A young artist/activist at the Perdido Pass rally, Orange Beach, AL:

This whole journey so far has been something I will remember and feel proud of for as long as I live, but the last 24 hours in particular have been completely life changing for me. Yesterday morning we drove to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge to help plant grasses and other plants to hold down newly built dunes, put there to protect the rich and varied wildlife that inhabit this beautiful beach. The headline on their home page is heart-breakingly ironic in the face of what's happening there: "Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge: A safe haven for wildlife." While we were there working with the incredibly dedicated volunteers from the park and the Southeastern Wildlife Conservation, black waves began to roll in. We had begun to see helicopters by the dozens flying over while we were all digging in the 113 degree heat index, and by the time we began to wrap up the planting, the little specks and globs had become solid black beaches.  

I'm sure every one of you can understand how devastating it was to see this first hand. To be standing at the edge of my world and seeing what looks like Armageddon rolling in. We were already physically wiped out from the heat and the labour, and so this was almost more than we could handle. We shot footage and as we walked back, the work crews started to come in and set up, but even before we could make it to the boardwalk, a thousand yards away maybe, they had already been instructed to stand down. They told us that themselves. The coast guard were there too. Right under the tents with the workers. 

After we left Bon Secour we came back to get cleaned up and ready to go hear Riki Ott speak to the people of this local community. Riki consults with individuals and organizations in the spill affected areas, both as a toxicologist and as an individual who lived through the Exxon Valdez incident. She is the nations' leading expert on recovering from this kind of disaster and we couldn't have felt any better if Wonder Woman had shown up (not even if she looked just like Linda Carter :). She spoke honestly and candidly and some of what she had to say was hard to hear, but she didn't scare us either, or make us feel hopeless. She made us feel as if the power to make a change was in our own hands. 

Riki stayed at the same wonderful place where we're staying outside Fair Hope, and this morning we all walked down the boardwalk to breakfast. We talked to fishermen along the way, and some BP employees putting out more boom around the nice hotels' piers and beaches (they were deploying none around people's homes). Riki asked me to take some pictures for her next Huffington Post article. I said "Ok!". After that, we all headed down to a boom building, showed Riki the ropes and then picked up the floating hair boom bags that Amanda designed and Quincy put together last night for a test in the bay. Then we all headed to Perdido Pass for a protest rally the people of Orange Beach were holding there. I drove Riki so she could write on the way. I have to tell you, that was a pretty proud moment for me. I also got to hear her give a live phone interview in the car before she disembarked to speak to the waiting crowd at the rally. It was amazing to see so many people standing up and speaking out, and I could tell that Riki and the other speakers galvanized them. I was proud to be a part of all that too.

After the rally, we headed back, me to sort and send photos, Chris and Q to shoot more testing of solutions for safe oil dispersion. While Q and I were working, they called us into the den because Amanda, our hostess, was being featured as the lead story on the Pensacola news. This is OFFICIALLY the first time that successful use of the hair booms has been featured ANYWHERE in the media in this disaster, and this lifted all our spirits immensely. Amanda looked like she was about to crack this morning, and by this evening her energy and ideas were back, the sparkle in her eye had returned, and we all felt a little like heroes, and as if we could face another day.

Blessed be.

http://sossaveourshore.com/

"The BP disaster is still going....every day the estimate of the amount of oil spilling from this huge leak is increased. As you read this, here on the Gulf, this monster is invading our beaches and wetlands . Please help.... Volunteer at our "Boom-b-ques", spread the word, buy a T-shirt from this site (all proceeds go to defraying the costs which are great), send us your hair and/or panty hose and PRAY!"

