More: Whenever a Washington administration wants to create an appearance of consensus on a policy issue that has already been decided out of range of public scrutiny, it creates a 'bipartisan commission of experts' to role out the foregone conclusion. That is exactly what Obamacon & Folks is doing to end the drilling moratorium sooner rather than later. The moratorium is scheduled to expire on November 30th. A report was issued Thursday by a Washington think tank named "The Bipartisan Policy Center" stating that the moratorium may no longer be needed, "If industry is diligent...and DOI is vigilant in oversight" Two big conditions, both of which the disaster proved were not operative. The Macondo well is still not plugged from below, and the investigations of what happen aboard the Deepwater Horizon are still in their beginning stages. The shut-in took almost 3 months to accomplish and the task was marked by confusion and conflict. During the crisis Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar told the press he lost confidence in the company, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu turned to BP competitors for advice. US Person does not doubt that a blowout located a mile under the surface presents unique engineering problems, but the company represented to the federal landlord it was ready and able to handle a worse case spill scenario. NOT. The public relations offensive about ending the moratorium soon demonstrates one fact only: the incredible amount of political leverage the oil industry has in DC. The moratorium should not end until the industry demonstrates it has the ability to shut in a deep water blowout quickly and efficiently while minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The industry is hot to drill in pristine habitats such as the Arctic where not only deep water presents difficulties to plugging a wild well or cleaning up a spill. Compare the Arctic sea to the environmentally abused Gulf of Mexico where microbes and hot sun apparently combined to eliminate much of the spilled oil. The industry now more than ever needs to demonstrate to the world it can operate at sea without causing environmental disasters before it is allowed to drill in locations where pollution is not a taken for granted.
Update: {24.8.10}Evidence of BP's criminality continues to mount as the Deepwater Horizon inquiries continue. A Halliburton engineer testified at a Coast Guard hearing today that he informed BP of the risks of gas leaks if the company cut back on pipe stabilizers in the Macondo well. Jesse Gagliano sent BP a computer model by email showing the severe risk of gas flowing into the well if the company used fewer than seven stabilizers at different depths. Halliburton was hired by BP to cement the Macondo well casings in place. It is believed by industry observers that an explosive surge in natural gas--a "gas kick"--escaped the well bore, ignited and destroyed the drilling platform causing the worse oil well disaster in US history. In addition to the email Gagliano testified he shared his concerns with BP engineers sharing the same office. Brian Morel was one of the BP engineers receiving the email, and he has refused to testify by invoking the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Morel defended the decision to use fewer stabilizers in an email to a BP colleague.
[credit: Lee Judge, Kansas City Star]
{20.08.20}Scientists looking for subsurface oil have found toxic levels of oil in the sediments of an important spawning grounds for commercial species. University of South Florida researchers found oil droplets covering sediments in the DeSoto Canyon east of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil has yet to positively identified as originating from the Macondo blowout. Phytoplankton--microscopic plant-like organisms that form the base of the marine food web--appear to be in poor health according to the researchers. Other scientists have expressed confidence in the South Florida team's preliminary results. In June, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute found an underwater oil cloud stretching 35 kilometers, 2 kilometers wide and 200 meters thick.
On the legal front, British Petroleum's drilling contractor is accusing the oil giant of withholding evidence that it says is key to identifying the cause of the disaster. BP called the accusation a "publicity stunt". Officials investigating the incident have also experienced similar delays in "prying information" out of BP. The oil company has been ordered to replace the blowout preventer which failed and preserve it as evidence. A new preventer must be pressure tested. The process will further delay the bottom kill operation until after Labor Day.