HELP... Gulf oil hemorrhage.
chadwick
Posts: 21,157
Isn't the earth turning to shit?
Seems that way to me.
The great Pacific garbage patch, that's what they call it, right?
The oil spill catastrophe in the gulf.
Plus all the other stuff, past & present.
Natural disasters.
Madmen running governments across the globe?
Unbelievable?
Believe it!
It's been happening forever.
Is the oil situation in the gulf considered a major ecological disaster?
(I don't have a tv so my news is limited)
(I think im wanting tv for the news) :shock: :?
Why isn't President Obama down at the Gulf kicking some series ass.
(Holy Toledo, if I had any sort of authority... omg.) :twisted:
We need Ed Vedder, Neil Young & anyone with power to get something done.
This is outrageous.
We're all going down the tubes even if we love the earth. love trees, the soil and air...
Love the whales, fish, and birds.
It's like we're all going down the drain rather you like it or not.
No way out?
Seems that way to me.
The great Pacific garbage patch, that's what they call it, right?
The oil spill catastrophe in the gulf.
Plus all the other stuff, past & present.
Natural disasters.
Madmen running governments across the globe?
Unbelievable?
Believe it!
It's been happening forever.
Is the oil situation in the gulf considered a major ecological disaster?
(I don't have a tv so my news is limited)
(I think im wanting tv for the news) :shock: :?
Why isn't President Obama down at the Gulf kicking some series ass.
(Holy Toledo, if I had any sort of authority... omg.) :twisted:
We need Ed Vedder, Neil Young & anyone with power to get something done.
This is outrageous.
We're all going down the tubes even if we love the earth. love trees, the soil and air...
Love the whales, fish, and birds.
It's like we're all going down the drain rather you like it or not.
No way out?
for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
I haven't smoked in like 3 weeks, but I am now high after watching that.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
he needs to be on their ass. BP won't even release video or pictures of what the leak looks like down below! they have released only 1 picture and argue all the images of it is proprietary property belonging to BP so no one else gets to see them.
where are you balls obama? where is this change we were marketed for almost 4 years?? he's just another corporate whore
take his supreme court nomination for example, if bush nominated someone from the goldman sachs advisory board who also supports the indefinite detention of SUSPECTED terrorists without a trial people would be going apeshit but since it's obama no one says a word.
oh, and by the way, goldman sachs donated $994,795 to obama's presidential campaign....
yes, what is happening in the gulf is an ecological disaster all because BP didn't want to pay $500,000 on a part that would've stopped the leak from happening which they are required to have in other countries like Norway but thanks to the bush deregulations they said it wasn't needed and while they made $6 BILLION just this quarter!
people need to realize accountability isn't a partisan issue and partisan politics will destroy this country because too many people see politics like a sport. there's 2 teams with 2 mascots and 2 team colors and far too many support their team regardless of what they do or don't do because 'at least they aren't that other guy!!!'
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
In all homage to the good work of Ed and Neil and others, I don't know how much they alone can do...despite all their efforts...its the common citizen that needs to speak up...
Yes, Ed can help by getting the word out, bringing attention to these topics, and he does a great job of that already. Evidence....we are talking about it on here...as the subject was brought up at concert.
In addition to all that Ed says and does, WE need to speak up. WE need to call and write our congresspeople, representatives, the president, the oil companies.
There are many issues to address, but since the current oil disaster is at the forefront, lets just consider that for the moment. Not only the loss of life but the immediate and long term environmental impact as well. We are too careless in obtaining that which we envision will make our lives more convenient at the moment without considering the short term or long term impact our actions have on our lives or the lives of our children, grandchildren, and our one earth.
Our society wants it and wants it now, despite what we KNOW to be negative consequences. That cannot be ignored or denied.
WE need to DEMAND safer working conditions for our offshore oil rigs, safer more reliable containment measures when things do go wrong, transparency in policy, (rig workers were "urged" to sign releases saying they were not witness to nor were they able to foresee any problems with this particular operation before being released to shore to their families), protection for our wildlife, oceans, shores...and IMMEDIATE remediation when any loss of containment arises.
Three inch bouys are practically useless..the sheen is on the surface, yes, but the actual contamination is approximately 3 feet deep into the water as I understand it. The slightest wave or turbulence in the water renders these pretty little containment bouys practically useless. They do not have flaps that extend under the water, they do not have anything that prevents water from flowing over or under them. They are not helping; they just LOOK as if they are..and that seems to keep many of us placated for the time being.
