newsheadlines

Why is BP still spraying poisons?

BP announced Thursday that it had capped its hemorrhaging well, at least temporarily, marking the first time in 86 days that oil was not volcanically gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a dead man in my opinion,” said Jeff Ussury, 48, who considers his days as a crabber over for good. He doubted the news of the capping was even true.

Despite capping the well, BP continues spraying toxic "COREXIT" chemical DISPERSANTS into the ocean both above and below. Why?

NEW ORLEANS—BP's Corexit 9500 chemical dispersant spray is four times more toxic than crude oil, is one of the most poisonous dispersants ever developed, and is up to 20 times more toxic than other dispersants, and only half as effective. Dispersants break the oil into small particles, where it becomes less visible. But the oil’s still there, spewing toxicity at an even greater rate (due to higher surface area), except now it’s pretty much impossible to skim or trap or vacuum or even soak up the oil particles at the shoreline because most of it will never make it to the shoreline.  Instead, the toxic crude oil AND the dispersant will be spread all over the ocean’s waters. 

In effect, to “disperse” the oil means it will NEVER be cleaned up. It will just stay out there, polluting and poisoning the ocean and marine life, including the fish, shrimp, mollusk that we humans consume as food. 

And if using oil dispersants is unwise, it is approaching madness to use a dispersant as toxic as BP's "Corexit". Add to the insane formula the fact the Corexit isn’t even a very effective dispersant, and we’re looking at avarice and mendacity on the part of BP at the level of true EVIL. As for the Obama administration, any government that tolerates such evil is minimally incompetent and maximally complicit in evil.

More alarming still is the opinion that when the toxic Corexit 9500 is combined with the warm waters of the Gulf, much of it will transition into a gaseous state that will be absorbed into clouds, to be released as toxic rain upon all of the Eastern United States.

May God help us!

THE UNREPORTED DAMAGE

Almost 3 months after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and caught fire, killing 11 workers and starting the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history, floating oil slicks, soiled beaches and underwater plumes continue to threaten a diverse ecosystem along the Gulf Coast and to cause environmental damages we can't yet begin to assess.

According to a 2009 inventory by the Harte Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, the area around the site of Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig is home to 1,728 species that are now threatened by the oil spill.

"The greatest part of the Gulf ecosystem is out of sight beneath the surface," says Larry McKinney, executive director of the HRI. McKinney points out that this deep underwater region is largely unmonitored and is "incredibly sensitive to the toxic effects of oil and dispersant" as well as to the low oxygen levels associated with deep-water plumes that now seem likely to expand the dead zone in the Gulf and that pose a long-term threat to ocean life.

In addition to the thousands of fish, reptiles, birds and marine mammals that will die as a direct result of the oil spill, the long-term damage to marine species in the Gulf is what really has scientists and environmentalists worried.

Studies of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska show that oil ingested by marine species accumulates in tissues, lowers reproductive rates, makes individuals more vulnerable to disease, and increases mortality rates. And despite recent assurances by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the toxicity of the chemical dispersants BP has been using in record amounts and unprecedented ways during the Gulf oil spill, there is some evidence that those dispersants bioconcentrate, which means they build up in tissues over time and increase in toxicity as they move up the food chain.

As bad as things are in the Gulf right now, we probably won't know the full extent of environmental damages from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for many years to come.

LIKE PUTTING A BANDAID ON A DEAD MAN

Oil stopped flowing around 2:25 p.m. when the last of several valves was closed on a cap at the top of the well, said Kent Wells, a senior vice-president for BP. “I am very excited that there’s no oil in the Gulf of Mexico,” Wells said, “but we just started the test and I don’t want to create a false sense of excitement.”

The announcement came after a series of failed attempts to cap or contain the runaway well. Pressure tests were being conducted to determine the status of the well - which is now sealed like a soda bottle. Option One: BP and the government could decide to allow the oil to flow again and try to collect all of it OR Option Two: they could leave the well closed permanently. The second option seems unlikely, but whatever the decision, the cap is an interim measure until a "relief well" can plug the leak for good.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a dead man in my opinion,” said Jeff Ussury, 48, who considers his days as a crabber over for good. He doubted the news of the capping was even true. “I started out kind of believing in them,” he said, “but I don’t believe in them at all anymore.”

The capping was a time to take stock of just how much damage had already been done since the deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig the night of April 20.

For weeks, the BP spill camera had shown a horrible chocolate plume of oil pouring upward from the broken blowout preventer, a symbol of government and corporate impotence. The plume has been a constant presence in the corner of TV screens, mocking reassurances from officials on the news programs who describe the latest attempt to stop the gushing.

But the view Thursday afternoon was eerily tranquil, just the slate blue of the deep interspersed with small white particles floating across the screen. Although the exact amount of the oil that has poured out of the well may never be known, it was suddenly and for the first time a fixed amount. The disaster was, for a little while at least, finite.

Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who is coordinating the spill response, told reporters Thursday that the cap was primarily meant to be used to shut the well during extreme weather. “The intention of the capping stack was never to close in the well per se,” said Allen. “It creates the opportunity if we have the right pressure readings to shut in the well. It allows us to abandon the site if there is a hurricane.” He said that after the test, the cap would be used to capture oil through surface ships – two that are on the site now and two more that will be in operation in a week or two. With all four collection ships in place, BP could capture all of the oil, estimated at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.

Wells cautioned that the test of the well could take 48 hours or more, as scientists study pressure readings from the cap. If the pressure stays low or falls, that would suggest the well is damaged. In that case, Wells said, the test probably would be stopped well ahead of schedule, valves would be reopened and collection systems that had been shut down for the test would start again. “Depending on what the test shows us, we may need to open this well back up,” he said.

http://sitfu.com/2010/05/corexit-is-killing-the-gulf-part-i/