Tar Balls Wash Ashore At Cocoa Beach!!

 

Tar Balls Wash Ashore At Cocoa Beach, WESH Channel 2 NBC Orlando, July 6, 2010:

More than a dozen tar balls have been found in a 2- to 3-mile stretch of Cocoa Beach during the past two days, according to Brevard County authorities.

 

 

Cocoa Beach, FL (News 13 Orlando)

Lifeguards said some beachgoers collected the tar balls in buckets. One woman said she found one that was as big as a roof shingle.

The tar balls have washed ashore at Lori Wilson Park, and also along the shore from 6th Street southward to the Cocoa Beach Pier.

“I don’t like it at all. They are ruining our beaches — even all the way up here on the East Coast,” one beachgoer said

 

Fresh Tar Ball (News 13)

Kimberly Prosser, a spokeswoman for Brevard County, said the tar balls will be examined to determine if they came from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Results are expected back within the next couple of days.

“We don’t know what the source is. Because of the fact that several pieces have washed up in the same area, it is apparent that it is from the same source, but we don’t know what that source is,” Prosser said.

She said the tar balls could be from the BP oil spill or processed oil from a boat spill. A few weeks ago, a shrimp boat sank off of the Brevard coast, and it is possible the oil could be fuel from the tank.

Video here: http://www.wesh.com/green-pages/24159259/detail.html

BREAKING: Tar balls wash up on Cocoa Beach, WDBO Radio Orlando, July 6, 2010:

Dozens of tar balls have washed ashore at Cocoa Beach.

Ocean rescue in Brevard County is reporting that about two grocery-sized bags filled with tar balls were taken by the Coast Guard this afternoon.

“This is an unusual amount of oil that has washed up”, said Elisen Witcher, who is the assistant ocean rescue chief for Brevard County. “Usually we get small amounts from possessed oil but not this much.”

Witcher says they do not know if the oil is coming directly from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The coast guard has taken the tar bars to get processed and tested to see exactly where the tar balls are coming from and those results are expected to be back within a week.

---

"Another theory is that the tar washed in from a shrimp boat that sank in May."  -- bwahahahahaha.  RIIIIGHT.

>>  http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100707/NEWS01/7070329/1006/Tar+balls+on+Cocoa+Beach+tested+for+BP+spill+connection

 

---

 

http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2010/july/118652/Tar-balls-wash-up-on-Cocoa-Beach

One beach regular said he collected five pounds in a plastic shopping bag in a short amount of time.

 

Three samples from Satellite Beach, Patrick Air Force Base and Melbourne Beach were sent for Coast Guard testing.

 

 

 

BP can still drill in Arctic.

BP, apparently, still has the go-ahead to drill in the arctic this fall. They plan to use "a high-tech drill from a gravel island in the Beaufort Sea, it plans to reach two miles deep, turn and bore another six to eight miles horizontally to tap an oil reservoir in federal waters." The moratorium on drilling applies to not just deepwater projects, but also to Arctic waters -- as Shell recently found out. But, wednesday, "the US government confirmed the drilling 'pause' does nor apply to BP's new project, called Liberty." (
http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/energy/5533-bp-plans-to-move-ahead-with-offshore-oil-drilling-in-arctic )

At the moment, however, BP may not be doing a thing -- they havent even gotten (or applied for) the required permits.

Let's hope they keep it that way.

On another note:

BP was/is a MAJOR supplier of aviation fuel for US defense operations ( http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/search.asp?pg=2&type=dn&criteria=bp&rc=78&prevpage=1 ) winning a $125 million contract as late as April 6th 2010 ( http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4253 )

BP also was the biggest winner in the Iraqi Oil Field Sweepstakes(tm) ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/5701252/BP-wins-biggest-Iraq-oil-contract.html )

Since Deepwater Horizon sank Shell has come out as the forerunner in these defense fuel contracts -- at the same time they get the "go ahead" to begin Arctic exploration.

