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Injury Claims Against Google: Fire-Earth posts important news & unique analysis that could help save you from harm, but Google [Alphabet Inc] filters the blog to protect their vast business interest. If you incur any injury or loss due to the denial of information, you may sue the Internet Mafia for damages.
STOP CENSORING THE REAL NEWS
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WordPress continues to hack FIRE-EARTH & affiliated blogs at the behest of its corporate clients.
Blog Moderators condemn in the strongest terms the blatant removal and manipulation of content.
Starting January 29, 2013, Google & WordPress have restricted access to FIRE-EARTH reducing blog traffic by up to 95 percent, enabling their affiliated sites and commercial partners to hijack (and twist) the news, analysis and core ideas presented here.
Blocking information, hacking websites and twisting the facts concerning harm inflicted to Earth by humans are major crimes against nature, punishable by drought, famine, disease...
Caution
Technical information and scientific data from the US Government agencies (NASA, EPA…) are subject to variation due to political expediency.
This caution also extends to the UN organizations (e.g., FAO, WHO…).
As of August 2011, FIRE-EARTH will no longer reprint photos from NASA, due to the agency's wanton crimes against nature.
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Major to record flooding continues over parts of Mississippi River Valley: NWS
Major flooding is occurring or forecast on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers & tributaries in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky, with record flooding at several locations. Major flooding is also occurring on the Arkansas River & tributaries in Arkansas. Floodwaters will move downstream over the next couple of weeks, with significant river flooding expected for the lower Mississippi into mid-January. Read More…
More flooding is forecast for Missouri and Illinois were on Thursday as rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks, inundating vast areas, washing out hundreds of homes and leaving thousands of people displaced.
Flood Warnings were in effect in at least 16 states, as of posting. The Mississippi River, North America’s third longest, is forecast to crest early next week in Thebes, Illinois, at 14.48 meter, more than 0.46 cm above the 1995 record, said NWS.
Tornadoes, flooding and extreme rain have killed dozens of peephole in the southern and central U.S. since last week.
Yemen: Humanitarian catastrophe worsens
Conflict continues to devastate the lives of men, women, and children in Yemen. Eighty-two per cent of Yemen’s population requires some form of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights. After nine months of intensified conflict the severity of needs, among the most vulnerable populations, has deepened and the lack of a political solution will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, UN said.
Ongoing air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition and conflict on the ground makes humanitarian activities, including the transportation of goods, difficult and, at times, dangerous.
Over one million migrant/ refugee sea arrivals reach Europe in 2015
Some 1,000,573 people have reached Europe across the Mediterranean, mainly to Greece and Italy, in 2015 including 3,735 who were missing, believed drowned, according to the latest figures released by UNHCR.
Mass evacuations in three Australian towns as bushfires reignite
Thousands of residents and tourists were evacuated on Thursday from three regions along the scenic Great Ocean Road in southern Australia as hot, windy weather reignited bushfires that destroyed 116 homes on Christmas Day.
The fires, which started by lightning 12 days ago, have consumed more than 2,500 hectares, and threatened to re-intensify amid record warm temperatures and high winds.
“The local community has listened to the best of advice and will leave their homes because on such a challenging day, with that fire still active, so close to them, it’s not safe for them nor is it safe for those who have been called on to protect them,” Victoria state Premier said
Colombia issues ‘Red Alert’ over record low river levels
Colombia has issued a red alert after water levels dropped significantly in the Magdalena River, the country’s main waterway, and Cauca River, another key river, said a report.
Hundreds of towns and cities across the country rely on the two rivers for water.
“The Magdalena River presents the lowest levels since 1973. The level is 45 centimeters, when it should be 134 centimeters,” said President Santos.
More than 650,000 people face hunger in Lesotho’s worst drought in decades. Struggling from two successive crop failures, the mountain kingdom has been pushed into a state of crisis by low rainfall across much of southern Africa.
Impact of flooding in northern Argentina
The number of families impacted by the flooding in the north and central parts of the Argentina is growing.
More than 25,000 people have been affected by the overflow of the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers, according to the latest estimates.
At least 1,900 inhabitants of Concordia have been evacuated due to historic river flooding in the city.
Over 15,000 people have been affected in Concordia, a number that includes 2,000 evacuees and over 9,000 people that have abandoned their homes and are living with family or friends.
Hundreds evacuated from BP oil platforms in North Sea
Some 235 workers were evacuated from BP’s oil platforms in the Vallhall oilfield in the Norwegian North Sea after a 110-meter monster barge drifted near the major oilfield uncontrollably, local media reported.
Fatality on board COSL rig in North Sea
Statoil and COSL say one worker was killed an at least two others injured as a result of the “breaking wave” that hit the drilling rig COSL Innovator.
“COSL Innovator is under contract to Statoil at the Troll field in the North Sea, west of Bergen. The rig had been taken off the well as a result of the bad weather before the incident occurred. The breaking wave also caused some damage to the rig’s accommodation module.”
The rig is being evacuated, and the evacuees are being flown ashore, according to a statement posted on Statoil website.
A gas explosion on an oil platform in Azerbaijan’s Guneshli oil field ignited a major blaze on Friday, said local reports.
The independent Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee (SOCAR)in Azerbaijan has told reporters that 32 oil workers had perished in the blaze while 42 others were rescued.
Gunashli is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, located 120km east of Baku, Azerbaijan, 12km southeast of Oil Rocks [Neft Daşları,] with its deep water section being a part of the larger Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) project, which is operated by a BP-led consortium.
