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Great to see that they are finally trying to look like they are going to do something. Unfortunately, and the article failed to mention it, the EPA is going to fine the ship because some oil does escape (it isn't 100% efficient) . . . if that isn't stupid, there is no such thing.

The plan is to monitor the oil which escapes as the water is released back into the gulf, and fine the ship's owner by the gallon for all oil that escapes.

So honest, so transparent, so eager to clean this up . . . NOT!!!

Hello All,

I'm so sorry I didn't post this last night, and I'm so late doing so today. "World News Tonight" with Diane Sawyer is having a segment about Native Americans doing their best to preserve their way of life in the Gulf Coast region. The show comes on at 6:30PM PST. I hope you can catch it.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Some oil spill events on Thursday, July 15, 2010
By The Associated Press (AP) – 51 minutes ago
A summary of events Thursday, July 15, Day 86 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with the April 20 explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP PLC, which is in charge of cleanup and containment. The blast killed 11 workers. Since then, oil has been pouring into the Gulf from a blown-out undersea well, though BP said it finally choked off the flow Thursday afternoon.
OIL OFF
BP finally choked off the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, 85 days and up to 184 million gallons after the crisis unfolded. Then began a tense 48 hours of watching to see whether the capped-off well would hold or blow a new leak. The big, billowing brown cloud of crude at the bottom of the sea disappeared from the underwater video feed for the first time since the disaster began in April, as BP closed the last of three openings in the 75-ton cap lowered onto the well earlier this week.
NO VICTORY DECLARATION
The company stopped far short of declaring victory over the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history and one of the nation's worst environmental disasters, a catastrophe that has killed wildlife and threatened the livelihoods of fishermen, restaurateurs, and oil industry workers from Texas to Florida.
REACTIONS
The news elicited joy mixed with skepticism from wary Gulf Coast residents following months of false starts, setbacks and failed attempts. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's face lit up when he heard the oil flow had stopped. "That's great. I think a lot of prayers were answered today," he said. President Barack Obama called it a positive sign, but cautioned: "We're still in the testing phase." Stephon LaFrance, an oysterman in Louisiana's oil-stained Plaquemines Parish who has been out of work for weeks, called it a lie. "I don't believe they stopped that leak. BP's trying to make their self look good," he said.
WAIT AND SEE
Then a waiting period began. Engineers will monitor pressure gauges and watch for signs of leaks elsewhere in the well. The biggest risk: Pressure from the oil gushing out of the ground could fracture the well and make the leak even worse. High pressure is good because it shows there's only a single leak. Lower pressure could mean more leaks farther down in the well. BP expects to keep the oil trapped in the cap for 48 hours before it decides if the approach is working.
BY THE NUMBERS
The stoppage came 85 days, 16 hours and 25 minutes after the first report of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have spilled into the Gulf, according to government estimates. BP said the oil stopped flowing into the water at 2:25 p.m. CDT after engineers gradually dialed down the amount of crude escaping through the last of three valves in the cap.
CLAIMS
The $20 billion that BP has set aside to pay for losses caused by the spill will start making payments in early August. Ken Feinberg, who is in charge of paying individuals and businesses for lost income, told government officials in Louisiana on Thursday that he expected a seamless transition from BP management to his. BP has 35 offices in the Gulf Coast area accepting claims.
DISPERSANTS
BP's use of chemicals to disperse the oil has come under renewed scrutiny. The company has used at least 1.8 million gallons of dispersants on the Gulf's surface and 5,000 feet deep at the source of the leak. Earthjustice has filed a federal lawsuit in Florida to force the Environmental Protection Agency to turn over safety studies on the chemicals. BP says the chemicals have kept much of the spill from reaching the Gulf coast.
MAJOR NESTING AREA
Biologists say oil has smeared at least 300 to 400 pelicans and hundreds of terns in the largest seabird nesting area along the Louisiana coast, a sharp escalation in wildlife harmed by BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The finding underscores that official tallies of birds affected by the spill could be significantly underestimating the scope of damage. The government counts only oiled birds collected for rehabilitation or found dead. Oiled birds in the many nesting areas that dot the Gulf coast typically are left in place and not counted in official tallies.
INVESTIGATION
A government investigation of the deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is to resume next week. The Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement have scheduled five more days of hearings, from July 19-23, in a New Orleans suburb. A panel of officials from each agency heard six days of testimony in May from rig workers, company executives, government regulators and others. A witness list for next week's hearings wasn't immediately released.
OFFSHORE DRILLING AGENCY
A House panel approved legislation Thursday to overhaul the government agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling. The bill would divide the agency into three parts: one for leasing and permitting; another for inspections and investigations; and a third to collect revenue.
SAVING TURTLES
The first group of sea turtles that are part of a sweeping effort to save threatened and endangered hatchlings from death in the oily Gulf of Mexico have been released into the Atlantic Ocean. Fifty-six endangered Kemp's ridley turtles were released on a beach at Florida's Canaveral National Seashore this week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Thursday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9GVP2T01

Almost 3 months of non stop destruction. Hopefully, it is done. Now they need to clean up their mess and help people get on with their lives.

