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Government Response to Gulf Oil Spill Was "A Little Bit Like Custer Underestimating The Number Of Indians On The Other Side Of The Hill"
Oil Spill Commission co-chair Bob Graham slammed
the administration's handling of the Gulf oil disaster, including its
low-ball estimates of the size of the spill ( which was some 60 times
too low):
It's a little bit like Custer underestimating
the number of Indians on the other side of the hill and paying a price
for that ....
(Of course, since the Oil Spill Commission won't have any subpoena power, that inquiry might be toothless.)
And the low-balling of oil spill impacts is continuing to this day.
For example, our tax dollars are being used to convince kids that Gulf seafood is safe, because oil "floats", dispersants are harmless and wildlife is hearty:
A
scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
partnered with BP to answer eighth graders' questions about the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill.
Gary
Ott, science support coordinator with NOAA, demonstrated the basic
science behind the oil spill and its cleanup for students using an
aquarium filled with water as the Gulf of Mexico and cooking oil mixed
with Hershey's cocoa powder to represent BP's spilled oil.
“Should you be afraid to eat shrimp?” Ott asked the library full of eighth graders. Some answered “Yes,” some said “No.”
But Ott assured them it was safe, and set out to explain why.
***
Other presentations at local schools are planned.
***
Using
a pump at the bottom of the aquarium, Ott released the oil-cocoa
mixture into the water, and students watched the oil globs rocket to the
top and stay there in a slick.
“Oil floats. See, we've tested it,” Ott said.
***
A rubber ducky also went into the spill, representing oiled birds.
***
Of
course, the oil doesn't disappear when it's dispersed, Ott
acknowledged. It stays suspended in the water column for weeks where it
can hurt some fish species. But it is broken down within weeks by
hungry oil-eating microbes, he said. It's a trade-off officials accept
to keep huge slicks of oil from floating into wetlands and oiling
birds, Ott said.
Ocean life in the real world, of course, is a tad more sensitive to pollution than a plastic rubber ducky.
And in the real world, as little as 2% of all oil which spills from deepwater wells ever makes it to the surface of the ocean (see this
for detail), and the massive application of dispersants caused the
remaining oil to sink under the surface. So the whole oil floats thing
is ridiculous.
And
scientists say that oil-eating microbes are not quickly breaking down
the oil. Indeed, instead of oil-eating microbes breaking down the
oil, they appear to have instead gorged themselves - according to the
Los Angeles Times - on gases in the water.
And
instead of just nourishing the good guys (oil-eating microbes), the oil
and dispersants in the Gulf may be strengthening bacteria which are
harmful to humans and seafood.
PhD toxicologist and oil spill expert Riki Ott has repeatedly raised this possibility. See this and this.
And as I have previously pointed out, scientists have found an oil-eating microbe in the Gulf which is in the same family as Vibrio and other nasty, disease-causing pathogens.
And as the New York Times noted in June:
Some bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico love eating oil as much as they like infecting humans.
***
Scientists
have long known that the ultimate end of the crude oil spewing into
the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged BP PLC well will rest in the hands
of marine bacteria, single-cell organisms that have been purging the
seas of oil from natural seeps for millenia, having only recently added
human folly to their cleanup resume. Without these bacteria, whose
numbers surge in response to hydrocarbons, enough oil would leak each
year to coat the world's oceans in a fine film, molecules deep.
Beneath
this awareness, however, sit vast reserves of uncertainty.
Microbiologists are unsure which bacteria, feeding off the oil, are
already growing exponentially in the Gulf. They are curious how long
the bacterial growth will last once the oil's hard remnants drift down
into ocean sediment. And no one seems certain how the surge in
microbial life will alter the intricate, disentangling web of the
Gulf's already weakened ecology.
***
"The question is: Will
there be an inadvertent enhancement of the growth of these potential
human pathogens?" said Rita Colwell, former director of the National
Science Foundation and an expert in marine microbial life. "It's a
question, and the answer is uncertain."
So far, hard evidence is scant. Grimes recently examined an oiled water sample taken by the research ship Pelican.
The oil, likely exposed to dispersant, was finely divided. Using
gene-staining technology, Grimes discovered several microbes attached to
the droplet. Now glowing blue, they had been gorging. At least one was
a Vibrio.
"There's no question bacteria, in general, increase following spills, and this includes Vibrios," said Jim Oliver, a Vibrio specialist at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Whether the pathogenic Vibrios
"significantly increase is unsure, I would say, but they are coastal
bacteria ... so [they] could well increase either as a direct result of
oil degradation or as a side effect of the added nutrient levels."
The
ingredients are there for heightened concern, Oliver added. The
carcasses of bacteria feeding off the oil will increase overall nutrient
levels as sweltering summer temperatures hit their peak. While there
are natural controls, like bacterial viruses and protozoa, that can
check Vibrio growth, those can be overwhelmed, studies have
shown. And because of the cleanup, more people could be coming into
direct contact with the bacteria.