There is a monster in the Gulf - unleashed from the depths by BP offshore drilling.  It threatens the way of life of millions of Gulf Coast residents and thousands of miles of beaches and wetlands.  The wetlands are critical to the gulf coast environment and, once gone, are irreplaceable.  The oil is already, as of this writing, invading the wetlands of Louisiana and threatens the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts.
This is a story about a disaster of unprecedented proportions... but it is also a story about a community's response.  As residents of the Gulf Coast we can't stop the leak - but we CAN protect or at least minimize the damage to our wetlands and beaches.  The time to prepare for this is NOW.  The SOS Save Our Shores organization is a community-based group preparing for the disaster by creating  oil-absorbent hair booms for use in the critical shoreline.     In addition to alerting the residents of the Alabama Gulf Coast to wildlife assistance training and volunteer programs, the group, composed entirely of volunteers is heavily involved in building miles of hair booms to protect critical shorelines.  Hair Boom Demo
 If you have a passion for sunsets on the bay - or shrimp boils in the evening at the beach, or a love of the wildlife in the Alabama wetlands join us.  Click on members and join our website.  Help if you can.  Donate, contribute or volunteer.  We can't wait til the oil hits our shores.... we must act now.
 WE NEED YOUR HELP!   Miles of these super-absorbent, environmental-friendly booms are needed.  We need hair (animal and human), panty hose and, most of all, VOLUNTEERS! 

An Open Letter to the President and an Encouragement for others to Send Same

By NOLAREX on JUNE 4, 2010

An Open Letter to the President and an Encouragement for others to have their Voice heard:

Given the gravity of our oil spill situation in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought I’d be remiss not to make this letter available as one of many tools we are currently using to make our grievances heard. I’d hope that many of us still have an inkling of faith that our government has the capability to hear our concerns and redress them in a satisfactory manner. I know, I’m being an optimist. Along that line of thought, there is no redress if we don’t voice our concerns to the power structure that is, however we may currently feel about it.

With that, I have written a letter to President Obama in hopes that my wants and concerns are heard and I’ve placed it below for your reference. Please copy, paste, and/or adjust it to your liking and contact the White House to share your version. Allow this to be a template to voice the issues you want voiced over the oil spill in the Gulf. I’ve added all points of contact for the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence below the letter to ease your ability to communicate, and feel free to use it to vocalize your concerns to members of Congress. (I have been informed that the Fax listed below is the most efficient way for the White House Correspondence office). I’ve deleted my personal information from the letter, so remember to add both your address and your email address at the bottom of the letter.

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
Office of Presidential Correspondence
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

3 June 2010

Dear Mr. President,

In regards to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I request that you advocate for the following:

(1) BP and clean-up efforts by their collaborative partners to stop using COREXIT on our coastal waters.

(2) Force the use of tankers and/or supertankers in the Gulf for skimming to collect the oil currently making it to the surface to minimize coastal impact.

(3) A full investigation into the business practices of which led up to the accident in question with proper parties being respectively held criminally and civilly liable.

(4) A review of European safety practices that are currently not in place in the coastal waters of the United States and the expedient enactment/implementation of those safety policies in hopes to reduce accidents of this magnitude in the future.

(5) The removal of liability cap that is currently placed on oil companies in order to insure adequate clean-up and remediation expenses are covered by the negligent parties in the future

(6) The use of bio-remediation in the clean-up efforts of our coast.

(7) The creation of more offshore berms and protective barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana and a policy shift to aid in the restoration of the Louisiana coast that has negatively been affected by decades of offshore exploration.

(8) That oil and gas royalties allotted to the State of Louisiana for offshore drilling be expedited to state coffers in advance of the current timeline of the year 2017 and lastly,

(9) The allowance of media in areas that have currently been off-limits by BP security and those acting under their directives in order to insure full transparency for the public trust and knowledge.

Understanding the imperatives of the oil economy of the State of Louisiana, the ecological impact this disaster on the Gulf Coast, the damaging effect on our seafood industry and beyond, please consider my above requests in your policy considerations.

Many thanks in advance for your due consideration,

[your name here] - [origin: Michael “Rex” Dingler]

Contact Information: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

You can also call or write to the President:

The White House
Office of Presidential Correspondence
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Please include your e-mail address

Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

Doing the Math

TUESDAY, JUNE 08, 2010

Doing the Math

"Q: How many oilmen does it take to measure a spill?"
A: However many BP feels like using. BP decides, the press transcribes."