So, BP, the US defense's "top dawg" for fuel, gets a "free pass" to drill dangerously never-before-drilled depts to maintain it's contract obligations (fuel our wars) while Shell gets a "free pass" for the Arctic to (possibly - if BP falls) do the same?

.... and now they tell me BP is getting a green light for Arctic drilling?!

OUTRAGEOUS!!!!

OMG -- The Environmentalists were right!!

hahahah.

Controlled Burns, Fumes, and Evacuations...

FROM http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10863243

BP Plans to Burn Some Oil Pumping up to Surface
BP won't collect and sell all the oil it pumps to the surface from leak _ some of it will burn
The Associated Press
Post a Comment
By RAY HENRY Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS June 9, 2010 (AP)


... To burn it, the British oil giant is preparing to use a device called an EverGreen Burner, officials said. It turns a flow of oil and gas into a vapor that is pushed out its 12 nozzles and burned without creating visible smoke.

... Depending on which model is used and its settings, it can handle from 10,500 to 630,000 gallons of oil a day, according to promotional materials by Schlumberger Ltd., the company that makes the device and whose website touts it as producing "fallout-free and smokeless combustion."

It's unclear how many times the EverGreen burner has been used, but it has been proposed for at least one offshore rig in the North Sea to get rid of unwanted gases produced during oil processing.

Environmental documents produced as part of that project, an exploration well proposed by Total E&P of Britain, said burning the oil posed "a moderate risk to the environment" that would release sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and other chemicals.

But Wilma Subra, a chemist with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said BP should avoid burning the captured oil — which she said raises new health risks — and instead bring in more processing equipment.

"This is one of those decisions that will have negative impacts," she said. "Even though it's crude dispersed in water, the burning of crude will raise some health issues."

From http://www.examiner.com/x-17299-Hernando-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m5d9-Gulf-Oil-Spill-2010-Plans-to-evacuate-Tampa-Bay-area-expected-to-be-announced

Florida Gulf oil spill: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area are in place

Updated: May 22, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area are in place

As FEMA and other government agencies prepare for what is now being called by some, the worst oil spill disaster in history, plans to evacuate the Tampa Bay area are in place.

The plans would be announed in the event of a controlled burn of surface oil in the Gulf of Mexico, if wind or other conditions are expected to take the toxic fumes through Tampa Bay.

This practice is common for the US Forestry service, when fire and smoke threaten the health and well being of people.

The elderly and those with respiratory problems would be more susceptible to health risks, in the event of a controlled burn.

Estimates of the rate of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill have varied. SkyTruth.com, estimates the numbers at more than 1 million gallons a day, based on satellite and Coast Guard images.

Since the April 20th explosion, which resulted in the sinking of the rig, there have been more than 650,000 gallons of chemicals poured into the Gulf of Mexico in efforts to break up the spill. However, the chemicals have come under some scrutiny recently, because of their own toxic nature.

It is not certain if the massive slick will have to be set on fire near Tampa Bay, but the possibility has not been ruled out. BP has been using controlled burnes as a way to control the oil spill since the crisis began more than a month ago.

Oil Odors: If You Smell It, Is It Toxic?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-solomon/oil-odors-if-you-smell-it_b_605007.html



Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/glycolet.html

Assessing Personal Exposure

• Metabolites of 2-butoxyethanol can be measured in urine. (8)
  

Health Hazard Information
Acute Effects:

• Acute exposure to high levels of the glycol ethers in humans results in narcosis, pulmonary edema, and severe liver and kidney damage. (1)
  
• Acute exposure to lower levels of the glycol ethers in humans causes conjunctivitis, upper respiratory tract irritation, headache, nausea, and temporary corneal clouding. (1)
  

Chronic Effects (Noncancer):

• Chronic exposure to the glycol ethers in humans results in fatigue, lethargy, nausea, anorexia, tremor, and anemia. (1,5,7)
  
• Animal studies have reported anemia, reduced body weight gain, and irritation of the eyes and nose from inhalation exposure. (4)
  
• EPA has not established a Reference Dose (RfD) for 2-methoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, or 2-butoxyethanol. (5,7,8)
  

2-Butoxyethanol

• EPA has calculated a provisional RfC of 0.02 mg/m3 for 2-butoxyethanol based on hematological effects in rats. (6)

Reproductive/Developmental Effects:

• No information is available on the developmental effects of the glycol ethers in humans.
  
