Gaffe-prone BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward — who incensed many on the Gulf Coast by saying he wanted his life back as they struggled with the fallout from the company's massive oil spill — will be replaced, a senior U.S. government official said Sunday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made, was briefed on the decision by a senior BP official late last week.
I wrote a diary last week about Pensacola, Florida beaches smelling like a gas station, well on Hardball today Chris Matthews asked MSNBC's Science and Environment Expert, Jeff Corwin does it smell like that? Corwin replied, "...it smells like a gas station...."
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Hurricane Alex is wrecking havoc winds and surge in the Gulf. Alex is now poised at category 2 and dumping all that oil from the gulf onto Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
In the above report a couple of things are thrown out, first, the government is saying the dispersant is less toxic than oil. Remember, more than 1.47M gallons of this dispersant has been dumped in the Gulf of Mexico. I am here to say, I don't believe that, look at all the dead marine life on the gulf shores daily and how was this conclusion (WITH TESTING) determined. Also, notice how the loop current is now being mentioned and the possible affects. My question is this, "When will the government, BP, NOAA, all powers that be tell the public that after all this time, of course the oil is in the loop current?" I state this because, how can it not be? This oil is pumping non-stop and is a horrific sight to see. If this oil gets to the Tampa/St. Pete area, of course it is in the loop current. And experts state it IS in the loop current:
Some oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is "increasingly likely" to be dragged into a strong current that hugs Florida's coasts, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said today.
But other experts say that the oil is already there—satellite images show oil caught up in one of the eddies, or powerful whorls, attached to the Loop Current, a high-speed stream that pulses north into the Gulf of Mexico and travels in a clockwise pattern toward Florida.
Swimming in water affected by the oil spill will be unpleasant and could cause harm. For now, pregnant women should avoid zones where there are reports of oil reaching the shore. It is important to stay away from any oil that reaches the shore because coming into close contact with the oil for long periods of time could cause harm. Avoid touching any of the oil you find, as well as oil-stained water and sand. If some of the oil gets on your skin, wash it off as soon as you can with soap and water. If you notice rashes or dark sticky spots on your skin even after you’ve washed the area of skin that came in contact with the oil, consult your doctor or other health care professional.
Oil is a complex mixture of chemicals and metals that can be toxic depending upon the amount and duration of exposure and the susceptibility of the exposed person. Children are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of certain substances due to factors like higher respiratory and metabolic rates and systems that are still developing, like the nervous system. Because some agents are heavier than air, they accumulate close to the ground, right in the breathing zone of children. Some agents can also be absorbed through a child’s skin. Children are in a critical period of development when toxic exposures can have profound negative effects, and their exploratory behavior often places them in direct contact with materials that adults would avoid.
Pensacola Beach, the way it used to be.....
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I know the panhandle is going though a serious economic turn right now, but to keep beaches open at this point is unconscionable.
This is what a Pensacola, Florida resident said about the water and smell:
"I only went into the water up to my ankles. That's as far as I wanted to go," said Joe Chambers, 28, of West Pensacola as he scrubbed off oily residue from himself and his son, Ethan, 4, in the public showers at Casino Beach. "It doesn't smell like the beach. It smells like a gas station. There are no fish in the water. There's nothing alive in the water. I don't know how public officials can just look at the water and make a call to reopen it for swimming."
(snip)
Carol Doster of Grand Isle, Miss., said her son Dallas, 12, was frightened by the oil that streaked his legs and arms after a five-minute swim in the Gulf on Friday. "It won't rub off," Doster said.
Similar to the health advisory, the impact advisory would warn beachgoers to avoid touching oily product on the beach and in the water, and it would advise them leaving the beach and seeking medical help if they experience respiratory problems.
So far, 400 people have sought medical care for upper or lower respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and eye irritation after trips to Escambia County beaches, Lanza said.
Lanza said he lifted the health advisory on Pensacola Beach early Friday on the advice of W.A. "Buck" Lee, Santa Rosa Island Authority executive director. Lee said he made the recommendation based on a visual inspection.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to put decontamination stations along the beach, possibly as early as this weekend.
Not surprised. It is Louisiana.
A federal judge Tuesday ruled against the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill. The White House, which had hoped the ban would provide time to ensure other wells are operating safely, immediately said it would appeal.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by drilling companies to reverse the ban imposed by the Department of Interior, which halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.
A federal judge in Louisiana granted the drillers' request for a preliminary restraining order that would prevent the ban from taking effect until a trial is held. He did not set a trial date.