NOLA federal judge dismisses wetlands damage lawsuit against 88 oil and gas companies
A New Orleans federal judge, U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown, has dismissed a wetlands damage lawsuit by SLFPAE, a levee authority, that sought to force 88 oil, gas and pipeline companies to repair or pay for damages to wetlands.
[SLFPAE is the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority (East), which covers three consolidated districts in NOLA: East Jefferson Levee District, Orleans Levee District, and Lake Borgne Basin Levee District.]
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2013 by SLFPAE, contended that the energy companies had dug more than 10,000 miles of oil and gas canals and pipelines through Louisiana’s fragile wetlands, destroying the ecosystem and reducing the effectiveness of the recently-rebuilt levee system that protects most of metro New Orleans from catastrophic flooding.
“The product of this network is an ecosystem so seriously diseased that its complete demise is inevitable if no action is taken,” said the suit.
The suit attempted to get the defendants to either repair the damage to the compromised environmental buffer zone, or pay damages to the authority to improve the levee system.
However, the Judge said in her 49-page ruling that SLFPA didn’t have enough legal standing to justify a financial claim against the companies.
“We are gratified by this ruling to dismiss this ill-conceived, unwise and divisive litigation, which we have contended all along was nothing more than an attempt to subvert the existing legal and regulatory processes,” said Greg Beuerman, a spokesperson for Shell, Chevron and BP, all defendants in the suit.
“We appreciate the judge’s ruling and are pleased that this frivolous lawsuit has come to an end,” said the deputy communications director for Gov. Bobby [NO-GO Zones] Jindal.
Plaintiff initially named 149 defendants.However, only 88 defendants remain in this litigation, according to the court documents.
Factual Background [from the 49-page court-ruling – Case 2:13-cv-05410-NJB-DEK Document 529 Filed 02/13/15 ]
Defendants are eighty-eight oil and gas companies operating in what Plaintiff refers to as the “Buffer Zone.”
The Buffer Zone “extends from East of the Mississippi River through the Breton Sound Basin, the Biloxi Marsh, and the coastal wetlands of eastern New Orleans and up to Lake St. Catherine.”
Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ oil and gas operations have led to coastal erosion in the Buffer Zone, making south Louisiana more vulnerable to severe weather and flooding. According to Plaintiff, “[c]oastal lands have for centuries provided a crucial buffer zone between south Louisiana’s communities and the violent wave action and storm surge that tropical storms and hurricanes transmit from the Gulf of Mexico.” However, “[h]undreds of thousands of acres of coastal lands that once protected south Louisiana are now gone as a result of oil and gas activities.” Specifically, Plaintiff asserts that Defendants have “dredged a network of canals to access oil and gas wells and to transport the many products and by-products of oil and gas production.” This canal network, in conjunction with “the altered hydrology associated with oil and gas activities,” has caused vegetation die-off, sedimentation inhibition, erosion, and submergence—all leading to coastal land loss.
In addition to the initial dredging, Plaintiff maintains that Defendants “exacerbate direct land loss by failing to maintain the canal network and banks of the canals that Defendants have dredged, used, or otherwise overseen.”
This failure has “caused both the erosion of the canal banks and expansion beyond their originally permitted widths and depths of the canals comprising that network.”
Looking beyond the alleged effects of the canal network, Plaintiff identifies ten other oil and gas activities that, it claims, “drastically inhibit the natural hydrological patterns and processes of the coastal lands”—road dumps, ring levees, drilling activities, fluid withdrawal, seismic surveys, marsh buggies, spoil disposal/ dispersal, watercraft navigation, impoundments, and propwashing/ maintenance dredging.
BP says “an unknown amount” of oil has leaked from its Indiana Whiting refinery into Lake Michigan.
BP said the leak, which resulted in the discharge of crude oil from the refinery’s cooling system, was discovered Monday afternoon.
More than a half of the lake is covered in ice, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Save the Dunes environmental group has expressed great concern about the impact of the spill on the environment, drinking water, recreational, fishing and shipping industries, said Nicole Barker, the group’s executive director.
“This BP spill, while seemingly contained and currently under control exemplifies some of the concerns Save the Dunes has with transporting and refining oil near Lake Michigan,”said Barker.
“We are glad to see that the crews effectively responded to the spill and it is fortunate that winds were blowing in a way that pushed the oil toward the shoreline,” she said. “However, irreversible damage can be caused by spills into our waterways and it is our greatest hope that the oil was contained before causing great harm to the Lake Michigan ecosystem.”
BP Alaskan pipeline at Lisburne field ruptures spilling methanol and oil onto the tundra
Up to 4,200 gallons of a mixture of “methanol and oily water” was spilled after a rupture which occurred on Saturday, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said.
Lisburne comes under the management of the Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit and was reportedly undergoing maintenance work.
Prudhoe Bay oil field (PBOF), located on Alaska’s North Slope, is the largest oil field in North America. It’s operated by BP and its partners ExxonMobiland ConocoPhillips Alaska.
Covering an area of about 86,000 ha, PBOF was initially estimated as containing about 25 billion barrels of crude. The field is located about 640 km north of Fairbanks (1,050 km north of Anchorage), some 400 km north of the Arctic Circle (1,900 km from the North Pole).
Google’s Deadly Cover-up Worked Against American People
Google Compounded the Harm Caused to the Gulf of Mexico by Blocking Information on the Extent of the Disaster
Crucial information about the dangers of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and subsequent incidents posted on this blog have been filtered and selectively blocked/buried by Google to protect its corporate partners and financial investments.
Fire Earth was the first blog to
Doubt Obama Team’s sanity for issuing deepwater drilling licenses in Gulf of Mexico.
