http://www.frumforum.com/

June 25th, 2010 at 6:57 am by David Jenkins

Some of us in attendance at the 2008 Republican Convention had a terrible sinking feeling when Michael Steele shouted out his “drill, baby, drill” slogan for the first time. We knew that his simplistic and cavalier answer to our nation’s energy woes was ill advised- and since the U.S. sits atop only 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, not even based in geologic reality.

More unfortunate than the slogan itself, is the fact that “drill, baby, drill” accurately sums up the extent of the GOP energy plan to date. That has left Republicans in poor position to take advantage of President Obama’s missteps related to the Gulf oil spill-in fact, environmental groups have modified Steele’s slogan to fit the occasion: “spill, baby, spill.”

Republicans and right-wing talk radio personalities are trying to pound Obama over the oil spill, but since their energy stance has been so pro-drilling and opposed to environmental safeguards, their attacks lack credibility and fail to present a coherent message.

One minute Republicans are lamenting the fact that spill containment and clean-up capabilities are woefully inadequate and criticizing Obama for allowing deepwater drilling without adequate safeguards. The next minute they are complaining about his temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling.

Essentially, they are saying let’s move forward with deepwater drilling even though we do not have adequate safeguards to prevent or contain an accident. Isn’t that exactly what they are trying to criticize Obama for?

The wackiness doesn’t stop there.

While many Republicans attack Obama for his inept spill response, Joe Barton (R-TX), the GOP’s ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is singing a different tune.

At the Texas GOP Convention earlier this month Barton, flanked by several oil industry executives, proclaimed that “fortunately, much of the BP spill had been contained.”
Shortly thereafter he, along with 15 other GOP congressmen, called for expanding offshore drilling.

Then, Congressman Barton infamously apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for White House pressure, which Barton dubbed a “shakedown,” to have BP establish a $20 billion dollar escrow account to pay claims for those economically damaged by the spill. Barton was forced to later retract his statement, but the same “shakedown” language has been used by Representatives Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Tom Price (R-GA) to decry the escrow account.

Republican attacks on Obama for the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) too-cozy relationship with the oil companies are missing the mark because much of this coziness became entrenched during the Bush Administration. Republicans in Congress have a history of running interference for the agency.

At a 2008 House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Interior Department Inspector General’s investigation that found MMS employees literally in bed with oil company officials, Republicans dismissed the investigation as overblown. Just a few bad apples, they argued, turning a blind eye to the systemic rot within MMS.

The same year, Republicans aggressively (and successfully) agitated to end the Outer Continental Shelf drilling moratoriums that had been in effect since the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989. The slogan then was Newt Gingrich’s “drill here, drill now, pay less.”
The GOP’s failure to gain traction in seeking the moral high ground of oil spill politics is also due to the party’s long-running assault on 1970’s era environmental laws-laws that were passed with huge bipartisan majorities and signed into law by President Nixon.

At least since the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, Republicans in Congress have launched effort after effort to weaken laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires environmental reviews before projects such as oil drilling can move forward. Often, these efforts seek to exempt projects from environmental review or reduce the amount of time an agency has to complete a review-which fit right in with MMS’ go-along, get-along approach to oversight that led to the spill.

The sad truth is that there is nothing in recent GOP policy positions related to energy and the environment that provides Republicans a solid foothold from which to attack the Obama administration for the oil spill and its impacts.

Perfectly legitimate attacks come off as hypocritical.

If we own “drill, baby, drill,” then we cannot help but be tarred with “spill, baby, spill.”
Future attacks would be more successfully launched from high ground-but until the GOP makes a clear break from the fossil fuel-centric policies of the past, renews its commitment to the responsible stewardship of our natural resources, and probably springs for a few dozen muzzles, that moral high ground will remain out of reach.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jun/24/na-usf-official-oil-seen-near-jacksonville/news-metro/

By ROB SHAW

Traces of oil from the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico have traveled to within a few miles of the Jacksonville and Cuba coastlines, a University of South Florida official said Wednesday.