There are plenty of private chemists out there with viable ideas and products to contain these messes BEFORE they reach such disastrous proportions, but are we using them ..no? And why not? Because there is no money in it for the powers that be. They don't hold lucrative government contracts with kickbacks to those with the right connections. Check into it...there are substances readily available that can be dropped onto the top of the water that will not only encapsulate and soak up ONLY the oil and not the seawater, but with microbes that are activated by the levels of nitrogen in seawater to pacman up all the oil and break it down to harmless....more or less mulch which then can be scraped off the surface (or left alone to continue to break down and sink to the bottom) but I don't know about the long term safety of that).
Who has the contract here? Take a guess? Once again, Halliburton...and how much more connected could they be (read as Halliburton CEO: former VP Dick Cheney ... http://www.truthout.org/article/report- ... connection "Cheney earned forty-four million dollars during his tenure at Halliburton. Although he has said that he "severed all my ties with the company,' he continues to collect deferred compensation worth approximately a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, and he retains stock options worth more than eighteen million dollars.")? Regardless of what has happened in the past with Halliburton, WE, our government, are still extending contracts to an obviously unconscionable corporation with visions only of there own solvency and obviously little or no true consideration for our planet or those of us on it. Look it up. Look up their involvement in the arms race (oil), in the petroleum industry, in past disasters. Look up their comments and the outcomes, what little there were, for this type of behavior in the past. Here is their self-promotional website, visit it and then look them up independently....there will be quite a lot of difference in the two readings: http://ir.halliburton.com/phoenix.zhtml ... highlight=
WE need to go down to the beaches and pick up trash..to the riverside and pull bottles and shopping carts and trash out of the waterside and off the grounds around our streams and rivers.
WE need to recycle everything that we can. If it isn't recyclable through our towns, we need to reuse what we can, or cart stuff off to our county facilities. Even better ...don't buy new plastics and papers to begin with..use recycled goods whenever possible. WE need to use less fuel wherever possible, be it using public transportation, a carpool if possible, or foregoing some of our weekend travels, turning the thermostat down in winter...up in summer. Wear a sweater in winter. Use a fan in summer....even on the hottest of days put the fan in front of your a/c source and turn the thermostat up. It helps, really. I know, I can't afford a new, fuel efficient or hybrid car, I still drive an older Dodge, but I drive it a lot LESS than I used to...even that is something.
It doesn't seem like much, I know, but if WE ALL did this stuff every day, if it all became second nature to us...and it has to be that way...WE could make an impact on the need for anything like this to ever happen again. Many say, and include me here too, that common folk cannot make a difference, but I think WE can. I believe that if WE DEMAND, if WE ACT, if WE REDUCE CONSUMPTION, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. It won't happen tomorrow or next year, but WE have to speak up, and we have to play our part....if we don't, then there is no possibility of making any change whatsoever. Eventually we will stop being so dependent on foreign fuel and foreign governments and leaders for our convenient lifestyle.
Like Ed always says at the shows...."I'll give you a part"....well, take it, and use it. It's the only way.
Just my humble opinion..take it or leave it.
Thanks for listening.
EDIT: OH, and by the way, Halliburton is also the company that did the "cementing" at the disaster site not long before it became a disaster. You might want to look that up as well. Just saying.
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
good morning chadwick
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
yes, good morning CW.
though this thread does not have much to laugh about, so I doubt we can keep it at the top. sad really. :roll:
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
Sure there is. I am eagerly awaiting that look of fear in everyone's eye when the whole shibang falls apart and we reveal the truth of our animalistic ways. I'll be the guy with the maniacal grin and sawed-off shotgun.
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The grin and shotgun are just part of your charm.
agreed.
a 357 magnum and a shotgun are just fantastic.
a hog leg?
why can't i find any pics of a hog leg on here?
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
can we find humor in this?
http://www.valdezalaska.org/history/oilSpill.html
pretty fucking hilarious...
http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/
what they have done in Alaska they gotta do in the Gulf.
different regions bring different ecosystems.
Logging was stopped off the shores of Price William Sound after the Exxon Valdez spill.
The Gulf of Mexico has a different ecosystem than Price William Sound.
The Gulf region doesn't log, they fish.
They fished the waters of Alaska too.
This is going to cost a fortune.