Question BP’s statement about the rate of leak from Macondo oil well.
YET, Google suppressed all of the above information when it mattered most.
Undersea remote control vehicle (RCV) damages the ruptured wellhead’s “vent system”
Oil gushed unhindered from BP’s ruptured wellhead after an undersea RVC collided with a makeshift vent system placed above the wellhead to capture some of the crude from the world’s deadliest oil spill. [Watch this space.]
Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico Grows Like Malignant Cancer
Oil Cancer Growing in the Gulf of Mexico. Heavier concentrations of the oil spreads as gray tentacles as seen in this photo-like image acquired by (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 19, 2010. “The location of the leaking well is marked with a white dot. North of the well, a spot of black may be smoke” rising from controlled fires. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (10 MB, JPEG).
Gulf of Mexico: Alive, a Major liability; dead, a valuable asset for the oil industry!
Gulf of Mexico is now a major liability for not just BP, partners in crime and the oil industry at large. However, this situation can be turned around, if the Gulf were to die. It would become a major asset but for the oil industry. It’s worth more to them dead than alive.
What to do?
Instruct the least ethical lawyers in the country and reverse the moratorium on deep water oil and gas exploration in the Gulf.
Nature Didn’t Train Fish to Thrive, Even Swim in Oil!
Poggy fish lie dead stuck in oil in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulpher, Louisiana June 20, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner. Image may be subject to copyright. For more images click link below
Mr Carl-Henric Svanberg, How Can You Say NO COMMENT?
ASTER on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this false-color image of the Mississippi Delta and nearby polluted water on June 10, 2010. Vegetation is red and water appears i n shades of white and blue. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (3 MB, JPEG)
MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on June 10, 2010. The oil slick appears as shades of gray. Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (3 MB, JPEG)
BP Chairman Carl-Henric [NO COMMENT] Svanberg
Carl-Henric [happy we did it over there, not over here] Svanberg is to meet Barack [action figure] Obama and rest of the White House Action Comedy Gang. Image: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.
Fire Earth Estimate for Crude Oil and Gas Spewed into the Gulf: 69,000 BPD
Fire Earth Estimate for the rate of crude oil and associated gas leak from the undersea ruptured wellhead into the Gulf of Mexico is based on the analysis of recent video images released by BP, which are available via Internet, and other information.
The Moderators estimate that about 69,000 barrels of crude oil and associated gas per day (BPD) are currently spewing out of the damaged wellhead. The associated error margin is ± 16%. [Updated June 13, 2010]
Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
Worsening Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo-image acquired by (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 7, 2010. Source: NASA. Click image to enlarge.Download large image (12 MB, JPEG)
“The White House Action Comedy: A Roomful of Voyeurs”
“[Our parents thought they had] voted in a hands-on President and all we got was a roomful of [lousy voyeurs.] Original caption: U.S. President Barack Obama (C) listens during a briefing about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill, at the Coast Guard Venice Center, in Venice, Louisiana, in this White House handout photo taken on May 2, 2010 and released on June 7, 2010.
Black Pelicans
A pelican sits covered with oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead in Barataria Bay, Louisiana just off the Gulf of Mexico, June 6, 2010. Greenpeace Handout (via Reuters).
BP Submarine Volcano
Gas and oil continue to surge out from the containment cap at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, in this frame grab taken from a BP live video feed on June 8, 2010. BP Handout (via Reuters).
BP would have gone the extra mile if its management cared about or respected American people
It’s very simple. If you care about the people, or respect them as human beings, especially those who enrich you, then you do everything humanly possible to protect them from any harm.
In both cases, the two giant corporations had zero regard for the welfare of local populations, never mind the due diligence, care, respect, even basic human rights—they’re just fancy words.
Environment ranks even lower than do people on the corporate scale.
Take a look at this picture:
Would you do this to the environment, if you cared? Does the underwater jungle of pipelines make you feel any safer or more energy secure? Image source: MMS. Click image to enlarge.
How big is the oil spill
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill- Approximate Oil Locations from April 309 – May 4, 2010 including forecast for May 5 based on trajectories and overflight data. Click image to enlarge.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill- Approximate Oil Locations from April 29 – May 3, 2010 including forecast for May4 based on trajectories and overflight data. Click image to enlarge.
How BP is already denying Alabamans adequate compensation
In case you haven’t already heard, BP lawyers and paralegals are knocking on the doors in Alabama trying to hoodwink people to accept a one-time compensation of about $5,000, which they could get if they waved their rights to a class action lawsuit.
“BP oil spill 2010 news is revealing that BP is trying to offer settlements to some residents in Alabama. The BP oil spill is not their accident, according to BP CEO Tony Hayward, and now it appears that they are trying to get Alabama residents to agree to settlements that might be far less than they would get in a law suit. Some of the settlement agreements that BP is shopping around to coastline residents in Alabama stipulate that they will get a one-time payment of up to $5,000 in exchange for the residents giving up the right to sue the company. This could also mean that some of the offers are well below that $5,000 threshold, and it has already angered the Alabama attorney general.” More …
Summary of Related News and Events
Make me a giant funnel
BP employees and contractors in Louisiana are welding together large sheets of metal to build a giant 88-ton funnel which they intend to place above the underwater leaks and use a pipe to channel the gushing oil from the damaged well to collection barges.
“It will not happen here” —Arnold Schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger may not be as suave as the President, but he sure as oil spill is a lot smarter, and knows how catastrophe is spelled when he sees one made earlier. [He knows that California stands to lose more money from an offshore oil disaster, than it would make from the royalties, if the new leases went ahead.]