“Some of the tar balls may start showing up on the east coast as far as Jacksonville,” Bill Hogarth, dean of the College of Marine Science at USF, told members of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in a telephone conference call.

Satellite imagery interpreted by researchers at USF shows the oil continues to be a part of the loop current, the conveyor belt of water that dips from the Gulf and into the Florida Straits before traveling up the east coast as part of the Gulf Stream.

As the oil continues to spew a mile underwater and the calendar gets deeper into hurricane season, the cause for concern about potential impact on Florida grows, Hogarth said.

“We’re getting more nervous,” the dean said. “Things are getting very delicate right now.”

That goes for the tourism industry as well.

“July is in limbo,” said Mike Chouri, general manager of the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa. “We have no idea what July is going to be.”

The Panhandle hotel is getting a “massive number of calls” related to the oil catastrophe.

“People are not making a lot of future reservations,” Chouri said.

Those who are making plans to stay at the waterfront Destin hotel are only planning trips two or three days out, he added.

Workers at the hotel have used six bulldozers to build two berms on the beach in an effort to keep any oil that might wash ashore at bay.

“No one stopped us,” Chouri said. “We had to do it. We have to protect our beach.”

Paul Wohlford, vice president of marketing and sales at the Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City, also lamented about next month being a big question mark.

“July is an absolute unknown for us and that is our biggest month,” he said.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

As the BP deepwater drilling disaster stretches into its second month, it’s clear that far more must be done to protect and restore the amazing coastal environments and communities of the Gulf of Mexico.  With oil coming ashore from the marsh and pelican rookeries of Terrebonne Bay in Louisiana, to the white sand beaches of the Florida panhandle, it’s time for the nation to stand behind a region-wide, community based response to this crisis.
Please show your support for the Gulf coast and our diverse and threatened communities.  Today we’re launching Gulf Future, a collaborative campaign of the Gulf Restoration Network and the Gulf Coast Fund, supported by national groups committed to the region, in order to empower a community response to the BP oil drilling disaster.
It could take months and even years for the scope of the environmental and economic effects of this disaster to reveal themselves.  In spite of this uncertainty, some things are evident:
We must hold BP accountable for the full cost of this disaster. This includes cleaning up all the oil still being spewed from the well and restoring the marine and coastal environments that were threatened even before April 20th;
We must ensure that coastal and fishing communities have the resources to fight for their future;
We must prevent future calamities by supporting the use of clean and renewable energy, stopping dangerous deep water drilling unless it can be made safe, and creating effective regulation of the oil industry
To celebrate the launch of this new campaign, live music venues across the country are hosting benefit concerts for Gulf Future on July 1st. To find an event near you visit http://www.gulfcoastbenefit.com/
Visit Gulf Future to donate today and receive a wristband to show your solidarity with the people along the Gulf Coast.

Aaron Viles
Campaign Director

Dear friends of Florida waters:  I know these updates get longer and longer, but I get a lot of thank-you’s from many of you, so I’m going to keep trying to share the most pertinent information in hopes that it will be helpful to parts of the state that have not been hit by the oil yet, but may get it at some future date.  If you are not interested in this information, then please just delete it.  Please feel free to share it far and wide if you think it will interest other people that you know.

The first large waves of oil arrived in Florida yesterday, Wednesday June 23rd.  There had been smaller amounts coming ashore here and there, but approximately 9 miles of oil landed on Pensacola Beach in the early hours of yesterday morning.  The puddles are about 10 to 12 feet wide and about 2 to 4 inches thick from where I saw them.  I have seen nothing on TV or heard anything from friends that would lead me to believe that this is not the case for the whole length of the landing.  It is incredibly sickening to see.  I sent a message to the Governor’s office last night and asked his aides to congratulate him for finally having proof that our beaches are the best booms that we have in Florida. Yep, they just let that oil roll right in with no attempt to stop it at all.  Are you amazed?  I am and I see no reason for the state and federal governments to do that, but that’s their strategy . . . To just let it land.  I’ll discuss this further in the section below that is labeled LEGAL ACTIONS.