• A possible effect on sperm quality and testes size in workers exposed to glycol ethers has been reported. (5,7)
  
• Animal studies have reported testicular damage, reduced fertility, maternal toxicity, early embryonic death, birth defects, and delayed development from inhalation and oral exposure to the glycol ethers. (2,4,5,7)

Cancer Risk:

• No information is available on the carcinogenic effects of the glycol ethers in humans.
  
• Another animal study reported pheochromocytoma of the adrenal medulla in female rats, hemangiosarcoma of the liver in male mice, and forestomach squamous cell papilloma or carcinoma in female mice exposed to 2-butoxyethanol by inhalation. (11)
  
• EPA has not classified the glycol ethers for carcinogenicity.

Environmentalists didn't push oil production into deeper waters...

...oil company performance did.



1979 Ixtoc I Oil Spill
3rd Largest oil spill EVER.
Shallow water spill -- 160 feet -- 11 months to cap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I_oil_spill




2009 Montara Oil Spill - Timor Sea, Australia
Shallow water well -- 250 feet.
Nearly 3 months to cap well by using "relief" wells.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/us/03montara.html

Free Unlimited Oil Changes!!

http://www.cafepress.com/freeoilchange
Get your "Free Oil Change" Tshirt and stickers now and contribute to cleanup efforts

Get this and other great anti-BP graphics now!

End the Ecocide.

BP has turned things upside-down in the Gulf -- so now we turn BP upside down.





Life in the Gulf of Mexico will be "dead quick" -- "dq"

Get your sticker today!!

http://www.cafepress.com/deadquick

bp-cocide

The unending gusher of crude and the application of toxic dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico is bound to be felt for years after the leak is stopped.

150+ sea turtles. 24+ dolphins. Pelicans. Seagulls. Fish. Coral. Dead and dying.

This is nothing short of ecocide.

Get your bp-cocide stickers today -- http://www.cafepress.com/bpcocide

Never forget bp-cocide in the Gulf.

BP "Top Kill"... Will it work?

BP tells us that it's going to stop the leak by pumping "mud" into the well in a "top kill" procedure never tried at these depths -- just like everything else this with this disaster.
They also tell us that the mud will be pumped at a rate of 40 to 50 barrels a minute.(http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/if_successful_top_kill_will_pe.html



Remember, this well is said to be leaking at 5,000 barrels a day by the mainstream media -- or as much as 95,000 barrels by some estimates.(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/25/gulf-oil-spill-how-much-o_n_588587.html)



There are 1,440 minutes in a day.



5,000 barrels a day is almost 3.5 barrels a minute. Good change of the mud outpacing the oil/gas...



60,000 barrels -- almost 42 barrels a minute.



100,000 barrels -- almost 69.5 barrels a minute.





Will 40-50 barrels a minute of mud be able to compete with the unpadded estimates of gushing oil/gas??

BP leaked Gallons of Oil into the Gulf so far...

<iframe width="300" height="70" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/iframe_ticker/"></iframe><br><a href="http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/" title="Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill" style="font-size:10px;">WKRG.com News</a>

326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of water on Earth.

(326 million trillion gallons)

(http://www.howstuffworks.com/question157.htm)

 

Now, supposedly, "[i]t only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife."  (http://pesn.com/2010/05/02/9501643_Mother_of_all_gushers_could_kill_Earths_oceans/)

 

Assuming the above is true, 1 gallon of oil can make toxic 1,000,000 gallons of water toxic.  We've dumped, according to conservative estimates of 5k barrels daily, about 5.25 million gallons -- or enough to make toxic 5.25 TRILLION gallons of water.

 

The next most conservative estimates say the well is leaking at least 25k barrels a day, or 26.25 million gallons -- enough to toxify 26.25 trillion gallons.

