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BP Oil Spill Update 6/9/2010 LINKS IN THIS EMAIL:
1. How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico?
2. Scientist Awed by Size, Density of Undersea Oil Plume in Gulf
3. Units make history with Air Force's first homeland defense ORI
4. Rep. Maloney: Address Health of Gulf Cleanup Workers Now, Before They
Lose It
5. OSHA Fronts for BP After Congressmen Press for Worker Safety
6. Letter to Obama: SPJ urges government transparency regarding Gulf oil
spill
7. On the Gulf Coast, Media Access Can Be Hard to Come By
8. As Missteps Mount, So Does the Backlash
9. BP Oil Spill: Top 10 Questions Still Unanswered:
10. Another Gulf oil spill: Well near Deepwater Horizon has leaked
since at least April 30
11. AP Exclusive: Scuba Diving in the Gulf:
12. Wasting the Gulf: Is Obama BP's Poodle?
13. Now Oil, Next Nukes: Apocalypse in the Gulf
14. CNN’s Anderson Cooper, 6/8/2010: Federal officials blocking reporters:
====================
[BP is a major oil supplier to the U.S. military-- Democracy Now (In
how many different ways are we being held hostage to BP during this
oil disaster?)]
How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/05/how-much-oil-has-spilled-in-the-gulf-of-mexico.html
[upper-end estimates already as high as 200 million gallons released
into the Gulf so far... equal to 19 Exxon Valdez spills]
==========
Scientist Awed by Size, Density of Undersea Oil Plume in Gulf
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/08/08greenwire-scientist-awed-by-size-density-of-undersea-oil-98517.html
PAUL QUINLAN AND JOSH VOORHEES
The New York Times
June 9, 2010
Vast underwater concentrations of oil sprawling for miles in the Gulf
of Mexico from the damaged, crude-belching BP PLC well are
unprecedented in “human history” and threaten to wreak havoc on marine
life, a team of scientists said today, a finding confirmed for the
first time by federal officials.
Researchers aboard the F.G. Walton Smith vessel briefed reporters on a
two-week cruise in which they traced an underwater oil plum 15 miles
wide, 3 miles long and about 600 feet thick. The plume’s core is 1,100
to 1,300 meters below the surface, they said.
“It’s an infusion of oil and gas unlike anything else that has ever
been seen anywhere, certainly in human history,” said Samantha Joye of
the University of Georgia, the expedition leader.
Bacteria are breaking down the oil’s hydrocarbons in a massive,
microorganism feeding frenzy that has sent oxygen levels plunging
close to what is considered “dead zone” conditions, at which most
marine life are smothered for a lack of dissolved oxygen.
==========
Units make history with Air Force's first homeland defense ORI
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123207101
The "unconditional enemy" here includes, We, The People:
<<<
Unlike traditional ORIs, in this one the participants were tasked with
supporting civil authorities while fighting an unconventional foe in
the United States. In the past, ORIs have typically required units to
deploy to simulated overseas bases and defend against conventional
military forces.
>>>
Sheer coincidence that this was in Gulfport, Miss., in May?
============================
Rep. Maloney: Address Health of Gulf Cleanup Workers Now, Before They Lose
It
http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2010/06/09/rep-maloney-address-health-of-gulf-cleanup-workers-now-before-they-lose-it/
OSHA needs to conduct a monitoring program independent of the recovery
effort of BP and the Coast Guard. We need to know every data point of
air monitoring in the region. We need to know the safety training for
workers gives them the knowledge they need to recognize risks to their
health. And we need to know workers have every available piece of
personal protection equipment, including respirators, that they need
to work safely with the cleanup of BP’s oil. If we don’t act now, and
if OSHA continues to provide cover for BP, Gulf cleanup workers will
suffer for the rest of the lives, and BP will wash its hands thanks to
the complicity of OSHA.
FDL activist Spocko wrote an action diary calling for respirators for
BP cleanup workers. Be sure to read his call to action, and then join
his Facebook group in support of respirators for workers.
============
OSHA Fronts for BP After Congressmen Press for Worker Safety
http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2010/06/06/osha-fronts-for-bp-after-congressmen-press-for-worker-safety/
Quite frankly, it sounds like OSHA has been co-opted into the
labyrinth of BP cleanup operations. I don’t understand how in 10 days
a company can go from “general systemic failure” to near
full-compliance with OSHA regulations, completely erasing the need for
OSHA to even consider “any need for enforcement action.”