The Governor was here at Pensacola Beach yesterday and said on television that he was asking for some skimmer boats.  There are one or two skimmer boats off the shores of Pensacola Beach right now.  I have sent an email to his office trying to find out “who” the Governor has asked.  No response.  I do know that at least 13 countries have offered assistance to us and it has been refused.  Here is an excerpt from a news report on this matter:

“In early May, the State Department emailed reporters identifying the 13 entities that had offered the U.S. oil spill assistance. They were the governments of Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations. 

“These offers include experts in various aspects of oil spill impacts, research and technical expertise, booms, chemical oil dispersants, oil pumps, skimmers, and wildlife treatment,” the email from the White House read.

“While there is no need right now that the U.S. cannot meet, the U.S. Coast Guard is assessing these offers of assistance to see if there will be something which we will need in the near future.”

I know I’m repeating myself a little, but how is the state and federal government just sitting back and watching oil pour into our passes and blanket our beaches when it could be prevented?  The oil has moved at least two miles past the Pensacola pass.  There is essentially no way to stop it once you let it get that far.  Yesterday I went to Ft Pickens, which is at the west end of Santa Rosa Island and is the mouth of the Pensacola Pass.  There are a few booms here and there (the little sausage booms that I spoke of before) and a few barges, but essentially there is no credible effort underway to stop the oil.  The only conclusion I can reach is that the state’s attitude is: “BRING IT!!!!  We’re just adding up the damages and we’ll send you a bill later.”  If I’m wrong, then I hope someone will offer a more logical explanation.

BOOMING – A few days ago I received an email from Thomas J. Campbell, who is the President of Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc. in Boca Raton.  He offered a very succinct explanation about the problem of keeping oil out of inlets and passes.  His company has been contracted to work with Okaloosa County and the City of Destin on their local response and has experienced some frustration in coordinating the BP response with the local program. I have been hearing about Okaloosa County and Destin’s frustration with DEP and BP for many weeks and they finally decided to stop waiting for help from these entities and have hired their own help.  This is wise and once again, I urge other local governments to do the same.  If you are waiting for the state to save you, you will be sorely disappointed.

Mr. Campbell told me that the best scenario is to stop the oil before it gets to the inlet.  However, if it gets that far, then the best hope for reducing impacts in the bays is stopping and collecting the oil at the inlets. Unfortunately that is exactly where the expertise is wanting. Boom contractors can’t handle the currents in the inlets and need to be coupled with marine contractors and local experienced captains to pull the booms for installation; that is not happening.  If you look at the plans that WRS Compass (the BP-connected consulting firm that DEP has signed a no-bid contract with to help local governments) has developed for local protection plans, they consist largely of a few booms scattered around, INSIDE THE ESTUARIES.

Mr. Campbell explains that generally  the boom plans in the inlets  should be but are not designed to work in the high currents. The first line of defense in the inlets should be booms that are constructed within the inlet. These booms need to be  constructed at mild angles to the current or oil will move right under the boom when the perpendicular current velocities exceed 0.7 knots. Also booms  that go straight across the inlet will structurally fail in high currents.  For most inlets that means less than 20 degrees to the current . This requires very long booms and wood piles to anchor them (anchors tend to pull the boom under in high current) to keep their shape and divert the oil to inlet beach shorelines where they can be collected and the sand removed and cleaned.

The next line of defense should be booms placed as umbrella systems behind the inlets where the currents drop below below 0.7 knots . These will form collection points for drum skimmers. The Umbrella system should be repeated for maximum effectiveness.

The above information in not known by most governments who are relying on the Area Contingency plans to protect them . They say that they are relying on the experts (BP boom contractors and the Coast Guard) . If you look at these ACP plans they generally are found  to lack design and piling in the inlets and often have no umbrella system behind the inlet . The Boom contractors try hard to carry out the plan but often have under powered boats to pull boom which are not capable of operating in the high currents .

