What Hath BP Wrought?

They call it an accident. Either my dictionary is seriously out of date, or they have redefined the word.

Despite the attempts to control the flow of information, more keeps leaking out. My apologies for the puns but, in such a dire situation, humor eases the anxiety somewhat.

Dire? Yes.

First, the leakage was only 1,000 barrels a day. Then it was 5,000. If you are addicted to reality, it is far worse.

While independent guesstimates range from 50,000 to 200,000, BP holds fast to the 5,000. One of their public relations people may have temporarily forgotten that ‘fact’ when they claimed the straw they finally stuck in the leak was pumping out 5,000 barrels a day. Videos showing the straw don’t show it making much headway, especially when 5,000 minus 5,000 used to equal zero.

In my reading on this topic I have been swamped with information about the culpability of BP. Their Texas City refinery and another in Toledo, Ohio account for 97% of the cited “egregious willful” violations issued by OSHA in the last three years. The Texas City plant had an explosion five years ago that killed 15 employees. The stories just keep coming about the screw-ups on the platform involved in this latest mess.

BP assured the government that an accident was all but impossible; that they had met the requirements for a permit and that they had appropriate plans for dealing with an accident. That alone is three strikes or, more accurately, lies.

Offshore drilling is a complex, difficult operation. Drilling down to the seabed one mile below the surface, at 152 atmospheric pressures, is beyond the reasonable technical competence of anyone. Even if they can accomplish that feat, it does not mean they have the knowledge or equipment to deal with a problem at that depth.

The drilling actually went down another two and a half miles below the seabed. They had to terminate one attempt and start anew. That cost them at least two weeks. At a million dollars a day to operate the rig, BP pushed them to drill faster. At that depth, the stress on the drill and on the material through which they were drilling called for slow, not fast.

The pressure of the oil at that depth dictated the ultimate in caution. They decided it would be faster to use fluid instead of mud in the hole as a measure to prevent a blowout.

Accident? Not really. One of the two devices for monitoring what was happening had had a dead battery for two weeks. A rubber collar that was supposed to stop a blowout was damaged. The drillers had collected a couple of handfuls of pieces of that collar to show to the officials in charge. They were told not to worry.

The government keeps making empty threats to take over from BP. Why are those threats empty? Because the government has neither the equipment nor expertise to deal with the problem. Neither does BP but their resources go far beyond that of the government in this area. Many of those who are blaming the government for not solving the problem are the ones who rant that the government is too big.

The government does bear a measure of responsibility for this but that is the result of a mindset that runs through the government, both appointed and civil service staff, that they are there to facilitate the wishes of the corporations with which they deal. Their client is supposed to be you and me. They accepted the assurances of BP rather than tests and proof.

The Gulf does not belong to the oil corporations. We and the people of the other countries surrounding it are responsible for it and have the right to benefit from it. Or, at least we did.

In what is called a worse-case scenario, but isn’t necessarily, the release of oil would fill enough gallon milk jugs that, if placed side by side, would stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and back. As of this morning 120 miles of Louisiana shoreline has been covered.

The oil has penetrated 12 miles into the marshland. The Governor repeated what I had heard from some experts, that every method they know of to clean the marshes would destroy the wetlands. Those wetlands are an important defense of the New Orleans area against hurricanes.

I heard most of an interview on public radio with a government weather official. He stated that the predictions for this hurricane season, which is on us within a week, were for one above average in activity.

They have never had a hurricane hit an oil spill before. They are making informed guesses as to the results. The oil, being darker, should absorb more heat than the water. The cover on the water will retain that extra heat. Heat is the engine for a hurricane. Therefore, they expect more hurricanes than average and stronger hurricanes than they otherwise would.

If that isn’t enough to bother you, consider this. Hurricanes suck up water from the sea and return it as rain. This rain extends far inland. This time the hurricane will suck up some oil, along with the water. Here in Nashville we usually experience some rain from hurricanes that hit in the Gulf. Tell me what to expect when it rains oil.

The tourist industry on the Gulf is estimated at around $60 billion. I’m guessing that the fishing industry is fairly large also. People and businesses have already experienced loses and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. You may have to go to KFC instead of Red Lobster for a few dinners.

All of this means reduced revenue for the states and the federal government. It means greater needs for those governments to meet. BP promises to make everyone whole. How many hands do I see of those who believe that?

Now they tell us that most of the oil remains under the surface. If we can’t fully deal with that on the surface, how to we deal with that which we cannot see? Gas is also leaking. Water pollution isn’t enough of a problem. Now we have to worry about air pollution too.

I haven’t even mentioned that BP is balking at the government’s order to change dispersants. The one they have been using all along is not recommended for use over a span of more than two weeks. It is actually banned in some European countries. The alternate dispersant is siting stockpiled in Houston.

I make no claim to being an expert but the concept of dispersants bothers me. To where does this dispersed oil go? Isn’t it harder to collect in that form? Is it really anything more than a cosmetic fix?

We might see how much better the beaches look if they have any success in cleaning them. But, if the bulk of the oil stays under that water, what effect does it have long-term on the various lifeforms in the Gulf? Will all of the fishermen need to look for jobs in other sectors of the economy?

Perhaps I’m simply a pessimist. Whatever, I see this as having the potential to be the disaster of a generation, if it isn’t superceded by an even larger spill.

What has been learned? Nothing. Last week an additional 12 rigs were authorized to drill. Despite promises, ‘accidents’ do happen. They are deadly to human and other life. They are difficult to deal with on land but appear to represent an unacceptable disaster offshore.

These corporations are the biggest and richest in the world. Our world has become much poorer for this failure. How many more such failures can we afford. The oil corporations can afford many while they get richer.

We have to go to alternative fuels sometime – sometime soon. We should have started no later than the first oil embargo in 1973. We could already be energy independent. Every hole we drill just delays that independence that much longer. How much oil do we get from offshore drilling? About 1%. It doesn’t seem worth the risk and the total costs.

.

Tagged as: alternative fuel, barrels, blowout, bp, buenos aires, corporation, dispersant, drill, fishing, gas, gulf, gulf coast, houston, hurricane, kfc, louisiana, marsh, marshland, milk jugs, nashville, new orleans, new york, offshore, oil, oil embargo, osha, red lobster, refinery, shoreline, spill, texas city, toledo, wetland