Stopping the Oil Spill

[Tim_T]

This will really piss you off:

And to those worried restaurateurs facing rising prices for shrimp and oysters? In the words of fellow BP rep Randy Prescott: “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp.”

http://thelensnola.org/2010/05/24/fi...er-capitalism/

[mhall]

Grumpy if George is so off base, I tend to agree with him. Maybe you should enlighten us both.

If you are saying money and greed have nothing to do with this one taking so long I think you are wrong.

[Grumpy]

Mark, if money and greed were the end purpose, the spill would have been contained in two or three days. Even Obama has admitted that BP is doing everything it can to end the gusher. This thing is an accident of the worst kind because the break/problem came in the pipe under all of the safety mechenisms that were in place to keep the oil from espcaping in the event of a breakdown. If anyone really thinks BP is profiting from this, you have to be nuts. And, if you think that all that has to be done is drop a nuke on the wellhead, or some other such hair-brained idea, to **** it up, but it is not being doine because BP doesn't want to destroy the well, is just as crazy. If that well were capped and then brought back into service, it could produce for a hundred years and never pay for the damage that BP is going to have to pay out.

The good thing about it is, that maybe the oil companies will develope the technology to contain future spills better.

Grumpy

[psprowler]

This will really piss you off:

And to those worried restaurateurs facing rising prices for shrimp and oysters? In the words of fellow BP rep Randy Prescott: “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp.”

http://thelensnola.org/2010/05/24/fi...er-capitalism/

After reading the article and then the comments following the story, my gut tells me this quote was taken out of context. The comments are just about as bad as the implied context of the quote.

[Big Gills]

I was just watching a short video from a Louisanna restaurant owner who was talking about how this oil spill is negatively affecting the fishing trade and the tourist industry in their area. Good point as we have looked how it negatively affected the environment and watching to see if they will ever be able to cap that well. Its day 45 now and no hope in sight. Something just dawned on me and what if they can never cap it. Is the Gulf of Mexico going to turn into one big black lake of oil. Will the towns and cities along the America gulf coast go out of business and all become ghost towns? It is scary to think this may happen. Again, I dont understand why all the well educated and experienced engineers for BP can not cap this well. I really dont understand.

[DJD]

This is historic for all the wrong reasons. The map showing the oil mess is shocking and it moves with the winds and tide so who knows where the storms and mother nature will take this. I'm with you on this cause I don't see how this cannot be handled better. I'm thinking that if they would have attacked the problem with a stronger sense of an emergency to begin with we would have had a solution by now.

The thing stinks of a cover up in the beginning days with BP officials and our Gubment standing by and watching eachother on t.v.....seemed like noone would step up and take this problem by the horns. I'm just a tax paying man living in Lexington Kentucky watching the news and it seemed pretty **** important to me back when the accident happened. Why is it that BP looked so passive in the beginning? Why is it that the gubment was so willing to hide behind laws when they seldom do otherwise? This thing stunk bad from the start and everyone hoped the other guy would fix it or take the blame. Now here we are 45 days later and it's gonna take them all down now!

If these specialist and engineers took any time off since this started then they need to be dealt with...same goes for any of our gubment morons.

[smokefan]

Saw on the news that obama is going back to the gulf next week. He has some what grown a pair cause he is taking a bil for $69 million to give to bp. I wonder if he will stay more than 2 hours this time. This thing is totally out of control and I have a hard time believing that NO ONE has way to stop it. I know its bp's well but, in my opnion, the government should have stepped in and taken control. Mabe it wouldnt have helped but at least it would seem like someone was doing something. I agree with DJD something should have been done faster at the beggining of this mess, instead of bp and the "gubment" watching each other stick there thumbs in ther butt. Just my 2 cents.

[JD7.62]

I spent 10 1/2 hours on Pensacola Beach today. I counted at least 18 News trucks from places like Miama, Tampa, Atlanta...all over the south east. Oil is said to be about 10mi from P'cola beach and we are all worried about the economic and ecologic impact we are going to have in the region. I live in Navarre Beach now, about 15mi east of P'cola Beach. Ive been smelling the oil off and on for about two weeks, sometimes its so bad that it even stinks inside the house. Im not looking forward to this summer.

I am hoping that at the very least the bays and fragile ecosystems in them which are the nurseries for many of the game fish remain oil free. The beaches, IF the oil is stopped sooner then later, are easier to clean and could be fine come end of summer. At least Im trying to tell my self that.

[DJD]

I spent 10 1/2 hours on Pensacola Beach today. I counted at least 18 News trucks from places like Miama, Tampa, Atlanta...all over the south east. Oil is said to be about 10mi from P'cola beach and we are all worried about the economic and ecologic impact we are going to have in the region. I live in Navarre Beach now, about 15mi east of P'cola Beach. Ive been smelling the oil off and on for about two weeks, sometimes its so bad that it even stinks inside the house. Im not looking forward to this summer.

I am hoping that at the very least the bays and fragile ecosystems in them which are the nurseries for many of the game fish remain oil free. The beaches, IF the oil is stopped sooner then later, are easier to clean and could be fine come end of summer. At least Im trying to tell my self that.

10 1/2 hours on the beach? Are you mad? Seriously, I never considered the smell...that has to be so nasty you could taste it.

[bassin_bug]

I seem to remember that a bubble of methane got into the pipe and, as it came up toward the surface it made contact with other substances. The methane bubble increased in size as it came up and found an ignition source which caused the explosion. I don't know how a natural occurring gas like methane can be contained; if it could there wouldn't be so many deadly coal mine explosions.

Having been born and raised in a county that has many producing oil wells, I have seen them in all phases of drilling, pumping, and refining. Oil is not like water. When a water well is drilled the water just pours or is pumped out and that's all. On the other hand, oil is high density and is not a singular substance. Some oil pools have so much pressure that it will blow more than 100 ft. into the air when the oil is tapped. One rig that my brother-in-law was working on had the upper platform blown off the derrick when they tapped oil.

There are 6 oil wells and one small refinery within a mile and a half of my house in AL. On foggy mornings the smell of oil, sulphur, and natural gas hangs heavily in the air. Nobody complains because they are accustomed to it and it is not constant. It's like living in a city where there is a papermill; there is a distinct odor that lets you know a papermill is nearby.

I don't agree with the slack way BP is handling the crisis but I am not smart enough to develop a fix for the problem. I do know that blowing up the wellhead would only make matters worse. BP is offering some lucrative contracts to professionals but who knows if the people will ever get paid? I believe the contractors and environmentalists will have to go into litigation to get paid and that could take decades. Cleanup people are being paid $12 per hour and most of them receive no benefits.

[JD7.62]

Well I was actually on the beach pier fishing the whole time. Now, does that sound mad?

[Tim_T]

After reading the article and then the comments following the story, my gut tells me this quote was taken out of context. The comments are just about as bad as the implied context of the quote.

I didn't get that it was taken out of context, but perhaps you are right. I also find it ironic that a BP exec would says that when people can say "there are other places to buy gas besides BP!"