It's to bad all the critters have to die and the water become polluted.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
too true, people act like voting every 4 years for a corrupt politician who turns out only to be a puppet for corporate interests is all they need to do. they walk all over us and make empty promises they never intend on keeping because they know they can. the majority of the voting populace are like battered women, no matter how much they are lied to and fucked over they pledge their undying loyalty to some prick who could care less about them.
the populace needs to demand more from their representatives instead of constantly giving them a free pass because that other guy is a bigger dick. really, is 'the lesser of 2 evils' really a democracy? isn't the lesser of 2 evils still an evil?
as long as politicians have blind, unwavering support from so many nothing will ever change.
it's sad how many 'liberals' or 'progressives' used to be mad about things like the patriot act, nuclear power, the wars, corporate influence, warrantless wiretapping....but now that their guy supports all that suddenly they don't make a peep anymore.
things like this happen and the corporations at fault will get away with minimal repercussions because the voting public doesn't demand anything else. so, we'll get some heartwarming images of people using dove dish washing soap to clean off birds (despite some wildlife experts actually recommending euthanizing them because even after they are cleaned off most don't live very long afterwards anyways) and politicians will feign anger and make some nice soundbites so we can pretened everything is taken care of and we can just forget about this and nothing will really change.
politics is nothing but a scam, it's like wrestling with phoney fights. like when obama was supposedly coming down hard on Israel for it's continued expansion of illegal settlements, what went almost unreported is he went from saying they can still expand but try not and make such public statements over it. while biden was supposedly over there and mad about the illegal expansions (what about the illegal blockade of Gaza where things like fruit juice, plastic baby toys, wood, corriander....is ILLEGAL TO POSSES IN GAZA, hell, Israel only started allowing them to have shoes 2 months ago!) what went very unreported was he was also over there finalizing a big arms deal with Israel, so obviously he and this administration can't be that angry. all the anger and promises to do something are just for show.
same with the health care 'reform' that instead of giving you health care instead forces you, by law, to BUY health INSURANCE. they could've had a public option but they didn't want one because they are in the pockets of special interests.
-obama campaigns on the vow that any health care reform passed MUST have a public option
-despite having a majority they can't pass a public option and say publicaly 'gee, if only we needed a simple majority we could pass a public option today!!'
-the health care debate drags on and obama tells the legislative branch to pass something with a simple majority and yet....the public option was absent from the bill?
where was obama pushing for this change we all could believe in? do ya know what obama was saying instead of what he promised during campaign time??
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/2 ... 32844.html
until WE demand different nothign will ever change, except for the worse
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
......but its "Dawn"...Dawn, not Dove that is used to wash the birds and other wildlife off. Not only does it remove the crude oil and other petro-based toxins but it also removes any waterproofing or self protection that naturally occurs on their feathers or fur...so that when they are released to fly right back into the same area they dont even have the natural protection that they started out with. Its a big joke. Its for public show. I know many people are genuinely concerned and do believe that they are doing a good thing. However as you mentioned...they are being led blind into believing what they are "supposed" to be believing. Shameful on all accounts.
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
StillHere, I totally agree with you. It is up to the masses to make the difference.
I recently watched No Impact Man. Whoa! That family went radical for a year. I don't see the average family embarking on that kind of a commitment, ever. But, there are some easy changes to make. Driving less is huge. Being mindful of our consumption and waste is also huge. Do we really need so much fucking shit? Like a box of food containing more individually wrapped food items.
Finally watched Food, Inc recently too. Cutting out all of this waste would be good for the planet and us.
Trying to get people to care about this stuff is really frustrating. I've seen people face death and still not want to change. What the hell is their breaking point?
as long ppl keep their expectations resonable... isn't it better to try to save as many of the oil affected sealife as is possible?
some may need to check their facts. because these facts do make sense:
http://www.ibrrc.org/gulf-oil-spill-fre ... -2010.html
angels share laughter
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
no but that's not the only thing that can be done, people need to stop shoving off all the burden on politicians most people think are corrupt and aren't doing their jobs. they need to start seeing past partisan politics and stop giving passes to their side and start demanding more. instead we have 1 side saying it's wrong and the other saying their guy knows what he's doing and just give it time and that just flip flops back and forth while no real positive ground is being made but instead more and more being given away.
the 'liberals' complained about bush's deregulations and other shenanigans while 'conservatives' swore he knew what he was doing, 'it just takes time'. now 'conservatives' are complaining about things obama is doing (and a lot of made up stuff he isn't) while the 'liberals' give him a free pass and say 'it just takes time'.
