News On Seepage Detected 'Some Distance From Well'

There is no reason to panic as of yet.  There is some indications that there is "seepage" but what exactly is coming out is unknown as of yet, the exact location is unknown as of yet and just how bad the seepage might be is also unknown.  These factors will not be known right away, so better not to panic as of yet. It will be today (Monday) at the earliest that we could find out what this is all about.

The concern does grow when it is found that the President is prepared to order BP to open the top of the well again.  This would be done in order to relieve pressure on the well which could be causing the problems in seepage.  BP is going to fight this no doubt as if they open the well again and the 'seepage' stops then that is the indication that would show this 'seepage' is being caused by the capped wellhead.  We don't know that this is the case, as a matter of fact we don't know much at all.  Due to that lack of knowledge it is better to have a wait and see approach rather than a panic attack until we know more.

There are normal and known leaks that occur on the seabed, so that is why there is no need to panic just yet as we do not know the location of these "anomalies" as of yet.  Thad Allen sending the letter to BP is a precautionary one and is intended to make it known to BP that the government is aware of the possibility of problems, as well as wanting constant monitoring of said anomalies, and is prepared to demand immediate action should the anomalies be found to be related to the well & capping procedure. It is again, not surprising that BP will do what they can to protect themselves in this matter, and hopefully the government via Incident Command is doing all they can to get accurate and timely information to ensure that any and all precautions are taken and that the correct information is obtained.


Incident Commander Thad Allen sent a letter to BP which states:

Bob Dudley 

Chief Managing Director

BP Group

501 West Lake Park Boulevard

Houston, Texas 77070

Dear Mr. Dudley,

My letter to you on July 16, 2010 extended the Well Integrity Test period contingent upon the completion of seismic surveys, robust monitoring for indications of leakage, and acoustic testing by the NOAA vessel PISCES in the immediate vicinity of the well head. Given the current observations from the test, including the detected seep a distance from the well and undetermined anomalies at the well head, monitoring of the seabed is of paramount importance during the test period. As a continued condition of the test, you are required to provide as a top priority access and coordination for the monitoring systems, which include seismic and sonar surface ships and subsea ROV and acoustic systems. When seeps are detected, you are directed to marshal resources, quickly investigate, and report findings to the government in no more than four hours. I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed.

As the National Incident Commander, I must remain abreast of the status of your source control efforts. Now that source control has evolved into a period beyond the expected 48 hour interval of the Well Integrity Test, I am requiring that you provide me a written update within 24 hours of your intentions going forward. I remain concerned that all potential options to eliminate the discharge of oil be pursued with utmost speed until I can be assured that no additional oil will spill from the Macondo Well.

You may use your letter of 9 July as a basis for your update. Specifically, you must provide me your latest containment plan and schedule in the event that the Well Integrity Test is suspended, the status and completion timelines for all containment options currently under development, and details of any other viable source control options including hydraulic control that you are considering. You should highlight any points at which progress along one option will be impacted by resource trade-offs to achieve progress along another option. Include options for and impacts of continued twice-a day seismic testing versus once a day testing.

As you develop the plans above, note that the primary method of securing the source is the relief well and this effort takes precedence. Therefore, I direct you to provide a detailed plan for the final stages of the relief well that specifically addresses the interaction of this schedule and any other activity that may potentially delay relief well completion.

Have your representative provide results on the monitoring efforts and source control requirements described above during today’s BP and Government Science Team call at 8:00 PM CDT.

Sincerely,

THAD W. ALLEN

Letter from Thad Allen To Bob Dudley of BP

As is noted in the letter, Incident Command is now knowledgable about the situation and is going to do everything in their power to make sure that BP knows it, and responds to it.

Now it is understandable that people are concerned.  We've seen the problems with transparency from both BP as well as the government with nearly everything regarding this disaster.  It is normal to be fearful due to the amount of misinformation that has been put out there as well, and sometimes it is hard to know what is truth vs what is fabrication.

As I was reading the discussion about this on The Oil Drum, there were a few who were expressing concern about whether this news was cause for panic or not.  Each person stated they lived somewhere on the gulf coast and were truly fearful.   This is understandable, again as I said, due to the lack of clear and concise information.  We are left to try and figure this out on our own which should never be the case in times of a disaster.

The response to these concerns were varied with some people laughing, and others being very understanding of the concern.  The two most informative & compassionate answers given were:

No, don't panic. The scare stories about methane tsunamis etc. are meant to scare you. What the motivation is, I have no idea. There's a seep 1000+ feet from a troublesome well three days after they capped it and prevented lots of oil from escaping into the water. The Gulf seeps anyway. People who have a lot more competence than you and I are watching things and there's a plan to kill it.

And this one:

Stay, fill the car with gas, pack a bag, get $300 cash and watch the news. Do everything else normal. It is not time to hit the OH CRAP button yet. Relax and call a relative. You will be fine.

Edit: And go see professional & get some help tomorrow. Perfectly normal what you are going through. Drink two beers if it might make you feel better. You will be good to go no matter the outcome if you prepare your mind. In this case, we are talking very low chance that events will directly impact you. Smile, I am and I live in Gulf Shores.

The Oil Drum Thread Talking About the "Seepage" Part I
The Oil Drum Thread Talking About the "Seepage" Part II

Both hold a lot of truth to them.  Don't panic because there are experts in the field who are working on this matter, and they will be giving it their full attention to try and determine what is going on.  It is too soon to have all the information that is needed released to the public as of yet, but I trust that we will get the information one way or another, even if it is revealed to us by an 'anonymous source' who is going to get the truth out.  We also know that people who are experts in various fields are watching this closely, like the guys at the Oil Drum, who know when bullshit information is being offered and when it isn't.  They have had ongoing discussions regarding the information being offered vs what is able to be seen simply by virtue of watching the ROV camera's and understanding the information being relayed through them.  They are  not perfect and will ask questions of each other as well, but for the most part they usually debunk information pretty quickly and will happily answer questions or explain things to make it easier for the average joe to understand.

If you are concerned, do as the second comment suggested, and prepare to leave.  Pack a bag, get some cash and then go ahead and live like you would if this was not happening, but be ready to go if you think you need to.  Much like anyone living on the gulf coast would do for hurricane season.  I have this done already, bags packed, hurricane kit at the ready, cash stashed in my "go bag", car filled with gas and a couple of gas cans filled & stored, and am ready to evacuate due to a hurricane should the need arise, but having lived on the coast for close to 10 years, I can say that I have never needed to implement my evacuation plans, and have lived through numerous hurricanes.  I did not prepare for anything with regards to this disaster, I did mine for the normal hurricane preparation that I do every year in April.

I'm not going to suggest that people need to go talk to a professional unless you are feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with this situation.  I would suggest that you try and calm down, have a drink if that is your prerogative  and not worry to the point that it is overwhelming to think about.