Over the last month we've been amazed repeatedly at the naivete of the mainstream press when it comes to BP's claims about the size of the oil leak and the amounts of rogue oil supposedly "captured" by one after another of the corporation's unsuccessful remedial efforts. The gullibility of journalists is becoming legendary; they'll swallow anything BP says.

When did journalism schools stop requiring students to take a basic math course or two before collecting a degree proving they can report the news?

• On April 25, Cain Burdeau of the Associated Press dutifully transcribed the claim of unnamed BP "officials" that the Deepwater Horizon well "is spewing as much as 1,000 barrels -- or 42,000 gallons -- of oil each day."
• One week later, the same Associated Press reporter quoted "government officials" saying the leak was "five times" worse than "originally estimated -- about 5,000 barrels a day." He also dutifully transcribed BP's disagreement, along with the corporation's claim that there is "no way to measure the flow at the seabed."
• Hilariously, once the government questioned the driller's estimate, BP spokesman Mark Proegler admitted there was more than the thousand barrels he had claimed earlier."Now that we are collecting 5,000 barrels a day, it might be a little more than that."
• Within a day or two, BP finally "backed down" and admitted it wasn't collecting 5,000 gallons. But it still low-balled the estimate as more like 2,000 a day.
• By the end of May, as CNN reported, an "updated estimate issued... by a government-led team put the leak at 12,000-19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons) a day, more than double the initial figure." "More than double?" Not unless you ignore the fact that BP's "initial figure" was 1,000 barrels. In which case, the math is easy: it works out to 12 to 19 times the initial figure.
• This week, BP execs are telling us the latest "cap" repair is so successful that the company "collected 14,800 barrels on Monday from a leaking deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico... ."[emphasis added]
• But can that be so? Reuters News seemingly accepts BP's word for it:

  About 1,000 barrels a day of oil was flowing to the drillship as of early Friday. In subsequent days, the amount rose to 10,500, then 11,100 and reached 14,800 as of midnight on Monday.

  "That brings the cumulative total of oil collected to 42,500 barrels," Reuters sums up.

But does it? Really? Give us one reason to trust BP's "estimates" on anything.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal's James Herron, who likely has experience with corporate lies told every day on Wall Street, has caught on to BP's game. "How many oilmen does it take to measure a spill?" he jokes.

Our answer: 'However many BP feels like using. BP decides, the press transcribes.'

All journalism is not brain dead. New York Times reporters Justin Gillis and Henry Fountain play the part of the boy who noticed the emperor had no clothes:

The immense undersea gusher of oil and gas, seen on live video feed, looks as big as it did last week, or bigger, before the company sliced through the pipe known as a riser to install its new collection device.

At least one expert, Ira Leifer, who is part of a government team charged with estimating the flow rate, is convinced that the operation has made the leak worse, perhaps far worse than the 20 percent increase that government officials warned might occur when the riser was cut.

As Sierra Club director Michael Brune says:

"We'd like independent confirmation. BP hasn't been the most trusted source when it comes to accurate information."

"We’re adapting to an enemy that changes," Adm. Thad Allen said yesterday. No, Admiral. You're being suckered by an enemy who changes his story every other day.

Prof. Steve Wereley, another member of the government's Flow Rate Technical Group, has a novel suggestion. Math-disadvantaged journalists might want to pay attention:

"What I would say to BP is, show the American public the before and after shots of the evidence on which they’re basing that claim,"Werely told msnbc.com on Tuesday.

Demand evidence? How novel! Where are the journalists who willwait for proof before publishing fluff from a recidivist lying corporation?

http://pbrla.blogspot.com/

BP Math Scores: F-

TUESDAY, JUNE 08, 2010


Doing the Math
"Q: How many oilmen does it take to measure a spill?"
A: However many BP feels like using. BP decides, the press transcribes."


