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Gulf Watchers Diary Schedule
Monday - evening drive time
Wednesday - morning
Friday - morning
Friday Block Party - evening
Sunday - morning
Part one of the digest of diaries is here and part two is here.
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I wish I could begin this diary by wishing you all a happy new year. For probably the first time in my life I am not beginning the year with optimism. Hubby and I raised our glass of champagne on January 1 and toasted to 2012, we had already given up on 2011. In the wake of the Gulf Spill and oil industry news, I can only imagine how residents of the Gulf perceive the new year, and if you are one reading this diary please let us know by comment or email.
There seems to be amnesia on the part of governments handing out leases for drilling. In the UK, MP's have ruled out a moratorium on deep water drilling in the North Sea. Tim Yeo, chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, claims that the energy and security needs of the country depends on these newly discovered oil fields. The North Sea was the setting of the Piper Alpha explosion, the greatest oil rig disaster to date as far as the number of lives lost.
Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has acknowledged that an oil spill off the West of Shetland would be "an absolutely enormous environmental disaster" but he has insisted the measures governing the oil and gas industry in UK waters are "fit for purpose".
In written evidence BP also admitted that there are risks to deep water drilling.
"It is impossible to eliminate risk from any aspect of North Sea operations, whether in shallow or deep water," read a statement. "But the lessons to be learnt from the tragic accident of the Gulf of Mexico will enable the industry to reduce greatly these risks, and to help prevent a similar occurrence happening elsewhere."
The oil company insisted that delay to deep water drilling would have "implications for the security of UK oil and gas supplies" and West of Shetland has the "greatest exploration potential".
Why do I find it hard to believe that BP has the security of the British Isles as its primary concern in promoting this decision. The American company Chevron is currently drilling in the area north of the Shetland Islands and deeper than the Macondo well, at 1569 meters
Oil companies are already drilling in the ‘new frontier’ and expect to open up hundreds of new wells in future.
Just four fields are currently producing oil west of the Shetland Islands but more than 100 exploration licenses have been granted by the Government with more pending.
Thankfully, Greenpeace is trying to block any further drilling through the High Courts, claiming threats to sites protected under EU law.
Ben Ayliffe of Greenpeace pointed out that independent studies into what caused the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico have not concluded yet.
He also pointed to recent Health and Safety Executive figures that show an increase in both serious accidents and spilt oil in rigs operating off the UK. Serious accidents almost doubled from 106 per 100,000 in 2008/09 to 192 last year, while spills of hydrocarbons were up from 61 to 85.
"They are pressing ahead regardless of the holes in their own regulatory system. It is like they have learned nothing from the Deep Water Horizon spill," he said.
Drilling would endanger several species of whales, dolphins, sea birds and seals, as well as important cold water coral reefs
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Feeling optimistic yet? BP should be. BP's costs appear "manageable".
BP will survive the worst oil spill in U.S. history for several key reasons: it has little debt; its global businesses are forecast to generate $26 billion next year in cash flow from operations; the environmental impact of the spill isn't as bad as feared; and the government seems unlikely to ban BP from Gulf drilling. To bolster its finances, BP has cut its dividend, issued debt and sold more than $21 billion in assets.
Since the spill, BP has moved aggressively to shore up its finances.
The company suspended its quarterly dividend of 84 cents a share, which cost it $10.5 billion last year. It also raised $21 billion in asset sales that include: $7 billion for its stake in Pan American Energy; $7 billion for oil fields in the U.S., Canada and Egypt; $1.9 billion for its Colombian exploration business; and $1.8 billion for assets in Vietnam and Venezuela. BP also raised $3.5 billion in an Oct. 1. bond sale.
From April through June, when BP's stock was tanking, Fred Fromm, who manages a natural resources fund for Franklin Templeton Investments, scooped up 170,000 shares. Their value climbed by more than $2 million in the third quarter.
A few weeks after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank, scientists worried the oil slick would reach the Gulf's Loop Current, which sweeps around Florida and up the East Coast. Beaches would be damaged along the way. But BP got lucky. Gulf winds kept shifting, which kept the oil concentrated in the waters south of Louisiana, said David Hollander, a University of South Florida chemical oceanographer. And hurricanes mostly avoided the region.
Scientists disagree about how much oil remains in the Gulf, but already the streaky sheens of oil on the surface are mostly gone. The more oil that remains, the greater the potential for environmental lawsuits.