Now this next comment from the Oil Drum (From the Part II section) is a perfect example of what I am talking about. This was posted by a commenter who goes by the name of Rovman.

As I have stated before,I work with ROVs and have done for many years. I have spent many many hours looking at footage from ROV cameras as part of my work and am very familiar with how ROVs work, what they do, and what you see in the monitors and what it is that is causing what you see. I have also spent many hours over the past few weeks watching the feeds from the Gulf. In that time, I have seen many interesting things but at no point have I seen anything which I can say is definitively, or even slightly likely to be, an oil or gas leak from the ocean floor. What all of the above videos show without exception is almost certainly silt kicked up from either thruster wash or the ROV itself contacting the ocean floor. There may be some small natural seeps, but I've not seen footage of any so far. There may even be some leaks that are to be worried about, but I haven't seen any evidence of this at all yet.

The ROVs involved in this task are very powerful. The Oceaneering Millenium, which is the commonest vehicle there produces 220hp and weighs 8,800lbs in air. They are trimmed to be 'heavy' and so will naturally settle to the bottom if power is lost. It is quite usual to have the ROV sitting on the bottom with a small amount of upward vertical thrust still applied. This sends a continuous wash of water down to the sea bed and kicks up silt, even though the vehicle is sat stationary on the sea floor. It really takes very little to disturb this very fine silt and create a sh*t storm. One the ROV takes off from the bottom, it trails with it a fair amount of silt and this creates a continuing sh*t storm for several tens of seconds as well. A classic sign that what you are seeing is silt kicked up is what appears to be black lumps with a trail of 'smoke'. These are what the commentator in the above video refers to as rocks thrown up by the erupting sea floor. They are no such thing, they are small lumps of mud trailing a plume of silt behind them.

Another thing to be aware of is the apparent scale of what you are seeing. When you see the stack it is easy to forget that it is about 5 or 6 stories high, and that the ROVs are the size of a minivan. They look a lot smaller. On the other hand, when a 'rock' flies past the camera it is easy to think it is a foot across. It isn't. It's probably about the size of a small coin.

I'd also caution people about trying to interpret the sonar images. There were comments a few threads ago which were wildly off. If you want to know what you are looking at, post a picture or a video clip and I or someone else with experience will take a look. These things are much harder to interpret than the video images.

I do get tired saying the same things over and over again, but I'm happy to continue to do so in an effort to educate people and counteract the rising tide of nonsense out there.

This comment was posted in response to someone linking to some Youtube videos they claimed showed "explosions on the seafloor".   You can see that this is detailed and reasonable explanation for many of the things that are seen but may or may not be misunderstood or mis-characterized by people who are unfamiliar with what they are seeing, or don't have an understanding of this type of work.

This goes to show that panic infused scenario's can easily become the norm just as much as "everything is fine don't worry".   We must not be complacent.  Be concerned, but don't panic at each and every story that comes along.  The more information we can obtain the better to determine the situation.

I'll keep a watch on the situation like everyone else and update as I get newly confirmed information.

I'm Back & Updated Oil Spill News

Well I am back again.  My apologies for my abrupt departure but I had an unexpected family crisis that I needed to deal with and it took me away for a little bit.  I do have a lot of catching up to do on things as while I was "out of the loop" a lot happened.  It will take me a while to read through all that I have missed, and to find out a lot of the specific details, but for the time being until I can get caught up, I'll post about some of what I have found out. The most obvious one is the capping of the well.  This is, so far, the biggest news to date in this catastrophe and will hopefully work until the relief wells are drilled and the well shut in or closed off.


Capping the leaking Oil

It seems that the Oil Gushing into the Gulf has stopped, at least for the moment.  They were running pressure tests on this capping system to make sure that it would work, and from what I have gleaned in reading about it, low pressure would indicate leaks somewhere and a high pressure result would mean that the cap was working effectively.  

The sight that everyone has wanted to see since this all began:

After reading about the capping process at The Oil Drum, I'll quote one of their posts that explains what happened as they are much better at the details of this than I am, having missed the process at the time it happened.

So the well is currently shut-in, though the results have not been all that had been hoped for. Admiral Allen has already issued a terse comment:


"We're encouraged by this development, but this isn't over. Over the next several hours we will continue to collect data and work with the federal science team to analyze this information and perform additional seismic mapping runs in the hopes of gaining a better understanding on the condition of the well bore and options for temporary shut in of the well during a hurricane. It remains likely that we will return to the containment process using this new stacking cap connected to the risers to attempt to collect up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day until the relief well is completed."



Part of the problem, apparently, is that the well pressure has not reached the 8 - 9,000 psi level that it was hoped it would reach, but instead it is reportedto have fallen slightly shy of 7,000 psi. While this is below the expectation, it is higher than the 6,000 psi that Admiral Allen had set as the target below which they would assume a loss in integrity, and restart the flow of oil to the surface vessels.
To try and add a little context to this, at the beginning of the leak, the pressure of the oil and gas in the rock at the bottom of the well was measured at 11,900 psi. When the oil and gas fill the well that fluid column has a certain weight that balances some of the rock pressure, and the difference should be the pressure at the top of the column (which is where the BOP and stack sit). That gives the 8 – 9,000 psi range.
If the well pressure at the BOP is measured, however, at just shy of 7,000 psi then there are two possibilities. The first is that there has been so much flow of fluid out of the well that the driving pressure of the fluid in the rock has fallen by the 1,500 psi or so that brings the pressures down to those seen.
While that is a possibility, it may be unlikely because, at the time that the Top Kill was tried and as the Admiral noted just the other day, the well pressure could not be raised above 6,000 psi as they pumped in mud, even though at one stage they stopped the flow of oil out of the well.
What this could indicate is that there is a possibility of crossflow at the bottom of the well. What this means that the oil and gas that are flowing out of the reservoir into the bottom of the well, are, under the pressure in the well, now flowing into a higher reservoir of rock, now that they can't get out of the well. Depending on where that re-injection flow is, this may, or may not, suggest that the casing has lost integrity.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6737


The Oil Drum IRC channel has also been keeping a FAQ on what has been happening over the last several days which can be found here:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dff7zmqz_7c6rdwsc9

It is a bit technical but full of good information.

So for the moment the well is capped.  We'll see if that changes anytime soon.  There are people who are watching the gauges to see if the pressure continues to increase of if it begins to decrease which as stated would mean that there are leaks somewhere.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that this cap holds until the relief wells can be completed.


Now while getting the well capped is a great step if it holds, this is not the end of the problems that Gulf Coast residents will be facing.  There is a lot of oil still out there and it will take a very long time to come ashore, clean it up and then there is the problem of determining exactly what kind of damage is being done beneath the surface of the water to the ecosystem.

