Well my uncle (who runs a duck charter business on his 2 weeks off stint and a rig worker) is p.o'd. This is from 2 weeks ago. Ther ws another in todays paper but I cannot find it o No: Outdoorsmen in anguish as oil closes in on waterfowl habitat: A guest column by Noel F. Pilie' Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 4:42 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 4:48 PM Waterfowl along our coast are in mortal danger as the BP rig disaster continues to gush crude oil. The press has concentrated mainly on Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican, and rightfully so. This magnificent bird, brought back from near-extinction in Louisiana, numbers about 12,000 to 13,000 breeding pairs plus clutches of two eggs and fledglings. However, more devastation is about to unfold. As conservationists with a focus on wetlands and waterfowl, the Louisiana Waterfowl Alliance is in anguish at the thought of what might happen when, in just a few months, migratory ducks begin to arrive on our coast where already our resident mottled ducks are being impacted by the oil. Between 3 million and 4 million ducks spend the winter in Louisiana. The majority settle in our coastal marshes. In addition, many millions more pass through and spend time in coastal Louisiana from August to April. About 50,000 to 60,000 mottled ducks are year-round residents. Nonmigratory, they live in a limited habitat range in costal Louisiana, so they have been very vulnerable to the oncoming oil. Additional millions of geese, coots, rails, snipe and other shore birds depend on our coastal marshes during late summer, fall, and winter; many live there all year. The total bird life in the area is impossible to count, but migratory waterfowl usage is somewhere near 13 million. If the oil is not stopped soon and the shoreline cleaned up rapidly, the result could be tragic. Miles of our coastal marshes have been coated by oil for more than six weeks now. Little has been removed yet. Oil is drifting just offshore of many more miles of coastline. And more is on the way. During fall and winter, large rafts of ducks -- numbering in the thousands -- rest just offshore in the daytime exactly where the oil is now, and it will only spread more. All it will take is a small tropical storm to force the oil over most of our southeastern coastal wetlands. Meteorologists are predicting an active hurricane season. Oiling of migratory waterfowl is not only possible -- it is likely inevitable. And this is to a large extent in areas that are not accessible except by airboat, making it almost impossible to rescue and clean birds. Untold numbers of waterfowl could and probably will be affected, resulting in a tremendous impact on duck populations and migration patterns for years to come, if not forever, in the central and Mississippi flyways. For those of us who love the outdoors, this is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. All of this is in addition to severe damage and further, permanent catastrophic loss of these wetlands, vital and irreplaceable for many reasons, and the main wintering habitat of those waterfowl that would still try to come to Louisiana in the future. For those who cherish the beauty of our coastal homeland and our outdoor heritage, this horrifying loss is almost impossible to quantify. However, there is a dollar value on waterfowl hunting. The potential environmental destruction and loss of wildlife will result in additional millions of dollars lost to our economy from reduced hunting opportunities. In fact, an LSU survey in 2006-07 estimated three quarters of a billion dollars spent yearly on waterfowl hunting in Louisiana. What can be done? To begin with, concentrate on stopping the leak instead of just trying to recover the oil. The Louisiana Waterfowl Alliance strongly urges BP and our state and federal governments to intensify the response and get the job done more quickly. A stronger effort should be made by the federal government to prevent the oil from entering our fragile estuaries. The encroaching oil should be treated like a war threat and stopped before it reaches our nation's shores. Of course, the responsible parties should be forced to repair the resulting damage to the habitat and restore it to at least pre-spill conditions. The federal and state governments should proceed with accelerated plans of coastal restoration. To prevent such disasters in the future, it's time to upgrade the safety and fail-safe devices used by drilling rigs. For instance, a prefabricated apparatus sitting on shore could be used to cut off flow of oil if a blowout occurs. Such fail-safes should be mandated for use in all deepwater drilling. The oil industry has become as much a part of our culture and heritage as fishing and hunting and is essential to Louisiana's and the country's economic fortunes and future. Although its practices should be reformed, offshore energy development should not be abandoned. Even a short-term moratorium will be devastating to the state's economy. Instead, insist that the responsible parties clean up this mess, and that the industry adopt safer practices. An entire way of life is at stake. Dr. Noel F. Pilieis a lifetime coastal Louisiana resident and ardent outdoorsman who lives in Metairie. He can be reached at npiliedds@aol.com. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/outdoorsmen_in_anguish_as_oil.html
You are not authorized to see these pictures of the oil spill damage ,citizen! http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/07/you-are-not-authorized-to-see-these.html
Makes me sick to see this and most of all angry. And all the politicians and BP officials do is talk.
