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

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/06/drilling-oil-moratorium/1
Jun 24, 2010

09:45 AM
        *      
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that a new order imposing a moratorium on deepwater drilling could be refined to reflect offshore conditions, the Associated Press reports.
Salazar plans to issue a new drilling freeze after a federal judge overturned the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater drilling Tuesday. The new drilling order, which is still being developed, could include provisions to allow drilling in areas where reserves and risks are known, the AP reports.

The Justice Department sought a delay for Judge Martin Feldman’s ruling Wednesday night and the Interior Department stopped approval of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspended drilling on 33 exploratory wells, the story says.
Meanwhile, BP is pursuing an Alaska project to drill two miles under the sea and then six to eight miles horizontally, the New York Times reports. All other new drilling in the Artic has been stopped but BP’s project has been exempted since regulators granted it status as an “onshore” project, according to the Times.

 Posted by Jessica Durando. Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/06/23/bp-burning-sea-turtles-alive-says-gulf-captain/

Published June 23, 2010

| NewsCore

AP Photo/Gene Blythe
A loggerhead sea turtle swims at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The federal government recently recommended that it be listed as an endangered species.

A boat captain working to rescue sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico said he saw BP ships burning sea turtles and other wildlife alive, myFOXtampabay.com reported late Tuesday.
Captain Mike Ellis said in an interview posted on You Tube that the boats were conducting controlled burns to get rid of the oil.

“They drag a boom between two shrimp boats, and whatever gets caught between the two boats, they circle it up and catch it on fire. Once the turtles are in there, they can’t get out,” Ellis said.

Ellis said he had to cut short his three-week trip rescuing the turtles because BP quit allowing him access to rescue turtles before the burns.

“They’re pretty much keeping us from doing what we need to do out there,” Ellis said.
Other reports corroborate Captain Ellis’ claims. A report in the Los Angeles Times described “burn fields” of 500 square miles in which 16 controlled burns will take place in one day.

“When the weather is calm and the sea is placid, ships trailing fireproof booms corral the black oil, the coated seaweed and whatever may be caught in it, and torch it … ” the report said.
Ellis said most of the turtles he saw were Kemps Ridley turtles, a critically endangered species. Harming or killing one would bring stiff civil and criminal penalties and fines of up to $50,000 against BP.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

EcoRigs.org.

Directly south of the Missisippi and inshore of the source, the oil and dispersant plumes are changing offshore from globules, flakes and small particulates to fine materials and dissolved oil and dispersants.

On June 22nd, at the Cognac Platform, water clarity was signficantly lower than previous visits in early May when we observed particulate and surface oil and dispersents. On 6/22, visibility was only 1.5 feet all the way down to 45 feet below the surface. We gave up after that so the plume may have gone deeper. We are presently seeing dissolved and particulate signatures at all depths of water column over much of the Louisiana continental shelf and slope and less larger particulates and surface oil.

On our second dive, at platform Lena, we dove below the merc at 30 feet from the surface. The water cleared but was significantly darker than it should be. These plumes are persistant, for example, from May 27th till June 2nd, an oil and dispersent plume, consiting of globs and smaller particulate, was observed 200 miles due west from the source, at 210 ft, stratified in the water column occupying the area between 60 to 120 ft depth. The was no oil at the surface but the subsurface oil was persistant.

It appears that the oil in a dissolve and fine materials state in the water column significantly reduces sunlight penetration into the water column. We still could use help with water quality analysis.

Best Regards, Steve Kolian 225-910-0304 cell  

Special thanks to Coral-list