I had also previously posted about the berms being built at the demand of Bobby Jindal and others.  At the time they were screaming loudly that the berms were needed and would protect the coast from further damage, while others stated that this idea would not work, it was a waste of time and money not to mention a waste of a finite resource that could not be replaced once used.    It seems like that is the case.

Chandeleur sand berm segment shrinking like a wool sweater in hot water!

These sad and shocking images document the waste of enormous resources and time. It’s very hard to resist the temptation to say, “I told you so.”


June 25, 2010

July 2, 2010

July 7, 2010

http://lacoastpost.com/blog/?p=25001


It is a sad thing to see, and I would hope that no one wastes time with an "I told you so",  no matter how much that might make some feel better, and instead lets try to get this turned around so that money, time and resources are not continued to be wasted on this project when the time, money & effort could be used elsewhere to make a positive impact.

More to come.......

LOUISIANA GOVERNOR STILL HASN'T DEPLOYED NATIONAL GUARD

'As Gov. Jindal Criticized The Federal Bureaucracy, Louisiana Guard Troops Sat Idle'



Gov. Bobby Jindal's message has been loud and clear, using language such as "We will only be winning this war when we're actually deploying every resource," "They (the federal government) can provide more resources" and "It's clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here."

But nearly two months after the governor requested - and the Department of Defense approved the use of 6,000 Louisiana National Guard troops - only a fraction - 1,053 - have actually been deployed by Jindal to fight the spill.

"If you ask any Louisianan, if you said 'If you had those troops, do you think they could be put to good use? Is there anything they can do in your parish?' I think they'd all tell you 'Absolutely,'" Louisiana state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, said.
But CBS News has learned that in addition to Louisiana's 1,053 troops of 6,000, Alabama has deployed 432 troops of 3,000 available. Even fewer have been deployed in Florida - 97 troops out of 2,500 - and Mississippi - 58 troops out of 6,000.

Those figures prompted President Obama to weigh in.

"I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible," Mr. Obama said.

It's believed officials in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi and are reluctant to use more troops because their presence could hurt tourism. In hardest-hit Louisiana, however, Jindal is pointing fingers.

"Actually we asked the White House to approve the initial 6,000," Jindal said. "What they came back and said is the Coast Guard and BP had to authorize individual tasks."

But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander in charge of the government's response to the spill, said Jindal is just flat wrong.

"There is nothing standing in the governor's way from utilizing more National Guard troops," Allen said.
Jindal Not Using National Guard That Is Available & Waiting

Now someone needs to explain to the people of Louisiana that the blame for not getting more help doesn't lay at the feet of the Obama administration, but rather at the feet of those who have the authority to access more help but are not doing so.  


Apparently it is more important for Bobby Jindal to stand in front of the cameras and complain about the lack of help from the Obama administration than it is to acknowledge publicly that the Obama administration has authorized the Governor's of the Gulf States to use the National Guard. 


What is the reason for this?  How can this be acceptable?  Politic's instead of the interest in his state seems to be the idea behind Jindal's behavior.  What other explanation is there?  You have the authority to call upon over a thousand more people to help with the crisis, and yet you just don't.  Yet you are on television complaining about the lack of help available.  
This is not the only problem with Bobby Jindal that is coming to light. 

Jindal vetoes bill to open oil spill records

Gov. Bobby Jindal rejected a bill Friday that would have required him to make public and to preserve all his office's documents involving the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In his veto letter, the governor said the legislation would have hurt the state's position in future litigation against BP PLC, the oil giant that leased the rig which exploded April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and causing the disaster.

"This bill would allow BP and other parties with potential liability to the state to obtain information retained by any state agency responding to this tragic event," Jindal wrote, saying such access could jeopardize the state's position in seeking legal remedy for the spill's damage.

The Senate sponsor of the public records provision said Friday night that Jindal's veto was expected. He noted that the governor has repeatedly fought attempts to require preservation and open most of his office's records to public scrutiny.

"This governor has opposed transparency for the three years he's been in office, so that's not a surprise. What is sad about all this is it's just another black eye on Louisiana internationally now," said Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton.

Adley also called it hypocritical for the governor to push BP to open some of its records to the state even as Jindal refuses to release his own.

"How in the world would making our records public let BP off for what they've done? That makes absolutely no sense," Adley said.

Jindal has said he wants BP to open its claims database to the state to help ensure payments are being processed promptly.

Jindal Wants BP to Open Its Records But Refuses To Do The Same For Government

Now what is the reason for his refusal to not only open up the records, but to preserve them in the case of the deepwater spill?  What is he hiding?   Is he worried about his performance?  Is he hiding something that would show just how poor of a job he has been doing with regards to this spill?   Or maybe he is hiding the fact that he is screwing over his state because he is pushing a political agenda.  The fact remains that he wants BP to open its records but is unwilling to do the same.  Now if BP refused to do so, what do you think the reaction would be by Bobby Jindal?  He would be screaming to the rooftops.  


Now another question that should be asked is what did Bobby Jindal know and when did he know it about the tasks that are taking place down on the barrier islands that has caused the Federal Government to stop the dredging and the building of berms after initially giving approval to build them.


We know that Jindal was screaming for approval of the plan to start building the berms and was getting stonewalled by the Army Corps of Engineers, because they felt the plan was not worth pursuing.  The reason given was that the sand being taken to build the berms was from a limited resource that once used could not be recovered, not to mention the fact that the berms, as designed would not be able to withstand the weather in the Gulf during hurricane season.  It has been suggested that even a mild hurricane would wash away the berms leaving the barrier island vulnerable once again, and all the money and resources used to build those berms would be wasted.  Then there was the concerns that the berms could actually cause as much damage as the oil, if not more. 

Among the problems cited by one or more of those agencies: that the emergency berms would take several months to build, by which time a lot of oil would have hit the coast; that dredging up the sand to build the berms could intensify coastal erosion and rip apart undersea oil-and-gas pipelines; and that the berms, by changing the flow of water, could alter the water's salinity, potentially hurting fish.

In response, Louisiana officials changed some of the areas where they proposed to dredge the sand for the emergency berms, nixing areas that federal officials called particularly ecologically sensitive.

Louisiana's congressional delegation was pushing hard for the plan. "We implore you to immediately approve" the plan, the delegation wrote Col. Al Lee, the head of the Corps' New Orleans office, and Adm. Allen, on May 20. They noted that "heavy oil is now coating our marshes."

In written comments May 26 to the Corps of Engineers, the EPA said the berms would be "unlikely to stop the majority of the oil from migrating inland," because they would leave many large water passes open.

Furthermore, the EPA said in its comments, the construction of the oil-blocking berms "could exacerbate the emergency situation in the Gulf," in part because it could move around sand on the sea floor that already had been contaminated with oil, newly endangering aquatic life.