“It will not happen here in California.” Schwarzenegger said at a press conference. “If I have a choice between the $100 million [for state parks] and what I see in the Gulf of Mexico, I’d rather just figure out how to make up for that $100 million.”
“All of you have seen, when you turn on your televisions, the devastation in the Gulf,” he said. “I’m sure that they were also assured that it is safe to drill.”
The oil is likely to move slightly southeast away from the Mississippi River Delta and Breton National Wildlife Refuge over the next two days. Winds are forecasted to shift to the southeast on Wednesday.
The Mississippi and Alabama coastlines could be impacted by Thursday.
Weather conditions have improved since the weekend and on-water recovery operations are expected to resume today.
Serial No 1,672. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
The catastrophe could escalate even further and enter a new nightmarish dimension if the damaged underwater well were to develop a major rupture, resulting in the entire content of the well, a humongous amount of crude oil, spilled into the Gulf.
Professor Ian MacDonald, an ocean specialist at Florida State University, believes that the leak from the ruptured well has already spewed 9m gallons of heavy crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
NOTE: The Exxon Valdez oil spill, which occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, is thought to be one of the worst human-caused environmental disasters ever. The tanker spilled about 10.8 million gallons (about 41 million litres) of crude oil into the water, covering an arae of about 3,400 sq km (1,300) square miles with its load of Prudhoe Bay crude.
The effects of the spill is still felt today, some 21 years later. there is a marked reduction in the population of various marine animals, including sea otters, pink salmon, ducks and many others.
Oil Slick Near Mississippi Delta
The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico lingered near the Mississippi Delta on May 1, 2010. MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. The oil slick appears as a tangle of dull gray on the ocean surface, made visible to the satellite sensor by the Sun’s reflection on the ocean surface. Most of the oil slick occurs southeast of the Mississippi Delta. Image and caption: NASA [Caption Edited for brevity by Fire-Earth] – Download large image(2 MB, JPEG)
On April 29 Fire-earth also forecast:
The leak in the Gulf of Mexico could exceed the Exxon Valdez crude spill in less than 30 days, if not stemmed.
and
The Gulf of Mexico nightmare enters a new phase—the first stage in the collapse of the Gulf states may have begun.
Serial No 1,658. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
39 rig blowouts in the Gulf between 1992 and 2006: MMS Study
“Let me be clear: I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security” —Barrack Obama
Let us be clear, Mr President: Has it ever occurred to you that the people who are ‘securing’ our energy are cheats, liars and corporate profiteers?
Mr Obama has, to quote the famous line by John Maynard Keynes, ‘the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.’
Click image to enlarge
The oil well 41 miles offshore is leaking an estimated 5,000 barrels (about 210,000 gallons, or 795,000 liters) of crude oil per day, into the gulf, according to the officials.
Fire Earth estimate is closer to 8,000bpd because that’s how much oil the well was producing before the blow-out.
Waves deposit oil on Louisiana beaches, unimpressed by booms deployed along the coastline, Thursday, April 29. The underwater well about 41 miles SE of Louisiana was damaged after a blowout which caused its drilling platform, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, to explode, burn out and sink. Photo Credit: Liz Condo/Ap. Image may be subject to copyright.
It would take about 2 to 3 months to drill a relief well that would allow plugging the damaged well on the sea floor which is gushing crude some 1.5 km (5,000 feet) below the surface. All activities at that depth can only be performed by remote control devices.
It has been revealed that British Petroleum downplayed the probability of a blow-out at the leaking well which caused the offshore rig Deepwater Horizon to explode, leaking what is by now at least 2.3 million [Fire-Earth estimate] gallons of crude oil in to the Gulf.
In its environmental impact analysis, BP repeatedly suggested that it was virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would be serious enough to damage the coastal areas or harm the marine species mammals and fisheries.
Worse than that, the BP’s plan for the Deepwater Horizon well was approved by the federal Minerals Management Service. The plan which was filed in February 2009, repeatedly states that it would be “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities.”
Where the company conceded that a spill might “cause impacts” to the coastal areas, marine animals and wildlife refuges, it down plays the impact saying, “due to the distance to shore (41 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected.”
“Clearly, the sort of occurrence that we’ve seen on the Deepwater Horizon is clearly unprecedented,” BP spokesman David Nicholas told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s something that we have not experienced before … a blowout at this depth.”
How can BP, the oil behemoth with 101 years of drilling experience in every nook and cranny in the world, cite this level of ignorance as a credible excuse?
What about the Minerals Management Service? Surely, they should have been aware of the blowouts in the Gulf.
“According to a 2007 study by the federal Minerals Management Service, which examined the 39 rig blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico between 1992 and 2006, cementing was a contributing factor in 18 of the incidents. In all the cases, gas seepage occurred during or after cementing of the well casing, the MMS said.” AP reported.
Perhaps an MMS spokesman could clarify this: Why in the Gulf did they allow BP to go ahead and drill the well without a control plan, and in the absence of safety checks and emergency procedures?
More Terrifying Stats and Findings :
The catastrophe could escalate even further and enter a new nightmarish dimension if the damaged underwater well were to develop a major rupture, resulting in the entire content of the well, a humongous amount of crude oil, spilled into the Gulf.
Fire Earth Forecasts at Least 10 Major Oil Spills Worldwide between May 2010 and December 2011.
The joint industry-federal team responsible for the cleanup operation has sprayed about 200,000 gallons (757,000 liters) of dispersant to “attack” the spill so far. “Dispersant only alters the destination of the toxic compounds in the oil,” an expert said. “Dispersant only alters the destination of the toxic compounds in the oil. [There’ re ]no good answers to a mess this big, only degrees of damage to various life-forms.”