It is hard to correct these problems when oil is coming in the inlet .  in many cases it is hard to convince the local EOC’s that the ACP needs design and adjustments and more robust implementation strategies before oil is at the door.  If you think your local area is in danger, it will behoove you to warn your local government and try to make advance plans that will provide adequate protection for your coastline.

SKIMMER BOATS/SUPER TANKERS – Everyone agrees that skimmer boats are the most effective way to attack the oil.  As mentioned above, right now there is one or two skimmer boats offshore from Pensacola beach.  I heard last week from Senator Nelson that there were three working in Florida waters.  He said that there are 20 more on the way the northern Europe.  I was told today by my local government contact that there are 12 skimmer boats sitting idle in Bayou Chico, which is about 20 miles from here in Pensacola.  All but two are under the control of the Unified Command (BP and the Coast Guard).  The reason that they are not scattered around, skimming up the oil is apparently a coordination problem.  Communication between the Unified Command Center in Mobile and the local governments is extremely poor.  He told me that a new coordination plan is in the works and that in the next week or two things should improve.  As Senator Nelson said very clearly 10 days ago, “there is no clear chain of command.”  Also the communication between Unified Command and the contractors is very poor.  He said they are trying to put the Coast Guard in command to make things better, but that is difficult to do.  Why???? Why is that difficult???? 

As I said, everyone agrees that we should be trying to get every skimmer boat in the world here and any other technology asap.  The oil is not diminishing, in fact it increases from time to time, such as yesterday when they stopped using the cap that was taking some small part of the oil to the surface where it is being burned. 

I hope our state and federal governments have not given up on saving the Gulf.  If we have any hope of its recovery at some point, then we must do everything in our power to stay on top of the oil and remove as much as possible.  Our local governments in the Panhandle are begging for help from the state and they are incredibly frustrated with the little or no help that is forth-coming.  The county I live in has 88 miles of shoreline and some of our modest requests from the state have even been denied.  We finally got a few more booms approved but are still waiting for money for other protections that we need.

I’m told that two days ago there were 11 vessels working on a large patch of oil straight out from Navarre Beach.  This may be why there is no oil here right now and the beaches to the east and west of us are smothered in oil.  THERE SHOULD BE AN ARMY OF BOATS, SKIMMERS, BARGES, ETC. out there capturing the oil.

Tonight, 24 miles out from the Pensacola pass there is a large patch of oil. They know it’s there and they could have boats and equipment out there trying to prevent it from coming ashore, but it is doubtful that these preventive measures are in place.  The plans that were developed by WRS Compass, with the BP money given to the state of Florida, are worthless.  They have already been modified several times and the local governments are hiring their own contractors to get real plans and protections in place.  Right now, the whole operation is very much a trial and error situation and local governments are sharing ideas, successes and failures and working together to do the best they can.  The money for protection has largely been squandered by our state government and local governments are going out on a limb financially to try and protect their communities.  I know this sounds harsh, but I have been talking to numerous local government representatives and they are extremely frustrated with the situation.  We didn’t ask for this to happen to us.  It would be wonderful if our state government was not so politically driven and dysfunctional.

LEGAL ACTION – As mentioned above, the state’s strategy seems to be to just use our beaches and shores as booms for the incoming oil.  This made no sense to me until I got DEP’S response to my 30-day notice letter.  In this response letter DEP says, “Since the state and federal response actions will not protect the state from some damage to its natural resources occurring, the Department has been actively preparing its natural resource damage claim that will be pursued against BP . . .”  It goes on to say that the DEP is doing extensive sampling along Florida’s coastline to prove damages later.  They brag in the letter that “Florida has conducted more baseline sampling than any of the other Gulf Coast states affected by the oil spill.”  They seem very proud of the fact that they are working hard to build a damages case to file in court later, but clearly do not plan any legal action against BP until sometime in the future when they “will aggressively pursue BP to compensate the state for those damages.”

