Day 42: What has he done?

[LuckyDan]

What I'd like to know is, why did BP not have a proven device ready to move to the scene of a breached off shore well? Why aren't they required to prepare for this potential calamity?

In a hospital, for example, there is a crash cart in every unit. A crash cart has a defibrillator, it has resuscitative medications, it has an intubation kit, it has a bag mask, it has IV fluids, it has everything needed to conduct a code on a patient in respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The crash cart is checked every day, the defibrillator is unplugged and discharged every day to make sure its in working order.

Now, why aren't oil companies required to have a disaster plan in case a well is breached like this? Why weren't they required to submit a detailed plan to the Federal government ahead of time? Why was BP throwing together something after the fact, something they weren't even sure would work? It's ludicrous!

Is there such a device? They seem to have taken every available preventive measure. This rig had a triple layer of safeguards in place.

Blowouts are infrequent, because well holes are blocked by piping and pumped-in materials like synthetic mud, cement and even sea water. The pipes are plugged with cement, so fluid and gas can't typically push up inside the pipes.

Instead, a typical blowout surges up a channel around the piping. The narrow space between the well walls and the piping is usually filled with cement, so there is no pathway for a blowout. But if the cement or broken piping leaves enough space, a surge can rise to the surface.

There, at the wellhead of exploratory wells, sits the massive steel contraption known as a blowout preventer. It can snuff a blowout by squeezing rubber seals tightly around the pipes with up to 1 million pounds of force. If the seals fail, the blowout preventer deploys a last line of defense: a set of rams that can slice right through the pipes and cap the blowout.

Deepwater Horizon was also equipped with an automated backup system called a Deadman. It should have activated the blowout preventer even if workers could not.

Based on the interviews with rig workers, none of those safeguards worked.

Deep Horizon blowout caused by 'methane bubble' (Wizbang)


As to the requirements of a disaster plan, ask the MMS:

The BP drilling plan approved April 6, 2010, for the site that is now the cause of the Gulf disaster, says that “a scenario for a potential blowout of the well from which BP would expect to have the highest volume of liquid hydrocarbons is not required for the operations proposed in this EP.”

MMS approved a different BP drilling plan on May 5, 2010, providing the similar “Blowout Scenario,” stating: “Information not required for activities proposed in this Initial Exploration Plan."

Interior Department Continues to Issue ?Categorical Exclusions? for Oil Drilling, Administration Official Acknowledges - Political Punch

 

[Middleman]

If that's the case, Obama is not getting his message across.

An investigation by an independent party needs to find out what went wrong here, from start to finish. They need to pinpoint how the government failed in monitoring for one thing, because there was a total failure on that front. Every company involved, every decision made needs to be gone over with a fine toothed comb, with strict whistle blower protection provided for current employees who have something to say, with monetary rewards offered for incriminating evidence, if necessary.

 

[Sinatra]

Update on the growing frustration by those waging the battle to protect the shoreline:
_____

We need the sifters and we haven't gotten them approved yet," said W.A. "Buck" Lee, Santa Rosa Island Authority's executive director. "It's been three weeks and the oil is coming. In my opinion, this entire thing should have been a FEMA project all along. If a hurricane blows the roof off your jail, you shouldn't have to wait and send a letter to BP to replace the roof on your jail."

...Lee said the bureaucratic process set up at the federal staging centers in Alabama and Louisiana have also made it difficult to get information about his pending request.
_____


Oil could hit Florida Panhandle by Wednesday

 

[Middleman]

What I'd like to know is, why did BP not have a proven device ready to move to the scene of a breached off shore well? Why aren't they required to prepare for this potential calamity?

In a hospital, for example, there is a crash cart in every unit. A crash cart has a defibrillator, it has resuscitative medications, it has an intubation kit, it has a bag mask, it has IV fluids, it has everything needed to conduct a code on a patient in respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The crash cart is checked every day, the defibrillator is unplugged and discharged every day to make sure its in working order.

Now, why aren't oil companies required to have a disaster plan in case a well is breached like this? Why weren't they required to submit a detailed plan to the Federal government ahead of time? Why was BP throwing together something after the fact, something they weren't even sure would work? It's ludicrous!

Is there such a device? They seem to have taken every available preventive measure. This rig had a triple layer of safeguards in place.

Blowouts are infrequent, because well holes are blocked by piping and pumped-in materials like synthetic mud, cement and even sea water. The pipes are plugged with cement, so fluid and gas can't typically push up inside the pipes.

Instead, a typical blowout surges up a channel around the piping. The narrow space between the well walls and the piping is usually filled with cement, so there is no pathway for a blowout. But if the cement or broken piping leaves enough space, a surge can rise to the surface.

There, at the wellhead of exploratory wells, sits the massive steel contraption known as a blowout preventer. It can snuff a blowout by squeezing rubber seals tightly around the pipes with up to 1 million pounds of force. If the seals fail, the blowout preventer deploys a last line of defense: a set of rams that can slice right through the pipes and cap the blowout.

Deepwater Horizon was also equipped with an automated backup system called a Deadman. It should have activated the blowout preventer even if workers could not.