Whatever remains, "it won't impact their long-term ability to do business," says Citigroup oil analyst Mark Fletcher.
The AP did an analysis of the spill related costs that BP is going to face. Their estimate is 38 to 60 billion, depending on class action lawsuits which would increase the cost, or a settlement with the federal government which could reduce the amount. You can find the analysis at the above link.
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Anadarko,the Houston based company owning 25 percent of the Macondo well, has now seen it's share rise above their all time high on April 20, just before the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
- Shares of U.S. oil and gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped above highs reached days before BP Plc's BP.L> Gulf of Mexico Oil spill, rising more than 8 percent on Thursday on market talk that a bid from BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was in the works.
Rumors resurfaced that BHP Billiton Ltd is lining up an offer for the company. The Daily Mail reported that Billiton may offer $90 per share. The UK newspaper did not cite its sources.
Shares of Houston-based Anadarko rose to a session high of $76.50, eclipsing a high of $74.74 reached on April 20, five days before the rig explosion and oil spill that spewed more than 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf.
After the spill, shares of Anadarko slid to a low of $34.54 as investors worried over the company's liability in the disaster that left 11 workers dead and caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill.
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The pro-drilling Gulf politicians would like us to believe that if the oil companies are doing well, that is good for the people. How does the coming year look to them?
The tourist industry would like y'all to believe that the beaches are clean and the water fine. The Mobile Press-Register would like you to know otherwise.
While the Gulf beach at Fort Morgan is relatively clear of tar, the several hundred yards of sand beginning at the mouth of Mobile Bay and wrapping around toward the ferry dock is another story.
Tarballs ranging from the size of a nickel to the size of a person’s palm are spread liberally along the water’s edge and at the foot of the sand dunes well up the beach.
Along the water, the tarballs outnumber seashells and other flotsam. Hunks of oiled debris, including a mattress, were strewn along the beach Wednesday morning. Bits of tar were wedged into the crevices of fighting conchs and cockle shells.
On the higher sections of the beach, tarballs were so plentiful that they were seldom more than an inch apart.
BP officials said cleanup crews were on a 10-day holiday but would return to work Monday morning.
"They’ll be cleaning at Fort Morgan for a long while. I know the cleanup activities are still ongoing there," said Tommy Lambright, a BP spokesman. "That area is not finished."
Cleanup crews have been a nearly constant presence on the tip of Fort Morgan for months, often working in the surf with rakes and dip nets, fishing out tar.
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Scientists say the confluence of currents at the tip of Fort Morgan mean it serves as a catch point where debris such as shells or tarballs gather. That explains why crews have to clean a few hundred yards of sand over and over again.
A similar phenomenon has played out just inside the mouth of Pensacola Bay and along the tips of the barrier islands, according to Press-Register surveys of those locations.
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Pro Publica writer Sasha Chavkin has been following and writing about the Gulf Coast Claims Process and Kenneth Feinberg. he provides an overview of where things stand now.
ProPublica has examined the claims process closely to see whether BP and the government are delivering on their promises to the Gulf residents. Although nearly $3 billion has been paid out to date, there have also been chronic delays and a lack of transparency about payment decisions that have caused frustration and in many cases serious economic hardship to claimants.
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After Thanksgiving, the claims process moved into a new phase [13]. Feinberg stopped issuing emergency payments, which covered past damages and did not require waiving any legal rights, and began considering final claims, which cover all past and future damages but require signing away the right to sue.
Feinberg recently pledged another slate of improvements. He said he would implement his previous transparency promises [14] within weeks by sending staff to the Gulf to assist claimants and that he would disclose to the public his methodology for deciding claims.
As of Dec. 21, Feinberg's operation had paid out about $2.5 billion [15] over roughly four months -- many times the $400 million that BP distributed over nearly as long a period. However, some claimants are still struggling to get checks and to get answers about their claims, and it is unclear how far Feinberg's latest promises of reform will go toward easing their hardship.
The most telling part of the article, is the comment section, with story after story of unpaid claims,and lack of consistency. Just a few examples.