people become so polarized and so blindly loyal to their team they shut out all criticism and write it off as some whacko talk or sour grapes
and what is happening in the meantime while we wait for obama to start having a pair of balls and not just giving pretty speeches and singing bills?
i'm not saying don't do anything, don't try to save the birds, i'm saying scrubbing a few birds clean isn't enough. accountability is what is needed, we don't have time to keep waiting around hoping they stick to their word when they know most of their base will be happy with the few bones they throw them and not worry that the majority of their promises were just empty talk
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
You'll be like the Woody Harrelson's character in Zombieland.
yahoo news had something today about re-using cigarette butts to protect steel pipes from rusting. I thought that was really cool. If only we could all get to a point one day where just about everything is re-used and still sanitary--then we won't have to worry so much about all the toxic waste dumps.
I'll help ya keep it bumped.
yep. thats what im waiting for too. not sure ill be holding a sawn off shotgun though.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Most DEFINITELY NOT...people should NOT give up on trying to rescue wildlife affected by such tragedies....but washing them off and leaving them ashore as was done post-petro disasters in the past, leaves them even more vulnerable than they were to begin with. Affected wildlife needs to be relocated far enough away from their original habitat that they wont fly, swim, or otherwise return to the toxic area. Unfortunately for them, birds, waterfowl and our friends the seals and otters will aggregate once again in their preferred habitat unaware of the dangers that await them there.
As mentioned before, the process of cleansing of the petroleum products leaves them without the natural body oils necessary to repel such pollution and keep it off their skin, serves to insulate them from cold and heat, and in the case of waterfowl helps to keep them afloat. At the very least they need time to recover and for their skin to secrete these natural oils in sufficient quantities and time to self-groom so that the oils reach the outsides of their coats or feathers where they do them the most good.
People should definitely do all they can to help these creatures, they are our fellow earthly inhabitants, they have no control over what we humans do and should not be subject to the dangers, but since they are, and since we do want to clean them up and help them along, save them from further harm, we must move them away and allow them to recuperate and relocate to a less toxic and more suitable habitat than that from whence they came.
Granted, that takes much more planning, work, dedication, funding, space, transportation, volunteers, quarantine/recoup space, supplies, etc.....but leaving them to return to the same spot, more vulnerable physically, both from the toxins and from the lack of natural protection, is to leave them to an even more miserable death than if they were left alone....NOT SAYING WE SHOULD LEAVE THEM ALONE...Nor leave them to die...NOR is euthanasia the answer....just saying more needs to be done and done better.
After all, we put these creatures in harms way, why shouldn't we do right by them, and fully right...so that they can go on to live full, healthy, good quality lives?
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
Not the greatest way to wake up I assure you.
What the fuck?
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
yup, same here.
And they are still "Talking about" what to do about it.
President is meeting with his "ADVISORS"
BP is trying this and that and might stuff some golf balls down there...ya that'll work.
GEEEZZUZZZzzzzzzzzz :roll:
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
I don`t rely on anything i hear though...BP says its a relatively small amount leaking (relative to what?)...coast guard admiral is working off of reports more than 24 hrs old...independent observers report a leak many many times more in volume than BP is reporting. Since no human being can get to the seabed to really evaluate and finally contain this...who knows whats really going on. The film footage can be very deceptive since there`s nothing in the photos to compare it to.
Meanwhile` while we cannot send men (women) to the seabed on our own planet, space shuttle Atlantis is off again to places unknown for purposes unknown and is lifting off any minute now. Seems a little off doesn`t it? Mind boggling. Hey guys how bout we concentrate on saving the planet we have already first...huh? That too much to ask?
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
how many gallons are put on the average oil tanker?
how many oil tankers would have been filled by now?
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
From NY Times:
Size of Oil Spill Underestimated, Scientists Say
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Two weeks ago, the government put out a round estimate of the size of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico: 5,000 barrels a day. Repeated endlessly in news reports, it has become conventional wisdom.
But scientists and environmental groups are raising sharp questions about that estimate, declaring that the leak must be far larger. They also criticize BP for refusing to use well-known scientific techniques that would give a more precise figure.
The criticism escalated on Thursday, a day after the release of a video that showed a huge black plume of oil gushing from the broken well at a seemingly high rate. BP has repeatedly claimed that measuring the plume would be impossible.
The figure of 5,000 barrels a day was hastily produced by government scientists in Seattle. It appears to have been calculated using a method that is specifically not recommended for major oil spills.
Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University who is an expert in the analysis of oil slicks, said he had made his own rough calculations using satellite imagery. They suggested that the leak could “easily be four or five times” the government estimate, he said.
