The Day Gulf of Mexico Was Mortally Wounded

How Energy Industry Sickened the Planet

On the First Anniversary of the BP Assault on America

‘State of the art,’ semisubmersible Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig on Fire, April 20, 2010 at approximately 10:00 p.m. central time. Photo: Scott Lloyd/United States Coast Guard.

A year ago today the infamous Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded killing 11 workers, injuring 17 others, 3 of them critically, spilling at least 205.8 million gallons of crude oil into Gulf of Mexico, and destroying its fragile ecosystems.

BP also dumped about 2 million gallons of dispersant in the Gulf.

Today, dead baby dolphins, dead sea turtles, dead birds and other dead marine animals, tarballs and sticky substance are still washed ashore.

Designer Red Snapper

Red Snapper fished in Gulf of Mexico. “The fish have a bacterial infection and a parasite infection that’s consistent with a compromised immune system,” said Jim Cowan, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University, who has been examining them. “There’s no doubt it’s associated with a chronic exposure to a toxin.” Courtesy of Jim Cowan, Louisiana State University/via tampabay-dot-com]

Who’s Dr Robichaux

Dr. Michael Robichaux, who practices medicine in coastal Louisiana, “says the blood of Gulf residents who were tested showed 35 times more ethyl benzene, a highly toxic oil component. The health risk could be compounded by toxic poisoning from the chemical dispersants sprayed on the oil slicks, he adds,” Public News Service reported.

One year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster

“One year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Gulf Coast residents are reporting a litany of debilitating illnesses, including tumors, anemia, brain lesions, tremors and seizures – but it’s not getting much attention from the media, and many doctors don’t seem to know how to deal with it.” More …

Death Toll from BP Spill Still Rising as Residents Die from Spill-Related Illnesses

Searching for treatment, the symptoms rage on

The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spills will never be the same!

Oil leak from Deepwater Horizon covers the Mississippi Delta. Image taken by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 24, 2010.

Related Links

• Disasters Caused by Oil and Gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Polluting Land, Water and Air
• One Year Later, Did Gulf Oil Spill Hurt People? 
•  http://BPdrillingdisaster.org

• 1 year memorial trip to Bay Jimmy: BP Drilling Disaster
• BP says it’s not responsible for paying to reseed oyster beds

• Hundreds of Days, Thousands of Questions, Millions of Gallons later

Last Updated: April 21, 2011 at 00:35UTC

Tornado Damage Forces Virginia Nuclear Plant Shutdown

Tornado-damaged Surry Nuclear Power Plant Forced to Shut Down

A weekend tornado reportedly damaged the switchyard at Dominion’s Surry Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) forcing both aging reactor units to shut down.

The power station is located near James River in SE Virginia across from Jamestown, and upriver from Smithfield and Newport News.

The NPP is operated by Dominion Generation and owned by Dominion Resources, Inc. The damage disabled the power to the plant’s cooling pumps and forced the  two aging units (commissioned in 1972 and 73) to shut down.

The plant has a total nameplate capacity of about 1,600MW.

On December 9, 1986 four technicians were killed when a steam explosion destroyed parts of a “non-nuclear” section in the plant’s Reactor 2 building.

U.S. Map of Nuclear Power Plants. Approximate locations of the 3 NPPs cited in this report are marked by FIRE-EARTH. Click map to enlarge.

Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida

“Earlier this month, new containment wall damage was discovered at Progress Energy’s 838-MW Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida, extending the unit’s 18-month outage indefinitely.” The report said.

Commissioned in 1977,  the 914 megawatts pressurized water reactor is  located in Crystal River, Florida.

Brunswick NPP, Southport, NC

Progress Energy has also shut down its 920-MW Brunswick 2 nuclear reactor (commissioned in 1975) in North Carolina yesterday, as  it was returning from a refueling outage, the report said.

This post will be updated with additional information added, throughout the day.

Related Links

• Probability of a Nuclear Disaster – by Country

Another Round of Extreme Weather Looms

‘Strong severe weather’ for southern Plains across the Mississippi Valley and southern Great Lakes into the Midwest: NWS

On March 1, 2011, FIRE-EARTH forecast

U-S Attacked by Continued Severe Weather

Brace for the Worst Ever!  Climatic  Extremes, Primeval Geophysical Activities and WILD Weather to Wreak Mega Havoc in 2011/2012 and Beyond …

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO POWER DOWN AND START THINKING HARD.

Encourage your folks, friends and neighbors to join in!! BECAUSE  for most of us the GAME would be OVER soon.

Flooding and fires, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, deadly tornadoes and strong storms … are just some of the items you’ve ordered from the climate change quick menu!

U.S. Weather Hazard Map

Click image to enter NWS portal.

“A 7-state area at Moderate Risk for severe weather is surrounded by a core of 14 states at Slight Risk that stretches from northeast Texas to western Pennsylvania and New York.” NWS reported.

Weather Forecast Map

Weather Extremes Today

• Large area of severe weather is forecast
• Heavy snow probability in most of North Dakota, N and NW South Dakota, S. Minnesota, Wisconsin, N Iowa
• Rain and thunderstorms over the central Plains
• Snow in the mountain areas of the west

Wilmington, OH Radar

Click image to enlarge. Click HERE to update.

SPC Storm Reports

Latest report. Click images to enlarge 

Tuesday

Monday

Public Severe Weather Outlook

Widespread severe thunderstorms are forecast for parts of the Ozarks, the lower and middle Mississippi Valleys, and the lower Ohio Valley through tonight: Read SPC forecast.

Probability of Tornadoes – click images to enlarge

Probability of a tornado within 25 miles of a point.
Hatched Area: 10% or greater probability of EF2 – EF5 tornadoes within 25 miles of a point.

Probability of Hail

Probability of hail 1″ or larger within 25 miles of a point.
Hatched Area: 10% or greater probability of hail 2″ or larger within 25 miles of a point

Probability of damaging thunderstorm winds or wind gusts of 50 knots or higher within 25 miles of a point.
Hatched Area: 10% of greater probability of wind gusts 65 knots or greater within 25 miles of a point.

Convective Outlook.

Related Links

• Severe Thunderstorms Brewing
• U.S. Tornado Outbreak – Update 19 April