Rep. Joe Barton (R) from Texas had his rant this morning, DEFENDING BP and stating they are getting a shakedown for forking over 20B in a fund for the Gulf.
I wonder how the Gulf Coast residents feel. The many damaged and harmed for YEARS to come due to BP's cutting corners and working on a rig that obviously WAS NOT SAFE.
We do need to know what happened. BP needs to pay for this. Look at the map below. As long as that oil is spilling in the Gulf, which will be ALL DAMN SUMMER LONG, the Florida coast line will be DESTROYED, along with all the other states in the Gulf.
We are talking about DAMAGE to a major part of the United States for DECADES and this gas bag congressman is up on Capital Hill SHILLIN' for BP.
The the hell with BP and the plane they road in here on. Barack Obama was RIGHT in forcing them to fork over money up front, with no cap, because the way it looks 20B will not be NEARLY enough to fix this mess in the Gulf.
I am sorry but most Americans do not have any sympathy for BP.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) blasts Barton:
White House Response to Barton:
"What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction. Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a 'tragedy', but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments."
BP agrees to 20B from the jump. Is 20B enough? Absolutely, NOT. We are talking about BP lying about the actually oil spill from day one. We are talking about not having enough haz-mat suits for folks dealing with that crude. We are talking about an economy in that region, which has reached to Florida, which will impact them for YEARS, not just this year, YEARS.
Also, 100M is set aside for unemployed oil workers in that region because while the environment is being destroyed, they still want to drill for oil.
BP Establishes $20 Billion Claims Fund for Deepwater Horizon Spill and Outlines Dividend Decisions
Following a meeting with the President of the United States, the BP Board announces an agreed package of measures to meet its obligations as a responsible party arising from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Agreement was reached to create a $20bn claims fund over the next three and a half years on the following basis:
• BP will initially make payments of $3bn in Q3 of 2010 and $2bn in Q4 of 2010. These will be followed by a payment of $1.25bn per quarter until a total of $20bn has been paid in.
• While the fund is building, BP's commitments will be assured by the setting aside of U.S. assets with a value of $20bn. The intention is that this level of assets will decline as cash contributions are made to the fund.
• The fund will be available to satisfy legitimate claims including natural resource damages and state and local response costs. Fines and penalties will be excluded from the fund and paid separately. Payments from the fund will be made as they are adjudicated, whether by the Independent Claims Facility (ICF) referred to below, or by a court, or as agreed by BP.
• The ICF will be administered by Ken Feinberg. The ICF will adjudicate on all Oil Pollution Act and tort claims excluding all federal and state claims.
• Any money left in the fund once all legitimate claims have been resolved and paid will revert to BP.
The fund does not represent a cap on BP liabilities, but will be available to satisfy legitimate claims. Further and more detailed terms regarding the establishment and operation of the claims fund and the ICF will be finalized and announced as soon as possible.
The independent fund for damage claims will be directed by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw payments to families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At present, Feinberg is known as Obama's "pay czar," setting salary limits for companies getting the most aid from a $700 billion government bailout fund.
The $20 billion is not a cap — if legitimate claims outstrip that amount, then BP will required to pay more. A three-person panel will decide appeals of rejected claims.
I know everyone many in this community are split.Those Some believe everything Obama says is gold and those some that criticize him for being lackluster.
But tonight. I expected some specifics, I wanted a WIN, but got an inspiring, la-de-da speech.
Nothing of specifics.
Now if I missed the absolute specifics, then clue me in.
This speech did not go into specifics of anything.
And if anyone wants to know what someone looks like in the bubble, we saw it tonight. I mean, damn, he did not say anything!!! I did not expect everything but some specifics on SOMETHING!!!
Yes, we heard a third party to process claims in the Gulf. But how much will BP give to the Gulf Escrow Fund? And notice, he did not use the word ESCROW!!! And we still don't know about how MUCH FROM BP.
Yes, he gave a time line of what his administration DID, but who cares about that!!!
And yes, he told us we need to get off fossil fuels. We heard that speech before, but HOW. He did not even say he was going to get on CONGRESS for letting an energy bill just sit there for months!!
I pray to God, that what is happening in the background is worth it for this country in the end, because what I just listened to was nothing.
He said nothing.
If Keith Olbermann, rips Barack Obama, you know he doesn't get it. Words will not save him, not after this. Until his behavior changes, until some asses get kicked out of the White House, he still won't get it.