Based on the interviews with rig workers, none of those safeguards worked.

Deep Horizon blowout caused by 'methane bubble' (Wizbang)


As to the requirements of a disaster plan, ask the MMS:

The BP drilling plan approved April 6, 2010, for the site that is now the cause of the Gulf disaster, says that “a scenario for a potential blowout of the well from which BP would expect to have the highest volume of liquid hydrocarbons is not required for the operations proposed in this EP.”

MMS approved a different BP drilling plan on May 5, 2010, providing the similar “Blowout Scenario,” stating: “Information not required for activities proposed in this Initial Exploration Plan."

Interior Department Continues to Issue ?Categorical Exclusions? for Oil Drilling, Administration Official Acknowledges - Political Punch

If this is true then we shouldn't be doing offshore oil drilling until we have better safeguards. This oil spill proves that.

 

[sangha]

If that's the case, Obama is not getting his message across.

An investigation by an independent party needs to find out what went wrong here, from start to finish. They need to pinpoint how the government failed in monitoring for one thing, because there was a total failure on that front. Every company involved, every decision made needs to be gone over with a fine toothed comb, with strict whistle blower protection provided for current employees who have something to say, with monetary rewards offered for incriminating evidence, if necessary.

If your complaint is about the image, then I agree. Obama hasn't been getting his message across. However, that is a petty complaint IMO and has nothing to do with the actual response (I'm talking about the actions he took and not his proficiency at emoting for the cameras) or lack thereof which is the subject of this thread.

PS - I just heard someone on the boob tube say that Obama had the Coast Guard at the site of the explosion less than 3 hours after the explosion. How is that a slow response?

It's also important to remember that BPs reports about how much oil was being leaked were incredible understated, so there was no reason for Obama to know just how bad the situation was.

ANd I still don't understand exactly what the critics think Obama should have done.

 

[Gremlin-USA]

So I ask again - 42 days into this crisis, and what has Obama done to protect the shores of America?

Even such liberal talking heads such as Chris Mathews have blasted Obama for his near-indifference on this continueing disaster...

Since you must have missed this post, because you are asking the same question again (now how many times is that in this thread?) I'll repost what our friend put out there for you:

For the factually disadvantaged


Quote:
•By the Numbers to Date:

•The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
•More than 20,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
•More than 1,700 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
•Approximately 1.96 million feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 620,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
•Approximately 13.8 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
•Approximately 980,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—755,000 on the surface and 225,000 subsea. More than 420,000 gallons are available.
•More than 120 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 2.8 gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
•17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.

Since Obama is so Great, I will conclude he managed to do one of those things per day (but the anointed one should have done at least two things per day), so let's see 8 Items, OK, what did he do the other 34 Days, that's right, see Sinatra's Post Timeline

 

[Gremlin-USA]

What I'd like to know is, why did BP not have a proven device ready to move to the scene of a breached off shore well? Why aren't they required to prepare for this potential calamity?

In a hospital, for example, there is a crash cart in every unit. A crash cart has a defibrillator, it has resuscitative medications, it has an intubation kit, it has a bag mask, it has IV fluids, it has everything needed to conduct a code on a patient in respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The crash cart is checked every day, the defibrillator is unplugged and discharged every day to make sure its in working order.

Now, why aren't oil companies required to have a disaster plan in case a well is breached like this? Why weren't they required to submit a detailed plan to the Federal government ahead of time? Why was BP throwing together something after the fact, something they weren't even sure would work? It's ludicrous!

RE: The highlighted part, yes it is ludicrous, so why did the Federal Regulators Obama had on watch make sure this was done?

Why did The Obama Appointed Regulators give the Drilling Rig a Passing Safety Grade a few weeks before this happened?

Please answer, we all would like to know why BO screwed up

 

[sangha]

So I ask again - 42 days into this crisis, and what has Obama done to protect the shores of America?

Even such liberal talking heads such as Chris Mathews have blasted Obama for his near-indifference on this continueing disaster...

Since you must have missed this post, because you are asking the same question again (now how many times is that in this thread?) I'll repost what our friend put out there for you:

For the factually disadvantaged


Quote:
•By the Numbers to Date:

•The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
•More than 20,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
•More than 1,700 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
•Approximately 1.96 million feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 620,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
•Approximately 13.8 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
•Approximately 980,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—755,000 on the surface and 225,000 subsea. More than 420,000 gallons are available.
•More than 120 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 2.8 gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
•17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.

Since Obama is so Great, I will conclude he managed to do one of those things per day (but the anointed one should have done at least two things per day), so let's see 8 Items,

In that case, I conclude you're a moron. How else could you believe that it only took one day to muster 1700 ships, or 20,000 workers or to deploy 1.96 million feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom?

 

[LuckyDan]

If this is true then we shouldn't be doing offshore oil drilling until we have better safeguards. This oil spill proves that.

Well, maybe not in mile-deep water, anyway.

Here's The Smartest Man in the Freaking World, Charles Krauthammer:

Here’s my question: Why are we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place? Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there.

As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama’s tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.)