 

The highest estimate I've seen -- 70k barrels -- 73.5 million gallons -- or enough to toxify nearly 75 TRILLION gallons of water.

 

 

Lets assume there's 1 billion barrels (42 billion gallons) of crude in BPs broken well (I've heard reports of "10s of millions of barrels" and an unstopped leak going on for "years")

If BP cannot stop the gusher, and the well exhausts itself -- we're looking at toxifying 42,000 TRILLION gallons of water.

 

 

........ but hey, look on the bright side -- my math could be wrong.

BP Defense Contracts from 2000-2009

BP Products North America Inc -- 17 contracts -- $3,623,904,862 -- http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/bp_west_coast_products_llc_100371298.asp?yr=09

 

BP OIL INTERNATIONAL LTD -- 8 contracts -- $1,469,752,831 -- http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/bp_oil_international_ltd_227095270.asp?yr=09

 

BP ENERGY COMPANY -- 21 contracts -- $571,172,643 --  http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/bp_energy_company_formerly_am_625275755.asp?yr=09

 

BP EXPLORATION AND OIL COMPANY(TX) -- 9 contracts -- $85,983,466 -- http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/bp_exploration_and_oil_company_804411650.asp?yr=02

 

BP EXPLORATION AND OIL(OH) -- 9 contracts -- $69,161,864 -- http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/bp_exploration_and_oil_151343530.asp?yr=07

 

 

 

Even MORE at:  http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/search.asp?pg=2&type=dn&criteria=bp&rc=78&prevpage=1

WHO is the BIGGEST supplier of fuel to US military?!??

BP!

 

 April 06, 2010 -- "Air BP, Warrenville, Ill. is being awarded a maximum $124,754,182 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for aviation turbine fuel."

http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4253

 

16-Aug-2009 -- "BP West Coast Products (dba Arco) in La Palma, CA won a maximum $516.8 million fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (SP0600-09-D-0512) for aviation fuel."

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/US-Defense-Energy-Support-Center-Awards-Up-to-904M-in-Fuel-Contracts-05707/

 

August 24, 2008 -- "Air BP, Warrenville, Ill. is being awarded a maximum $12,446,821 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for jet fuel.Other location of performance is Grand Junction, Colorado.Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, federal civilian agencies and National … "

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-183593856.html

 

September 14, 2005 -- "BP West Coast Products LLC, La Palma, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $587,804,938 fixed price with economic price adjustment for JP8 Turbine Fuel and F-76 Fuel for Defense Energy Support Center. "  

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-136245757/usa-bp-west-coast.html

AIR BP:  http://www.bp.com/homepage.do?categoryId=6100

 

 

BP the BIGGEST contract for aviation turbine fuel.   WHY do you think the gov't isn't gonna hack BPs head off?

Get your hand screened BP* Shirts!

Contact me for details!

"Bathed in Petroleum."

 

Stickers, Buttons & More!!

 

Get yours today!

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Global Insurer's take on Climate change (2005)

"The first impact scenario, or CCF-I, portrays a world with an increased correlation and geographical simultaneity of extreme events, generating an overwhelming strain for some stakeholders."

"Taken in aggregate, these and other effects of a warming and more variable climate could threaten economies worldwide. In CCF-I, some parts of the developed world may be capable of responding to the disruptions, but the events would be particularly punishing for developing countries. For the world over, historical weather patterns would diminish in value as guides to forecasting the future."



"The second impact scenario, CCF-II, envisions a world in which the warming and enhanced variability produce surprisingly destructive consequences."

"Some of the impacts envisioned by the second scenario are very severe and would involve catastrophic, widespread damages, with a world economy beset by increased costs and chronic, unmanageable risks. Climate-related disruptions would no longer be contained or confined."

"CCF-II would involve blows to the world economy sufficiently severe to cripple the resilience that enables affluent countries to respond to catastrophes. In effect, parts of developed countries would experience developing nation conditions for prolonged periods as a result of natural catastrophes and increasing vulnerability due to the abbreviated return times of extreme events.

Still, CCF-II is not a worst-case scenario.