Serial No 1,653. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
Fire-Earth Expects the Gulf Coast Damage to Dwarf Exxon Valdez Disaster
“It is of grave concern,” David Kennedy of NOAA told AP.
“I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling.”
The oil slick is threatening hundreds of species of fish, marine animals, birds and other wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico and on the shorelines of the Gulf States.
The crude oil spill also threatens the livelihood of many million of people directly and indirectly. The Gulf Coast is one of the planet’s richest seafood grounds for oysters, shrimps and many other marine species.
Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, whose livelihood depends on oil-free waters, said he was not sure who the blame, the Coast Guard, the federal government or BP, the oil company who owns the well.
“They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren’t proactive. As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms.” He said.
Serial No 1,647. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
No, but we sure as hell ought to fear the terrestrial aliens that come and spill oil in our waters!
[Funny how CNN and that British professor bring this alien thing out every time there’s a big disaster to distract people from the real issues.]
0O0
U.S. Gulf state shrimpers sue BP over oil spill
BP, Transocean and Halliburton sued over Gulf oil spill
“Shrimpers in Louisiana and Alabama have filed class-action lawsuits against oil giant BP Plc and owners of the drilling platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, as claims for economic losses anticipated from the disaster began to mount.
“Two similar lawsuits, filed late on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans and on Thursday in the adjacent Gulf Coast state of Alabama, accuse the companies of negligence.” More…
This is the time to get it all out, claim damages for loss of livelihood, clean land, beaches … and hopefully drive one of the ugly green [and yellow] giants out of business, folks.
0O0
Wildlife in Peril as Slick Nears Gulf Coast
Oil, Already Sliding into Louisiana Waters, Threatens Newly Hatched Fish Larvae
“As a giant oil slick neared landfall late Thursday, field crews raced to barricade the Gulf coast’s fragile wetlands and beaches, where thousands of wildfowl are nesting at the height of their breeding season and millions of migrating birds pause in their annual spring journey north.” More…
Barrack Obama pledges maximum effort to tackle oil leak
Mr Barrack Obama has gone on record as saying that “every single available resource” of government will be deployed to help contain the Gulf Coast oil leak. More…
However, he refused to comment on the future of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and elsewhere.
0O0
Oil Spill’s Blow to BP’s Image May Eclipse Costs
“BP says that the offshore drilling accident that is spewing thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico could cost the company several hundred million dollars.”
“But regardless of the out-of-pocket costs, the long-term damage to BP’s reputation — and possibly, its future prospects for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico — is likely to be far higher, according to industry analysts.” More…
BP is one of the top 3 polluters in the world responsible for a large volume of oil pollution. Sue them, by all means. Drive them out of business. But don’t also forget to sue the disinformation industry, the media, which has stopped you hearing us shouting from the top of our voices, warning you about the dangers that lurk under the water, and inside the earth.
Serial No 1,644. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
BP reported a new leak in the offshore well—min combined leak 210,000 gallons per day
The Gulf of Mexico nightmare enters a new phase—the first stage in the collapse of the Gulf states may have begun.
BP Plc, the legal owner of the leaking well, informed the US officials that it has discovered a new leak on the on the offshore well off Louisiana coat, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said.
“BP has just briefed me of a new location of an additional breach in the riser of the deep underwater well,” Landry said.
The new estimate of 5,000bpd, most probably an under estimate, judging by the initial amount of crude oil the ocean floor well was producing, is 5 times as much as the previous estimate.
[Note: The true estimate for the leak may be as much as 8,000 barrels of crude oil per day, or more, which is how much the well was producing before the rig blew up!]
“We have urged BP to leverage additional assets,” Landry said, adding that President B.O. had been briefed on the new phase in the growing disaster.
The growing oil slick, now boosted by at least 5 times as much crude oil leaking from the underwater well, threatens marine life, coastal wildlife refuges, coastal fishing and sea food industries, beaches and estuaries in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as the livelihood of at least 1 million people in those states DIRECTLY, and up to 20 million other people indirectly.
What People Are Saying
“Tarballs and emulsified oil streamers could reach the Mississippi Delta region late on Friday, said Charlie Henry, an expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” Reuters reported.
“By Wednesday afternoon, the edge of the spill was 23 miles off the Louisiana coast, near fragile estuaries and swamps teeming with birds and other wildlife. A shift in winds could push the spill inland to the Louisiana coast by this weekend, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.” Reuters said.
“We’re sitting here half praying and half with our fingers, toes and everything else crossed,” Byron Encalade, president of the Louisiana Oysterman Association in Pointe A La Hache, was reported as saying.
“This brings home the issue that drilling despite all the advancements in technology is still a risky business,” said Athan Manuel of the Sierra Club.
Meanwhile, BP has set fire to the massive and growing Gulf Coast oil slick
This is, of course, a nightmarish trade-off between the lesser of the two evils, burning thousands of barrels of crude oil, a smaller disaster, to prevent a much greater disaster of coastal pollution.
Imagine all of those other places out there in the universe somewhere, where they don’t have to make such decisions because their lifestyles are much less energy intensive, unlike this human wonderland, and the inhabitants have a direct say in the decision-making process.
Note: NOAA estimate was prepared before the new leak was reported, and therefore does NOT take into account the additional volume of crude that is leaking into the Gulf.
Stock photo of Newfoundland offshore Burn Experiment (NOBE)
Photo Source: The Minerals Management Service.Click image to enlarge.
Updated Overflight Map2
Source. Creative Commons license. Click image to enlarge.