Berms Being Built But Doubts Persist


So, the berms were given the tentative okay, and they were started but then something changed. 

Washington Slows Down Sand Berms in Louisiana

Federal authorities have put a temporary stop to a $360 million project to build massive sand berms—a plan Nungesser championed for weeks—that are meant to block the flow of oil into the marshes and wetlands in southeastern Louisiana. Interior Department officials—who were slow to approve the project and had doubts about it—have ordered Louisiana to stop dredging sand from the sensitive Chandeleur Islands:
[Louisiana Gov. Bobby] Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said federal authorities want the state to move a dredging site farther from the Chandeleur Islands, a sensitive chain of barrier islands.
However, the Interior Department said the order was issued because the state was pumping sand from a sensitive section of the island chain and had failed to meet an extended deadline to install pipe that would tap sand from a less-endangered area.
The worry is that by pumping sand from the Chandeleurs—a chain of barrier islands east of the Mississippi River, and one of the first spots to be hit by oil—the berm project could damage the islands themselves, which form a vital natural defense against storm surges and hurricanes. The Interior Department says that Louisiana had promised to build a pipe that could bring in sand from outside the islands, but had failed to do so by an extended deadline—hence the order to stop.

Washington Puts The Brakes On Sand Berm Project

So, it would seem that in trying to do something, anything, to make themselves look like they are taking action, the long term destruction of the Chandeleurs means less than the somewhat instant and short-lived gratification that these sand berms would provide.  

Tropical Storm Alex~Gulf Hurricane Update/Status

As of right now, the activity in the Gulf of Mexico is not a hurricane and it isn't expected to be a real threat to the oil spill activity going on. It is a Tropical Storm, the first named of the season for the Gulf/Atlantic, and while it is anticipated to increase in intesity, there doesn't seem to be any indications that it will be a problem for the Gulf Coast States, although it could still impact Texas should conditions change.

These are the latest forecasts and models:

The Jeff Masters blog indicates that the current forecast is for it to make landfall north of Tampico Mexico sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday morning as possibly a weak Cat 2 Hurricane.

Now based on what is being reported, as I said there isn't expected to be a real threat to the oil spill, but the storm is expected to generate wave activity that more than likely cause some problems for the skimming operations going on.

It is important to remember that things can change and drastically if weather conditions change so while this is the projected forecast, there is no guarantee that this is how this will play out.

I'll update if anything changes.

Potential Hurricane, The Gulf Oil Spill, The Clean Up & Containment

What Happens If A Hurricane Develops In The Gulf?

Hurricane Season started June 1st and runs until November 30th.  This year they have been predicting it to be a much more active season than normal, but that is only a prediction and they have been wrong before.  In my personal opinion, I think it is better to prepare for a much more active season, and be prepared for that than to do as so many do and wait until the last minute to make plans and decide what to do when time is too important to be wasting on making plans.  We'll get into that later, but for now lets consider just the amount of  equipment that is out in the gulf.


Right now, we are going to have to think about several things. No only do we need to be concerned about how a hurricane will effect the oil spilled into the gulf, and how that will travel, but we also need to consider the ships and rigs out in the gulf which are working on containment of oil, as well as cleaning up the oil.   I have no idea what it takes for these rigs out there, 3 or 4 of them the same size as the Deepwater Horizen which went down after the massive explosion and fire, but there are a lot of other ships out there as well.  So I went to the Deepwater Horizon   Response website and found this:

Q: Hi. Thank you. There’s been some reports that the first major storm of the hurricane season might enter the Gulf as soon as next week. Could you walk us through what will happen with the collection operation if that happened next week?


ADMIRAL ALLEN: Sure. First of all, we’re watching the hurricane season very, very closely. I’m in constant contact with Jane Lubchenco, administrator of NOAA, and in fact, this week I talked to Craig Fugate, the FEMA administrator. We are informing each other of our respective operations. Of course you know they were involved with hurricane prep, so they would be anyway this time of year. And we do have that low depression that’s been informed in the Southeast Caribbean, and we’re watching that as well.


How we respond to a hurricane will be dictated by which production capacity we have on scene, and as you know this is evolving and will continue to evolve over the next two to three weeks. By the end of next week, let’s say, we would anticipate having three production vessels out there over the well site; the Discovery Enterprise, the Q4000 and the Helix Producer. Of those production capabilities, one of them is fixed hard to do the platform itself, and that’s the Discovery Enterprise down to the wellbore. The other two are on flexible couplings for vertical riser packages.


We would need in total to disconnect, recover to a safe harbor and return probably around 10 days to accomplish that, and we would probably have to start doing that anywhere between three to seven days in advance of the hurricane. Those procedures are being finalized right now. We’re discussing that with BP and the folks that are down at the area unified command in New Orleans. But if it happens—if we got notice that a hurricane was coming, we would need anywhere from three to seven days in advance of that to demobilize and redeploy the equipment.


Is that responsive?


Q: What kind of storm would have to be coming your way for you to do that? How—what kind of wind speed, or could you give anymore specifics on that?


ADMIRAL ALLEN: Well, what we’re going to do is—I was asked the question yesterday. I asked some folks working on how are mooring systems related to Saffir-Simpson Scales, because I think that’s the easiest way for people to understand that. And we will get that out to you in the next 24 hours. But basically, the least capable platform that’s in production to ride out heavy weather would be the Discovery Enterprise because it’s physically hooked to the well itself.


Anything that’s working through our vertical riser that’s floating with a flexible hose coupling will have a little bit more flexibility as far as the sea state, and the large vessels that will be coming on later in July, the shuttle tankers, have much more sea keeping capability, although none of them are designed or created, nor are the production mooring facilities and everything else, created to withstand a major hurricane. Exactly when the cutoff is as far as the sea state goes, we will put that together, and we’ll give you a brief in 24 hours.