“The government has a responsibility to get good numbers,” Dr. MacDonald said. “If it’s beyond their technical capability, the whole world is ready to help them.”
Scientists said that the size of the spill was directly related to the amount of damage it would do in the ocean and onshore, and that calculating it accurately was important for that reason.
BP has repeatedly said that its highest priority is stopping the leak, not measuring it. “There’s just no way to measure it,” Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said in a recent briefing.
Yet for decades, specialists have used a technique that is almost tailor-made for the problem. With undersea gear that resembles the ultrasound machines in medical offices, they measure the flow rate from hot-water vents on the ocean floor. Scientists said that such equipment could be tuned to allow for accurate measurement of oil and gas flowing from the well.
Richard Camilli and Andy Bowen, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, who have routinely made such measurements, spoke extensively to BP last week, Mr. Bowen said. They were poised to fly to the gulf to conduct volume measurements.
But they were contacted late in the week and told not to come, at around the time BP decided to lower a large metal container to try to capture the leak. That maneuver failed. They have not been invited again.
“The government and BP are calling the shots, so I will have to respect their judgment,” Dr. Camilli said.
BP did not respond Thursday to a question about why Dr. Camilli and Mr. Bowen were told to stand down. Speaking more broadly about the company’s policy on measuring the leak, a spokesman, David H. Nicholas, said in an e-mail message that “the estimated rate of flow would not affect either the direction or scale of our response, which is the largest in history.”
Dr. MacDonald and other scientists said the government agency that monitors the oceans, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had been slow to mount the research effort needed to analyze the leak and assess its effects. Sylvia Earle, a former chief scientist at NOAA and perhaps the country’s best-known oceanographer, said that she, too, was concerned by the pace of the scientific response.
But Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator, said in an interview on Thursday: “Our response has been instantaneous and sustained. We would like to have more assets. We would like to be doing more. We are throwing everything at it that we physically can.”
The issue of how fast the well is leaking has been murky from the beginning. For several days after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, the government and BP claimed that the well on the ocean floor was leaking about 1,000 barrels a day.
A small organization called SkyTruth, which uses satellite images to monitor environmental problems, published an estimate on April 27 suggesting that the flow rate had to be at least 5,000 barrels a day, and probably several times that.
The following day, the government — over public objections from BP — raised its estimate to 5,000 barrels a day. A barrel is 42 gallons, so the estimate works out to 210,000 gallons per day.
BP later acknowledged to Congress that the worst case, if the leak accelerated, would be 60,000 barrels a day, a flow rate that would dump a plume the size of the Exxon Valdez spill into the gulf every four days. BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, has estimated that the reservoir tapped by the out-of-control well holds at least 50 million barrels of oil.
The 5,000-barrel-a-day estimate was produced in Seattle by a NOAA unit that responds to oil spills. It was calculated with a protocol known as the Bonn convention that calls for measuring the extent of an oil spill, using its color to judge the thickness of oil atop the water, and then multiplying.
However, Alun Lewis, a British oil-spill consultant who is an authority on the Bonn convention, said the method was specifically not recommended for analyzing large spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico, since the thickness was too difficult to judge in such a case.
Even when used for smaller spills, he said, correct application of the technique would never produce a single point estimate, like the government’s figure of 5,000 barrels a day, but rather a range that would likely be quite wide.
NOAA declined to supply detailed information on the mathematics behind the estimate, nor would it address the points raised by Mr. Lewis.
Mr. Lewis cited a video of the gushing oil pipe that was released on Wednesday. He noted that the government’s estimate would equate to a flow rate of about 146 gallons a minute. (A garden hose flows at about 10 gallons per minute.)
“Just anybody looking at that video would probably come to the conclusion that there’s more,” Mr. Lewis said.
The government has made no attempt to update its estimate since releasing it on April 28.
“I think the estimate at the time was, and remains, a reasonable estimate,” said Dr. Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator. “Having greater precision about the flow rate would not really help in any way. We would be doing the same things.”
Environmental groups contend, however, that the flow rate is a vital question. Since this accident has shattered the illusion that deep-sea oil drilling is immune to spills, they said, this one is likely to become the touchstone in planning a future response.
“If we are systematically underestimating the rate that’s being spilled, and we design a response capability based on that underestimate, then the next time we have an event of this magnitude, we are doomed to fail again,” said John Amos, the president of SkyTruth. “So it’s really important to get this number right.”
010
Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~