Windrows of emulsified oil (bright orange) sprayed w/dispersant. Photo taken as part of an aerial observation overflight. Photo credit NOAA. Click image to enlarge.
Clean-up crews have started “a test burn” in an area some 50km (30 miles ) east of the Mississippi River delta to gauge the viability of the technique, AP reported.
The burn-off “solution” became do-able after the BP failed to stop the massive a 1,000bpd crude leak from two holes in the oil well.
“A 500ft boom was being used to hold several thousand gallons of the thickest oil on the surface, which will then be towed to a more remote area, set on fire, and allowed to burn for about an hour.” AP reported.
Should the test burn prove successful, BP could continue with the blaze, one way or another, weather permitting.
As of now, at least 1,000bpd5,000bpd (about 210,000 gallons, 800,000 liters per day), most probably 8,000bpd (about 336,000 gallons, or 1.3 million liters per day), of the really nasty, gooey crude oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
The damaged well which was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, before it blew up killing 11 rig crew members (their bodies are missing, but they are legally presumed dead) is leaking from two different openings.
Although the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, what is clear is that each and every control and safety mechanism that BP (and the gang) had or should have put in place to prevent such disasters didn’t work or weren’t there.
“Authorities also said they expected minimal impact on sea turtles and marine mammals in the burn area.” AP reported, forgetting to state whether they had interviewed any of the numerous species who live locally.
NOTE: The Exxon Valdez oil spill, which occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, is thought to be one of the worst human-caused environmental disasters ever. The tanker spilled about 10.8 million gallons (about 41 million litres) of crude oil into the water, covering an arae of about 3,400 sq km (1,300) square miles with its load of Prudhoe Bay crude.
The effects of the spill is still felt today, some 21 years later. there is a marked reduction in the population of various marine animals, including sea otters, pink salmon, ducks and many others.
The leak in the Gulf of Mexico could exceed the Exxon Valdez crude spill in less than 30 days, if not stemmed.
Serial No 1,639. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).
If the economy is designed to serve the people [sic,] how is it that the monetary profit goes to a few and the debt to the environment?
If the leaks in the Gulf of Mexico oil well are not sealed, the spill could become one of the worst disasters in US history: Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry
“… this could be one of the most significant oil spills in U.S. history,” she said.
BP, Transocean and rest of the gang should have at least had a fail-safe contingency plan to contain oil leaks and prevent damage to the environment. But they didn’t. Why? Because such things are expensive and hurt their bottom line.
Deepwater Summary and who said what:
Crude oil is leaking from two sources about 1,525m (5,000ft ) under the surface, which have been leaking since Deepwater Horizon platform exploded and sank, but were only discovered on Saturday.
The leaks are spewing at least 1,000 barrels of oil into the gulf of Mexico, near the coast of Louisiana.
The resulting oil slick now has a circumference of more than 600 (1,000km) 650 miles covering about 80,000 sq km (31,000 sq miles), “with areas of emulsified crude approximately 36 miles offshore the coast of Louisiana.”
Weather conditions on April 27 hampered clean up operation with winds from northwest, and choppy seas with 3 to 4 foot waves.
If the oil reached Louisiana coast, it could destroy coastal ecology, the wildlife and nature reserves, as well as the devastating the state’s fisheries, oyster beds and other marine-based livelihoods, according to an environmentalist at Tulane University.
Sealing the leaks with remote-control robotic submersibles could take many months, said US Coast Guard Rear Adm Mary Landry, who is in charge of the clean-up operation.
The Coast Guard is considering whether to burn off the oil corralled in the boom, “trying to minimize the environmental impact,” aid a Coast Guard spokesman.
“The wind will nudge the oil slick more to the north-northwest,” said a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “It might make it onshore over the southeast Louisiana coast first,” and could later pollute beaches in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, he said.
Other meteorologists also believe a shift in wind could drive the spill to Louisiana coast by the weekend.
Click images to enlarge
BP Horizon Response Current State(2). Source. Creative Commons license.
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Rig Explosion, Deaths and Oil Leak Caused by Criminal Negligence
TRANSOCEAN, BP and HALIBURTON Sued for Employee Death
Lawsuit filed by Plaintiff, Natalie Roshto (on behalf of herself and her 3-year-old son, Blaine Roshto,) suing TRANSOCEAN, BP and HALIBURTON for criminal negligence in the loss of her husband, and her son’s father, Shane Roshto.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig caught fire after exploding on April 20, 2010. Fire boat response crews are seen in the US Coast Guard photo trying to extinguish the remnants of the semisubmersible platform off the coast of Louisiana, on April 21, 2010. Shane Roshto and 10 of his colleagues were killed in the explosion, while 17 others were injured, at least 8 of them seriously. The rig sank Thursday morning local time some 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and was discovered to be leaking at least 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day, despite earlier assurances that the well would not leak.
The defendants cited in the criminal negligence suit are:
(A) TRANSOCEAN, LTD, (TRANSOCEAN ENTITY), a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(B) TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE DEEPWATER DRILLING, INC.,
(TRANSOCEAN ENTITY), a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(C) TRANSOCEAN DEEPWATER, INC. (TRANSOCEAN ENTITY)
(D) BP, PLC, hereinafter referred to as “BP,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(E) BP PRODUCTS NORTH AMERICA, INC., hereinafter referred to as “BP Products,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana; and (F) HALIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC., hereinafter referred to as “Haliburton,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana.
