When it blows

[Bull]

With the burning of the oil in the gulf, I have a few concerns.
I know and knew some people who were greatly affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It seems like so long ago. 1989. The Supreme court finally ruled and people devastated by the negligence of this coroperation finally recieved their "compensation" 23 years later. The "compensation" after the courts got done was about ten cents on the dollar.

So here we are twenty four years later and I see it happening it again. It saddens me. I see the government hasn't done some of the things that were learned. They are supposed to have an environmental assessment team on site immediately. Yet it seem all they are worried about is what happens if the oil reaches shore and not the damage to the wildlife in the ocean. If you like shrimp I would be eating it sooner than later.

While I realize burning is the best way to handle the oil slick and it is better to keep it off shore, it's just the idea that this is nothing more than the cost of doing business. Just as with the Massey mine calamity.

I was wondering after the supreme court ruling, where corporations have the rights of an individual shouldn't they now have the same responsibility. If you spill oil in the water from a fishing boat you can lose your boat. I just think it is time that the people incharge of these corporations be held responsible. If the corporation is neglectful then the officers and board members should be charged.

I am more or less just venting here but would like to here what everyone thinks.

[Bob Stepp]

I agree with you Bull. However, while we may think our government is in charge of this country in all reality the corporations are in control. They run the government and in turn run us. Look at the banking industry and Goldman-Sachs and all the other arrogant bastards who think the rules don't apply to them. And, really I guess they don't...for they continue to run amok as they please. ......all in the name of the almighty dollar. There will come a time, if the people in this country actually grow a set of balls, when action will be taken against these people....I'm talking force. It will happen if the good Lord lets it go that far....

[darroll]

Instead of our leaders looking for someone to sue/blame, why don’t they get the mess cleaned up.
Goldman Sachs was just selling government securities that they knew were worthless.
Selling homes to someone with no job and no income is still a thriving business in this country.

[Vernon Windsor]

I would like to comment on this subject, but I don't think I can do so safely. I'm very upset. So I should come back later (if at all). I will say that it is clear to me that BP neither had the safety measures in place to reliably cap the well, nor the backup equipment (the dome) designed, built, and tested to secure the oil in the event of a disaster such as this.

I would like to suggest that they shelve their advertising budget and public relations campaign and instead figure out how to extract oil from the sea bed without risking an ecological disaster such as this. If they can't do that in a place like the gulf of Mexico, they need to get out of the sea altogether.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

This is a many faceted situation. I know this comment probably isn't going to win me many new friends, may even cause me to lose some, but I'll make it anyway. We can rant and rail about the company who installed and operated this rig all we want, but the fact is we are all to blame. We want that oil. Not all of us are part of the "Drill Here, Drill Now' crowd, but we sure buy the products made with the oil from that rig. Maybe not all, but at least most of us, never question where the fuel we put in our cars comes from. People along the coast try to block wind farms being built due to the degradation of the beauty of the area. But, few of them use their sailboat as day to day transportation. Daily we use thousands of products made from oil. Think plastic. Having spent a significant part of my life in engineering services and logistics involved with system development, I can assure you that I have never seen a system developed that did not have some unforseen flaws. Since the flaws were unforseen, you cannot correct them until they happen. Often malfunction is caused by negligence. When that happens we normally punish the neglient and institute procedures to insure that it does not happen again. If we are not willing to bear the initial cost to develop a more foolproof system, or live with the process of experiencing malfuncions and then correcting them, then we should not demand the product. I am not trying to absolve BP of blame. I am merely pointing out that everyone who wants what that oil would provide has to share the blame. I hope our outrage will produce a better, safer blow out preventer. Or stop drilling offshore oil wells. Are we willing to do the latter?
The moritorium on offshore drilling along the East Coast was partially lifted just recently.
BTW, Pru is to blame for this diatribe.

[Bull]

Robbie, Brazil demands a better blow out prohibitor, BP has chosen not to use it in US waters. They, BP have been responsible for just about very major oil disaster since the Valdez in the US. I understand we need the oil until we develop safe energy. This company for all their pr about green energy continues to blatantly cut corners for profit. Last quarter their profit was $5.5 billion. In 2006 they had employees cut back on corrosion inhibitors in a pipeline that then spewed more than 200,000 gallons in Alaska. The fine for that and the explosion in the Texas city Texas refinery which killed 15 was about $100 million just a cost of doing business. I do not believe they are a good corporate citizen and by god they and all their share holders need to be held accountable. We pay a very high price for that product, and lest we forget we lease them the right to drill for our oil that they then sell back to us the least we should be able to expect is that will do everything in their power to do it responsibly.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Bull, where did you find the info on the blow out preventer?

[Bull]

I heard it on the news about the time I wrote that I'll see what I can find.

[Bull]

I don't know if it would have helped but couldn't have hurt. Good article

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.retirement/2010-04/...

Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device

The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a
remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations
as last-resort protection against underwater spills.

The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns
over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and
sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig, hired by oil giant BP PLC, last week.

[larry kremis]

I'm hoping for the best possible outcome for you Kathy, as well as everyone else along the Gulf Coast.

[Bull]

Kathy
First, I hope that something, perhaps weather, happens to mitigate the impact of the oil on the people and the environment.

As to the statement:
There are many who have not wanted drilling in offshore waters.... my feeling is that it is very odd that a blowout such as this has happened only days after that moratorium was lifted. At first I thought it curious also. Having pointed out BP's track record that thought didn't last long.

Also the process of cementing the well seems to be the most common time for these kinds of disasters.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/69807...

Again my best to everyone in the gulf area.

[Aggie]

I am still cleaning up a mess made by oil well on the farm from the 1950's.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Just want to clarify that I'm not trying to absolve BP of blame. I'm trying to point out that if the people who administer oversight had more pressure put on them to prevent these things from happening we would see less such happenings. We citizens do not have the tehnical knowledge required to know if a blow out preventer will work. Neither do our elected representitives. However, the reps should make sure that the people responsible for oversight do have that expertise and if they don't they should be held accountable. But the inspectors must have the backing of the politicians. Both the elected officials and the inspectors should lose their jobs.
Just like the WV coal mine disaster, there does not seem to be a simple solution. Where are the Tea Party people on this one?