Oh, one thing he did state that a new person to take over MMS, while praising the lame and sorry, Ken Salazar. Oh another thing, from the scroll bar on MSNBC and CNN the new oil flow rate, changed how many times? It is now 65,000 barrels a day. WHOOT!!!! Damn we went from 1,000 barrels a day for weeks to 5,000 barrels a day for other weeks to snatch a number out of my ass to finally a real estimate!!! I am so excited!!!
Barack Obama squandered time for his Oval Office speech for what? Nothing.
I will put the video up when it is available and I am sure that will be soon.
Update [2010-6-15 21:4:58 by icebergslim]:
Now Rachel going after him and that speech, nicely. sigh.
Update [2010-6-15 21:4:58 by icebergslim]:
Here is the video:
Transcript
Keith Olbermann:
Cross-posted @ Daily Kos
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Are you tired of depending on oil, yet? What will it take? All of our state's coastlines destroyed because these oil companies continue to LIE about safety and are CLUELESS on clean up? Should we continue to let them RUIN our country with toxic crude? We should be TIRED of this.
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it is just more of the same.
The stimulus package needed to be minimum ONE TRILLION DOLLARS.
We knew this, but now President Obama is asking, begging, trying to make the case that he needs 50 billion dollars to save teachers, firefighters, policemen jobs out here. (all of the stimulus money has not been spent, but 50B they don't have....)
But, when you listen to Blue Dog Democrats, wanting Republican votes you get what we got in the stimulus package. A compromised package that many economic experts said from the very beginning was not enough money. And we won't even get into the stimulus package creating jobs, it did not, it saved the very jobs for a short time, that now the White House needs more money to save again.
President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama defended last year's huge economic stimulus package, saying it helped break the economy's freefall, but argued that more spending is urgent and unavoidable. "We must take these emergency measures," he wrote in an appeal aimed primarily at members of his own party.
The letter comes as rising concern about the national debt is undermining congressional support for additional spending to bolster the economy. Many economists say more spending could help bring down persistently high unemployment, but with Republicans making an issue of the record deficits run up during the recession, many Democratic lawmakers are eager to turn off the stimulus tap.
President Barack Obama will demand that BP PLC create a special reserve account to pay for damages caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the administration continued to push the company to act more aggressively to contain the spill.
White House adviser David Axelrod, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, said Mr. Obama would discuss the issue in a Wednesday meeting with BP officials, including Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, after the president returns from a trip to assess cleanup efforts in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida on Monday and Tuesday.
If you lived on the Gulf Coast, (5+ / 0-)
you would know that the chain of command here is completely f-ed up.
Requests for preventive measures are hitting brick walls and getting lost in red tape. We want to see action and are being denied that at every turn when ideas and requests start moving through the 'proper' channels.
icebergslim is absolutely correct. We DO NOT want to hear what has been done, we want to hear what is being done and what will be done immediately.
You may think this diary is another 'blogger-in-chief' diary, but this isn't about political strategy, this is about a man-made disaster that needs immediate results.
There's one thing those of us on the coast DO NOT want and that's for this disaster to turn into a political game. We are only asking for results and are not getting them.
Now is not the time for American anger to cease....
BP and our friends across the pond are angry....
BP is full of SHIT and LIARS to many Americans HERE....
I am sorry that your stock portfolios or pensions are taking a hit, across the pond. Look at what this company did to a large part of the United States of America...Look at what happened to FAMILIES HERE....
And the oil is still gushing and we don't know what the final tally of damage will be....
Stop crying BP......We don't have any PITY PARTIES HERE FOR YOU...
I am sorry.
I don't CARE.
I don't give a MICKEY FICKEY for how BP is weeping across the pond.
Barack Obama, Our President, I don't expect him to give a BOO FUCKING HOO on BP and its problems, either, with the exception of setting up a court sponsored PAYMENT PLAN to the United States of America.
BP put itself in this position.
BP's well blew, not yours, mine's or ours, but BP.
BP gotta take the HEAT and PAY UP.
The new Prime Minister is now taking heat across the pond because people are angry at their stock portfolios and pensions tanking. (sound familiar....)
David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night to stand up for British interests and stop BP being 'thrown to the wolves'.
The Prime Minister caused dismay by appearing to side with President Obama as another £5billion was wiped off the value of BP shares in the escalating row over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In his first response to the crisis, Mr Cameron failed to back demands from other senior Tories, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, for an end to 'anti-British rhetoric, buckpassing and name-calling' by the U.S.
