http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1065071/1/.html 

Posted: 23 June 2010 0909 hrs
WASHINGTON: US lawmakers Tuesday introduced a bill to reform the rules on offshore drilling as the massive oil spill continued to spread in the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill, introduced in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, would allow Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar to “improve the management, oversight, accountability, safety, and environmental protection.”

As previously announced by the White House, the bill also seeks to reorganise the controversial Minerals and Management Service (MMS) — singled out for lax oversight in the wake of the Gulf disaster — by splitting up its
responsibilities to supervise drilling and collecting revenue.

“This bill takes a number of important steps to ensure that the Outer Continental Shelf will be managed in a balanced, prudent and vigilant way, to ensure energy production, safety and protection of the environment,” said the committee’s Democratic chairman Jeff Bingaman.

“The bill should give Secretary Salazar the tools he is asking for to correct many of the deficiencies in the MMS, which have come to light since the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski.

A comprehensive shake-up of MMS continues amid scathing criticism of the agency for being too lax on enforcement of safety standards in offshore drilling and being too close with the companies it regulates.

The legislation’s introduction came on the day a US judge ruled against a six-month freeze imposed by the Obama administration on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

In a blow to the White House, district judge Martin Feldman ruled in favor of 32 oil firms which challenged the moratorium, calling the decision “invalid” and saying a freeze would “clearly ripple throughout the economy in this region.”

After the Gulf of Mexico disaster at an offshore oil rig leased by BP that ruptured an undersea well, President Barack Obama’s administration announced a breakup of the agency’s leasing and regulatory functions into two separate entities.

Entering its ninth week, the oil spill disaster has, using the lowest US estimate, seen more than 90 million gallons spew into the Gulf of Mexico.
-AFP/jy

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/06/23/business/AP-US-Gulf-Oil-Spill-Containment-Cap.html?_r=2&hp

More Oil Gushing Into Gulf After Problem With Cap
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2010
Filed at 12:48 p.m. ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Coast Guard says BP has been forced to remove a cap that was containing some of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says an underwater robot bumped into the venting system. That sent gas rising through vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming in the cap.

Allen says the cap has been removed and crews are checking to see if crystals have formed before putting it back on. In the meantime, a different system is still burning oil on the surface.

Before the problem with the containment cap, it had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in the previous 24 hours. Another 438,000 gallons was burned.
The current worst-case estimate of what’s spewing into the Gulf is about 2.5 million gallons a day.
______________________
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062302595.html
Washington Post
Oil gushes into gulf following accident in containment effort

By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 23, 2010; 1:48 PM

The gulf well is an uncapped geyser again after an accident forced officials Wednesday to remove the containment device that had been effectively capturing much of the gushing oil for weeks.

Separately, the response to the spill took a tragic turn when two people associated with the cleanup died in unrelated incidents, one a swimming pool accident and the other involving a person enlisted in the effort to skim oil, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced. He had no further information about the deaths, which he learned about just before his noon briefing.

Allen said the accident involving the containment operation was also under investigation, but he outlined the early theory of what happened. At 9:45 a.m. engineers aboard the drillship Discoverer Enterprise noticed gas rising through a water line that had been pumping hot water down to the seafloor to prevent methane hydrates from clogging the cap.

The appearance of gas created a hazardous situation on the ship, which has been rigidly connected to the well via a riser pipe and the containment cap. Engineers disengaged the cap and the riser. Scrutiny of the cap indicated that a vent had been inadvertently closed, possibly bumped by one of the many remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that conduct the subsea operations, Allen said.

Officials are studying the cap to see if it is now clogged with methane hydrates. They hope to be able to recap the well, though Allen did not give any timetable for that. The cap had managed to capture 16,668 barrels (700,056 gallons) of oil Tuesday; 10,429 more barrels (438,018 gallons) were flared through a separate containment operation using a line that leads to a different vessel, the Q4000.

The total amount captured set a new record for the containment operation, but the Wednesday morning setback puts the future of the strategy in doubt.

Complicating matters is that hurricane season is kicking into full gear. Allen said up to a week of preparation would be necessary to disengage vessels in advance of a tropical storm. A tropical wave in the Caribbean is moving to the west, slowly, and has a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The flaring operation continues, but the live video feed from the gulf shows a scene not witnessed for weeks: a plume of oil and gas surging from the sheared-off pipe atop the well’s blowout preventer. The overall flow has been estimated by the government at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels (1.47 million to 2.52 million gallons) a day.

