Comments

Where 140 characters (@michaeljung) are not enough
and a blog post (michaeljung.wordpress.com) would be a waste.

http://www.michaeljung.co.uk

alexanderpf:

Surf On Pensacola Beach Boiling Like Acid

“don’t know how well you can see this but if you listen closely you can hear the crackling sound of the gas bubbles popping and fizzing.”

(via AdBusters newleft)

#toxic

alexanderpf:

Almost Every Cleanup Worker From The 1989 Exxon Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead (average age of workers today would have been 51 years old)

Are you sure that you want to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?  In a previous article we documented a number of the health dangers from this oil spill that many scientists are warning us of, and now it has been reported on CNN that the vast majority of those who worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Almost all of them are dead.

In fact, the expert that CNN had on said that the life expectancy for those who worked to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill is only about 51 years.  Considering the fact that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now many times worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster, are you sure you want to volunteer to be on a cleanup crew down there?  After all, the American Dream is not to make big bucks for a few months helping BP clean up their mess and then drop dead 20 or 30 years early.

The truth is that what we have out in the Gulf of Mexico is a “toxic soup” of oil, methane, benzene, hydrogen sulfide, other toxic gases and very poisonous chemical dispersants such as Corexit 9500. Breathing all of this stuff is not good for your health, but the reality is that the true health toll of this oil spill is not going to be known for decades.

However, the early reports are not encouraging…. Already, a large number of workers cleaning up the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico report that they are suffering from flu-like symptoms. According to another new report, exposure to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in 162 cases of illnesses reported to the Louisiana state health department. In addition, according to one local Pensacola news source,  ”400 people have sought medical care for upper or lower respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and eye irritation after trips to Escambia County beaches.”

via afghanipoppy

continue reading…

Filed under - unintended consequences, the unknown unknown.

Government now estimates oil flow rate at 35,000 - 60,000 barrels a day (up from last 20,000-40,000 a day)

(via soupsoup)

Simmons Says Nuclear Device Only Option to Stop Oil Leak: Video Bloomberg

See my last post + he wrote several books on oil industry and peak oil.

Evolution of Man and BP killed the Fail Whale and another fail whale Via @Bauart.

They have about a month before they declare Chapter 11. They’re going to run out of cash from lawsuits, cleanup and other expenses. One really smart thing that Obama did was about three weeks ago he forced BP CEO Tony Hayward to put in writing that BP would pay for every dollar of the cleanup. But there isn’t enough money in the world to clean up the Gulf of Mexico. Once BP realizes the extent of this my guess is that they’ll panic and go into Chapter 11.

Matthew Simmons: BP Has About One Month Before It Has To Declare Chapter 11 (via mattlehrer)

Even if its true.

  1. They could raise short term debt/corporate bonds on the money markets.
  2. Sell assets to raise cash.
  3. Issue new shares to get cash.
  4. Sell 2.5-15% of the company with a premium to a competitor or to China/Arab world.
  5. Or ….

chartology: What you see are results of a computer simulation of ocean currents. Dilution of oil spill ranges from .1 till .0001 parts of oil per water unit. (via) YouTube Video Still these are possible scenarios, no forecast.

chartology:

What you see are results of a computer simulation of ocean currents. Dilution of oil spill ranges from .1 till .0001 parts of oil per water unit. (via)

Still these are possible scenarios, no forecast.

peterwknox:

notthatkindagay:

Gulf Oil Spill coverage from the Rachel Maddow Show.

Rachel interviews Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard. NBD, right? Except for when he says we’ll probably have this leak capped IN AUGUST.

“I believe the target date that’s been established…is the 14th of August.”

Been watching a lot of Maddow recently, and this segment is no exception.

WTF! is there any bigger and more outrageous expression than WTF!?

#Gulf of Mexico #BP #oilspill

BP didn’t take proper safety precautions. Parallels to Exxon Valdez oil spill. 

As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began, many people were immediately flooded with memories of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. BP and Exxon Valdezs spills are very parallel, Greg Palast (Wikipedia) would know all about that. He investigated the oil spill in 1989 from the Exxon Valdez and he says BP should have had the safety precautions in place before ever starting to drill.

The revelation that the White House and BP kept the true extent of the oil disaster from the public coincides nicely with last night’s news that Obama plans to get “angry” in front of the White House press corps tomorrow about BP’s role in the disaster and its clean up. Don’t be fooled, though. The evidence is mounting that the White House is working in concert with industry to hide the truth about the extent and cause of the spill.

VIDEO: Hiding the Truth: White House Allowed BP to Keep Video of Gushing Pipe from Public for Three Weeks (via dhk)

Dirty business I guess.

BP Oil Spill - Unintended Consequences & Black Swan Events

Oil is toxic for humans, containing many different compounds:

Oil contains a mixture of chemicals. The main ingredients are various hydrocarbons, some of which can cause cancer (eg. the PAHs or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons); other hydrocarbons can cause skin and airway irritation. There are also certain volatile hydrocarbons called VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which can cause cancer and neurologic and reproductive harm. Oil also contains traces of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and lead.

The oil in the Gulf is also unrefined, unlike the stuff you pour into your car. It also comes from the deepest oil well ever drilled, and it is possible that the chemistry is different at such great depths due to pressure, heat or other factors. So it is hard to tell at this point whether it is more or less toxic than standard, refined oil (Coast Guard chemists have tested the oil, but - to date - no reports have been made public.)

In addition, highly toxic dispersants have been used to try to break up the oil. See thisand this. Not only are dispersants being released underwater, but the air force is also dropping dispersants on the slick from above.

The official information for the dispersant reveals problems:

OSHA requires companies to make Material Safety Data Sheets, or MSDSs, available for any hazardous substances used in a workplace, and the ones for these dispersants both contain versions of a disturbing statement.

***

Both data sheets include the warning “human health hazards: acute.” The MSDS for Corexit 9527A [the dispersant apparently being used in the Gulf] states that “excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects,” and “repeated or excessive exposure to butoxyethanol [an active ingredient] may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver.” It adds: “Prolonged and/or repeated exposure through inhalation or extensive skin contact with EGBE [butoxyethanol] may result in damage to the blood and kidneys.”
The bottom line is that hurricanes could very well spread the damage from the Gulf oil spill.

In the best case scenario, the gusher will have been capped and some cleanup commenced by the time the first hurricane hits the Gulf, the hurricane will be small, and the effects minimal.

In the worst case scenario, a major hurricane could spread toxic compounds inland onto crops. It could also aerosolize and then spread toxic chemicals, causing serious health problems for local residents - especially children, the elderly and those already at risk. (via)