The Deepwater Horizon well has most likely spewed 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day, more than previously estimated, according to a group of scientists appointed by the federal government to study video of the dark geyser at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
The new estimate suggests that, if the flow has been more or less consistent since the April 20 blowout, approximately 1.3 million to 1.5 million barrels, or 53.6 million to 64.3 million gallons, of oil have emerged from the well. That is roughly five to six times the amount spilled in Alaskan waters in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez.
Ah, wake up call!!! That is what the worst environmental catastrophe will do to you!!!
And we have a horrible piece by Rolling Stone towards the Obama Administration and their practically business as usual attitude....
But before we go ballistic on Rolling Stone for writing such an article, remember they were our FRIENDS...
This Week With Barack Obama and Daily Kos
I have to put that up there because Rolling Stone, prior and during the 2008 election has been PRO-OBAMA. And this is to give Rolling Stone cover because as Huffington Post, which has gotten demonized from some on this site, we have to remind people that publications as Rolling Stone, hire journalists to perform independent journalism. Whaaaaaa? That is not happening anymore? No, not really. Not in the age of 30 second sound bites and opinion cable shows. Sad, but true, so when a magazine like Rolling Stone hire folks, they do expect them to bring the facts to the table, whether we agree or not.
For those who believe nothing can be done wrong by this or any administration (LOL), click on that comment link and call me everything but the Mother of God. The others, it is just part of an on-going dialogue of what the Obama Administration has to deal with and right now, very clumsily.
After you read the Rolling Stone article and believe that Ken Salazar served our President to the best of his ability knowing what he did, prior to the election and since he has been in office, then so be it. But, many others think he has put Barack Obama where he is at now, scrambling to the American Public to make them believe he is in charge of all of this. When the facts are, he was not until recently and for some he still is not.....
Now, however, the president was suddenly standing up to take command of the cleanup effort. "In case you were wondering who's responsible," Obama told the nation, "I take responsibility." Sounding chastened, he acknowledged that his administration had failed to adequately reform the Minerals Management Service, the scandal-ridden federal agency that for years had essentially allowed the oil industry to self-regulate. "There wasn't sufficient urgency," the president said. "Absolutely I take responsibility for that." He also admitted that he had been too credulous of the oil giants: "I was wrong in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios." He unveiled a presidential commission to investigate the disaster, discussed the resignation of the head of MMS, and extended a moratorium on new deepwater drilling. "The buck," he reiterated the next day on the sullied Louisiana coastline, "stops with me."
[snip]
Like the attacks by Al Qaeda, the disaster in the Gulf was preceded by ample warnings – yet the administration had ignored them. Instead of cracking down on MMS, as he had vowed to do even before taking office, Obama left in place many of the top officials who oversaw the agency's culture of corruption. He permitted it to rubber-stamp dangerous drilling operations by BP – a firm with the worst safety record of any oil company – with virtually no environmental safeguards, using industry-friendly regulations drafted during the Bush years. He calibrated his response to the Gulf spill based on flawed and misleading estimates from BP – and then deployed his top aides to lowball the flow rate at a laughable 5,000 barrels a day, long after the best science made clear this catastrophe would eclipse the Exxon Valdez.
Even worse, the "moratorium" on drilling announced by the president does little to prevent future disasters. The ban halts exploratory drilling at only 33 deepwater operations, shutting down less than one percent of the total wells in the Gulf. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the Cabinet-level official appointed by Obama to rein in the oil industry, boasts that "the moratorium is not a moratorium that will affect production" – which continues at 5,106 wells in the Gulf, including 591 in deep water.
Most troubling of all, the government has allowed BP to continue deep-sea production at its Atlantis rig – one of the world's largest oil platforms. Capable of drawing 200,000 barrels a day from the seafloor, Atlantis is located only 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, in waters nearly 2,000 feet deeper than BP drilled at Deepwater Horizon. According to congressional documents, the platform lacks required engineering certification for as much as 90 percent of its subsea components – a flaw that internal BP documents reveal could lead to "catastrophic" errors. In a May 19th letter to Salazar, 26 congressmen called for the rig to be shut down immediately. "We are very concerned," they wrote, "that the tragedy at Deepwater Horizon could foreshadow an accident at BP Atlantis."
US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told lawmakers Wednesday that offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will continue "in a safe way" in the wake of the massive Deepwater Horizon accident.
Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that a range of new regulations implemented following the accident at the BP-operated well would protect against new spills.
"Offshore drilling will continue... it has to be done in a safe way," he told the panel.
