(No) Oil in the Keys

[ONESPEED]

There is a disturbing trend in media and politics to engender "outrage" because the less-informed become reactive.

And THAT completely sums up the problem that precipitated this thread and many of the responses I have seen to the alleged keys oil spill.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I just clicked it again and it worked. Maybe it will work now

nawwwh.. still no work. No worries though. It's the server here at work that prevents it.

 

[Jax]

Jenny, et al; from Debby's link on the previous page: After blocking CBS crew, Coast Guard denies ‘BP rules’ | Raw Story

Bold highlights are mine.

As BP withholds information on impact of massive oil spill, Coast Guard says that 'embedded' media have been allowed to cover response effort

As oil from the massive BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico approached the US coastline, a CBS News crew was threatened by the US Coast Guard with arrest if they attempted to film a beach in South Pass, Louisiana.

"When we tried to reach the beach ... a boat of BP contractors with two Coast Guard officers on board told us to turn around under threat of arrest," CBS's Kelly Cobiella reported on Tuesday.

"This is BP's rules, it's not ours," an officer can be seen calling from the other boat in the CBS video.

"We spoke to Coast Guard officials today," Cobiella concluded. "They say they are looking into it."

Story continues below...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since this initial brief report, the CBS video clip has been widely reposted, but there has apparently been no followup from either CBS or BP. The Coast Guard, however, released a statement from Rob Wyman, Lieutenant Commander, USCG, Deepwater Horizon Unified Command.

Neither BP nor the U.S. Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that would prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident. In fact, media has been actively embedded and allowed to cover response efforts since this response began, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. Just today 16 members of the press observed clean-up operations on a vessel out of Venice, La.

The only time anyone would be asked to move from an area would be if there were safety concerns, or they were interfering with response operations. This did occur off South Pass Monday which may have caused the confusion reported by CBS today.

The entities involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Response have already reiterated these media access guidelines to personnel involved in the response and hope it prevents any future confusion.
This statement has provoked additional concerns, however, since it apparently indicates that the practice of military "embeds" is being extended to this domestic crisis.

OpEdNews, for example, comments that "this raises many questions about what Americans are able to access and not access, what they are able to document and not document. Should a person have to be embedded with authorities, corporations or organizations at the center of a disaster in order to document a disaster? Must a person be with a recognized news organization that regularly gets into press conferences in order to film critical events like the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico right now?"

As a result of what appears to be a clamp-down on news coverage, speculation about an official cover-up has run wild and the CBS story is being referenced by sites such as ProPublica, where Marian Wang comments that "BP hasn’t yet been able to stop the flow of oil, but it’s been more successful at controlling the information coming out about the Gulf disaster."

Wang ties the CBS incident to a McClatchy report that BP "hasn't publicly divulged the results of tests on the extent of workers' exposure to evaporating oil or from the burning of crude over the gulf, even though researchers say that data is crucial in determining whether the conditions are safe."

"Unlike the response to other past national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina where the government was in charge," the McClatchy story continues, "BP has been designated as the 'responsible party' under federal law and is overseeing much of the response to the spill. The government is acting more as an adviser. So far, the government has been slow to press BP to release its data and permit others to evaluate the extent of the crisis."

The New York Times further reports, "Tensions between the Obama administration and the scientific community over the gulf oil spill are escalating, with prominent oceanographers accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill’s true scope."

"The scientists point out that in the month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, the government has failed to make public a single test result on water from the deep ocean," the Times observes. "And the scientists say the administration has been too reluctant to demand an accurate analysis of how many gallons of oil are flowing into the sea from the gushing oil well."

In the absence of hard reporting, anecdotal observations from environment bloggers have become a primary source of additional information.

Raleigh Hoke,. the Mississippi organizer for the Gulf Restoration Network, commented on Wednesday, "Since this catastrophe first began almost a month ago, BP has attempted to restrict independent monitoring of the spill site and its impacts, and has worked to restrict data from the public and independent experts. For example, on the Saturday after the spill officials refused to allow GRN to fly over the site in order to survey the extent of the slick and cleanup efforts."

Green technology blogger Karl Burkart similarly wrote, "Contacts in Louisiana have given me numerous, unconfirmed reports of cameras and cell phones being confiscated, scientists with monitoring equipment being turned away, and local reporters blocked from access to public lands impacted by the oil spill."

"The Obama administration, it appears, has higher priorities," Burkart suggested, "namely helping BP in its frantic efforts to keep the public in the dark about what is almost surely the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history."

 

[shoredivr]

Jenny, et al; from Debby's link on the previous page: After blocking CBS crew, Coast Guard denies ‘BP rules’ | Raw Story

"This statement has provoked additional concerns, however, since it apparently indicates that the practice of military "embeds" is being extended to this domestic crisis.

OpEdNews, for example, comments that "this raises many questions about what Americans are able to access and not access, what they are able to document and not document. Should a person have to be embedded with authorities, corporations or organizations at the center of a disaster in order to document a disaster? Must a person be with a recognized news organization that regularly gets into press conferences in order to film critical events like the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico right now?"


