Coast Guard Logs Show Administration Knew Extent Of Oil Spill Within 24Hrs

Why am I not surprised?
This could be the last nail in Obama's 2012 coffin. And well deserved.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released documents Thursday night showing the Coast Guard recorded on April 21 -- less than 24 hours after the Deepwater Horizon explosion -- the magnitude of the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Potential environmental threat is 700,000 gallons of diesel on board the Deepwater Horizon and estimated potential of 8,000 barrels per day of crude oil, if the well were to completely blowout,” the Coast Guard reported in a log of events from the immediate aftermath of the April 20 explosion -- shedding new information on the first days of the disaster.

“These documents raise new questions about whether the White House was slow to respond to an incident that was quickly recognized by the Coast Guard as a potentially catastrophic threat to the environment,” Issa said upon release of the documents. “It appears as if this administration would rather tell a half-truth if the full-truth doesn’t fit the story they want to tell.” www.humanevents.com...

[edit on 4-6-2010 by Just Wondering]

This difference between obama's "BP-gate" and Katrina, or the Nixon debacle could well be if the SCM (state controlled media) continues to protect obama instead of going after him like they did for previous presidents.

reply to post by centurion1211


True so true even Monica Lewinsky and Slick Willey received more press out of Monica fail attempt at a happy ending.......

This is truly the worse situation with almost a news black out here in the UK. Sports comes before BP oil situation. Who would have believed this to be true a few years ago....

reply to post by Just Wondering



I will criticize the Obama administration with absolute zeal when necessary but I think in this case those that are comparing this to the slow response of the Katrina disaster with the Gulf Oil disaster are comparing apples and oranges.

Remember that the blowout preventer was understood by BP to have prevented a leak from occurring in the first place.

The magnatude of the leak wasn't full recognized until some time later.


The rig didn't even sink until the 22nd.

So there wasn't a collapse of the riser pipe and subsequent oil leak until then.

For one, Katrina was a Natural Disaster, a Hurricane, which caused the Levees to break resulting in a Flooded City.
After the Hurricane had passed, it was all about cleanup.

The Army Corps of Engineers, who built the Levees were called in to repair them. All within the scope of the Corps of Engineers.

The BP Oil Spill is a Man Made disaster. Caused by BP.
BP as an oil drilling and exploration company which has the resources to correct the problem far better than anything the Govt could throw at it. Timely or not.

The Coast Guard IS part of the US Govt and was on the scene minutes after the initial explosions on the platform, and rescued the
remaining survivors.

The Coast Guard has been and currently is skimming the Gulf of surface oil with coast guard cutters collecting the oil where it will be recycled.

Granted Obama is being held responsible for this problem but all in all , the ball is actually in BP's court.

Obama can yell until he's blue in the face, but it isnt going to change how deep the oil leak is or fix the problem.

Here is a link to the Gulf Oil Spill disaster response timeline.

www.boston.com...

reply to post by centurion1211


How comical....years of your GOP chanting "Drill, baby, Drill!!!" and when BP creates the biggest evirornmental/economic clusterfu^% in history, the right wing ideolouges like yourself stammer and stutter and then try to cast President Obama as the villian.

It is not the hypocracy or the lack of shame involved in such BS that stuns me, but the fact that conservative fanatics like yourself assume the American public is that stupid.

Does anyone here work at a power plant?
How long till the oil reaches the power plants along the gulf coast and what affect would it have on the grid?

Originally posted by maybereal11
reply to post by centurion1211

 

How comical....years of your GOP chanting "Drill, baby, Drill!!!" and when BP creates the biggest evirornmental/economic clusterfu^% in history, the right wing ideolouges like yourself stammer and stutter and then try to cast President Obama as the villian.

It is not the hypocracy or the lack of shame involved in such BS that stuns me, but the fact that conservative fanatics like yourself assume the American public is that stupid.

Your comments are pretty hostile and lack real substance...