This was not the first accident involving the ROVs, which are operated by technicians on surface ships. Weeks ago, an ROV bumped a pipe that was being used to siphon oil from the collapsed riser pipe and temporarily shut down that containment operation.

“I think the fact that we’ve had two bumps that have had consequences associated with them in the 60-plus days we’ve been doing the response, it’s a pretty good record,” Allen said.
______________________________
Below is the Coast Guard’s Press Release:
 
Suspension of Lower Marine Riser Package Containment Cap Operations
 
Deepwater Horizon Incident
Joint Information Center
 
NEW ORLEANS — This morning at approximately 8:45 a.m. CDT, a discharge of liquids was observed from a diverter valve on the drill ship Discoverer Enterprise,which is on station at the MC252 well-site. As a precautionary measure,the lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap system, attached to the Discover Enterprise, has been moved off the Deepwater Horizon’s failed blow-out preventer to ensure the safety of operations and allow the unexpected release of liquids to be analyzed.
 
Capture of oil and gas through the LMRP cap is therefore temporarily suspended until such time that the cap can be re-installed. Capture of oil and gas through the BOP’s choke line to the Q4000 vessel on the surface continues.

Special thanks to Richard Charter.

Please find the following information regarding a  planned evacuation should there be a call for one in the Tampa Bay area.
 
 

 
 
http://www.examiner.com/x-17299-Hernando-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m5d9-Gulf-Oil-Spill-2010-Plans-to-evacuate-Tampa-Bay-area-expected-to-be-announced
 
 
UPDATED: June 14, 2010
As FEMA and other government agencies prepare for what is now being called the worst oil spill disaster in  history, plans to evacuate the Tampa Bay area are in place.
The plans would be announed in the event of a controlled burn of surface oil in the Gulf of Mexico, or if wind or other conditions are expected to take toxic fumes through Tampa Bay.
This practice has been used by the US Forestry service, when fire and smoke threaten the health and well being of people.
The elderly and those with respiratory problems would be more susceptible to health risks, in the event of a controlled burn.
Estimates of the rate of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill have varied. Independent scientists now suggest that the true spill rate, before the riser pipe was cut off in June, was between 20,000 and 50,000 barrels a day.
Since the April 20th explosion, which resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig, there have been more than a million gallons of chemicals poured into the Gulf of Mexico in efforts to break up the spill. The chemicals have come under scrutiny  because of their own toxic nature.

It is not certain if the massive slick will have to be set on fire near Tampa Bay, but the possibility has not been ruled out.
BP has been using controlled burns as a way to contain the oil spill since the crisis began.  Plans to do additional controlled burns around the well site were announced by Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen at a briefing in early June.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.handsacrossthesand.org

Don’t forget our Key West event at Smathers Beach between 11am–noon–see ya there!  DV
  
Contact:
David Raushkolb, drmail61@gmail.com, 850-865-1061
Frank Jackalone, frank.jackalone@sierraclub.org, 727-824-8813, x302
Alexis Henry, ahenry@surfrider.org, 949-732-6413
 
 
More than 700 grassroots ‘Hands Across the Sand’ events will take place in communities across the country and around the world in response to Gulf drilling disaster
 
Tens of thousands of people who support clean energy and oppose offshore drilling are expected to participate in more than 700 Hands Across the Sand events across the country and around the world on Saturday, June 26. Events will take place in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and more than 20 countries, beginning in Auckland, New Zealand and work its way across global time zones finishing on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawaii.
NOTE: A complete list of events, all of which begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, can be found here http://www.handsacrossthesand.org. A list of key events the media may wish to cover follows at the end of this advisory.
 
At events taking place on beaches, near waterways, and in land-locked towns, participants will join hands to form symbolic barriers against spilling oil. The events will represent the largest-yet outpouring of grassroots activism in response to the disastrous April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and the subsequent, devastating oil damage in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
This simple, yet powerful human expression of unity will send a clear message to our leaders that more offshore drilling is not the answer and now is the time to create our clean energy future,” said event founder Dave Rauschkolb, a restaurant owner in Seaside, Florida.
 
Some of the groups supporting Hands Across the Sand are: 350.org, 1Sky, Audubon, Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife, Earth Day Network, Endangered Species Coalition, Energy Action Coalition, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, MoveOn.org, Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Surfrider Foundation.
 
Members of the public are invited to join the events, and all events are open to the media. All Hands Across the Sand events will begin at 11 a.m. local time, with participants joining hands at noon. Locations of and contact information for all 700+ events are posted at http://www.handsacrossthesand.org.
 