I know of someone who lost their car waiting for their EAP that they filed for in August and rcvd in Dec, in the meanwhile they lost their car and their house went into forclosure and they cant meet the pay in full demand even with the eventual approval of some EAP, they are suing GCCF and FeinbergRozen for this , they went and spoke with an attorney Monday ! I wish them all the best, these weren’t bums or people who bought beyond their means , but these are people who worked hard and lost their jobs on the beach after the oil hit !(christine)
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I was checking the website just a minute ago and am wondering what has happened to all the money paid out. Everyone I know who got a bunch of money didn’t lose anything and are still working. I lost my job and got a very small 6 month and am still waiting for answers. There is no transparency because it is not an honest system, it has nothing to do with actual loss. It is politics, pure and simple. The big business owners wrangled big payments for themselves and their employees that they favored here on the Alabama Gulf Coast. I know because I worked for one of the companies but was not one of the relatives or buddies, so I got shafted. I know employees who have lost nothing and got $20,000 payments on their EAP. Not just one employee, but several. The managers wrote letters to the GCCF and they got paid. How can that be fair? That’s just one reason I know of why there is no transparency.(kit)
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Paid claims will help us heal economically, but there are no US agencies looking into the health concerns we will face in the future.
Florida ground water, the purest water in the world has an intrusion zone close to the AL / FL border. It has been penetrated by the BP corexit dispersant, yet no one has publicized the extent of the danger.
Mr. Feinberg, be a true American and Pay our Final and interim claims, it is the honorable thing to do. Honor, you remember the meaning of the word don’t you, President Obama, Mr. Feinberg, BP?(BK Beach 4x4)
There is some serious hurting going on down there...
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And when people are desperate and hurting, someone will come along and sell them "snake oil". In the months after the spill, cleanup workers and those living near the spill area began to experience rashes, infections, and other health problems that appeared to be related to the spill and the use of dispersant. The Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors are an organization of health care workers who provide kits and advice on legitimate ways to decontaminate oneself. You can learn more about them at the link.
They, along with The Examiner have been trying to warn residents against a product know as MMS, or Miracle Mineral Supplement (also known as Activated Oxygen Therapy, renamed after the FDA warned against its use in July).
Wikipedia describes it as sodium chlorite when mixed in solution with citric acid forms chlorine dioxide, or oxygenated chlorine. From the Examiner article:
Dr. Gabriela Segura in France sent on Friday a Facebook message, "Indeed, MMS is dangerous to the extreme. I have had reports of fatal symptoms with only ONE drop of MMS. People need to know how dangerous MMS can be. It is very unfortunate to hear that it is being promoted in the Gulf Coast area. Another dangerous toxin is the last thing they need!"
Dr. Segura, author of the article, "The Day the Water Died: Detoxing after the Gulf Oil Spill, had referred the barefoot doctors to an article first published in issue #10 of The Dot Connector Magazine, official publication of Sott.net that included the following:
"The Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) is marketed feverishly as a miraculous alternative treatment for AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, herpes, tuberculosis, cancer and many more of mankind’s most feared diseases. The truth is that MMS is a dangerous poison, and as such it has no business whatsoever in the alternative health arena."
"Many people do not know that MMS is essentially bleach. It’s very effective for killing bacteria in toilets, but you certainly shouldn’t be swallowing it. The active ingredient in MMS is not a mineral, but chlorine dioxide (oxygenated chlorine), which is formed from the chemical combination of sodium chlorite and acetic acid (vinegar) or citric acid. MMS as a poison does kill intrusive germs in your body, but it would be naïve to believe it to be carefully selective in what it kills and destroys, or to think that the damage done has only limited consequences. It is shocking that MMS is recommended so widely, that it is recommended to already weakened individuals AND that it is recommended for long-term use. In truth, the potential long-term and dangerous side effects of regular MMS use should give anyone the shivers."
The use of MMS has been promoted on the Facebook page Gulf Change and Louisianians, such as Drew Landry and Kindra Arnesen have endorsed it. Our own resident specialists, Wee Mama (professor of organic chemistry) who wrote the excellent diary on the toxins of the spill for us., and hester, a physician, who also wrote an excellent diary on the effects of the spill have weighed in that MMS is at best useless.(h/t Yasu)
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And finally, a plea, from the spokesperson for Project Gulf Impact and wife of a fisherman, Kindra Arnesen. She has spoken out for the people of the Gulf, and she begs the people of this country, as we have been doing here, to not forget the Gulf..."to wake up and get involved".
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PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!
Previous Gulf Watcher diaries:
The last Mothership has links to reference material.
Previous motherships and ROV's from this extensive live blog effort may be found here.
Again, to keep bandwidth down, please do not post images or videos.