GOD BLESS all the workers that are down there in the gulf trying to stop this leak......you are all we have and i appreciate and pray for you and that your efforts will prevail !!! Peace WildBill
In paper this past weekend BP and others are pulling the drilling ships from the gulf. They are relocating to active drill sites off the coast of Egypt. The gulf coast has now lost over 10,000 plateform jobs. Which states do you think are the most effected. Now people can be mad and unemployed. More of our fuel money goes into the middle east instead of the good ole USA. Instead of coming up with a contingency plan that works the super brains in our government threaten drilling bans which just forces producers to drill elsewhere. We loose the jobs in the only portion of our economy still limping along. ou:
Alligator covered in oil on guy's dock vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H7FKi6vfY4&feature=player_embedded
Coast Guard lifts ban on news coverage near oil spill boom Published: Monday, July 12, 2010, 10:59 PM Updated: Monday, July 12, 2010, 11:15 PM The Associated Press The Associated Press The Coast Guard has modified a policy on safety zones around boom deployed on oiled coastlines, a policy news organizations had said unnecessarily restricted coverage of the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and efforts to clean it up. In a statement Monday night, the government's point man for the spill, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said new procedures permit credentialed news media free travel within the boom safety zones. "I have put out a direction that the press are to have clear, unfettered access to this event, with two exceptions: if there is a safety or security concern," said Allen. "This boom is critical to the defense of the marshes and the beaches." News organizations, including The Associated Press, had argued being kept at least 65 feet away from the boom impeded the ability to cover the spill. Allen said that was not the intent of the restriction. "We need to discriminate between media, which have a reason to be there, and somebody who's hanging around when we know that we've had equipment vital to this region damaged," he said. Allen said the safety zones were created to keep boats from going over the top of booms or damaging it. Previously, news organizations were required to contact local authorities each time they wanted to go near boom. The Coast Guard has provided frequent flights, boat trips and overnight excursions into the spill zone since the BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and sank two days later. Still, AP and other organizations argued the boom zone restriction hindered the 1st Amendment right of freedom of the press. Capt. James McPherson, a Coast Guard spokesman, said the service has provided "unprecedented media access to the largest oil spill response in U.S. history." He said the revised policy "will increase the ability of the media and the public to see the response effort." http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/coast_guard_lifts_ban_on_news.html "someone who's been hanging around"???????? He means the public right????? :moonu: You mean the public? DO you mean the people who live there and want to walk on their OWN beach???? Awwww, isn't that so sweet of Thadddie???:moonu:
Jindal, local officials blast feds over oil spill response Published: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 5:06 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 5:15 PM John Pope, The Times-Picayune John Pope, The Times-Picayune Surrounded by indignant local officials, Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday once again lambasted the federal government's performance in fighting the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, not only because it has vetoed the state's proposals to combat it but also because, he said, Washington has not devised a strategy of its own. . Oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico has infiltrated Lake Pontchartrain for the first time. "Whether it's Grand Isle or Barataria Bay or Lake Pontchartrain or Breton Sound, we need the federal government to have a greater sense of fighting this oil before it gets into our fragile estuaries," Jindal said at a news conference. "They need to fight it like the war that it is. We have told them that no is not an answer, no is not a plan, no is not acceptable Jindal's anger was echoed by leaders of Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, who stood around him in a Lakefront Airport hangar after a helicopter flight over Lake Pontchartrain. In recounting his frustration in working with federal officials, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he would like to approach federal officials and say, "Who's running this thing? Who's in charge?" Washington needs to develop a "sense of urgency to save our way of life," Nungesser said. Criticizing the federal government's repeated rejections of Louisiana's suggestions to combat the spill, Jefferson Parish Council Chairman John Young said: "There's no such thing as a perfect plan. If we had waited for a perfect plan, we wouldn't have had the D-Day invasion." BTW Mrs. Obama will be visiting. Also Obama is going on another holiday.....ou: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-s...ov_jindal_local_officials_bla.html#incart_mce