[snip]
"The importance of the jobs is very much on the mind of the president and on my mind as well," Salazar said.
Nowhere was the absurdity of the policy more evident than in the application that BP submitted for its Deepwater Horizon well only two months after Obama took office. BP claims that a spill is "unlikely" and states that it anticipates "no adverse impacts" to endangered wildlife or fisheries. Should a spill occur, it says, "no significant adverse impacts are expected" for the region's beaches, wetlands and coastal nesting birds. The company, noting that such elements are "not required" as part of the application, contains no scenario for a potential blowout, and no site-specific plan to respond to a spill. Instead, it cites an Oil Spill Response Plan that it had prepared for the entire Gulf region. Among the sensitive species BP anticipates protecting in the semitropical Gulf? "Walruses" and other cold-water mammals, including sea otters and sea lions. The mistake appears to be the result of a sloppy cut-and-paste job from BP's drilling plans for the Arctic. Even worse: Among the "primary equipment providers" for "rapid deployment of spill response resources," BP inexplicably provides the Web address of a Japanese home-shopping network. Such glaring errors expose the 582-page response "plan" as nothing more than a paperwork exercise. "It was clear that nobody read it," says Ruch, who represents government scientists.
"We believe claims related to this event will exceed the limit. We are prepared to pay above $75 million on these claims and we will not seek reimbursement from the U.S. government or the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund," wrote BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar seen by Dow Jones Newswires.
...Salazar did little to tamp down on the lawlessness at MMS, beyond referring a few employees for criminal prosecution and ending a Bush-era program that allowed oil companies to make their "royalty" payments – the amount they owe taxpayers for extracting a scarce public resource – not in cash but in crude. And instead of putting the brakes on new offshore drilling, Salazar immediately throttled it up to record levels. Even though he had scrapped the Bush plan, Salazar put 53 million offshore acres up for lease in the Gulf in his first year alone – an all-time high. The aggressive leasing came as no surprise, given Salazar's track record. "This guy has a long, long history of promoting offshore oil drilling – that's his thing," says Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "He's got a highly specific soft spot for offshore oil drilling." As a senator, Salazar not only steered passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opened 8 million acres in the Gulf to drilling, he even criticized President Bush for not forcing oil companies to develop existing leases faster.
"We are making decisions based on sound information and sound science." The president, for his part, praised Salazar as "one of the finest secretaries of Interior we've ever had" and stressed that his administration had studied the drilling plan for more than a year. "This is not a decision that I've made lightly," he said. Two days later, he issued an even more sweeping assurance. "It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don't cause spills," the president said. "They are technologically very advanced."
"And what we've seen with Salazar is that when the oil industry squeaks, he retreats."
Liars. Liars. Liars.
Clouds of oil have been found drifting underwater in the Gulf of Mexico as far as 142 miles from the wrecked Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, government officials said Tuesday.
At a briefing, Jane Lubchenko, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said that tests conducted at three sites by a University of South Florida research vessel confirmed oil as far as 3,300 feet below the surface.
The oil was found 42 miles northeast of the well site and also 142 miles to the southeast.
But the reality is that he can not. BP is a foreign company, called British Petroleum. While we all are frustrated, the administration still have to depend on BP to cap this. Now we all have our opinions, but we are trapped in a box. My only complaint has been the slow movement of the Obama Administration, the perception of that, and its total belief in what BP has told them. Which are LIES.
Obama's admission of the scandal of the MMS Division of the Interior Department.
This part of the interview is reason, ALONE, that if you had a known division corrupt it is imperative that you clean it up with your OWN people. This oil spill will be a start how business SHOULD BE DONE in this country.
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I hope you do, because so far your performance has been a lot to be desired.
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In his weekly address, President Barack Obama underscored his commitment to helping the people of the Gulf Coast recover and rebuild from the BP oil spill that has threatened their livelihoods. On Friday, the President heard from local residents and small business owners about the hardships that they are facing as a result of this catastrophe. The Administration has mobilized the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country to clean up the BP oil spill. Additionally, the federal government is working to ensure that BP and other companies are held accountable for damages and that aggressive new standards are put into place to avoid a disaster in the future.
Transcript
mp3
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This is going to be all about MONEY. BP says they will make people whole? Nobody believes that, and President Obama had to go down to the Gulf to assure the folks that BP will. This is a huge court battle coming ahead, just watch.
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More photos here.
A sad, damn, shame. No wonder BP does not want these images out there.
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