Gulf of Mexico oil spill

On November 13, 2002 a tanker called the Prestige, carrying 77,000 tons of fuel oil, sank near the Atlantic Coast of Galicia in Spain, and it produced the greatest ecological disaster in the history of Europe.

This disaster came off the Spanish coast, and caused a huge oil spill that affected a wide area from northern Portugal to the Landes region in France, with special emphasis in Galicia.

Today we can still see the rests of the disaster, even it was a big citizen's help to clean the coast.

In Spain all people said in galician "Nunca Mais"... Never More...

I live along the gulf coast in Texas, we haven't seen or heard how it is going to impact us but I am sure it is only a matter of time.

This is a tragedy...

gulf of mexico

Why nobody speaks about the gulf stream?

We can get the whole mess to the artic waters, to Europe etc..

This not olny a BP or US problem!

Has anyone seen any pictures or video released of the actual oil leaks and underwater damage ? Other than the one of the ROV turning a lever on the BOP.

Its not just a BP problem.

The Rig has been owned for the last 10 years by the Swiss (a nation not known for its off-shore savvy), Halliburton services it (make your own minds up on that one) and good ol' Big Oil.

I'm not a leftwing eco nut, I just listen to mates who have worked for these companies.

Exxon, 20 years later, is still fighting over the last biggie and winning.

Good luck to all living and working in the Gulf, you may have a bit of a legal battle ahead.

Found this diagram from BP. Seems like they neglected to highlight the actual leak sites,No surprise though.

Sounds like a great time to buy stock in the oil companies. BP will be paying out huge amounts in damages. Of course those payouts will justify price hikes for all oil companies so the consumers (instead of the stockholders) will bare the cost. Those hikes will of course never be rescinded. That equals huge profits. Unless the government decides to regulate, but that won't happen. It should also be a boon for the Gulf states as I'm sure BP will be hiring every unemployed person in the affected regions to make sure there is no environmental impact.

One of my ex- employees has an old fishing charter boat on the Tx coast. BP is paying him an insane amount of money to take is boat up there and assist towing booms etc.
It's working out for him.

Same **** thing went down with the Valdez.

Every local boat was hired up, including a good

Portion of the Seattle boats.

Are we looking at history repeating itself?

What truly pisses me off

Is that these *******s are already lawyered up tp the max.

So go figure. 10 years, 20 years?

Meantime, the coast dies.

Remember Valdez, alll these many years later

Still unsettled by a court of law.

Just my say

jsi

we are all guilty

This is a huge tragedy. I was born and raised in Louisiana, but we must all understand that we, as a population, consume oil. Hopefully all parties will do more to make sure this type of drilling is done is a safer manner. We must also do more to find additional ways to supply our economy with energy.

Photos of the horizon on fire

Hi guys,

here are a couple of pics sent to me of the rig on fire





This is one bad mess, its going to take years to clean up,

I have to feel sorry for the fisho's that were just about to start a new season.

60 Minutes Presentation (video)...excellent

This is GREAT reporting, when all the other news channels are presenting nothings

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6490348n

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6490378n

Tube Insertion Fix...you've got to be kidding

Who really believes that the insertion of a 4" dia tube is going to siphon off the a great percentage of the oil coming from that huge dia pipe...what are you smoking

I'm amazed that they got it inserted, if in fact they did ?? considering the flow pressures coming from that break and the relatively weak forces that those robotic subs can excert...remember they are 'swimming' around, not pushing off of something solid.

Funny, here is a grandmother that got it right,
"It is painfully obvious to me as it should be to everyone else that trying to fix this problem with the submersible arms is not going to work because you have to have a crew of 10-15 guys at the surface to handle this bore problem or cementing problem. What no one has addressed is there is no way to fix this horrible problem with the submersible arms. They don't have the strength to grasp all the pieces and hold them together against the currents down there, against the huge amount of pressure that the oil, methane, and natural gas is spewing out. This will not be fixed until the relief wells and dug and finished. BP might as well break the news to everybody and man up and get it over with. Keeping the public on the edge of their seats saying "oh we're going to try this and oh, we think this will work", it ain't gonna work and I am a disabled 53 yr old grandmother and I can certainly figure that out. Why hasn't anyone addressed this issue head on?

Secondly, I think all three companies should be shut down forever and all their assets and profits and everything they own be turned over to the folks who live and own property along the Gulf Coast as I do because my life at the beach is now gone forever and it will be forever before it is pristine again. It is just a matter of time that all that oil seeps into Perdido Bay one of the most pristine and large shrimp and blue claw crab estuary in the area. HOW DARE THEY NOT HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE THAT THEY'VE PROVED WORKED BEFORE, BEFORE EVER ALLOWING THEM TO GO 5,000 FT DOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE. Everybody involved has set common sense aside and let greed run them into the their grave and in their grave they will stay."

Saw that last night. Very good reporting. Frightening though. Apparently this is the tip of a very big, black iceberg.

This is really tragic, but accidents do happen and will happen from time to time. Regretfully, we depend on foreign oil. We do have the reserves but they are in critical places, so do we drill or not drill. Feasible (mainstream wise) alternative forms of energy are many decades away. So what do we do?

Park our gas consuming cars and SUV's? mmm don't think so, even members of greenpeace drive, talk about hypocrisy.

Ground our air liner and our ocean going fleets and bring mass transportation to a halt. Naw dont think so either.

Moor our yachts and sportfishermen yachts along with any fossil fuel consuming waterbourne pleasure craft? Don't think so either. A lot of people in these forums will lose their livelihood.

Fuels are made this days with ultra low sulphur contents and regulations on emissions keep getting tougher and tougher everyday. I agree and applaud this. However, at the end of the day crude oil is still needed and will be needed in great quantities to make this fuels.

Like Exxon, BP will lose some money (well a lot) but will come out of this eventually on top. People forget, (sometimes this is regretfull) and life and oil consumption will go on. Specially now that every workboat, fishing vessel along with thousands of people from an area hit hard by nature (hurricanes) and the economy have found employment, albeit temporary.

So we have a choice. seek our own oil or keep depending on imported oil. It already caused a war and thousands of promising young american lives. I am open for suggestions.

Actually accidents rarely just happen. They are usually caused. If you check this report you'll find that critical system failures and safeguards were ignored in favor of expedience. Immediate result: 11 lives lost and what is apparently becoming the world's largest oil spill.

That is what I meant they do happen caused or not. Either way damage is done. Any suggestions? Apart from banning BP and the obvious stop all oil exploration. Beleive me more stringent measures will be implemented and good will come out of it. Take the Exxon Valdez, OPA 1990 was a direct cause of it. Now almost the entire world tanker fleet is double hulled among many other things. Albeit at a cost at the end of the day to us the consumer.

I think We all need to look at the impact of this. And what we can do to help. My ex-captain , who is still a close friend of mine is working on a research vessel to asset the affect of the spill. He said it is worse then is being reported. He said what has sunk is in the current that is going around Florida and up the East coast. Can any body else confirm or add to this??