factor of speculation anymore. I do not know how we can be heard or felt with so little resources and the Internet glutted with advertisements and dominated by data miners, dredging the bottom of life and netting up our economic behavior.
I've watched cleanup crews collecting and bagging oil and tar on beaches since the crisis began but I've yet to see or hear about where and how they are disposing of this material. On a related note, these hydrocarbons that have evaporated have gone into the atmosphere, meaning that they have not disappeared as we seem to keep hearing. These are probably adding still more to the greenhouse gas load as far as I can tell.
Rick
Parma, Ohio
Anyway, I don't think this is the time for Diane to provide a platform to the Petroleum Institute, its apologists and allies. Diane, this is all connected to fracking and our water supply. Macondo busted up the shale layer under the Gulf just like gas drilers in Oklahoma or Pennsylvania. Are they now intimidating Diane Rehm just as they have Carol Browner? (Please do not refer to the Gates charade of big charity! Another big lie!) You are more to us listeners than the real estate lady from the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Diane. Sit up straight and be brave. It is a matter of life or death for our planet. Thank you in advance. I know Diane will do her best.
If you feel as I do go over to Democracy Now and heart what is really going on with the cover-up. It's like watching the controlled demolition of Building #7, isn't it? It's like Sec of Treasury Paulson presenting his 3-page ultimatum to Congress, isn't it? It's like Colin Powell explaining Saddam Hussein's nuclear program at the UN, isn't it? I've been to West Florida recently and smelled the toxic breeze, and I believe my senses.
Grady -- I agree wholeheartedly. Where it gets depressing is the extent to which we ("the people") are no longer willing to go to make significant changes. We still have the economic power to turn things around. But it takes the kind of self-sacrifice and courage very few Americans have shown since the civil rights movement and Vietnam. We could begin to shut down the megaphone in a week with an organized, massive, canceling our cable subscriptions, for example. We could go on a serious oil diet. But we don't.
There appears to be no critical mass, in any sense of the phrase.
It seems people are almost disapointed that the oil has been capped & those dreadful pictures of gushing oil aren't being shown everywhere. I'm pleased with the outcome & think the whole oil spill has been handled very well. Marine life in the gulf has been under threat for many years from chemicals & fertilizers. I'm really bored with conspiracy thoeries and soundbites. I haven't heard everything is perfect or the spill clean-up is over. A bit of good news is nice coming from a Floridian, where we not really affected & our tourism has been destroyed my an over zealous media of doom & gloom.
A friend was telling me that clean-up ships from other countries (familiar with toxic spills & better equipped to handle them) travelled to the gulf to help in the clean up efforts but weren't allowed to do so by the E.P.A. Is this true? I was under the impression that our government was doing all it could given the situation. It's getting really difficult to separate the facts from the politics - UGH!
One of the guest said that a non-profit organization that the other oil companies contribute funds to would continue to sponsor/respond to clean up and fund research. Is this the same organization that was discussed on a previous Diane Rehm show about the oil spill? If it is the same organization that has been listed on emergency response plans by the industry, it has been reported to have been underfunded based on the oil industry's growth over the last 30 years, and has outdated technology, how would they be able to continue clean up and fund research in for the BP spill, if they are unable to perform the task that they were created to do when the spill first occurred?
Absent from this conversation are:
1. There were 2 reports reported on by NPR yesterday. One stated that 3/4 of the oil had been dispersed the second report stated that only 50% of the oil had been dispersed. Which report was accurate?
2. Oyster beds are dying, not only because of oil in the water, but by the influx of fresh water used to keep the oil out. Oysters are very fresh/salt water sensitive.
3. Figures lie and liars figure. Let's speak in absolutes when it comes to how much oil is present (gals) and percentages when we discuss how much BP is contributing to this effort ($spent vs. $profit)
Yours is one of the very best radio shows. Thank you for being here for us.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP using the BP propaganda term "SPILL" to describe the tragic human error disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is a term used initially by BP and is intentionally meant to minimize the alarm bells it should be ringing all over the world for the attention this kind of malfeasance should be getting.
IT IS NOT A "SPILL"!!! A "spill" is something on the kitchen cabinet that can be wiped away quickly and forgotten. THAT is exactly what Bp and the oil industry want us to unconsciously internalize and believe, although they have proven over and over they are not capable or willing to come to terms with the catastrophe they have created by the cut throat, short sighted, profit oriented, short cut methods they used to transport us to this awful disaster.
An oil industry oversight management guest on NPR today ( however inadvertently ) clearly emphasized this fact. She stated that this "spill" (her word) represents 1/1000th of 1 percent of the total oil produced by the oil industry.
If 1/1000th of 1 percent is all it takes to create the magnitude of this catastrophic disaster, then it is way past time for all of us to demand an indefinite halt in this kind of drill-baby-drill attitude, actually deep water drilling at the very least, extremely tight oversight AND look for more sustainable and regenerating energy sources.
tarascon: You are correct that people are "asleep" when it comes to taking action. Notice how the respondent below your post is "bored" by the truth about the degraded environment. These are the type people who content themselves playing "Farmville" on Facebook. I was at one time so capable of spouting "correct-speak" that Goldman Sachs hired me to write internal memos to employees. Now I despise the "everthin'll be OK, Baby" sing-song that is typical of correspondents apologizing for speaking. The government truly is run "like a business" today with the revenue taken in and borrowed used to bonus the execs, and an inferior defective product dispensed. I am at beretco.op@hotmail .com if you care to vent further. I feel sorry for Frank being handed the dirty end of the mike today. Maybe he's like a handiwipe when talk show hosts are finicky.
One thing we can do RIGHT NOW is stop using Corexit when there are so many less toxic dispersants and surface washing agents out there. VeruSol by VeruTek comes to mind -- 30 times less toxic than Corexit per EPA tests, and made from natural plant surfactants. If we are going to pour hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals into the Gulf, shouldn't we choose the least toxic product available to limit the damage instead of adding to it?
My comment is that I can understand that the amount of oil collected can be measured but I believe the TOTAL amount of oil released is not known. Therefore, posting a figure of 26% remaining is not believable.