SHOWCASE EVENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA:
 
Denver
Rocky Mountain Lake Park — 3151 W 46th Ave, Denver, CO 80211 Interstate 25 to west bound Interstate 70. Exit I70 at Lowell Blvd. South on Lowell Blvd.
Contact: Loraine Perkins, loraine.perkins@comcast.net,
 
London
St James Park, Westminster Tube end, by the Lake — A walk will take place afterwards in the local area between the Houses of Parliament and BP headquarters.
Contact: Charlotte Pulver at charlottepulver@yahoo.co.uk
 
Miami
South Beach, 5th Street and Ocean Drive
Contact: Jonathan Ullman, jonathan.ullman@sierraclub.org,
or Mike Gibaldi, Miami@surfrider.org,
 
New York City
Brooklyn, Coney Island — Take the subway to Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Station and cross the street when you come out of the station
Contact: Stephanie Massaux, islandhands@hotmail.com
 
San Francisco
The Beach at Crissy Field — located on the San Francisco Bay north of Mason Street and the Exploratorium with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Contact: Jeramiah Dean, jeramiah.dean@sierraclub.org,
 
Santa Monica, California
To the north of the Santa Monica Pier, on the beach (to the right of the pier facing the ocean)
Contact: Stefanie Sekich-Quinn, Ssekich@surfrider.org,
 
Seaside, Florida — where Hands Across the Sand got started
On the beach behind Bud & Alley’s Restaurant
Contact: Dave Rauschkolb, drmail61@gmail.com,
 
Tampa and St. Petersburg
St. Pete Beach — Tradewinds Island Resort, 5500 Gulf Blvd.
Contact: Cathy Harrelson, cathy_bam@earthlink.net,
 
Virginia Beach
Oceanfront between 19th & 31st Streets
Contact: Eileen Levandoski, Eileen.Levandoski@sierraclub.org,
 
Washington, D.C.
On Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in front of the White House
Contact: Whit Jones, whit@energyactioncoalition.org,
 
### Special thanks to Richard Charter

June 22, 2010

 http://ehstoday.com/fire_emergencyresponse/news/csb-investigate-deepwater-horizon-blowout-5587/

June 22, 2010 3:40 PM, By Laura Walter

In response to a request from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to conduct a full and thorough investigation into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairman John Bresland pledged to investigate the accidental chemical release that destroyed the rig  but also stressed that such an investigation may pose a challenge to the board’s resources.

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., and Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., sent a letter to CSB on June 8 requesting the investigation.

“We make this request because we believe CSB’s past work on BP puts it in a unique position to address questions about BP’s safety culture and practices,” they wrote, noting in particular CSB’s investigation into the 2005 fatal BP Texas City, Texas refinery explosion and the 2006 BP pipeline leak in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Waxman and Stupek asked CSB to investigate whether the circumstances leading up to the explosion reflect problems in BP’s safety culture; whether cost-cutting and budgetary concerns played a role in BP’s decisions about well design and testing; how BP, Transocean and other contractors assessed changes to process, technology, equipment, personnel, budget and training on the rig; if BP provided adequate oversight of contractors; and whether CSB can draw parallels between this oil rig explosion and the 2005 Texas City explosion.

In his response, Bresland stressed that CSB will make this work a priority and “apply all of our available resources to ensure the best possible investigation.” He added that the process will include key investigators who were involved in the BP Texas City refinery explosion investigation.

He added, however, that this investigation must “be approached without any preconceptions and that all possible underlying factors and causes are thoroughly and objectively examined. Like other CSB investigations, the investigation should include an examination of key technical factors, the safety cultures involved, and the effectiveness of relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards.”

Bresland also noted that CSB will work to avoid duplicating other investigations already planned or underway. He requested the committee’s help in promoting cooperation with other investigations and in ensuring that CSB’s investigation remains independent from potential criminal inquiries.

Difficult Choices

“The CSB plans to focus on events prior to and including the explosion on April 20; we believe that an examination of the response to the disaster and the impact of the ongoing massive oil spill is beyond the CSB’s current resources and abilities,” Bresland wrote.

Bresland also referenced CSB’s high caseload and number of open investigations, and stressed that conducting this new investigation will require “some difficult choices and decisions.”

CSB will need to rapidly conclude some ongoing investigations, terminate smaller investigations and put others on hold, he said. In addition, CSB must temporarily reassign personnel, draw upon its emergency investigative fund and require supplemental funding as needed.

“We recognize that this human and ecological disaster is one of the most significant chemical accidents of the current era,” Bresland wrote. “All of us share your hope that every possible lesson will be learned from this accident so that nothing similar ever occurs again.”

Special thanks to Richard Charter