June 22, 2010 Unified Command Press Briefing


Are there any storms brewing in the gulf that these guys should be worried about?  Well there is Invest 93 that should be watched for development:

Weather Underground Tropical Storm Computer Model of Invest 93
That is Invest 93 and this is what Jeff Masters has to say about it:

Forecast for 93L
NHC is giving 93L a 40% chance of developing into a tropical depression by Thursday morning, which is a reasonable forecast. Given the storm's current lack of spin and relatively modest amount of heavy thunderstorms, the earliest I'd expect 93L to become a tropical depression would be Wednesday afternoon, with Thursday more likely. Wind shear is expected to be low, less than 10 knots, over the central and western Caribbean this week. Water temperatures will be warm, dry air absent, and the MJO favorable. I don't see any major impediments to the storm becoming a tropical depression by Thursday, and it is a bit of a surprise to me that the computer models have been reluctant to develop 93L. The GFS, NOGAPS, and UKMET models do not develop 93L, and the ECMWF model doesn't develop 93L until after it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula and enters the Gulf of Mexico in a about a week. The current (2am EDT) run of the GFDL model predicts 93L will be a weak tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico in five days; its previous run had 93L as a major hurricane in the Gulf. Given all this model reluctance and the current disorganization of 93L, I give the storm a low (less than 20% chance) of becoming a hurricane in the Caribbean. Expect 93L to bring flooding rains of 3 - 6 inches to Jamaica, eastern Cuba, and southwestern Haiti today through Wednesday. These rains will spread to the Cayman Islands and central Cuba by Thursday, and western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday. The current run of the SHIPS model has 93L slowing down late this week to a forward speed of just 6 knots (7 mph) from its current speed of about 10 mph, in response to a weakening in the steering currents. A trough of low pressure is expected to swing down over the Eastern U.S. early next week. If this trough is strong enough and 93L develops significantly, the storm could get pulled northwards and make landfall along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast in the oil spill region. This is the solution of the Canadian GEM model. If 93L stays weak and/or the trough is not so strong, the storm would get pushed west-northwestwards towards the Texas coast. This is the solution of the ECMWF model. The amount of wind shear in the Gulf of Mexico next week is highly uncertain. There is currently a band of high shear near 30 knots over the Gulf, and some of the models predict this shear will remain over the Gulf over the next 7 - 10 days. However, other models predict that this band of high shear will retreat northwards and leave the Gulf nearly shear-free. The long-term fate of 93L remains very murky. My main concerns at this point are the potential for 3 - 6 inches of rain in Haiti over the next two days, and the possibility 93L could become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico next week.
Jeff Masters Weather Underground Blog

If the rigs in the gulf need a week to disengage what they are working on and move to safe harbor, then they are going to be running into some issues, especially in light of the fact that hurricane's are not predictable and sometimes they can blow up in strength and change direction pretty quickly depending on the weather circumstances.

If you have any interest in looking at the history of hurricanes in the Gulf/Atlantic you can find each year from 2009 all the way back to 1995 located at NOAA:
History of Hurricane Activity



There was also a new development today.  The LRMC was removed and this caused quite a stir.  It seems based on what Adm. Thad Allen had to say at the press conference, it seems that one of the ROV's hit a vent on the cap and it closed it which in turn caused some gas to go up the water tube they have run down there which is pumping warm water into the riser pipe to help prevent the formation of hydrates (crystals formed by the gas hitting the cold water).  

The LRMC is at the surface now being repaired so the oil & gas is gushing freely until that cap is placed back on.   Another concern is how this Tropical system starts to develop as they have said that they will need aprox. 5 days to disconnect everything and move to safety.   So if they are paying attention and they think that this tropical system could come towards the rig's they will have to move out in just a few days time at the most, which means that for 10 days the pipe will gush unimpeded and that will bring a lot more oil up for any hurricane to push around with the winds, and bring up onto the beaches.

Louisiana Police Pull Over Activist at Behest of BP

Last week, Drew Wheelan, the conservation coordinator for the American Birding Association, was filming himself across the street from the BP building/Deepwater Horizon response command in Houma, Louisiana. As he explained to me, he was standing in a field that did not belong to the oil company when a police officer approached him and asked him for ID and "strongly suggest[ed]" that he get lost since "BP doesn't want people filming":

Here's the key exchange:

Wheelan: "Am I violating any laws or anything like that?"

Officer: "Um...not particularly. BP doesn't want people filming."

Wheelan: "Well, I'm not on their property so BP doesn't have anything to say about what I do right now."

Officer: "Let me explain: BP doesn't want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest that you not film anything right now. If that makes any sense."

Not really! Shortly thereafter, Wheelan got in his car and drove away but was soon was pulled over.

It was the same cop, but this time he had company: Kenneth Thomas, whose badge, Wheelan told me, read "Chief BP Security." The cop stood by as Thomas interrogated Wheelan for 20 minutes, asking him who he worked with, who he answered to, what he was doing, why he was down here in Louisiana. He phoned Wheelan's information in to someone. Wheelan says Thomas confiscated his Audubon volunteer badge (he'd recently attended an official Audubon/BP bird-helper volunteer training) and then wouldn't give it back, which sounds like something only a bully in a bad movie would do. Eventually, Thomas let Wheelan go.

"Then two unmarked security cars followed me," Wheelan told me. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but I was specifically trying to figure out if they were following me, and every time I pulled over, they pulled over." This went on for 20 miles. Which does little to mitigate my own developing paranoia about reporting from what can feel like a corporate-police state.

Louisiana Police working for BP




So now our police are working for BP?  This is outrageous.  The police strongly suggests that this guy not film while on private property, and yet it wasn't BP's property.  What the hell is going on?  How in the hell is this being allowed to happen.  Why does BP have any kind of authority with the police?


**By the way, Mother Jones is a non profit group and therefore could any support they can get to help them keep going.  If you can help them out, it is worth doing even if it is only a little, and I am sure that they would appreciate it.

Updates, Interactive Graphics, & Pictures

BBC News has a fantastic Interactive guide that gives photos as well as moving graphics that explain & show what happened with both the sinking, the BOP, the attempts to stop the oil and it is incredibly easy to follow along, not to mention makes the whole thing a lot easier to understand from a laymen's point of view.

Interactive guide on what happened, and the details in easy to follow picture guide.

These are some screenshots of the wreckage of the rig:

Now this is supposed to be the shots from the different ROV's and their positions so you have a better understanding on what you are looking at. From the diagram you can see that these ROV's are not in a tight circle but are spread out at various key points.  This suggests to me that there is no reason why there cannot be independent ROV's down there to verify the information that BP is giving.  We've seen how they are willing to do everything within their power to hide the truth from not only us but from the government as well, and that should just be counted on as they are the ones who are going to ultimately pay based on damages, so they will obviously do everything in their power to minimize the damage done in order to minimize how much they are going to pay.

As more and more information continues to come out, BP is going to be hard pressed to keep pointing fingers at everyone else as this was their operation and they are the ones who had the final say on what was done and not done. I, along with many others are going to be watching closely to see exactly how this plays out due to the politics.

A Deepwater Horizon rig worker has told the BBC that he identified a leak in the oil rig's safety equipment weeks before the explosion.

Tyrone Benton said the leak was not fixed at the time, but that instead the faulty device was shut down and a second one relied on.

BP said rig owners Transocean were responsible for the operation and maintenance of that piece of equipment.

Transocean said it tested the device successfully before the accident.

........

Several rig workers the BBC spoke to who were on the Deepwater Horizon said there was pressure in April to work fast.

Work to prepare and then seal the well was behind schedule and had to be completed before a production rig could move in and start turning profits.

"Too many jobs were being done at one time. It should have just really slowed down and just took one job at a time, to make sure everything was done the way it should have been," said Mr Benton, who is now suing BP and Transocean for negligence.