Natalie Roshto claims that HALIBURTON, on of the Defendant cited in the negligence law suit “was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap” immediately prior to the explosion that killed her husband. Based on the information since obtained Mrs Roshto believes HALIBURTON acted “improperly and negligently” while performing those duties, which was a cause of the explosion.
Her husband Shane Roshto was employed by TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES as a Jones Act seaman, the lawsuit states, and was assigned by TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES to
work aboard the ill-fated DEEPWATER HORIZON.
Paragraph 11 of the lawsuit states:
At all times material hereto, the vessel on which Shane Roshto was injured and/or died was owned, navigated in navigable waters, manned, possessed, managed, controlled, chartered and/or operated by defendants, TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES, BP and/or BP PRODUCTS.
Paragraph 15 of the filed lawsuit, which has been filed with the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA, states:
The above-described incidents were caused solely by the negligence of defendants, TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES, BP, BP PRODUCTS and HALIBURTON, through their agents, servants and employees, which are more particularly described as follows:
NEGLIGENCE OF TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES
a. Failing to provide a competent crew;
b. Failing to properly supervise its employees;
c. Failing to properly train and/or supervise plaintiff and other employees;
d. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to work in unsafe conditions;
e. Failing to provide sufficient personnel to perform operations aboard the vessel;
f. Failing to properly follow drilling protocols and policies, proper well monitoring
and control practices;
g. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
h. Failing to avoid this accident;
i. Failing to provide decedent with a seaworthy vessel;
h. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.
NEGLIGENCE OF BP AND BP PRODUCTS
a. Failing to properly train and/or supervise its crew and other employees;
b. Failing to ensure that its crew worked in a safe and prudent manner;
c. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to
work in unsafe conditions;
d. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
e. Failing to avoid this accident;
f. Failing to provide decedent with a seaworthy vessel;
g. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.
NEGLIGENCE OF HALIBURTON
a. Failing to sufficiently and competently perform cementing operations aboard the
vessel.;
b. Failing to properly supervise its employees;
c. Failing to properly train and/or supervise plaintiff and other employees;
d. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to
work in unsafe conditions;
e. Failing to provide sufficient personnel to perform operations aboard the vessel;
f. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
g. Failing to avoid this accident;
h. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.
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Oil Well Beneath Sunken Deepwater Horizon Leaking 1,000 BPD
We thought it was a fairy tale as far as the capping of the well story went …
The oil well that was being pumped out by the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig is spewing crude oil at a rate of 1,000 barrels per day (bpd), the U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday.
[Note: 1,000 barrels = 42,000 US gallons, or ~ 160,000 liters]
The well, located on the ocean floor, some 1,500m (~5,000 feet) beneath the ocean surface, is causing what the Coast Guard called a “very serious spill.”
A Coast Guard spokeswoman said a remote-controlled submarine detected oil leaking from both the riser and drill pipe.
“We are classifying this as a very serious spill and we are using all our resources to help contain it,” the Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell said.
The ill-fated Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd and operated by the oil Goliath BP, sank on Thursday. The rig had been burning for two days after exploding at about 10 p.m. CDT on Tuesday (02:00UTC Wednesday), about 66km (~ 41 miles) off the Louisiana.
The search for 11 crew members was abandoned on Friday. Four of the 17 crew members who were injured were said to be in critical condition.
As of Sunday an oil slick measuring about 1,600 square kilometers (~ 600 square miles), covered an area close to the US coast line. The slick is spreading north moving toward Mississippi and Alabama coastline, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.
On Saturday Fire-Earth Moderators said:“This situation, of course, could change because oil wells gushing at a rate of 8,000 barrels per day don’t heal automatically after a fire.”
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Serial No 1,544 If any posts are blocked in your area, please drop us a line.
Another Year of Oil Spills in Our Fragile Ecosystems
Chevron, BP, Exxon Mobil Corp and all other oil companies are leaving too many indelible footprints on our planet
Raccoon photographed in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana probably wondering whether to wash hands in the water.
A Chevron pipeline leaked at least 18,000 gallons (68,100 liters) of crude oil into the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, the U.S. Coast Guard said, Reuters reported.
The exact environmental impact of the leak has not yet been determined, said a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife.
The leak discharged into a canal about 16km (10 miles) southeast of Venice, Louisiana, a Coast Guard news release said.
“A barge working for Exxon Mobil Corp was driving long pipes called ‘spuds’ to anchor the barge in place, and one may have hit the pipeline operated by Chevron, a Coast Guard spokesman said.” The report said.
Cypress Pipe Line Co, a joint venture between Chevron and BP Plc own the the pipeline, which is operated by Chevron Pipe Line Co., a Chevron subsidiary.
The Delta National Wildlife Refuge is located 16km (10 miles) southeast of Venice, Louisiana along the Mississippi River. The 19,000-ha (48,000 acre) originally designated as a sanctuary and habitat to wintering waterfowl, is marshland near the mouth of the Mississippi River southeast of New Orleans. Accessible by boat only, the refuge now provides habitat for alligator, brown pelican migrating birds, raccoons and other animals.
John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman Hired by Drillers
Oil companies and industry groups have summoned the three Senators to instruct them on how to re-write the long-awaited climate and energy bill.
ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell Oil Co are demanding that states, rather than federal government, regulate shale gas drilling methods because they know it’s cheaper to buy state officials. States are known to be more lenient on allowing hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which pollutes the water.
The big oil want a bill their way and they want it now.
“Within a couple weeks after the Easter break we hope to unveil a bill,” said the ever-complying Graham.
Lieberman, on the other hand, wants to dress the bill as even more environmental-friendly as the Big Oil have you believe. He is aiming to have the bill introduced on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22. He gets a kick out of that sort of things!