Oil Spill Response Interrupted by Tropical Storm Threat

MOBILE, Alabama, July 22, 2010 (ENS) - A storm called Tropical Depression Three is forming in the Caribbean near the Bahamas and forecasters predict it will blow across the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, affecting efforts to stem the BP oil spill.
The damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead was capped Thursday, shutting off the flow of oil for the first time since the blowout on April 20. BP has been pressure testing the well's integrity with the cap in place.

Even if the storm forces some of the dozens of response ships at the site to leave, "The decision has been made to leave the cap on even if the well is unattended," National Incident Commander retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told reporters today from the oil spill response center at Mobile.

"The projected storm track would take it over the well site itself. Early morning on Saturday, we could have storm force winds at the spill site," Admiral Allen said.

If winds blow up to more than 39 miles per hour, the depression would become a tropical storm, but it is not forecast to reach hurricane wind force of more than 74 mph.

Admiral Allen and other officials are watching the storm pattern closely and will decide at 8 tonight whether or not to send the ship drilling a relief well back to shore.

The Development Driller III has already withdrawn the drill bit and installed a device that holds the integrity of the well. If the decision is made to send the ship away from the spill site, Allen says the riser pipe also would be removed, a process that takes 8 to 10 hours. the 5,000 foot pipe must be brought up and detached in sections before the drill ship can transit out of the area.

An evacuation at the spill site could force a delay of 10 to 14 days in efforts to kill the blownout well, as ships need several days to disengage from the operation and head to safety.

Each of the dozens of ships at the spill site has a different withdrawal schedule, which Allen said he is coordinating by means of a complex spreadsheet.

At the surface, the oil has broken up into hundreds of thousands of small patches and Allen said skimmers are less effective and for the past six days have been finding less oil.

Oil gushed again unchecked for several days earlier this month when BP removed the poorly fitting top hat containment system that had been sending some of the oil to ships at the surface and before they put the current cap on.

"Then we had 40-50 skimmers," said Allen. "Now we're really having to look to find oil. There's a significant reduction of oil on the surface, but there's still oil out there."

"We have hundreds of thousands of patches of oil, some is weathered and can't be burned, and there's no large amounts of oil we can put skimmers on," said Allen. "With weather coming in, emulsification is taking place. Some of this oil could be driven into the marsh areas as it was when [Hurricane] Alex passed by." Hurricane Alex blew through the western Gulf of Mexico at the end of June, making landfall south of Brownsville, Texas.

Federal On Scene Coordinator Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft told reporters today that over the past seven days there has been "no release of new oil" from the damaged wellhead.


More than 100 overflights are conducted over the spill area every day to determine the location of oil concentrations. Zukunft said 15 heavy skimmer vessels collected about 25,000 barrels of oil from over well site last week, but on Wednesday only skimmed a net total of 56 barrels.

"Today there's blue water over the well site," he said. "We don't have any skimming targets of opportunity - oil patches."

The Unified Area Command center is tracking the tropical weather system near the Bahamas very closely and is constantly engaged in discussions with the National Hurricane Center, NOAA and FEMA to ensure the safety of more than 40,000 people currently assisting in the oil spill response and recovery efforts.

To prepare for the possibility of severe weather, Rear Adm. Zukunft has directed the movement of surplus response equipment to inland staging areas.

"We are repositioning assets away from low-lying areas to higher ground staging areas to protect our ability to respond to the dynamic requirements of the incident. The protection of the equipment and crew is paramount to ensure maximum ability to respond to any new challenges a storm may pose to the enormous mission. We are committed to following through with our response. There will be no reductions in effort, urgency or commitment even as we sustain the long-term relief effort," said Zukunft.

"We have sea states of four to six feet out there now," said Zukunft. "This particular weather system has been fickle, but we do not expect a hurricane, this is a tropical storm."

Activities that are underway for storm preparedness include evacuating specialized vessels from the path of any severe weather to prevent damage and ensure that oil recovery operations can resume as soon as possible after a storm.

Boom is being removed from marsh areas where oil is not threatening the shore to prevent damage from the heavy equipment getting pushed into the delicate area by strong winds and high tides.

It is necessary to begin moving equipment to inland staging areas well in advance of a potential storm. Zukunft said the consolidation of boom and other equipment at inland staging areas will in no way hinder current response operations, but will serve to protect as much of this vital resource from the elements as possible through the risky hurricane season.

AccuWeather.com Hurricane Expert, Joe Bastardi says there is still a possibility that the system will turn more to the northwest, over the Florida peninsula. This would mean less impact on the oil spill area and more rain and squalls for central Florida.

On April 20, 2010, a deadly explosion at BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform that killed 11 crewmembers started a catastrophic oil leak that has poured millions of barrels of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2010 ... 22-01.html