BP has responded to Mr Benton's account saying Transocean was responsible for both the maintenance and operation of the blowout preventer.

BP was told of oil safety fault 'weeks before blast'


One can only hope that when this is all said and done that someone is criminally charged for this disaster.  11 people died due to yet again ignoring safety to maximize profits.  The gulf has been damaged beyond calculation and people's lives have been destroyed.

Markey Obtains Doc's Showing BP Knew Worst Case of 100,000 Daily Possible

Markey: Internal BP Document Shows Worst Case Scenario for Spill Could Be 100,000 Barrels Per Day


WASHINGTON (June 20, 2010) -- Today Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) released an internal BP document showing that the company's own analysis believed that a worst-case scenario, based on damage to the well bore, could result in 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
In the document, BP stated: If BOP and wellhead are removed and if we have incorrectly modeled the restrictions – the rate could be as high as ~ 100,000 barrels per day up the casing or 55,000 barrels per day up the annulus (low probability worst cases)
To read the document, CLICK HERE.
This number is in sharp contrast to BP’s initial claim that the leak was just 1,000 barrels a day. At the time this document was made available to Congress, BP claimed the leak was 5,000 barrels a day, and told Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the worst case scenario was be 60,000 barrels a day. This document tells a different story.
“Considering what is now known about BP’s problems with this well prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion, including cementing issues, leaks in the blowout preventer and gas kicks, BP should have been more honest about the dangerous condition of the well bore,” said Markey, the chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
On Thursday, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen was asked in his daily briefing about the condition of the well bore.  He said there, “So what I would tell you is we don’t know exactly the condition of the well bore. And that’s one of the unknowns that we’re managing around in terms of risks.  And that’s the reason we didn’t go, didn’t go to excessive pressures on the top kill and decided that we’d deal with containment and then go for the final relief well.”
According to Admiral Allen: "I think that one thing that nobody knows is the condition of the well bore from below the blowout preventer down to the actual oil field itself.  And we don’t know, we don’t know if the well bore has been compromised or not."
What the BP document suggests that if the well bore is compromised or becomes compromised, we now know we could be looking at a flow rate 100 times BP's initial estimate.  Even if we can't know for certain the condition of the well bore, we should have known how much oil could flow from it--BP did.
“When the oil spill started, BP said it was only 1,000 barrels a day. Now we know it could end up being 100 times larger than that in a worst-case scenario,” said Markey. “This document raises very troubling questions about what BP knew and when they knew it. It is clear that, from the beginning, BP has not been straightforward with the government or the American people about the true size of this spill. Now the families living and working in the Gulf are suffering from their incompetence.”
“BP needs to tell us what it will do if the well bore is compromised and 100,000 barrels per day of oil spills into the ocean. At this point, we need real contingency planning, not a plan with dead scientists and walruses,” said Markey.

Questions Remain on Integrity of Well

Documents Include:

At the time this document was made available to Congress, BP claimed the leak was 5,000 barrels a day, and told Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the worst case scenario was be 60,000 barrels a day.   These documents tell a different story altoghter, which shows the reason that I've been saying all along that it was important to get independent verification of what BP was claiming and that we should NEVER trust the criminal to give us accurate information on his crime.

This information is just mind blowing especially in light of the previous information that we got from dougr from the oil drum, which suggests that the well casing is damaged and could cause a loss of the BOP before the relief wells are completed.

Now since we nor they (BP/Coast Guard) know where the casing may or may not be damaged, if the relief well is not drilled far enough down it could cause a more significant problem.

We are after all dealing with unknowns here.  What a shame that that those who are supposed to be protecting us are unwilling to be honest with us about this disaster.  It is obvious that BP has no plan, they are simply playing it by ear.

What would they do if the well bore was damaged or if the BOP is further damaged before the relief wells blow out?  They haven't been able to stop or even contain the leak as it is, and this isn't gushing at full capacity as of yet.  This should be a huge red flag that tells our government that BP should no longer be in charge of any aspect of this operation, as they are simply not going to be forthright and tell us what is going on.



Then to top off the day, we have members of the GOP now wanting us all to pray the oil spill away.
Yes, that is what I said, pray it away.

Louisiana lawmakers propose prayer to stop oil disaster

While cleanup crews and technical teams continue efforts to stop crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing a different approach: prayer.
State senators designated Sunday as a day for citizens to ask for God's help dealing with the oil disaster.
"Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us."
The resolution names Sunday as a statewide day of prayer in Louisiana and calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast "to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood."
Yes, brothers & sisters, you too can bring about the healing of the gulf and stop the oil simply by bowing your head and falling to your knees and direct your prayers skyward


Why doesn't this surprise me? Maybe Sarah Palin can get her Kenyan Witch-Doctor Priest, Rev. Muthee and he can join her down there and pray the oil out just like the can pray away the witchcraft!




And in other news, Tony Hayward took some time to reconnect with his family, and his yacht.  Reports that he was over watching his yacht "Bob" race at the Isle of Wight proved to be true, and while some reported that he was only there with his son, photos prove otherwise.

Trying to maintain a 'low profile', he was unsuccessful at that, but did manage to parttake of the race on his $700,000.00 yacht while those in the gulf were still struggling with issues like losing their business and homes.

I don't begrudge the man time with his family, but this is like rubbing salt into the wounds of those who have lost everything, are watching their environment be destroyed, while the CEO who stated he wanted his life back is out sailing on his yacht.   Talk about a PR disaster, this man is the perfect example of what not to do.

Palin Fan Fail

Palin Supporters Showcase Their Desire to Make Sarah Palin Look Like She Is Knowledgeable About Something, Anything, and Fail Yet Again!

Sarah Palin was recently a guest on the Bill O'Reilly show, and she once again allowed her ignorance to shine bright on national television due to her inescapably obvious jealousy of the President of the United States.  Her anger at him has been obvious, and while her supporters like to portray it as being something that is expected due to his inexperience, it is really an emotion she has a hard time controlling due to her inability to accept she did not succeed in the last presidential election.  She pit herself not against Joe Biden with whom she was actually running against, but against the top spot on the presidential ticket because that is the title she covets.

So, onto the Bill O'Reilly show.  Bill did a marvelous job of showing her to be the ignorant and ranting fool that she is, and all he had to do was ask her questions.  The fact is he didn't even ask tough questions, instead questions like, "what would you do", and she couldn't even answer that.  She ranted about stopping the leaking well in the gulf and yet when Bill pointed out that no one knew how to stop the well, she did not let that deter her from continuing her anger filled diatribe against President Obama.   She claimed that the Dutch were never called back and that both they and the Norwegian had offered to help but "couldn't even get the proverbial call back".

You can watch the entertaining exchange if you'd like.