Over the last month we've been amazed repeatedly at the naivete of the mainstream press when it comes to BP's claims about the size of the oil leak and the amounts of rogue oil supposedly "captured" by one after another of the corporation's unsuccessful remedial efforts. The gullibility of journalists is becoming legendary; they'll swallow anything BP says.


When did journalism schools stop requiring students to take a basic math course or two before collecting a degree proving they can report the news?
On April 25, Cain Burdeau of the Associated Press dutifully transcribed the claim of unnamed BP "officials" that the Deepwater Horizon well "is spewing as much as 1,000 barrels -- or 42,000 gallons -- of oil each day."


One week later, the same Associated Press reporter quoted "government officials" saying the leak was "five times" worse than "originally estimated -- about 5,000 barrels a day." He also dutifully transcribed BP's disagreement, along with the corporation's claim that there is "no way to measure the flow at the seabed."


Hilariously, once the government questioned the driller's estimate, BP spokesman Mark Proegler admitted there was more than the thousand barrels he had claimed earlier. "Now that we are collecting 5,000 barrels a day, it might be a little more than that."


Within a day or two, BP finally "backed down" and admitted it wasn't collecting 5,000 gallons. But it still low-balled the estimate as more like 2,000 a day.


By the end of May, as CNN reported, an "updated estimate issued... by a government-led team put the leak at 12,000-19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons) a day, more than double the initial figure." "More than double?" Not unless you ignore the fact that BP's "initial figure" was 1,000 barrels. In which case, the math is easy: it works out to 12 to 19 times the initial figure.


This week, BP execs are telling us the latest "cap" repair is so successful that the company "collected 14,800 barrels on Monday from a leaking deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico... ."[emphasis added]


But can that be so? Reuters News seemingly accepts BP's word for it:
About 1,000 barrels a day of oil was flowing to the drillship as of early Friday. In subsequent days, the amount rose to 10,500, then 11,100 and reached 14,800 as of midnight on Monday.
"That brings the cumulative total of oil collected to 42,500 barrels," Reuters sums up.
But does it? Really? Give us one reason to trust BP's "estimates" on anything.


Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal's James Herron, who likely has experience with corporate lies told every day on Wall Street, has caught on to BP's game. "How many oilmen does it take to measure a spill?" he jokes.


Our answer: 'However many BP feels like using. BP decides, the press transcribes.'


All journalism is not brain dead. New York Times reporters Justin Gillis and Henry Fountain play the part of the boy who noticed the emperor had no clothes:
The immense undersea gusher of oil and gas, seen on live video feed, looks as big as it did last week, or bigger, before the company sliced through the pipe known as a riser to install its new collection device.


At least one expert, Ira Leifer, who is part of a government team charged with estimating the flow rate, is convinced that the operation has made the leak worse, perhaps far worse than the 20 percent increase that government officials warned might occur when the riser was cut.
As Sierra Club director Michael Brune says:
"We'd like independent confirmation. BP hasn't been the most trusted source when it comes to accurate information."
"We’re adapting to an enemy that changes," Adm. Thad Allen said yesterday. No, Admiral. You're being suckered by an enemy who changes his story every other day.


Prof. Steve Wereley, another member of the government's Flow Rate Technical Group, has a novel suggestion. Math-disadvantaged journalists might want to pay attention:


"What I would say to BP is, show the American public the before and after shots of the evidence on which they’re basing that claim," Werely told msnbc.com on Tuesday.


Demand evidence? How novel! Where are the journalists who will wait for proof before publishing fluff from a recidivist lying corporation?


POSTED BY BEACH BLOGGER AT 5:08 PM
http://pbrla.blogspot.com/

Some oil spill events from Wednesday, June 9, 2010

By The Associated Press (AP) – 22 minutes ago

A summary of events on Wednesday, June 9, Day 50 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with the April 20 explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP PLC, which is in charge of cleanup and containment. The blast killed 11 workers. Since then, oil has been pouring into the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well.