"I think that combination could lead to very serious public health concerns," Oliver said.
The Times also notes that some species of Vibrio can contaminate seafood , especially oysters.
As Florida Oil Spill Law reports:
The National Science Foundation awarded a rapid response grant to research this very topic, From the NSF website on June 21, 2010:
How
are the oysters faring with the oil spill? The National Science
Foundation (NSF) has awarded a rapid response grant to scientists
Crystal Johnson, Gary King and Ed Laws of Louisiana State University
(LSU) to find out.
The researchers will look at how the abundance and virulence of naturally-occurring bacteria called Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, often found in oyster beds, may change in response to the spill.
The
findings will provide insights into vibrios’ ability to “consume”
oil, and will allow the biologists to uncover antibiotic compounds in
certain species of phytoplankton that live in association with vibrios.
“Adaptation to the spilled oil may result in an increase in some types of vibrios,” says Johnson. “We believe that vibrios will change in response to the stress of direct exposure to oil and/or to indirect effects of interactions with other species affected by oil.”
Vibrios… may even help break down the components of the oil.
“Little is known about how microbes–in the water, along coasts, and associated with other species–are affected by the spill,” says Phillip Taylor, acting director of NSF’s Ocean Sciences Division.
“Through
this NSF rapid response grant, these scientists will be able to track
the oil’s effects on marine species living in the Gulf, and by
extension, the possible threat to human health.” …
“Oil-induced changes in phytoplankton community composition and their associated bacterial communities are related to changes in vibrio abundance,”
he says. Some species of phytoplankton in Louisiana and Mississippi
coastal waters may excrete antibiotics that inhibit the growth of
vibrios, according to Laws.
(the Florida Oil Spill Law article also documents the terrible disease that Vibrio can cause in humans.)
Indeed, there are many other reports of health problems among Gulf residents. See this, this and this.
Moreover, as the Tampa Tribune notes, the oil and dispersants are still there:
Most of the oil and dispersant
are still below the surface and have the potential to cause long-term
damage the eco-system, according to University of South Florida
researcher John Paul who is included in a documentary debuting Tuesday
night in the National Geographic Channel.***
They discovered plumes of dispersed oil at the bottom of an undersea canyon about 40 miles off the Florida Panhandle.
It was found to be toxic to microscopic sea organisms, causing mutations to their DNA.
If this plankton at the base of the marine food chain is contaminated, it could affect the whole ecosystem of the Gulf.
***
"The
problem with mutant DNA is that it can be passed on and we don't how
this will affect fish or other marine life," he says, adding that the
effects could last for decades.
In addition, more and more evidence points to the continued application of dispersant in the Gulf. See this, this, this and this.
The government and BP continue to act like General Custer ... and the Gulf will pay a heavy price for their negligence.
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You may be the stick in Custards penis Chemba.
It's seems plausible that the well casing is damaged beyond the point of being cemented and absent explosives or an earthquake (not without risks) it may leak out. What further complicates the situation is the Deepwater Horizon site is located in the Mississippi Canyon (Block 252) and the general area is rich in methane hydrate-bearing sediments. Methane hydrates cement loose ocean floor sediments together creating a surface layer potentially several hundred meters thick. When exposed to great enough heat or a large decrease in pressure (think mud slide), methane hydrates can explode to 164 times their volume. So a lot of core samples will have to be taken seeing as explosives and earthquakes affect pressure, heat and the well is on an embankment. On the bright side, BP drilled 4.8 or so miles down into the earth's crust, so there is a lot of room to work.
As of 5/20/10 BP had sprayed 600K+ gallons of dispersant on the ocean surface and injected 55K gallons to the Well Head and cracks in the sea floor (as shown by early BP diagrams). So it’s ok to be skeptical of BP’s claim that only 1.8 million gallons of dispersant were used in total.
They used Corexit 9570 until it ran out and then used Corexit 9500. In 2001 the EPA found Corexit 9500 to be 4-5 times as toxic as heavy crude alone (when mixed in at 10%) and Corexit 9570 2-3 times as toxic (in the ratio) when tested on minnows and crustaceans. http://www.ivl.se/download/18.360a0d56117c51a2d30800072878/B1439.pdf
More is known about Corexit 9570 than 9500 because we know 2-BUTOXYETHANOL is the main ingredient (30-60%).
If quasi-martial law hadn’t been declared we would be hearing a lot about gulf residents complaining of irritation in the throat, eyes and skin, personality changes, headaches, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea and breathing difficulties. This is all congruent with moderate inhalation of Corexit 9570 alone. 2-BUTOXYETHANOL is combustible between 100-200°F and the oil it was being pumped directly into was measured at 212°F… When it explodes to gas it is heavier than air, like benzene, so I don’t know if BP created tons of extra poison gas.
