Another one of McCain's Staff got canned for calling the public whinners, I wonder if his senior energy advicer will get the boot?
Environmental Disaster in Louisiana
Thu Jul 24, 2008
The fuel spill in the Mississippi River now stretches 100 miles, almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and a sickly oil smell hangs over the city.
According to a WWL TV news report, an SPCA group from Houston has set up a wildlife recovery effort. I don't want to pass judgement yet, but it is somewhat shocking to me, given the size of the spill and its potential impact on fragile wetlands, that there isn't more help coming to help wildlife, and to help with cleanup.
Again, according to news reports, 500 people are working on clean-up efforts, but this is a slick over 100 miles long.
The tugboat towing the barge before Wednesday morning's crash did not have a properly licensed pilot, the Coast Guard said.
The person operating the boat had an apprentice mate's license and there was no one else on the vessel properly documented to guide it, said Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau from the Coast Guard in New Orleans.
The operator's name was not released and the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.
The barge held more than 419,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil in three tanks. Investigators don't know whether all three tanks broke but "are assuming the worst-case discharge of all 9,980 barrels," said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, Coast Guard captain of the port of New Orleans.
Communities along the river get their drinking water from the river. Mayor Nagin says the water is safe to drink, but many communities along the river turned off their intake valves, including New Orleans, and had been relying on reserves.
The city of Plaquemines, to my knowledge, is the only community with its intake valve still turned off, according to WWL TV tonight.
Local businesses that rely on the river for tourism are feeling the impact. It is a slow time of year, and shutting the river down is adding to the pain small businesses are feeling, particularly those that rely on tours on the river for their business.
The impact on the fragile wetlands is frightening. It was heartbreaking to watch egrets on the evening news wading through the slick, hunting for fish.
Exposure to high levels of petroleum products, such as the fuel oil released during the Mississippi River oil spill, can cause health effects, primarily on the nervous and respiratory systems.
People who inhaled elevated air levels of fuel oil vapors for short periods of time have experienced nausea, increased blood pressure, eye irritation, headaches, light-headedness, and poor coordination.
Longer term exposure to elevated levels of fuel oil vapors can cause similar effects on the nervous and respiratory systems and may also affect the blood, liver and kidneys.
Oil or other petroleum products that come in contact with the skin may cause irritation and blistering in some people.
The elderly, the very young, and people with respiratory diseases may be especially sensitive to the effects of inhaling petroleum vapors. Long-term exposure to petroleum product vapors should be minimized to the extent practical. If petroleum odors are present, measures to reduce long-term exposures should be considered.
http://alobar.livejournal.com/2907239.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/24/22299/1413/708/556610
Up date on oil spill
Thu Jul 24, 2008
The fuel spill in the Mississippi River now stretches 100 miles, almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and a sickly oil smell hangs over the city.
According to a WWL TV news report, an SPCA group from Houston has set up a wildlife recovery effort. I don't want to pass judgement yet, but it is somewhat shocking to me, given the size of the spill and its potential impact on fragile wetlands, that there isn't more help coming to help wildlife, and to help with cleanup.
Again, according to news reports, 500 people are working on clean-up efforts, but this is a slick over 100 miles long.
The tugboat towing the barge before Wednesday morning's crash did not have a properly licensed pilot, the Coast Guard said.
The person operating the boat had an apprentice mate's license and there was no one else on the vessel properly documented to guide it, said Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau from the Coast Guard in New Orleans.
The operator's name was not released and the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.
The barge held more than 419,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil in three tanks. Investigators don't know whether all three tanks broke but "are assuming the worst-case discharge of all 9,980 barrels," said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, Coast Guard captain of the port of New Orleans.
Communities along the river get their drinking water from the river. Mayor Nagin says the water is safe to drink, but many communities along the river turned off their intake valves, including New Orleans, and had been relying on reserves.
The city of Plaquemines, to my knowledge, is the only community with its intake valve still turned off, according to WWL TV tonight.
Local businesses that rely on the river for tourism are feeling the impact. It is a slow time of year, and shutting the river down is adding to the pain small businesses are feeling, particularly those that rely on tours on the river for their business.
The impact on the fragile wetlands is frightening. It was heartbreaking to watch egrets on the evening news wading through the slick, hunting for fish.
Exposure to high levels of petroleum products, such as the fuel oil released during the Mississippi River oil spill, can cause health effects, primarily on the nervous and respiratory systems.
People who inhaled elevated air levels of fuel oil vapors for short periods of time have experienced nausea, increased blood pressure, eye irritation, headaches, light-headedness, and poor coordination.
Longer term exposure to elevated levels of fuel oil vapors can cause similar effects on the nervous and respiratory systems and may also affect the blood, liver and kidneys.
Oil or other petroleum products that come in contact with the skin may cause irritation and blistering in some people.
The elderly, the very young, and people with respiratory diseases may be especially sensitive to the effects of inhaling petroleum vapors. Long-term exposure to petroleum product vapors should be minimized to the extent practical. If petroleum odors are present, measures to reduce long-term exposures should be considered.
http://alobar.livejournal.com/2907239.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/24/22299/1413/708/556610
Up date on oil spill
Back in Review
McCain Lies About Hurricane Environmental Damage, Oil Spills
THE LIE: Bush, McCain and other rabid Republican stalwarts have been telling us recently that lifting the ban on offshore drilling would be a good idea in part because offshore drilling poses little to no environmental risks because Hurricanes Katrina and Rita didn't cause oil spills.
Well, as it turns out, this is an ENORMOUS steaming lie! (Surprise!)THE TRUTH: In a nutshell, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina caused the spillage of over 9 million gallons of oil, just shy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska that released 10.8 million gallons!
The catastrophic release of crude oil into the environment was called by some: “among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.”
In fact, the clear satellite evidence of major spills was borne out by final reports. In May 2006, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) published their offshore damage assessment: “113 platforms totally destroyed, and 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10″ or larger diameter.”
Unsurprisingly, this devastation caused significant spillage, according to the official report prepared for the MMS by a Norwegian firm.
In addition, the hurricanes caused disastrous spills onshore throughout southeast Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast as tanks, pipelines, refineries and other industrial facilities were destroyed, for a total of 595 different oil spills.
The 9 million gallons reported spilled were comparable with the Exxon Valdez’s 10.8 million gallons, but unlike the Exxon Valdez, were distributed throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf Coast states, many in residential areas.
I understand that politicians sometimes put a spin on things but this is LYING! Bald-faced lying!
McCain Lies About Hurricane Environmental Damage, Oil Spills
THE LIE: Bush, McCain and other rabid Republican stalwarts have been telling us recently that lifting the ban on offshore drilling would be a good idea in part because offshore drilling poses little to no environmental risks because Hurricanes Katrina and Rita didn't cause oil spills.
Well, as it turns out, this is an ENORMOUS steaming lie! (Surprise!)THE TRUTH: In a nutshell, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina caused the spillage of over 9 million gallons of oil, just shy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska that released 10.8 million gallons!
The catastrophic release of crude oil into the environment was called by some: “among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.”
In fact, the clear satellite evidence of major spills was borne out by final reports. In May 2006, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) published their offshore damage assessment: “113 platforms totally destroyed, and 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10″ or larger diameter.”
Unsurprisingly, this devastation caused significant spillage, according to the official report prepared for the MMS by a Norwegian firm.
In addition, the hurricanes caused disastrous spills onshore throughout southeast Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast as tanks, pipelines, refineries and other industrial facilities were destroyed, for a total of 595 different oil spills.
The 9 million gallons reported spilled were comparable with the Exxon Valdez’s 10.8 million gallons, but unlike the Exxon Valdez, were distributed throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf Coast states, many in residential areas.
I understand that politicians sometimes put a spin on things but this is LYING! Bald-faced lying!
Listen to this interview with Nancy Pfotenhauer, John McCain’s senior energy adviser (!!), who says that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita "DIDN'T SPILL A DROP [OF OIL]":
Pipeline damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (MMS 2007).
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/pipeline_damage_chart.PNG
Pipeline damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (MMS 2007).
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/pipeline_damage_chart.PNG
In fact, the clear satellite evidence of major spills was borne out by final reports. In May 2006, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) published their offshore damage assessment: “113 platforms totally destroyed, and 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10″ or larger diameter.”
Technical report on oilspills from Katrina and Rita
Update report on drilling platform damage after Katrina and RitaMay 2006
Still another is New Evidence from another event.
New evidence suggests that oil from the Exxon Valdez may still causing damage to Alaska's Prince William Sound, 17 years after the ship ran a ground.
The study, by chemist Jeffrey Short and colleagues at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Juneau, Alaska, appears today on the Web site of the American Chemical Society's journal, Environmental Science & Technology, and is also scheduled to appear in the June 15 print issue of the journal.
"This study shows that it is very plausible that exposure to Exxon Valdez oil is having a material impact on many shore-dwelling animals and is contributing to their slow recovery in some parts of Prince William Sound," Short said. "Sea otters, for instance, have yet to re-inhabit Herring Bay, the most oiled bay we studied, and the population of otters elsewhere around northern Knight Island continues to decline.
Unfortunately, because much of this oil is buried in beach sediments and not exposed to weathering and other elements that might degrade it, it could remain hazardous to wildlife for decades." On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Within six hours of the accident, the Exxon Valdez has spilled roughly 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallons of crude, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The oil would eventually impact over 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska and at the height of the response, more than 11,000 personnel, 1,400 vessels and 85 aircraft were involved in the cleanup according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
While the cleanup effort began in April of 1989 and continued until September of 1989, Short and his colleagues found "significant amounts of Exxon Valdez oil buried in sand and silt that only becomes dry during the lowest tides."
The researchers say that this biologically diverse tidal zone is an important feeding ground for sea otters, ducks and other wildlife. The findings are based on a survey of 662 pits randomly dug along 32 stretches of shoreline on northern Knight Island, one of the first affected areas during the spill. The researchers found Exxon Valdez oil at 14 of the 32 sites.
The researchers conclude that sea otters would be most affected by oil when they dig pits in search of clams and other prey. Short estimates that in a given year, a sea otter would probably come into contact with Exxon Valdez oil at least once every two months. This suggests that the Exxon Valdez oil spill could still be taking a toll on wildlife Overall, in the immediate aftermath of the spill, scientists estimate that thousands of animals died.
According to Wikipedia, some 250,000 sea birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 orcas, and billions of salmon and herring eggs perished immediately.
Guess who voted with Breaux and Big Oil? That's right: Straight Talkin', Special Interest Hatin', Enviro-Maverick John McCain!
Four months after the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, McCain voted against requiring double hulled tankers.
To this day, Exxon is the only oil company that doesn't use double-hulled tankers to ship oil in and out of Alaska.
This article is based on a press release from the American Chemical Society.
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0516-exxon.html
New evidence suggests that oil from the Exxon Valdez may still causing damage to Alaska's Prince William Sound, 17 years after the ship ran a ground.
The study, by chemist Jeffrey Short and colleagues at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Juneau, Alaska, appears today on the Web site of the American Chemical Society's journal, Environmental Science & Technology, and is also scheduled to appear in the June 15 print issue of the journal.
"This study shows that it is very plausible that exposure to Exxon Valdez oil is having a material impact on many shore-dwelling animals and is contributing to their slow recovery in some parts of Prince William Sound," Short said. "Sea otters, for instance, have yet to re-inhabit Herring Bay, the most oiled bay we studied, and the population of otters elsewhere around northern Knight Island continues to decline.
Unfortunately, because much of this oil is buried in beach sediments and not exposed to weathering and other elements that might degrade it, it could remain hazardous to wildlife for decades." On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Within six hours of the accident, the Exxon Valdez has spilled roughly 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallons of crude, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The oil would eventually impact over 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska and at the height of the response, more than 11,000 personnel, 1,400 vessels and 85 aircraft were involved in the cleanup according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
While the cleanup effort began in April of 1989 and continued until September of 1989, Short and his colleagues found "significant amounts of Exxon Valdez oil buried in sand and silt that only becomes dry during the lowest tides."
The researchers say that this biologically diverse tidal zone is an important feeding ground for sea otters, ducks and other wildlife. The findings are based on a survey of 662 pits randomly dug along 32 stretches of shoreline on northern Knight Island, one of the first affected areas during the spill. The researchers found Exxon Valdez oil at 14 of the 32 sites.
The researchers conclude that sea otters would be most affected by oil when they dig pits in search of clams and other prey. Short estimates that in a given year, a sea otter would probably come into contact with Exxon Valdez oil at least once every two months. This suggests that the Exxon Valdez oil spill could still be taking a toll on wildlife Overall, in the immediate aftermath of the spill, scientists estimate that thousands of animals died.
According to Wikipedia, some 250,000 sea birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 orcas, and billions of salmon and herring eggs perished immediately.
Guess who voted with Breaux and Big Oil? That's right: Straight Talkin', Special Interest Hatin', Enviro-Maverick John McCain!
Four months after the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, McCain voted against requiring double hulled tankers.
To this day, Exxon is the only oil company that doesn't use double-hulled tankers to ship oil in and out of Alaska.
This article is based on a press release from the American Chemical Society.
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0516-exxon.html
But we can go back further to compare past events.
From Enron to Exxon
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