 

 

A worst-case scenario would include large-scale, nonlinear disruptions in the climate system itself —  slippage of ice sheets from Antarctica or Greenland, raising sea levels inches to feet; accelerated thawing of permafrost, with release of large quantities of methane; and shifts in ocean thermohaline circulation (the stabilizing ocean “conveyor belt”)."

http://www.climatechangefutures.org/pdf/CCF_Report_Final_10.27.pdf

Sponsored by Swiss Re "Leading Global Reinsurer" "with focus on risk transfer, risk retention financing, and asset management"

---

Does that worst case scenario sound familiar??

 

BP and Big Oil on Safety Regulations.

 

"We believe the industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs... have been and continue to be very successful."

Richard Morrison, BP VP

September 14, 2009

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/35951483/MMS-2008-OMM-0003-00111

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/MMS-2008-OMM-0003-0030.3.pdf

 

"Drill Baby, Drill"

Hurry BP, "Drill Baby, Drill!!" Stop your damned leak. Stop the damage. --- "Much more oil may be leaking from a Gulf of Mexico drilling site than first estimated, BP's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said on Thursday."

"It may be as much as a new estimate of 5,000 barrels a day that the government first provided late Wednesday, he said."


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36800673/ns/us_news-environment/
------

That's 210,000 gallons a day.

Last Tuesday through end of today -- potentially 1.89 MILLION gallons of crude into the Gulf.

This is gonna top Valdez -- which spilled a whopping 10.8 million gallons.

Robots can't shut it down, they're gonna have to drill. Estimates of 45 days(9.45 million gallons of crude) to 90 days(18.9 million)to drill and plug the leak -- don't forget it took 3 months to fix Austrailia's oil disaster last year... .





What to do with those who chanted "Drill Baby, Drill" -- Kill Baby, Kill.

 

Pathetic Attempt at Cleanup

"More than 1,000 employees of federal and state agencies and an oil industry consortium are working to contain and track the spill.

 

Crews on 49 vessels were using more than 29,000 feet of boom to trap floating oil, which had created a rainbow sheen atop the Gulf with a circumference of 600 miles.

 

As of late Tuesday, roughly 157,000 gallons of mixed oil and water had been recovered."

 

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100428/ARTICLE/4281038/2055/NEWS?p=2&tc=pg

 

-------

 

29,000 feet is just 5 1/2 miles.  Almost.

 

5 1/2 miles of boom to contain a spill 600 miles in circumference?!  What a JOKE!!

 

They'd need some 3 million feet of boom to contain the spill -- IF it doesn't expand.

 

157,000 gallons is almost 3,750 barrels.  The blown rig is losing 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of crude a day.  8,000 barrels or so should have been lost since last Tuesday's disaster. 

 

How many gallons of oil/water mix is created by pumping 336,000 gallons (8,000 barrels) of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico?

 

 

 

Business survival...

Of course businesses cannot survive by cutting of the revenue stream of those who actually buy their goods/services.

Why then do we have so many proponents of greed who care more about protecting corporate CEO salaries than about the income of the lower classes which support the higher ones?


"But, but, but, 'greedy capitalists aren't doing it on purpose' it's 'totally counterintuitive to greed'"

I agree. Greed won't intentionally cut off the consumer hand which feeds it. (I'm not suggesting workers want to cut the corporate hand that feeds it, either) But, I suggest those at the HIGHEST levels of Corporate America have cushioned themselves from the immediate effects of such greed, and may, in fact, intentionally cause such catastrophe...

The lowest income group has been effected the hardest by unemployment, some 30%.. the next lowest bracket suffers from 20% unemployment. The top? only 3%... so, the top (the greediest) isn't too worried about it's practice of ripping off the low guy.

It's most likely, too, that the smallest businesses will be effected the most. They'll be the ones closing their doors, and when they do, we'll see the kind of predatory acquisition and consolidation we saw after the bank meltdown.

Crisis, as we all know, creates great opportunity at great risk -- the bigger the risk the bigger the payoff...

I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying that those at the top would gladly bet it all if they could own it all.