Louisiana officials aren’t satisfied. The state’s health and
environment officials requested OSHA continue to press BP for adequate
safety measures to protect cleanup workers:
=============
Letter to Obama: SPJ urges government transparency regarding Gulf oil spill
http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=977
We are writing to you in the midst of what may well be the worst
environmental disaster in the history of the United States to urge
that you give the public access to all monitoring data related to the
oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, including past, present and future
videos of the live feed maintained by BP of oil spilling on the seabed
since the feed was started. Access to all monitoring data is crucial
for scientists and the public to understand the extent of the problem,
and plan for how to help the area recover and thrive.
=====================
On the Gulf Coast, Media Access Can Be Hard to Come By
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/06/on-the-gulf-coast-media-access.html
And nobody would talk to us either -- and not just at the supposed
medical site. Wherever we went, the "word" seemed to be out: don't
talk to the media. On a dock at Venice, where workers who had been
hired by BP were coming back from cleanup duties, we couldn't get a
comment from anyone. We saw them sitting around after their boat trip
back, but we were told by coordinators on the dock not to talk with
any of them.
=================
As Missteps Mount, So Does the Backlash
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294523724355994.html
===================
BP Oil Spill: Top 10 Questions Still Unanswered:
What We Still Don't Know About Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Media/gulf-oil-spill-day-50-questions-unanswered/story?id=10857435
A government flow chart, dated June 6, showed 13 federal agencies
involved. Regulations put in place after the Exxon Valdez accident in
1989, Allen said, put the "responsible party" in charge of the cleanup
effort. That was intended to make sure BP, not the taxpayers, are
footing the bill -- but it also means the chain of command is far less
clear.
===============
Another Gulf oil spill: Well near Deepwater Horizon has leaked since
at least April 30
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/another_gulf_oil_spill_well_ne.html
The Deepwater Horizon is not the only well leaking oil into the Gulf
of Mexico for the last month.
A nearby drilling rig, the Ocean Saratoga, has been leaking since at
least April 30, according to a federal document.
While the leak is decidedly smaller than the Deepwater Horizon spill,
a 10-mile-long slick emanating from the Ocean Saratoga is visible from
space in multiple images gathered by Skytruth.org, which monitors
environmental problems using satellites.
==============
AP Exclusive: Scuba Diving in the Gulf:
http://video.ap.org/?f=1136864&pid=r76vsCkWaz0pgxY1Ud9jyDoI9dfBf8yn
Ecorigs.org
===================
Wasting the Gulf: Is Obama BP's Poodle?
By SHAMUS COOKE
http://www.counterpunch.org/cooke06092010.html
The ultimate lesson of this environmental/economic catastrophe is that
Obama is not at all serious about confronting corporate interests.
Rather, he allows them to stampede over the public interests, ensuring
that such disasters will happen again.
====================
Now Oil, Next Nukes: Apocalypse in the Gulf
http://www.counterpunch.org/wasserman06082010.html
By HARVEY WASSERMAN
If the White House has a reliable plan for deploying and funding a
credible response to a disaster at a reactor that's superior to the
one we've seen at the Deepwater Horizon, we'd sure like to see it.
Meanwhile it wants us to fund two more reactors on the Gulf and
another one 40 miles from Washington DC. And that's just for starters.
====================
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, 6/8/2010: Federal officials blocking reporters:
<<<
Exactly why federal officials now make it impossible to get pictures
like this is not clear to us. This is the reality of what oil does to
birds. This is the reality everyone should be able to see.
>>>
DAY 50, And BP is still not being transparent
AT APPROX. 15 MINS...
“RESCUING WILDLIFE FROM OIL SPILL”
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/podcasts/ac360/site/2010/06/09/cooper.podcast.tuesday.cnn
TOP RESEARCHER: “NO REASON TO THINK THE SPILL IS NOT 100,000 BARRELS PER
DAY”
TRANSCRIPT:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1006/08/acd.02.html
EXCERPT:
COOPER (voice-over): Each day they set out, wildlife officials and
bird rescuers, searching the marsh islands near Grand Isle, prime
breeding ground for brown pelicans.
RON BRITTON, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: There've been reports
this morning that there are birds in the area. And what they're trying
to do is identify those that they might have a really good chance at
running on and capturing.
COOPER: Ron Britton is with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.
