BP seems to think they’re responding to the crisis in a wonderfully fine, responsible way.

I would think so, too.

Unless I had read reports and articles from independent organizations.

It’s difficult to differentiate what is true and not when Team BP and government release inaccurate information. Take, for example the estimate of the amount of oil entering the ocean every day. It is puzzling how BP and NOAA went from 5,000 barrels a day to 62,000 barrels a day with numerous revisions occurring as they got from the first figure to the second. According to a current.com article, “NOAA officials stuck to that estimate for weeks, despite the fact that they had access to video feeds from the wellhead clearly showing how far off they were.”

And what is the wisdom in getting estimates from the criminal being prosecuted?

Fine and responsible? BP issued claimants letters that didn’t have checks in them. The company declined to give the number of check less letters that were issued. Wonderful.

(to access current.com article, go to: http://current.com/news/92629913_gulf-oil-spill-rick-steiner-got-bp-disaster-right-from-the-beginning-warns.htm)

Take a look at our interactive map of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill! The map displays interest points such as cleanup efforts, impact sites, and more relating to relief efforts of the devastating oil spill. Click on the different layers to see NOAA’s forecasts and trajectory data on the progression of the spill.

Click here to view the interactive map application.

I was reading an excellent blog   http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com/

which does a great job of giving a voice to the residents who are going through this ordeal. I just wish larger media outlets would do the same and expose the personal problems and well-founded suspicions of people who are being hit by the oil spill. Too often, I feel that scientists, BP representatives and government officials are crowding out the voice of residents and their concerns in news reports. Yes, I understand the need and demand for expert, scientifically backed opinion, but shouldn’t newspapers also be the tool that empowers people who feel like they have no chance against a behemoth like BP?

There are quotes of how many people are being affected by the BP oil spill, but if newspapers can help us think of each of those millions as a person, a friend, a family member grappling with health, economic and mental stress from the spill, I wonder how much greater the response towards the spill would be.

I was away at camp (which explains the lack of activity for the past month) where I had the opportunity to meet musicians from all over the world. Of course, I met loads of nice southerners, as well. Their response to the BP oil spill ranged from outright indignation to slight disapproval  and it made me realize again that 1.) Many high schoolers are painfully unaware of the extent of the spill (although many also do know and are actively involved in helping out) 2.) anger came mostly from students who were directly impacted (live by the shore).

It made me wonder how many people across the nation will continue to care once BP stops making national headlines and whether people living on the coast will receive full justice when the storm blows over. The storm may blow over and the spotlight may shift elsewhere, but the biological and economic legacy of the spill will continue to plague the residents of that area for decades. But ten, twenty years from now, many volunteers and activists who are not directly impacted will likely move on to another cause. Where will gulf coast residents be then?

With the possibility of the leak continuing through August, some are clamoring for drastic measures. As “Top Kill” failed to stop the leak, the usage of a nuclear weapon to shut the well up is gaining popularity. It’s worked before for other countries (like Russia), but the overriding concern is that a mishap could cause radioactive fallout to deal undue harm to American citizens.

Though federal officials are currently opposed to this alternative, who knows what really will happen in the future? Regardless, with criticism mounting against the government regarding its response to this spill, Obama will be pressed to find a quick solution.

On a side note, the traces of oil from the Exxon Valdez spill are still being  detected. Considering the magnitude of this spill imagine how long it will take for us to recover environmentally….

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Information from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/us/03nuke.html?hp and school (some of my teachers have begun to speak about it)

After multiple failed efforts, BP is going to have another go. The plan? In a nutshell they’re trying to plug the hole (according to the New York Times, drive in pounds and pounds of drilling fluid).

If this effort is successful, BP will be able to have a brief sigh of relief before they confront the barrage of civil suits.

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Information from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26spill.html?hp

It seems action is never aggressive enough (or if its, usually, another camp is screaming that it’s too much…).

But recently, scientists attacked Washington for what they perceived as an inadequate response, especially regarding the oil spill effect of the oil spill on the ocean (citing the dearth of water sample tests early on). The question circulating among some is what is lurking behind the quiet?

I realized something odd–barely anyone in my school have been talking about the BP oil spill.

Strangely, even the teachers have been reticent about this event, which is strange since the earthquakes generated much more commotion. I suppose it is because there weren’t many “immediate” deaths although the impact this will have on wildlife, fishing communities will be incalculable. Fortunately, many newspapers have been regularly updating their readers on the spill, which is helping keep this catastrophe alive in many minds.

An update on containment efforts, the dome that was expected to cover one of the leaks encountered some “problems” because of the low temperature high pressure environment that exists where the leak is. Basically, the environment was conducive to the formation of hydrates that posed a number of problems. The NYT put it very nicely, so here’s a little something from them:

“The hydrates accumulated into a kind of slush that clogged the opening through which the oil was to be funneled to the surface.

That is only one of the problems presented by the hydrates, Mr. Suttles said. Since hydrates are lighter than water, a large accumulation threatened to increase the buoyancy of the dome and lift it out of place.”

And this may be old news for those who are tracking the spill daily and for residents affected by the oil, but for readers who like to check in occasionally, the oil has (quite obviously) spread even more and reached the shore of islands perilously close

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Pictures Courtesy of the US Coast Guard!

Information from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/us/11spill.html

Oil is expected to hit Louisiana shores in the next few days.

But we’re extremely lucky oil containment and oil breaking-up strategies and have evolved to better respond to such oil spills. WSJ* reports that an unprecedented volume of oil-dispersing chemicals have been used to control the spill; the drawback? This is associated with some problems, too. But it seems the danger posed by oil is greater. Hopefully, many researchers will seize this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to analyze the effects of the chemicals after the oil spill has largely been dealt with and the success of the new techniques being deployed to combat the oil slick (though that prospect does not seem near enough–for me, responders to the crisis, the government, BP and most importantly the environment)–that way our response to future oil spills will have smaller repercussions for wildlife.

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“Slick, Well Inundated With Dispersants: Agents That Break Up Oil Are Deployed From Air, at Seafloor” by Jeffrey Ball (WSJ.com) on 5/5/10

Fortunately, the New York Times reported that one of the three leaks was stopped which should stem some of the damage. But, “That leak is estimated at 210,000 gallons, or 5,000 barrels a day”, which is a nasty amount.

Of course, BP is still trying to do damage control by spreading news of its cleanup efforts, but considering how large this spill is (and it’s potential to trump the Exxon Valdez spill in terms of the number of gallons spilt) … NPR just spoke about the possible rise in the monetary contribution oil companies will have to make to help clean-up.

On another note, thank goodness for the Alabama National Guard! (Picture Courtesy of Michael Appleton for The New York Times)

Courtesy of Michael Appleton for The New York Times