COLLECTED OIL

Equipment collecting the oil and bringing it to the surface is believed to be nearing its daily processing capacity. A floating platform could be the solution to process most of the flow, BP said. The British oil giant is preparing to burn some, using a device called an EverGreen Burner, officials said. Its 12 nozzles turn a flow of oil and gas into a fog that can be burned without visible smoke.

DAMAGE CLAIMS

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen has written to BP CEO Tony Hayward demanding "more detail and openness" about how the company is handling mounting damage claims from the Gulf Coast oil spill. Allen reminded Hayward in the letter dated Tuesday that the company is accountable and has accepted responsibility for economic loss caused by the spill. But he said BP is failing to provide "information we need to meet our responsibilities to our citizens."

PLUMES

Speaking to network news shows Wednesday morning, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles continued to insist that no massive underwater oil plumes in "large concentrations" have been detected from the spill. His comments came a day after the government said water tests confirmed underwater oil plumes, but that concentrations were low.

SKETCHY PLANS

Professor Peter Lutz is listed in BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a national wildlife expert. He died in 2005. Under the heading "sensitive biological resources," the plan lists marine mammals including walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals. None lives anywhere near the Gulf. The names and phone numbers of several Texas A&M University marine life specialists are wrong. So are the numbers for marine mammal stranding network offices in Louisiana and Florida, which are no longer in service. BP PLC's 582-page regional spill plan for the Gulf, and its 52-page, site-specific plan for the Deepwater Horizon rig are riddled with omissions and glaring errors, according to an Associated Press analysis that details how BP officials have pretty much been making it up as they go along. The plans approved by the federal government last year vastly understate the dangers posed by an uncontrolled leak and vastly overstate the company's preparedness to deal with one.

MORATORIUM

The government's ban on deepwater petroleum drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is challenged by a Louisiana petroleum service company. Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. filed a federal lawsuit in New Orleans claiming there is no legal justification for the six-month moratorium. Hornbeck's vessel fleet hauls people and supplies to offshore drilling rigs and production platforms.

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are trying to prevent a political disaster along with the environmental one taking place in the Gulf of Mexico as they try to convince Americans frustrated by the ongoing oil spill that BP and Republican coziness with the oil industry are to blame. Within a few hours Tuesday, the White House said Obama would visit the Gulf Coast again next week, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a strict deadline for new oil spill legislation. Obama's fourth oil spill-related visit will be a two-day trip Monday and Tuesday to receive updates in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

We'll be there tonight. If you're in the area, please come join us. If not, please send us your good thoughts and prayers.

Letters from the Front, Part 3


"I had a good talk with John Nistler and his partner David Tweedie this afternoon. Its seems that they have a granular carbon based extraction powder that will soak up the oil off the top of the surface. They are in the business of reclaiming oil that other wise would be incinerated or buried and get it back on the the market where it can be used and sold. Since the hair can work incredibly well at soaking up oil I think that we could be able to help each other out. John seems to believe that there is a loop hole in being able to go and collect the oil without BP's permission. Yes they are in charge of the clean up but the oil is not theirs, it is everybody's. So if we are able to get the booms in use, they would take them away from us. 

Still not to sure how this can work legally and will be doing more research on this matter. Maybe John you can give us an insight into how you think we can best help. 

The issue is not only a legal one but also a health one. We have stressed that we want to offer the booms up to certified clean up teams so that they are used and disposed of in the most proper and safe way. This would definitely have to be the case if we were to work together. However if there are some volunteer groups, like the Bucket Brigade that already have permission to clean up the oil then we can maybe give them the booms to use and you can collect them to extract the oil. 

Thanks Samantha for hooking us up. Hopefully something good can come of this and we can start getting these booms in use. Its seems that BP is losing control of the situation and there is a need for other groups to go out there and help clean up. As long as that legal issue of working with the oil is clear then I don't see why Nistler and his crew couldn't use the hair booms. 