“The longer we’ve talked about it, the more momentum we’ve gotten, but that won’t last forever, so we need to bring this thing to a conclusion,” Graham said.
Water Contamination from Shale Gas Drilling.Source. Image may be subject to copyright. “The major concern with shale gas drilling is the chemicals used in the process. Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use.” Gas drilling companies maintain that the gas drilling technique they use, called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is safe. However, based on observation of the drinking water in numerous drilling areas, and the fate of many people who live near the drilling rigs, who are afflicted with serious health conditions, we know that fracking contaminates groundwater with dangerous chemicals.
Meanwhile, ten Senators from coastal states issued a statement Thursday saying they won’t support a climate and energy bill if it permits a large expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling. [How large is a little expansion?]
Senator Robert Casey, a Democrat, has vowed to defeat any move that provide states with regulatory powers.
“If that kind of provision were in it, that would be an area where I would want to spend a good deal of time either altering it or removing it,” Casey told reporters.
“Kerry, the lead proponent of the bill, needs every vote he can get as it will likely face opposition from lawmakers in states whose economies depend heavily on fossil fuels.” Reuters said.
The oil companies are demanding that information concerning the chemical composition of fracking fluids should be kept secret and revealed to doctors or health officials only when necessary to save human life.
Further, the oil industry is pushing for large scale expansions in offshore drilling in the bill.
“Bruce Josten, a vice president at the Chamber of Commerce, told reporters he understood that the offshore oil part of the bill would set up two levels for states to say whether they want to participate in expanded oil drilling.” Reuters reported.
“The first would give states the opportunity to say whether they wanted to have new offshore oil drilling from their coasts up to 35 miles out.”
“A second level would let them veto drilling from 35 to 75 miles out, but Josten said this was still in discussion stages and he has not seen specific legislative language on any proposals.”
The House of Representatives passed a climate bill in June 2009, which heavily relies on the doomed carbon emissions trade system, however the bill has little support to pass in the Senate.
They Both Spell Disaster, Occur Because of Faults and Happen Regularly in San Francisco Bay
Earthquakes occur in SFB because of geological faults: San Gregorio fault, San Andreas fault, Mt Diablo fault… and Hayward fault. Oil spills occur there as a result of oil companies faults: Arco’s fault, BP’s fault, Chevron’s fault, ConocoPhillips’s fault, Exxon’s fault… and Shell’s fault!
You’d forgiven for thinking there must be an oil spill and an earthquake in the SFBA each day! Because you’d almost be right.
The oil slick from the Dubai Star, an oil tanker located at Anchorage 9 south of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Photo: KGO-TV/ABC7 via Mercury News. Image may be subject to copyright.
The latest spill, a blackish filthy brown slick of bunker fuel, covered a 250-meter by 4-km stretch of San Francisco Bay on Friday, caused by a “refueling mishap” between an oil tanker, Dubai Star, and a service barge alongside, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.
The slick has not reached land and is in a narrow band because there is little wind and much of it may burn off amid warm weather, giving clean-up crews the upper hand in containing it, Coast Guard Captain Paul Gugg told reporters at a press conference.
“The weather is very cooperative. We’re all over it.” Gugg said.
Gugg said the scope of the contamination does not compare to the massive spill in 2007 of fuel oil from another tanker in the San Francisco Bay that spread across its shores and killed thousand of birds.
However, Gugg didn’t say how much bunker fuel had spilled into the bay.
The spill comes eight days before the two-year anniversary of the vessel Cosco Busan striking the Bay Bridge in dense fog, ripping open its hull and spilling more than 53,000 gallons of fuel oil that fouled much of the shoreline along the well-known California waterway.
The Busan spill killed more than 2,500 birds and deposited oil on 200 miles of coastline, Pacific Environment was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile,
The unscrupulous oil giant BP has been fined $87 million for failing to remove safety hazards at its massive Texas City refinery, the 3rd largest in the US, where an explosion in 2005 killed 15 workers and injured 180 others. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited 270 violations at the oil refinery, officials said.
In 2005, BP was fined $21.3 million and ordered to repair hazards at their refinery, but it didn’t
“Lawyers acting for victims of the disaster suggested that the renewed action could put BP in breach of a plea agreement two years ago in which it pleaded guilty to a single felony and paid $373m to settle a string of criminal charges.” UK’s Guardian reported.
A week after U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline declared that “the balance of hardships” is in favor of the BP and Shell, “who have invested significant time [never mind nature’s 4.55 billion year investment] and expense in preparing for the scheduled activities,” and dismissed lawsuit against exploration permits granted by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the MMS, two environmental groups filed a lawsuit yesterday against new federal regulations that grants permission to oil companies to disturb the polar bears and walrus in the Chukchi Sea.
The Pacific Walrus: “ah may be ugly, but ah ain’t dumb, an’ ah ain’t hurting no one!” [Image: NOAA]
“The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, challenges regulations issued last month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allow ‘incidental takes’ of the animals, meaning permission to disturb or accidentally harass them as long as such actions do not result in physical injury or death.” Reuters reported.
Polar bears were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in May, and a similar petition seeking protections to the Pacific walrus has since been submitted. More …
An aerial view of the oil spill from Statfjord A platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea December 12, 2007. About 25,000 barrels of oil spilled into the Norwegian sector of the North Sea near the Statfjord oilfield on Wednesday, field operator StatoilHydro and oil officials said. REUTERS/Kystverket (The Norwegian Coastal Administration) via Scanpix Norway (NORWAY) NORWAY OUT NO COMMERCIAL USE
Fire Earth 
