The panic increased yesterday, CBS magnanimously reported, when tarballs off Key West were discovered and wrongfully surmised as related to the Deepwater Horizon spill. How much is this spill going to spread? Where will it end up? What about those currents that act like “high-speed trains”? Could it go east?
The panic, however, was premature, as nearly all media-driven panics are. Today, the Coast Guard announced the balls of tar were not related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th.
Tarballs, it seems, are actually quite common and can come from “natural seepage from the ocean floor”, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Analyzing the Tarballs off Key West beaches, the Coast Guard determined they did not match the type of oil from the gulf spill, a light sweet crude oil that is successfully evading detection.
The AP reported last week that, even though there is oil in a blob off the Louisiana coast and a thin sheen and gooey bits have reached the shore, approximately more than one-third of the oil – the “thickest stuff” – is still MIA.
The experts, using a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program to predict the moxie behavior of oil spills, has found “more than a third of the oil may already be out of the water.”
About 35 percent of a spill the size of the one in the Gulf, consisting of the same light Louisiana crude, released in weather conditions and water temperatures similar to those found in the Gulf now would simply evaporate, according to data that The Associated Press entered into the program.
Simply evaporate. That isn’t consistent with the media narrative, thus the reason it hasn’t been repeated.
Meanwhile, any additional tarballs off Key West will no doubt warrant another CBS report concerning the oil spill fears “upping” and possibly another finger-pointing lecture from Obama who will not tolerate any more “finger-pointing“.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
We are all dumbing down on Obama’s watch.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
You have to dumb down to survive I think. Communist always kill off the ‘intellectual’ class first – which I always found interesting considering they are usually the ones that are communist. Its kind of an oxymoron – with the emphasis being on ‘moron’.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
You know, seriously, your description of the ‘light Louisiana Crude’ and the ‘light sweet crude oil’ makes me think of wine tasting.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
The oil is in the marshlands.
I’m really pi$$ed
May 19th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
That sounds like a bunch of liberal propaganda, Micky. Everyone knows that dumping oil into the ocean is good for the marshlands. It’s like Wine tasting. “Light, sweet…” it’s practically salad dressing.
And the dispersant chemicals that have never been tested for use at this volume, I’m sure they’re fine too.
I mean, people finding tar balls on the beach and thinking it’s related to the massive oil spill– that’s GOT to be liberal propaganda, right?! Part of the “lamestream” media, know what i mean.
Besides, there’s no way to stop the flow of oil, well except for one way.. but hey, we don’t want BP to lose any of their investment, right?
(Bonus: Link is to an actual Fox NEWS Shep Smith story!)
May 19th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Hush micky -we aren’t supposed to know that. The oil just ‘evaporates’. Poof – into thin air! The oil mush we see clogging up the marshes is just our imagination – its not real. Now keep repeating that until it becomes true.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:20 am
Tara writes: “Today, the Coast Guard announced the balls of tar were not related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th.”
Sadly, I’m not sure if we can trust what certain officials in the Coast Guard say right now. I suppose a lot of you heard how a boatful of BP contractors with two Coast Guard members ordered a CBS news team away from the beach where they were trying to film the oil that had washed up there? The CBS team was threatened with arrest, and the video clearly shows a Coast Guard member telling the team “These are BP’s rules.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/18/coast_guard_and_bp_threaten_to_arrest_cbs_reporter_covering_oil_spill.html
May 21st, 2010 at 10:28 am
Me;
“That sounds like a bunch of liberal propaganda, Micky.”
Believe it or not I’m a huge animal lover, environmentalist and conservationist. But you’ll never get me to swallow the global warming sht, the wealth redistribution and corporate scams attached.
I cant even watch the SPCA or Humane society rescue commercials without my eyes welling up.
Aside from that, the fools who want to use this as an excuse to stop drilling are more dangerous than the leak itself. Were going to need oil for the next 15 to 25 years depending on how quick alternatives become viable. And I’d really rather not ship US dollars to the middle east unless its to build strip joints on every corner full of dancers that look like Mohammed.
In this day ang how hard is it to make a failsafe at the base of any tap ?
I lived in Miami beach from 1960 to 65. Even then you’d come out of the water with tar stuck to your feet. Natural seepage of oil from the ocean floor world wide is is actually quite common.
http://oils.gpa.unep.org/facts/natural-sources.htm
“As pointed out by the National Research Council (NRC) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, “natural oil seeps contribute the highest amount of oil to the marine environment, accounting for 46 per cent of the annual load to the world’s oceans. — Although they are entirely natural, these seeps significantly alter the nature of nearby marine environments. For this reason, they serve as natural laboratories where researchers can learn how marine organisms adapt over generations of chemical exposure. Seeps illustrate how dramatically animal and plant population levels can change with exposure to ocean petroleum”.
NOAA describe a natural seepage area in California: “One of the best-known areas where this happens is Coal Oil Point along the California Coast near Santa Barbara. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of crude oil is released naturally from the ocean bottom every day just a few miles offshore from this beach”.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:38 am
“The CBS team was threatened with arrest, and the video clearly shows a Coast Guard member telling the team “These are BP’s rules.”
From one perspective I can understand this.
BP is liable if anything happens to that CBS crew.
Noxious fumes, fire hazard, wakes spreading the slick…
Theres two sides to this.
I doubt they want anyone plowing thru the slick uneccessarily maybe tossing a cigarette into the slick, an engine backfire igniting it, someone falling in and getting sick.
This whole mess is BPs gig.
Who needs CBS ?
Theres already plenty of video documenting the damage to the marshes and coast and practically nothing BP can do to hide existing damage. Although I do believe they’re trying to minimize theextent of the leak itself. I’ve no doubt its more than they’re claiming
May 21st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
micky: “Although I do believe they’re trying to minimize theextent of the leak itself. I’ve no doubt its more than they’re claiming.”