They wouldn't allow us to be in the boat with officials actually
capturing the birds, but agreed to let us follow along from a
distance.
(on camera): In order to find birds, wildlife officials will check a
couple of different signs. They will -- they will look at the
condition of a boom in an area, see how much oil is on it and whether
or not it's fresh oil.
There's a lot of oil on these booms, but it doesn't necessarily look
all that fresh. There is a lot of oil on the rocks here on this
outcropping. So, any birds who are nesting in this area or staying in
this area have likely come in contact with some level of oil.
(voice-over): Over the last few days, dozens of birds have been found
covered in oil around Grand Isle.
(on camera): So, there's been a big uptick over the last couple of
days in the number of birds they're finding.
BRITTON: Right.
COOPER: But you said it can kind of go in waves or pulses?
BRITTON: Right. As you get fresh oil in on a beach, if it's not a
continual oiling, you're going to have a real high number that get
into it right away and initially.
COOPER: High number of birds.
BRITTON: A high number of birds that are going to get into it initially.
And what you're trying to do is get in and get those as quick as you
can. But the ones you're missing have, you know, less chance each
night you can't get back. And, so, there is a tailing off. And the
ones that we don't get, we're pretty sure are going somewhere and not
-- not surviving.
And then -- and then it will tail off, and you will have what looks
like relatively unoiled conditions for a while or spot oiling and that
kind of thing, until there's another pulse of oil or until you move to
another area that has had heavy oiling.
COOPER (voice-over): Three hundred and fifty-four oiled birds have
been found alive in Louisiana so far. No accurate number exists for
how many may have already died.
(on camera): And what does oil do to pelicans? What's the danger?
BRITTON: Oil -- there would be the -- there would be the exterior
oiling and just the -- the -- the reduction of thermoregulation. And
there would be the internal through preening. They could get some
internal injury from preening.
COOPER: So, they could actually -- by -- by preening, cleaning
themselves, they could actually ingest oil?
BRITTON: They would ingest oil preening.
COOPER: And, on their feathers and skin, it -- it affects their body
temperature?
BRITTON: It would -- it has more of an effect on their body
temperature by -- by -- the feathers interlock and interlace to help
them either regulate cool or hot. And they won't -- they lose that
ability.
COOPER (voice-over): Today, there are about 165 people authorized to
go out and help birds in 52 boats, according to federal officials. But
Ron Britton admits he would like to get more.
BRITTON: We're trying to figure out what -- what we can do to keep
this moving forward and expanding.
Yesterday, we had 145. The day before, we had 128, so we're getting
20, 25 people additionally. I have asked them to hold it at 165 for a
little while, while we make sure that we can back them up and we get
the logistical support.
One of the issues we're running into is lodging. We want to make sure
that everybody has a place to stay.
COOPER: After searching for about an hour, they locate one young
pelican and are able to catch him. They decide to head to shore so he
could be cleaned immediately. (on camera): We'd like to be able to
show you the one bird that wildlife officials found when we were out
on the water with them, but we're not able to because we're not
allowed to actually go over there and shoot the bird being taken off
the boat. I'm not exactly sure why.
Federal wildlife officials have told us that they don't want to do
anything to upset the bird or upset birds or get in the way of
anybody. We explained that we wouldn't be getting in anybody's way.
But they wouldn't let us go to actually see the bird that they got off
the water today.
(voice-over): Last week, however, those rules weren't in place, and we
saw these three gulls being brought ashore. Completely covered in oil,
they gasped for breath, unable to move.
Exactly why federal officials now make it impossible to get pictures
like this is not clear to us. This is the reality of what oil does to
birds. This is the reality everyone should be able to see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: I've got to say, it was very frustrating to be that close and,
for some reason, not be able to, you know, walk ten feet. And
actually, you know, we're not planning on getting in anyone's way. We
just want to get a picture of the birds, to kind of accurately show
you what is going on.
We do want to say, there's a lot of hard-working federal and state,
local officials here, you know, doing the best they can, working long
hours.
But I've heard a lot of complaints from people who didn't want to
appear on camera, but were working in this operation who say
organizationally, there's a lot of bureaucracy. A federal official has
to be with a state official in these boats, as well as perhaps
sometimes a BP official, as well as a bird expert who's going out to
actually -- for the search. There's a lot of folks who'd like to try
to streamline this as much as possible. We'll have more on that in the
coming weeks.
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