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Growing concerns over US oil leak (BBC News) (1 Viewer)

There is a contingency plan developing here in Alabama (and several other states) on the coast in case large numbers of birds are affected by the spill. When it hits the coast, things are going to get ugly quickly.
 
It's the news headline this morning in the UK with footage showing Brown Pelicans floating in the mess. They're saying the leak could last for months, how is it possible to lay a pipeline under the sea without any means to turn off the flow? Crazy.
 
how is it possible to lay a pipeline under the sea without any means to turn off the flow? Crazy.

I was thinking the same, surely it would be soooooo easy to have loads of valves positioned along the pipeline so they could isolate any one section in the event of damage?
 
It's the news headline this morning in the UK with footage showing Brown Pelicans floating in the mess. They're saying the leak could last for months, how is it possible to lay a pipeline under the sea without any means to turn off the flow? Crazy.

The Government is asking the same question of BP. Other refineries/oil drilling companies do have that in place. This one no.
 
We are truly our own worst enemy. Just for thought...we encouraged offshore drilling to reduce our dependency on that 'evil' called foreign oil (as if we do a better job than anyone else with our sometimes loose regulations), only to realize our dependency on the exacts shores (the ecosystem) that we are drilling off of. Our policy of just chasing the dollar, and having no forethought of it's consequences is almost comedic. Politicians (and several corporations) saw an opportunity to 'sell' deep water oil/gas drilling and sold it to us. So I guess we in the US can say "Hey, we've already paid for this oil, it's a shame we can't at least use it" as we now pay to clean it up. Is there an emoticon for a guy shaking his head in disgust?
 
This is so sickening. It may only be the first one in many, many years as is being said but it only takes one to wreck havoc on bird life and fish life and the whole biology of the ocean.
 
Just brutal ! - I hope things will change now - it is worth it for the "public" to re-think things now - that is the only hope that can come out of this. What a cost though ..god damn !
 
Forgive my french, but I only have one thing to say: The Bastards.

Who?

Sure, BP are responsible for this, undoubtedly the actual owners of the rig too - Transocean Ltd - but ultimately if you put rigs in the sea, sooner or later there is going to be an accident. Who let them drill out there? In this case, the US administration. What contingency plans did the authorities have to contain any disaster that occurred?

Regardless that BP do have the responsibility to prevent such disasters occurring, and have a responsibility to deal with the results once a leak has occurred, it is also a pretty poor show that the US did not have the capabilities to react to this didsaster. If a nation that can put a shuttle into space and can connect components in space, how is it that they could not have developed a system in advance to cap underwater leaks and develop better containment systems?
 
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As big business always says... "It's consumer demand". We demand the oil, they go looking for it in more and more risky places.. Accidents happen.. and are more likely to happen... and we blame someone else!

.......when you're putting gas in your car, just remember the price isn't just in Dollars and cents!
 
Quercus and Jos - seriously , neither of you guys need to be in a position of defending BP because it is "British" Petroleum ! It really has nothing to do with that . The point is that this is a company , just as any oil company - that makes insane amounts of profit off the sale and consumption of oil. BP spent some 16 million dollars last year to lobby congress for legislation in its favor most likely to relax laws that would tap its profit margin - fill in the blank. How can any of us sit back and not place blame on BP ? I think it is seriously important that we do so that safety laws are put in place to prevent such disasters from happening again and if it is unsafe to do so - then it just shouldn't be done. Quercus and Jos - both of you guys are AWESOME !! - never feel that you have to divert blame for an oil company - lol ! - seriously though !
 
Quercus and Jos - seriously , neither of you guys need to be in a position of defending BP because it is "British" Petroleum !

Quercus and Jos - both of you guys are AWESOME !! - never feel that you have to divert blame for an oil company - lol ! - seriously though !

I am not defending BP, and certainly not because the company is English. They are to blame. However, questions need to also be asked of the relevant authorities - blaming BP now is of no consequence, the oil is in the water and rapidy leading towards a catastrophy for the environment. Authorizing large scale drilling without any effective contingency plan to deal with a major spill basically leaves the authorities as irresponsible as BP. This was a catastrophic event and neither BP nor the US government have been able to rise to the challenge.
 
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