Now as expected many started immediately laughing at Sarah for her Dutch Dike image and why not, as she is known for not being accurate in her claims. In fact more than a few people were willing to show how easily Sarah stretches the truth to embellish her own record.
Palingates did a story about part of this interview: Sarah Palin, still lying about her record regarding the oil industry in Alaska; Sarah Palin, in her attempts to undermine President Obama, continues to make wild claims about her tough stance when she dealt with the oil companies in Alaska before she quit the office of governor. They did quite a good job showing just how far Sarah tends to go in order to try and smear President Obama and make herself seem important.


Now Palin Supporters are doing some serious twisting of the facts in order to attempt to make Sarah's claims seem accurate and it truly is a sight to behold, especially in light of the actual facts.

The blog "Conservatives4Palin" posted this commentary yesterday:

FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010

Guess What? The Dutch Want to Build a Sand Dike to Help with the Obama Oil Spill

By Ian Lazaran 

....................
The left should probably ask themselves why nobody in the mainstream media in America has criticized Palin for her comments about the Dutch. They haven't done so probably because they know that Governor Palin is absolutely correct. Barack Obama rejected assistance from the Dutch untilvery recently and he has failed to accept all the help that the Dutch have offered. What help from the Dutch has Barack Obama failed to accept?

The government is also making it difficult for the Dutch to provide assistance in creating sand barriers to prevent the spilled oil from reaching the gulf shores. Van Oord, a Dutch company and Deltares, a Dutch research institute provided plans to build 60 mile sand dikes and the government rebuffed their offer of assistance. The government has now changed it’s tune and has accepted the plan, but the Jones Act prevents the Dutch from operating in America’s coastal waters.

This article tells us that Barack Obama's failure to waive the Jones Act has prevented the Dutch from implementing its plan to build a.....sand dike, which is exactly the type of expertise that Governor Palin claimed the Dutch would bring. The article also tells us that Governor Palin is correct that Obama has only accepted some, but not all, of the help that the Dutch has offered due to his failure to waive the Jones Act.

It's pretty telling that Yglesias is the only liberal willing to come forward and concede that Governor Palin was "right" (his characterization of what Palin said, not mine). And liberals have the gall to claim that the right is suffering from epistemic closure?

**********************************************************************************
(I did not copy the entire article, only the truly relevant portions when taken into consideration what Sarah Palin was stating in her interview with Bill O'Reilly. )

Let's tackle the main points and go from there shall we?   Sarah claimed "The Dutch could not even get a proverbial call back" and that they have expertise in Dikes.

Now The Dutch did get a call back. Even they admitted as such:

Three days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, the Netherlands offered to help. Ships could have set about clearing the oil using Dutch sweeping arms, but the US government didn’t take up the offer. Dutch Consul General Geert Visser in Houston told Radio Netherlands Worldwide he was disappointed.

The article also went on to state:

Not only capricious US decision-making has made life difficult for the Dutch companies, but also protective US legislation. Consul General Geert Visser’s pet hate is the Jones Act: “It means that Dutch ships, or whatever other ships not under a US flag, can’t operate in US waters.” According to the Jones Act, all goods in US waters have to be transported by US ships.

Dutch Counsel Slams Foot Dragging by U.S. In Oil Spill

Now clearly the Dutch got a call back as they are complaining that their offer was not accepted on the 3rd day after the rig explosion. It also sounds like the Dutch have a bit of a problem with the Jones Act itself so perhaps they are more than willing to show their displeasure with that "thanks but no thanks" by taking a bit of a pot shot at the U.S. with regards to the oil spill simply because of their anger with the Jones Act?

So Sarah lied about that, and her supporters even prove it by linking to the article that shows they did indeed get a call back. They are obviously unwilling to admit to that part though. Why point out the obvious when it is much easier to just go with her lie and pretend like her claims are truthful.


Now, as to the response to the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and collapse, the Dutch claim that they offered to send help 3 days after the rig explosion, but it wasn't until the 4th day that the oil started showing up as leaking out of the riser pipe below the surface, prior to that there was simply oil from the platform, and based on those on scene, additional help was not really needed.  Now lets just give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are talking about 3 days after the initial explosion took place, that puts the date at the 24th, which is when the first signs of oil was leaking out of the riser pipe, but it was not known at that point that it was going to be the huge or long lasting gusher that it has become.  BP was still the ones calling the shots at that point as they were "the responsible party" and therefore the ones  who were responsible for all efforts.  So, instead of being angry at President Obama, the anger should be directed at BP for their refusal of aide, but the Palin crowd can't let a chance to screech at the President go to waste.

April 20, 2010: 9:45 p.m. CDT - Deepwater Horizon catches fire.
April 21, 2010  Coast Guard rear admiral Mary Landry named Federal On Scene Coordinator
April 22, 2010  10:21 am - Rig sinks.
April 23, 2010  Coast Guard rear adm. Mary Landry tells CBS "At this time, there is no crude emanating from that wellhead at the ocean surface, er, at the ocean floor...There is not oil emanating from the riser either
April 24 - BP reports a leak 1,000 barrels (42,000 US gallons; 160 cubic metres) a day.


Here is the Response Timeline:
Deepwater Horizon Response

Here is the Timeline of events:
Wiki: Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon Events

So, despite the anger by the Dutch at the fact that the response team didn't need their help on the 3rd day as there was no noticeable leaking at that point, it was the correct response to make at the time.  It should also be mentioned that since that time, the Dutch have again offered their help by way of skimmers and that help has been accepted, and with no waiver of the Jones Act needed.   Now if you want to argue that the Unified Command was late in accepting that help, I will have no problem admitting that fact.  The Coast Guard was simply stupid to allow BP to make the final call on these decisions for as long as they have.  When it was obvious that BP was not putting the needed effort into the clean up of the spill, the Coast Guard should have taken total control of the clean up effort, but it didn't and still hasn't.

You will also notice that there is a constant reference to the Jones Act. The Jones Act was set up to protect the American worker.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports.

Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The purpose of the law is to support the U.S. merchant marine industry, but agricultural interests generally oppose it because, they contend, it raises the cost of shipping their goods, making them less competitive with foreign sources.

In addition, amendments to the Jones Act, known as the Cargo Preference Act (P.L. 83-644), provide permanent legislation for the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels.

(The cabotage provisions restrict the carriage of goods or passengers between United States ports to U.S. built and flagged vessels. In addition, at least 75 percent of the crewmembers must be U.S. citizens. Moreover foreign repair work of U.S.-flagged vessels' hull and superstructure is limited to 10 percent foreign-built steel weight.[2] This restriction largely prevents American shipowners from refurbishing their ships at overseas shipyards.)

Merchant Marine Act of 1920


Now there has been constant complaints that we are not able to get help due to the fact that the Jones Act has not been officially waived, and yet that rates as a 'true but barely" on the Truth O'Meter scale.