So, my guess is that the Governor and Legislature are seeing this whole oil disaster as a wind-fall for our financially strapped state.  They are basically just letting the disaster unfold and are already counting the millions of dollars that they will collect down the road.  The $75 million that they already got from BP is apparently almost gone or largely not available for local protection efforts. 

PLEASE DON’T WAIT for the state to send money or assistance if you live in a coastal county.  I am hearing from people further east who say that their neighborhoods are putting plans together with their own money.  If this is an option, I would say it is a great idea.  Just be sure to get help from an experienced contractor. 

A short while ago, I went outside to take my dog for a walk and the air is heavy with the odor of oil.  This has become a normal condition and I’m sure it is not healthy.  The overall situation is not leveling off, rather it seems to be worsening.  I don’t think that any coastal county along the Gulf coast of Florida is safe from eventual contamination.  I also don’t know if it makes sense to hope that our state government will figure out what to do to help us.  Therefore, our best hope for coping with this disaster is working together on a local level.  Please be in touch with your local government and do what you can to help them.  It is important to find the most knowledgeable people in your community who know about your inlets, tides, resources, etc.  Also, technical people, engineers, scientists who live in your area can be of great help to your local government.  These are just suggestions that you may want to consider.  The important thing is to use this time wisely and get prepared before the oil reaches you.

For all of Florida’s waters,
Linda Young
Director

http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/9448252067/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/hse/2010/06/bp-says_macondo_wellbore/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyJune252010.html

June 25, 2010
Paula Dittrick
OGJ Senior Staff Writer

HOUSTON, June 25 — BP PLC reported its first relief well being drilled to stop the Macondo well oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reached 16,275 ft on June 23, and drillstring was removed for a ranging run using wireline to locate the runaway well.

During the ranging run, BP detected the Macondo well. More ranging runs will be needed to precisely locate the well. Drilling and ranging operations will continue during the next few weeks toward the target intercept depth of about 18,000 ft, BP said.

BP plans for the relief well to intersect the existing wellbore just above the producing horizon, and pump heavy kill mud into the Macondo wellbore. This process is intended to kill the flow of oil and gas at the bottom of Macondo, which will be sealed with cement.

National Incident Commander (NIC) and retired US Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the next phase will be slower paced than earlier relief well drilling efforts while the Development Driller III rig nears and intercepts the Macondo well.

A second relief well, which started May 16, has reached 10,500 ft. BP executives still anticipate that it will be mid-August before at least one of the relief wells is finished. The second relief well is being drilled as a backup to the first.

BP said it has spent $2.35 billion on the spill, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs.

Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilled the Macondo well for BP and partners. On Apr. 20, a blowout caused an explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 crew members. On Apr. 22, the semi sank.

Judge upholds ruling
In related news, a federal judge in New Orleans on June 24 stood by his June 22 temporary injunction, which overturned a 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed after the Deepwater Horizon accident and resulting oil spill.

The US Department of Justice had asked US District Judge Martin Feldman to delay his temporary injunction until the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans could review it. Feldman rejected that request.

Feldman has cleared the way so new offshore drilling legally can resume in the gulf, although oil companies are unlikely to resume drilling projects pending a ruling by an appeals court, analysts say.

US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar has said the 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed on May 27 was justified (OGJ Online, June 23, 2010). Salazar also said he plans to issue a new order “in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate, and within our authorities.”

Surface spill efforts
Some 37,000 people are involved in efforts to collect and disperse oil on the gulf’s surface, to protect the shoreline, and to clean up oil that has reached shore. Spill response efforts include more than 4,500 vessels and some 100 aircraft, BP said June 25.

NIC on June 24 reported 179 miles of shoreline was currently oiled: 34 miles in Louisiana, 42 in Mississippi, 42 in Alabama, and 61 in Florida. These numbers change daily.

Skimming operations recovered a total of 610,000 bbl of oily liquid. In addition, 275 controlled burns have removed an estimated 239,000 bbl of oil from the sea’s surface.

Some 530 miles of containment boom was deployed to prevent oil from reaching the coast.

Special thanks to  Richard Charter