Ted some of those pics I'VE never seen. Thank you. I believe the average farmer in middle America would thing it's bad when MILLIONS of fish start popping up. Last week they showed some wale sharks swimming through the plume. If you don't know they open their mouths to feed by screeding out plankton. :ball: I'm worried about the dolphins and mannities (sp?) they have come to lake Pontchatrain every summer through Lake Borgne now that we have it all cleaned and safe. They are placing the upper control thingie on right now and will monitor the pressure. THEY ADMIT THAT IF THE PRESSURE DOES NOT GO UP AND STAY, IT MEANS , OF COURSE IT IS LEAKING SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!! PERHAPS FRACTURED STRATA FROM THEIR "TOP KILL" PROCEDURE. :shock:
new cap placed on leak pressure tests start today to ascertain whether flow can be halted Tuesday, July 13, 2010 By Jaquetta White Business writer In perhaps the most significant development since BP's runaway well began spewing oil in the Gulf of Mexico 85 days ago, crews placed a tight-fitting cap over the leak Monday evening designed to give the company its greatest chance so far at stopping the flow of oil into the sea. Oil was still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico Monday night. At least two openings in a "perforated pipe" attached to the new cap could be seen on BP's live video feed shooting oil. But that oil flow is expected until the cap is completely hooked up and the pipe is "closed in," BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said. With the cap in place, BP will begin "well integrity tests" on the blown-out Macondo well this morning, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said. The pressure readings will tell the company whether the cap will be enough to hold the oil inside the well until a relief well is drilled or whether crews should continue sucking oil from the well to ships on the surface. Advertisement The device, called a "capping stack," was pushed into place on top of the oil gusher Monday at about 6:15 p.m. after a day of maneuvering. The 18-foot-tall, 150,000-pound apparatus is essentially a small blowout preventer with a cap on top. Placing the cap is BP's latest attempt at controlling the flow of oil from the blown-out well 5,000 feet beneath the water's surface in the Gulf. This cap, however, provides the company with its first opportunity to completely stop oil from spilling into the sea before the permanent solution for sealing the well, a relief well, is complete next month. Crews will begin taking pressure readings inside the well today by slowly closing valves on the new cap and ceasing to suck oil from the well to vessels on the surface. If the pressure falls to about 9,000 pounds per square inch with all the valves shut, it will mean that the cap is keeping oil inside the well and it can be left alone to some degree until the relief well intercepts it. If the pressure falls below that amount, however, engineers will continue to suck oil out of the well and onto as many as four ships on the surface. Low pressure would signal that oil is finding another way out of the well, possibly through weak points in the well far below the surface. That testing could last from six to 48 hours, Allen said. "BP will be in regular contact with the government during the test, and the government will halt the test if the risks of doing further damage to the surrounding formation are significant," Allen said in a statement released Monday evening. BP began lowering the cap from the Discoverer Inspiration ship to the well site Monday morning. At 7:30 a.m., it was about 300 feet away from its target. By 2:30 p.m., the sealing cap had been lowered to within 40 feet. The capping process was captured on a live video feed broadcast on the BP website. Before the cap was placed, oil was shooting from the well at full blast. Oil was still shooting from the well Monday night, but in anticipated spots: at least two holes in a pipe attached to the capping stack that engineers hope to close eventually. The undersea picture was far different from the one broadcast for the past month. The previous cap, called the Lower Marine Riser Package cap, had been allowing oil to push out from underneath it and spill into the water. It was removed Saturday to make way for the new, tighter-fitting cap. http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-15/127900202165610.xml&coll=1 Anyone wanna put odds on this thing????:shock: o No:
Hey Bill (Topcat) thanks for the offer. I'm actually a tiny bit worried this could all end very badly down here if the seafloor was to rupture and if it is rising and blows up. Hell nevermind, just realized by the time I knew what was happening it would be waaaaay to late. Even in Gillsburg MS(our evac house in the country) might be in harms way. There are scientists and geologists with very good credentials saying the sky could very well fall. Damn, if it does, I would hope my last post here was a funny....:idea2: :laugh: ou:
I'm 50 miles inland from the Gulf and if something seafloor collapse tsunami related goes awry, I figure we might have time to abandon everything and take a shot, balls to the wall wide open up some long back roads outta this state north.
I don't know if they got BP's approval or not,but the US Coast Guard has rescinded the media and photography ban due to public protest. Some good news for 1st Amendment. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20111
Hell technically I'm on an island. Indus. canal w. Lake Pontchatrain N. Miss. River 1/2 mile S. and allof the gulf E. Maybe it'll be like in "Deep Impact" with the 200ft. wave comin'. Give me Tea Leoni and it'll lessen the sting.......:laugh: Yep, I posted that earlier......:beer
Doesn't surprise me. Lots of censorship since Bush's Homeland Security went into business. But! Here is another link to the pics.:Brow: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25926.htm
CAPPED AND HOLDING!!! AP Article off Drudge this afternoon. Crossing fingers for 48-hour test....:beers2:
