Obama Administration Escalates Response to Gulf Oil Spill

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 29, 2010 2:31 PM EDT | JARED A. FAVOLE And ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON

[She hits a grand slam tonight]

You don’t think a good swimming SCUBA diver could do such an act?

[chooseascreennamepat]

“I don’t think he blew up the rig and killed 11 people to recant on offshore drilling, but I will say he is “taking advantage” of the crisis for political gain. “

I would, ta (his word) his face, accuse him of doing just that. He has an agenda and nothing is going ta keep him from it. The death of the peons is nothing in the pursuit of the socialist goals.

He has NO heart, morals, sympathy, honor, rules, ..

Harsh memo to follow

[Bitsy]

Nothing if you don’t depend on the estuaries and coastal marshes for your livelihood or for storm protection.

I am just sick. Our seafood industry will tank, we most likely won’t be having seafood boils any time soon and the bayou culture will certainly suffer. Praying for miracles for Louisiana and America.

[prairiebreeze]

Yes, I’ve been thinking about the fishermen, shrimpers etc. It’s going to be rough for them and I wish them well.

[Bitsy]

It’s going to be rough for them and I wish them well.

Yep. Fishing/shrimping/crabbing is not only their livelihood it is their life. The live down in the bayous. Sad.

[aruanan]

1. It's not a spill. It's a leak.

2. The automatic cut-off valve on the sea bottom, which has prevented such leaks after hundreds of oil platforms in the Gulf were damaged during hurricanes, was not installed on this one by BP for some reason.

[ColdWater]

2. The automatic cut-off valve on the sea bottom, which has prevented such leaks after hundreds of oil platforms in the Gulf were damaged during hurricanes, was not installed on this one by BP for some reason.

Then they are lying when they say that they have been working days trying to get robots to close it?

[aruanan]

The White House escalated its response Thursday to the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as administration officials said that the disaster could prompt a rethink of President Barack Obama's recently announced proposal to allow expanded offshore oil and gas drilling.

So did BP fail to install that automatic cut-off valve after a request by Barry Obama?

[aruanan]

Then they are lying when they say that they have been working days trying to get robots to close it?

I heard this morning that, for some inexplicable reason, BP had failed to install the valve on this platform. Maybe that's why the Navy was working for days trying to get the robots to close it--one would expect difficulty in trying to close something that's not there. Maybe the Navy thought it was there since it's everywhere else.

[sawoody]

That would be awful if the slick reached New Orleans...

and then the levies broke again...

and then they set the slick on fire...

Awful!...

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

From what I understood there was a blow-out preventer on

this well,,,

A packer was being used that may have fouled it,,,

IIRC that area has high pressure that has caused problems,,,

Hopefully they can get it shut down...

[ColdWater]

I heard this morning that, for some inexplicable reason, BP had failed to install the valve on this platform.

I think that you may be referring to the remote shut-off device, not the safety valve.

[OBXWanderer]

Maybe that's why the Navy was working for days trying to get the robots to close it--one would expect difficulty in trying to close something that's not there. Maybe the Navy thought it was there since it's everywhere else.

you really think the US Navy is doing the ROV work? You think the US Navy put that wellhead at the bottom of the Gulf? Try these Guys

[thackney]

BP did not own the rig, Transocean does.

This is US Waters.

[thackney]

This well has the Blowout Preventer. It has not worked.

[plain talk]

THIS is a homeland security issue? she needs to worry more about invading illegal aliens than an invading oil spill.

[SueRae]

I’m right there with you praying. No matter the cause (we’ll figure that out I’m certain). Right now, containment is everything. This is devastating news, no matter who or where you are. Politics are not the issue, getting this stopped and minimizing the damage is everything. Everything.

When Homeland Security said something about the military being brought in, I thought of Navy SEALs. I’m certain we are mobilizing the best of every resource we have in our arsenal.

[kjam22]

All the more reason to use clean, abundant, domestic Natural gas found on land. Produced safely and in an environmentally friendly way :) Yes I work for Chesapeake Energy.... :)

[SunkenCiv]

...administration officials said that the disaster could prompt a rethink of President Barack Obama's recently announced proposal to allow expanded offshore oil and gas drilling.

[Ostlandr]

Who do we know who has serious global oil interests, and no compunction about “collateral damage” when it comes to geopolitics?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/18/obama-surrenders-gulf-oil-to-moscow/

I started checking this out in depth so I could refute a buddy’s quip that this was not an accident.

But the more I look into this, the more it looks (to my inexpert eyes) like a torpedo hit on the rig’s 1.16 million gallons of fuel oil rather than a blow-out. Why did it capsize and sink the way it did? That’s how I would expect a warship hit in the fuel bunker to go down- on fire, and slowly, as the fuel burned/leaked and was replaced by heavier sea water. I would expect a blow-out to destroy the drilling equipment, but leave the rig scorched and afloat.

Per Wikipedia, Raoul Castro may have one working mini-sub, and has ordered some DPRK Sang-O class diesel subs. Hugo Chavez has two quite modern and capable German-made diesel subs, and may have already taken delivery of his first Russian upgraded-Kilo class nuc (3 more on order.)

Please, please, somebody prove me wrong. Please tell me that Putin, Chavez and Raoul Castro aren’t forming a new oil-based Axis.