If ingested or makes contact with the skin as a liquid (or inhaled excessively); Internal / lung hemorrhaging, birth defects / fertility problems (mutagenic), cancer, central nervous system depression, blood diseases, kidney and liver failure can result. http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-2_Butoxyethanol-9923187
So you can imagine the damage to aquatic life from emulsifying the oil and having those tiny toxic droplets travel throughout the water column (everything under the surface). It kills plankton and larvae that form the base of the food chain, so fish are skinnier and less abundant, so the dolphins have to spend most of their day hunting in the shit. The gusher is 40% methane gas though and that does deplete the oxygen out of a lot of water.
If these dispersant mixes are evaporating and being absorbed by clouds and coming down as rain that would not be good for drinking water reservoirs, crops or just being rained on (it is absorbed through the skin).
This is speculative, but radium, uranium and thorium occur naturally so deep in the earth and contain radio active alpha particles and gamma rays. Oil containing some of that combines with a dispersant that results in absorption through cells sounds like something out of a comic book.
Gen. Sherman got even for the Battle of Little Bighorn.
GW
You need to find a new topic. The BP oil spill is what it is. Your article is full of a lotta "we don't know what the effect of this (or that) will be but...." So, if you don't know, and there's not a thing anyone can do about it now.......how 'bout focusing on something else?
BAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOON BOY!!!!!!
G.W., I thought the sea floor in the GOM was going to collapse in on itself, releasing 1 trillion barrels of "tectonic oil", destroying all life along the GOM?
What happened?
the oil and dispersants in the Gulf may be strengthening bacteria which are harmful to humans and seafood.
scientists have found an oil-eating microbe in the Gulf which is in the same family as Vibrio and other nasty, disease-causing pathogens.
It's a question, and the answer is uncertain.
Hard evidence is scant.
Whether the pathogenic Vibrios "significantly increase is unsure"
Little is known about how microbes... are affected by the spill.
We don't know how [mutant DNA] can affect fish or other marine life.
Geez, you sure you put enough weasel words in that diatribe? Every other paragraph contains words such as "might", or "may", or "don't know" or "no evidence exists". I'm not saying the spill wasn't a huge problem, but this smells like the global warming scam to me; a bunch of scientists chasing research grants by predicting disaster.
I don't think the governnment wanted to address the oil spill at all because it drew attention to BP's relationship with this adminstration, and to Obama's failure and ineffective MMR agency -- they were watching porn and doing cocaine?
There are still unanswered questions. Why is Obama so anti-American and use American money to help foreign drillers create jobs in Brazil, while declaring war on drilling and jobs in the USA?
It follows the pattern of shutting down jobs in the fishing industry through arbitrary regulations and limits, and the auto dealerships that were shut down for no reason, according to the IG report.
The common link to all these job destroying decisions is that these jobs are all non-union, and were in "red" states or districts, and/or were targeted groups that have not supported Obama or the democrats.
Who wants these vindictive politicians to sit on their death panel?
I just read a book on Custer. Do you know what the Indians did to that flake? They stuck a stick up his penis.
And then the wolves ate his corpse!!
We're that corpse. The U.S. government is that Indian and those wolves.
Who are the good guys?
Crazy Horse said, "Today is a good day to die." to his cousin, Black Elk, the day of that battle. Then he went and brought down Custer. Some people just do not understand, you do not mess up a way of life without a rebuke.
Mari Sandoz's "Crazy Horse" is a classic, check out "Hanta Yo" by ruth bebe Hill too...
Galveston seems OK with the fish caught. I talked with a fishing friend today about the oil/fish situation in Galveston fishing waters. He said there were no problems and the guys were having the catch tested, but the buyers are reluctant to purchase due to possible health hazards.
Any one hear about fisherman reports from the states going East from Texas?
"The Spill was never as Catastrophic as projected in the media."
Look, Ma, it's a BP stooge posting on Zero Hedge.
These guys are getting really bad. He didn't even make a decent attempt to disguise his "my pay cheque comes from BP" bias.
Thanks GW, you are a thorn in their side.
Plus, he writes like it's 1875.
Thank you George.
Unintended consequences of something this enormous are frightening. Just take any complex system and shock it this profoundly and it's going to surprise you with its reaction over several periods of its occillation.
Don't think this mess is over -- not by a long shot.
The Spill was never as Catastrophic as projected in the media. It was Completely, and Totally Over-Blown... That's not to say it wasn't bad; but it wasn't nearly as Bad as Portrayed. The Gulf beaches & fisheries will be fine. Only a Lawyer with an an agenda of lawsuits, or an Academic who wants their Research funded would dis-agree.
Err... unless you live in that area, but it will clean up over time.
Your probably a rabid right winger that seems to be their talking points about defending bp. Why don't you tell that crap to the fishermans families who have committed suicide. Shame on you.
I'm thinking maybe a rabid left winger more interested in protecting B.P. boy than dealing with the truth.
Corexit will have you for dinner.
I do believe you have already been PBR'd a couple of times too many.
A little disperant with that 30W, sir? It compliments well. Trust me.
or a heron...
the ironic thing is that the plastic ducky is made from oil...