Thad Allen sets up accelerated Jones Act waiver process

National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced the development of specific guidance to ensure accelerated processing of requests for Jones Act waivers should they be received as a part of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.

Currently, though 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the response, but no Jones Act waivers have been granted nor required for the operations in which they are engaged.

However, in order to prepare for any potential need, Admiral Allen has provided guidance to the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Maritime Administration to ensure any Jones Act waiver requests receive urgent attention and processing.

"While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response, we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios," said Admiral Allen. "Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay."

To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations' International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre. In some cases, offers of international assistance have been turned down because the offer didn't fit the needs of the response.

Generally, federal law prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting merchandise between points in the United States encompassed by the Coastwise laws. CBP makes determinations as to whether or not the Jones Act applies to the activities of a foreign-flagged vessel operating within U.S. waters.

Even if the Jones Act applies, a foreign flagged vessel can still conduct certain planned operations as part of the BP oil spill response if the vessel is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC section 55113.

The guidance provided by Admiral Allen would route waivers related to the BP oil spill response through the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, who will forward requests immediately through the National Incident Commander for expedited clearance.

A Jones Act waiver can be submitted by any interested party, either inside or outside the U.S. government.

Marine Log

So as has been reported repeatedly and more often ignored, there has been no need to waive the Jones Act, and by not doing so it has not stopped any help from being offered or accepted in the Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Containment & Clean Up.   Color me surprised that this is ignored by those who are desperate to find anything they can to complain about when it comes to the current administration, even if it means making things up which seems to be about all they have nowadays, when as I see it there are plenty of legitimate things you can complain about.

Now lets move onto these claims that the Dutch want to build 60 mile Sand Dikes to help protect the wetland.

What about these Sand Berm's or Dike's?

Are they the best option? Will they work?

The U.S. Army Corps had objected to parts of the plan, saying too many berms would alter tidal movements and send oil spilling onto neighboring Mississippi.The approved berms make up about half of an 86-mile network considered a last-ditch attempt to keep oil out of the state's fragile marshes.

"Rather than just say 'No way' the prudent thing to do was start a pilot project and keep asking questions," Allen said Thursday during a news conference in Venice.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said BP PLC, which is responsible for the spill's cleanup, would pay for the first section to be built, at Scofield Island. He said the oil company would pay for the other five if the Army Corps deems the Scofield berm successful.

Shreveport Times

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is desperate: millions of gallons of BP’s crude are launching an amphibious assault on his beaches and wetlands. So let’s do the math: desperation + a pol’s “do something” mentality = a loony decision to build 14-foot sand berms to protect the state’s coastline—a decision that bodes ill for the many others the state will face as BP’s oil gushes at least until August.

Before this, Jindal was known to scientists as the governor who in 2008 signed a law allowing the state’s public schools to teach creationism (excuse me! “intelligent design”) in their classrooms. The difficulty he has distinguishing science from faith reared its ugly head again when he cast about for a way to hold back BP’s oil. Emissaries from Jindal’s office have made regular pilgrimages to the Netherlands to consult with engineers about protecting the state’s coasts from the next Katrina. Van Oord, a marine engineering and dredging company that is constructing the artificial Palm Islands for Dubai, proposed building what amounts to artificial sandbars. “If you ask a Dutch company that builds artificial islands in Dubai how to protect marshlands and barrier islands,” says coastal geologist Rob Young of Western Carolina University, “of course they’ll say, ‘Let’s make an offshore island!—and shall we put a palm tree on it for you?’

Nothing like this has ever been tried, and the potential problems are legion. For starters, the 45 miles of berms the Army Corps of Engineers has OK’d will take six months to build, and “is going to start to erode and disappear immediately,” says Young. “I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time they get to the end the beginning is gone—and that’s without a storm.” (Scientists predict this hurricane season will be one of the worst in years.)

But heck, it’s BP’s money ($360 million for the berms alone, to be constructed by The Shaw Group Inc. of Baton Rouge, though the feds and state would have to front it and hope to be repaid), so who cares if the berms have to be rebuilt over and over? The real problem could be if they last long enough to block inlets that carry water to the wetlands on shore. If that happens, notes Young, “organisms that need to move in and out with tidal flushing won’t. You could kill the wetlands without the oil ever reaching them.” If they don’t block the inlets, then oil will reach the wetlands, and they’ll be toast. (If you think it’s tough to clean oil from a bird or beach, try cleaning it from the roots and stems of a wetland’s grass and reeds.) Altering tidal currents could also cause erosion of the natural barrier islands that protect the coast from hurricanes. “This could do more environmental harm than good,” says Young.

Newsweek: Don't Just Do Something



Dallon Weathers, noted coastal geologist at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Weathers compiled his concerns about the concept, perhaps in response to my May 10 post. His thoughts are summarized as follow:
• The planned area of dredging 1 mile from the shoreline will provide very little usable sediment.
• The proposed location and geometry of the designed berm ensures a rapid erosion timetable.
• The trench left at dredge site will modify wave patterns and rob sediment from the coastal system for years to come.
• Closing inlets would wreak havoc on the natural functioning of estuaries and inlets which make up our coastal ecosystem.
• Dredging along our coast could sever oil and gas pipelines.
• Precious offshore sand resources will be spread diffusely and haphazardly.
• Plugging inlets will cause channel scouring and potential inlet relocation.
• Waste of money and sentiment for others to give to future restoration.
• The (proposed sand) berm won’t be ready to help with this oil spill, or last for another.

LA Coast Post

There seems to be a general consensus that these berms or dikes are a bad idea.  Why invest so much into a project that is doomed to not only fail, but in all likelihood make matters worse?  Is it really just a desire to do anything over doing something right?    Bobby Jindal has wanted these berms put in place long before the oil spill and now he has an even better excuse to use to attempt to get them put up, and what's worse is that BP will be paying for them.   I have no qualms about the fact that BP should pay for doing everything they can to not only clean up the mess, but to help find ways to prevent the disaster from becoming worse, but it seems really ignorant to have them spend that money on something that isn't going to work, when the money could go towards some other idea that will work, or someone who has lost everything due to this disaster.

When we demand that they just throw away money, then we become as reckless as they have been, and that makes us no better than they are.


So the basis for this whole article that Sarah Palins' fans have written is false.  She was not right about the fact that the Dutch did not get the proverbial phone call back, because they did.  The Jones Act is not something that is a concern, as that has been taken care of already, it has not stopped or prevented help from coming into the Gulf of Mexico to help with the oil spill.   She lied about her record, unless of course she wants to come forward and admit that she did not do what she claimed instead she simply renamed an organization that was set up by the previous administration, and then admit that despite her claims of making sure that the Oil & Gas companies were working safer, they weren't and there is documented evidence of that fact.