And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we’ve had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

He goes on in the piece to criticize BP and the laxity of the governement's response.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/535634/201005271815/Who-Is-Really-To-Blame-For-This-Blowout-.aspx

 

[my2¢]

I think is is well past time to bring back the Seabees.

 

[sangha]

RE: The highlighted part, yes it is ludicrous, so why did the Federal Regulators Obama had on watch make sure this was done?

Why did The Obama Appointed Regulators give the Drilling Rig a Passing Safety Grade a few weeks before this happened?

Because those "Obama Appointed Regulators" were, in reality, appointed by bush

What a shame that the facts have a liberal bias

 

[Gremlin-USA]

Since you must have missed this post, because you are asking the same question again (now how many times is that in this thread?) I'll repost what our friend put out there for you:

For the factually disadvantaged


Quote:
•By the Numbers to Date:

•The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
•More than 20,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
•More than 1,700 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
•Approximately 1.96 million feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 620,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
•Approximately 13.8 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
•Approximately 980,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—755,000 on the surface and 225,000 subsea. More than 420,000 gallons are available.
•More than 120 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 2.8 gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
•17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.

Since Obama is so Great, I will conclude he managed to do one of those things per day (but the anointed one should have done at least two things per day), so let's see 8 Items,

In that case, I conclude you're a moron. How else could you believe that it only took one day to muster 1700 ships, or 20,000 workers or to deploy 1.96 million feet of containment boom and 2 million feet of sorbent boom?

Well, if that is what you think, but you do not need to be a rocket scientist to know that it only takes a few minutes for BO to tell a General or a Admiral or any one Else to "Do this TAsk" and it gets done, so I was actually giving BO more Credit by saying one day to bark an order than the 10 minutes out of his worthless day to make one item on the list happen, so what school did you graduate from "Rocket Scientist"

 

[Sinatra]

If this is true then we shouldn't be doing offshore oil drilling until we have better safeguards. This oil spill proves that.

Well, maybe not in mile-deep water, anyway.

Here's The Smartest Man in the Freaking World, Charles Krauthammer:

Here’s my question: Why are we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place? Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there.

As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama’s tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.)

And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we’ve had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

He goes on in the piece to criticize BP and the laxity of the governement's response.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/535634/201005271815/Who-Is-Really-To-Blame-For-This-Blowout-.aspx

_____


That was a great article by CK - and cuts to the core of the absolutely idiotic anti-American environmentalism that has hindered our country's utilization of its own natural resources for far too long.

 

[Gremlin-USA]

RE: The highlighted part, yes it is ludicrous, so why did the Federal Regulators Obama had on watch make sure this was done?

Why did The Obama Appointed Regulators give the Drilling Rig a Passing Safety Grade a few weeks before this happened?

Because those "Obama Appointed Regulators" were, in reality, appointed by bush

What a shame that the facts have a liberal bias

Not all were, besides they now work for BO, so if they were incompetent BO should have fired them, oops, I did say incompetent, was I talking about BO or the Regulators?

 

[WillowTree]

is the hole plugged yet daddy?

 

[Sinatra]

Q: How many days did it take for Obama to approve use of DOD equipment to aid in compating the oil spill?

A: NINE DAYS after the spill began.


Q: How long before the Obama Dept. of Energy Secretary assembled experts to come up with ideas on how to combat the spill?

A: 3 WEEKS

Q: How long did it take for Louisiana officials to be given the go ahead to construct protective shoreline barriers to combat the oil spill?

A: A MONTH


The Obama administration has dithered while the oil dumped into the Gulf, and now drenches the shorelines of the region.

 

[blu]

life, the universe, and everything

 

[Sinatra]

Day 42 of the oil leak - what has the Obama White House done to help protect the shoreline and the Americans who call those lands home?

 

[Sinatra]

Obama is not to blame directly for the oil rig explosion - though his administration, as you point out, was going on two years in of overseeing and enforcing the regulations pertaining to such rigs.

Where Obama has fallen so terribly short was his very slow response time, followed by a near incomprehensible message that lacked any real substantive message of leadership during a crisis. It is the Federal Government's duty to protect the United States - Obama has failed to do so regarding the oil spill.

 

[txlonghorn]

What I'd like to know is, why did BP not have a proven device ready to move to the scene of a breached off shore well? Why aren't they required to prepare for this potential calamity?

In a hospital, for example, there is a crash cart in every unit. A crash cart has a defibrillator, it has resuscitative medications, it has an intubation kit, it has a bag mask, it has IV fluids, it has everything needed to conduct a code on a patient in respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The crash cart is checked every day, the defibrillator is unplugged and discharged every day to make sure its in working order.

Now, why aren't oil companies required to have a disaster plan in case a well is breached like this? Why weren't they required to submit a detailed plan to the Federal government ahead of time? Why was BP throwing together something after the fact, something they weren't even sure would work? It's ludicrous!

RE: The highlighted part, yes it is ludicrous, so why did the Federal Regulators Obama had on watch make sure this was done?

Why did The Obama Appointed Regulators give the Drilling Rig a Passing Safety Grade a few weeks before this happened?

Please answer, we all would like to know why BO screwed up

He didn't....It's Bush's fault