I will do some more research and will welcome an insight you all have on this issue. 
Keep your hopes up."

Tyler @ Matter of Trust, SF CA

Letters from the Front, Part 2 - VERY IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT CONTACT WITH THE OIL!!!


"Hi - we're getting a lot of questions about remediating the Gulf spill oil.

There is one group we know of that wants to do a study at a university with a very small amount and very controlled. Otherwise, we don't know of people doing this and that is a good thing.

"This oil has been sprayed with dispersants that have endocrine inhibitors. If any young people who are still at a reproductive age, get in contact with these chemicals these toxins effect their reproductive systems and the systems of their future children. This is no joking matter for youth to be near. I'm not suggesting that only 50 year olds study this stuff. But I want everyone to be really aware of what they're dealing with here. There is a reason the UK banned these dispersants.

These are synthetic and won't break down easily in a composting experiment.

Riki Ott, PhD who you hear on NPR all the time nowadays can't believe that people are swimming in this water right now. If you really want to go out there in this, please be very very careful, wear gloves, don't let kids handle it with bare hands, don't swim and swallow it. We don't know a lot of what was in the dispersants and what we know is unpleasant to say the least. Look up 2-butoxyethanol.

This is why BP is landfilling all their booms and oil waste in specified Haz waste landfills in Florida. It may be because of the dispersants that they're not incinerating. We're not sure. Usually it would all be incinerated. At any rate they're not extracting it. They're dumping it. They are collecting oil from the pipe source, but not oil and dispersants, from what we hear."

Lisa @ MoT, SF CA

Letters from the Front, Part 1


"Hello Lisa,
As discussed with Samantha Lovelace and Tyler Young, we would be ablet to process these booms in our low temperature pyrolitic equipment. It would take us 3 months to breakdown equipment in Ukraine and reset up here in the states. But proper storage could be established during this period.

The advantage of this process is we pull all aromatics along with other chemicals, gasoline and jet fuel thus addressing the issues with this chemical.

Of course we would need to verify our results, I will check with the respective scientists and engineers about the possibility of testing prior to full equipment installation.

We will be down at Grand Isle tomorrow. Perhaps we can arrainge to meet.

Best regards,
John Nistler
Gulf Recovery LLC."

So much has happened since we set out on this journey. Friday we stuffed thousands of feet of hair boom at Arc of Greater New Orleans with the folks from A Ride Till the End. That was a truly soul-enriching experience, and renewed our faith in folks in general. On Saturday we drove down to Cameron, LA to cover the beach cleanup event with Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, got to meet and work with some great people from all over the US, including a scientist who is working in oil extraction technologies. When he found out I've been giving free haircuts to collect for the hair booms, he asked for a trim and for me to explain hair booms to him. When I explained it, he said that he was very interested and thought that there was a way to remove the oil from the used hair booms and recycle it. This morning he called me and told me that he had spoken to scientists in Ukraine and they said that that could definitely be done. He said the Ukranian scientist was flying in today with the necessary equipment, and asked if I could connect him with the folks at Matter of Trust! He also said that they would help design and fund whatever is needed to float the booms. I connected him with all the contacts I have for boom manufacturers, volunteers, etc., and they are calling us about going out with them to Grand Isle in the morning. Positive progress is happening, and to quote the little Shake-N-Bake girl: "And I helped!" It just goes to show what even one person can do with just a little faith and gumption! Blessed be! Tomorrow we head to MS to meet with the Gulf Conservation Coalition, then on to Alabama for the Blessing of the Bay on Wednesday, worj with hair boom volunteers on Thursday and dune building and planting with school children on Friday. After that, onto Pensacola to talk to the folks from the Pensacola Beach Blog , the Emerald Coastkeeper and some of the other folks working to fight this 'war'.
Keep the faith, don't give up hope, fight the good fight! If there is one thing this trip has proven to me, it is that it's worth it. Blessed be!