And again, aided and abetted in doing so by our government, who were using the same numbers, even after it became clear the extent was more.
This is my point as well about BP using our Coast Guard as their hired guns. Corporate power wedded with government force makes for an unholy relationship that systematically diminishes any power you and I have as citizens. Please don’t give BP a pass on the Coast Guard thing in part because you may not care for CBS, micky. Think about it…how else is the public going to see footage of the unfolding damage if BP is blocking access? Next thing you know, they’ll have Air Force fighter jets out so that the media can’t capture aerial views.
May 21st, 2010 at 4:25 pm
“Please don’t give BP a pass on the Coast Guard thing in part because you may not care for CBS, micky. Think about it…how else is the public going to see footage of the unfolding damage if BP is blocking access? ”
I’ve seen plenty of footage in the last week showing one of the greatest eco systems in our country being trashed and poisoned.
I have no beef in particular with CBS other than their supporting liars like Rather, but thats under the bridge.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/21/national/main6506986.shtml
CBS already has plenty of footage, along with the rest of theMSM its not a secret that can be contained and BP knows this.
All I’m saying is that its not unfounded for those responsible for the damage to not want anymore claims to pay. I understand that traffic in the area must be limited so they can do what needs to be done.
Have we heard the CGs reasoning ?
Would the wakes from boats disrupt booms ? help to spread the slick ? (yup)
Were they ready to spray dispersants ?
Was the area deemed a fire hazard ?
Trust me. I’m fcking pi$$ed ten ways to next week over this and can cast a wide net of blame going back decades.
But right now its the morons who designed and had there hands on the reigns that need to be held accountable.
With the technology we have today theres absolutely no excuse for this sht.
Weve had manned vehicles that traveled to the deepest spot in all the oceans off the Marianas (7 miles deep) in the 60s collecting geo samples and we cant do something about this sht only one mile under water ?
Sad
May 21st, 2010 at 5:08 pm
micky: “Trust me. I’m fcking pi$$ed ten ways to next week over this and can cast a wide net of blame going back decades.”
I believe you; I’m not questioning that at all.
I’m questioning in general to the universe – if anyone’s listening – about the wisdom of letting BP be in charge of cleaning up the mess they made.
micky: “Have we heard the CGs reasoning ?
Would the wakes from boats disrupt booms ? help to spread the slick ? (yup)
Were they ready to spray dispersants ?
Was the area deemed a fire hazard ?”
The Coast Guard, or rather, an officer in the Coast Guard affiliated with BP’s “Unified Command” group, released a statement. And excerpt:
“Neither BP nor the U.S. Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that would prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident.”
Full link here: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0520/coast-guard-bps-rules/
Note that the statement continues to say “embedded” media have been “allowed” to cover the situation since it began. Very militaristic language, like this is a war zone with BP as the commanding officer and only certain friendly media will be allowed to cover this catastrophe as it unfolds.
They definitely need to be playing a major role, but as the ones who made the mess, to actually be in charge?? It just makes zero sense.
May 21st, 2010 at 5:15 pm
micky: “All I’m saying is that its not unfounded for those responsible for the damage to not want anymore claims to pay.”
Right, but BP may be restricting media access so they can keep fudging on how how much of an impact it’s really making in certain areas. I don’t doubt there are many at the company that are genuinely distraught this happened and care about the human and environmental effects it’s wreaking. I also don’t doubt that there are some, probably at the very top, who will do anything they can to cover their as$$es, even if that includes suppressing damning information.
It scares the hell out of me that a branch of our armed forces may have been given the green light to aid and abet them in doing so.
May 21st, 2010 at 5:35 pm
CG;
“This is BP’s rules, it’s not ours,”
Thats ridiculous. no private enterprise can dictate to any of our armed forces any set rulesof engagement.
Still, I maintain that if I were BP I’d be doing my best to protect myself from any further suits. The only way the CG could enforce BPs requests is to have an executive order from the president or governor of that state.
” Very militaristic language, like this is a war zone’
It is, is it not ?
Besides, so far the damage has been exposed by so many outlets any attempts by BP to suppress exposure is futile.
It just doesnt seem logical to try and limit one outlet such as CBS when literally hundreds of outlets across the planet are getting all the access they need.
BP cant keep the etire Gulf coast a secret
May 21st, 2010 at 5:37 pm
“It scares the hell out of me that a branch of our armed forces may have been given the green light to aid and abet them in doing so.’
Yup.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:09 pm
micky: “The only way the CG could enforce BPs requests is to have an executive order from the president or governor of that state.”
My guess is it isn’t Jindal. I don’t know how much jurisdiction he has over the Coast Guard, for one thing. Also, some brief footage I saw of him in that video – well, he seemed pretty steamed. And, I’ve read an article in a Louisiana paper that said state and local authorities weren’t being given much say in response efforts, although the article did say that so far, BP has been cooperative with them.
At this point, it appears the Obama administration is letting BP take the lead here. Which in my opinion is a recipe for a passage in history books that fifty years from now will say: “The impact of the explosion was far worse in part when BP, the corporate giant who caused the worse oil leak in history, was allowed full authority over all response efforts, with military backing.”
I really hope things won’t unfold as I describe above, but these are strange and troubling times.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:36 pm
“My guess is it isn’t Jindal. I don’t know how much jurisdiction he has over the Coast Guard,”
Plenty. But I also doubt hes in cahoots.
Were pretty much in agreement on this.
Why were seeing what looks like a limp wristed lethargic veiled approach is pi$$ing me off and causing a lot of suspicion