Excellent question.

 

[ONESPEED]

FORT LAUDERDALEMayor Jack Seiler used a gathering of fellow mayors from Broward's coastal cities to deliver a rebuke to his fellow politicians.

He warned that hyperbole over the potential local effects of the Gulf oil spill risks major damage to the region's tourism and marine industries – possibly for no reason other than politics.

Seiler – who's been in politics for years as Wilton Manors mayor, a top member of the state Legislature, and now mayor of Broward's biggest city – said in an interview after the meeting that some politicians have crossed the line that separates appropriate leadership and inappropriate grandstanding.

He declined to name names. But, he said, it's obvious what's been going on.

"It's been a concern to me. Because obviously with political season you've seen that grandstanding," he said. "We've seen it at the local level. We've seen it at the state level. We've seen it at national level. And that's not appropriate.

"You have a situation where some politicians are using this for political opportunity. They're trying to capitalize politically on an environmental issue. That's irresponsible. And I think the voters need to look at that and say, 'Who are those politicians that are making it worse by trying to capitalize politically and who are those elected officials, those public servants who are just taking the right approach, the proper approach?' " he said after the gathering of mayors at the Broward County Governmental Center.

Most of the meeting, which lasted a little more than an hour, was devoted to presentations from county managers who deal with the beach, the port and the environment. Several mayors asked questions about the likelihood of Broward effects, and how they'd be mitigated.

The consensus from the experts was that effects are likely minimal, probably including some tar balls washing up on beaches and possibly an oily sheen in some places.

Nothing is imminent, said Eric Myers, assistant director of the county's environmental protection department. "It's going to be like a slow speed car chase."

Seiler waited until the end of the gathering to raise his concern, which wasn't quite as pointed as the later interview.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Change in loop current could give Florida a break from oil spill - St. Petersburg Times

 

[dumpsterDiver]

FORT LAUDERDALEMayor Jack Seiler used a gathering of fellow mayors from Broward's coastal cities to deliver a rebuke to his fellow politicians.

He warned that hyperbole over the potential local effects of the Gulf oil spill risks major damage to the region's tourism and marine industries – possibly for no reason other than politics.

Seiler – who's been in politics for years as Wilton Manors mayor, a top member of the state Legislature, and now mayor of Broward's biggest city – said in an interview after the meeting that some politicians have crossed the line that separates appropriate leadership and inappropriate grandstanding.

He declined to name names. But, he said, it's obvious what's been going on.

"It's been a concern to me. Because obviously with political season you've seen that grandstanding," he said. "We've seen it at the local level. We've seen it at the state level. We've seen it at national level. And that's not appropriate.

"You have a situation where some politicians are using this for political opportunity. They're trying to capitalize politically on an environmental issue. That's irresponsible. And I think the voters need to look at that and say, 'Who are those politicians that are making it worse by trying to capitalize politically and who are those elected officials, those public servants who are just taking the right approach, the proper approach?' " he said after the gathering of mayors at the Broward County Governmental Center.

Most of the meeting, which lasted a little more than an hour, was devoted to presentations from county managers who deal with the beach, the port and the environment. Several mayors asked questions about the likelihood of Broward effects, and how they'd be mitigated.

The consensus from the experts was that effects are likely minimal, probably including some tar balls washing up on beaches and possibly an oily sheen in some places.

Nothing is imminent, said Eric Myers, assistant director of the county's environmental protection department. "It's going to be like a slow speed car chase."

Seiler waited until the end of the gathering to raise his concern, which wasn't quite as pointed as the later interview.

do we beleive this? Do we think that the offcials know the truth? For one month BP and the federal governement have deliberately lied about the spill, They have said that it was leaking ata rate of less than 10% of the actual amount. they have said 5,000 bpd while scientists have said 70,000 or more. Yesterday they said the small siphon pipe was sucking 2,000 bpd (now we KNOW that if a little 6-inch pipe can deliver 2,000 then the 21-inch pipe is blowing out a lot more than 5,000 bpd. TODAY they admit that the 6-inch pipe is delivering 5,000 bpd!!! and they admit the release is far greater, but BP won't specualte on the amount.

If they have lied for a month about the rate of input, what validity do their predictions of environmental impacts have ?????

I certainly wouldn't be making any plans to head for the keys on Memorial day weekend!

http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com/2010/05/bp-slick-burn-at-source.html

 

[The Chairman]

I certainly wouldn't be making any plans to head for the keys on Memorial day weekend!

More room for us, then! I feel it's my civic duty to get my butt down there now!

 

[Scott L]

For one month BP and the federal governement have deliberately lied about the spill, They have said that it was leaking ata rate of less than 10% of the actual amount. They have said 5,000 bpd while scientists have said 70,000 or more.

I hope they change their deceitful ways...

 

[deepstops]

I hope they change their deceitful ways...

Funniest billboard I've seen in quite some time (it's in Hollywood off I-95):