I haven't followed this story much lately, but there is a great article today covering a bunch of points/allegations. Will be interesting to see what the fall-out from this is. Fucking sad on all counts though.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews
Fun points (feel free to add more!)
-'Elizabeth Birnbaum resigned "effective immediately" from the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency that has been faulted for lax oversight in the wake of the mammoth spill...' (scapegoat much? LOL)
-Exxon Veldez = 11million gallons, this is now up to 17-27million gallons.
-clean-up is making people sick (surprise!)
-BP apparently cut some corners:
"Moreover, the BP officials said, rig workers should have known oil or gas was in the drill pipe because when they were replacing drilling mud with seawater, they replaced 775 barrels of mud with only 352 barrels of water. "
"Meanwhile, at an official inquiry into the blowout in Kenner, La., the Deepwater Horizon's chief mechanic said he had witnessed a dispute between a BP official and rig workers. The dispute, mechanic Doug Brown said, was over whether to replace heavy drilling fluid in the well with lighter seawater. The rig workers didn't want to, he said, but the "company man" from BP overruled them: "This is how it's going to be."
"Brown said the top Transocean official on the rig grumbled, "Well, I guess that's what we have those pinchers for," which he took to be a reference to devices called shear rams, crucial equipment on the blowout preventer that can slam a well shut in an emergency."
"In addition, the Associated Press obtained witness statements given to the U.S. Coast Guard that described moments of indecision on the rig as workers waited for official approval before activating the blowout preventer. When they finally did, the AP said, there was no hydraulic power to operate it. "
-Oh, and there's fuking oil *everywhere*!
IMHO Discovery needs to make a show about people skimming oil then selling it for profit, like 'swamp loggers'
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