Also, don't you find it a little bit peculiar that no democrats seem to be angry at obama over this?
That is because everyone knows they care more for their financial and political futures and dare not speak against one of their own, no matter what kind of negligence is displayed...

Back in the old days if someone commited some bad thing everyone would speak out against that and they would not care which political party the perp belonged to..
I think you can figure this out for yourself what it really is all about.
What is wrong is wrong... It doesn't matter if the negligence belongs to democrat or republican.... sheeesh

Hey found this interesting thing about the oil spill clean up workers...
Didnt know where else to stick it... so here ..
BP Mole

reply to post by maybereal11


I don't think anyone's blaming Obama for the disaster, as you say, but I would give him a D- on the government's response to this crisis. Also, let's not kid ourselves that if this had happened on George W. Bush's watch the tables would be turned - you would be pointing the finger at the Bush administration and the other poster would be defending it. You assuming that Americans are stupid enough to think otherwise is what's laughable.

reply to post by nh_ee
The problem here is that the current administration lied straight to our faces and got caught doing it. They promised transparency and they consistently have been outed as completely the opposite.
This should not have been politicized and we the people needed to know the truth from the beginning. Why lie to us about the size of the leak? We are not children and can handle this. Now the truth comes out and they end up looking like idiots.

Originally posted by black cat
reply to post by maybereal11

 

I don't think anyone's blaming Obama for the disaster, as you say, but I would give him a D- on the government's response to this crisis. Also, let's not kid ourselves that if this had happened on George W. Bush's watch the tables would be turned - you would be pointing the finger at the Bush administration and the other poster would be defending it. You assuming that Americans are stupid enough to think otherwise is what's laughable.

Of course no one is personally blaming obama for the oil well blowout.

It the responses - or lack of - by obama and his administration that is causing obama problems.

Things like:

*Waiting longer than Bush during Katrina to really get things moving
*Certifying the drilling rig as safe by overlooking known issues
*Acting aloof and like it's not such a big deal to the point where obama's biggest supporters are basically telling obama to "grow a set".
*Reacting to the above criticism by putting out a press release that obama is now "furious", as if even the dumbest person couldn't see through that.
*Making up stories for State Controlled Media like that his daughter asked him if "he'd plugged the hole yet?". That one with daughter-as-shill had a very high "cringe factor" (and did she need a kiddie teleprompter?).

New ones coming every day - ad nauseum ...

Where was... and where is FEMA?

Still focused on controlling the population? Still propping up the TSA? Still playing Homeland Defense?

This is OUR homeland. Where's Al Gore? Where are all the people who cast themselves in the light of environmental heroes? Why aren't they descending upon the scene with both barrels blazing? Where's Greenpeace, the WWF, the Sierra Club, and the rest of their ilk?

Where are the Mega-rich industrialists and their entourage of crony political celebrities? Here's one... WHERE IS HOLLYWOOD?

Where is the EPA? Where are the hordes of Americans who care so much for this country they shout down anyone who disagrees with their environmentalist posture? Shouldn't they be clamoring to get to the Gulf coast to help? People donate billions to these causes.... and the leadership of these groups is too busy publishing brochures and holding fund-raising celebrity studded gala events to respond to a true and immediate crisis?

In what manner is this not a greater threat to America than people who's only crime it is that they wish we'd go away and leave them alone? Trillions in debt for the benefit of financiers,energy cartels, and the descendants of robber barons.... but not one ounce of legitimate effort (or one red cent) to actually see to it that this sort of thing can never happen again.

Is this a joke yet? Where's the punchline?

[edit on 8-6-2010 by Maxmars]

Originally posted by Just Wondering
Why am I not surprised?
This could be the last nail in Obama's 2012 coffin. And well deserved.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released documents Thursday night showing the Coast Guard recorded on April 21 -- less than 24 hours after the Deepwater Horizon explosion -- the magnitude of the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
[edit on 4-6-2010 by Just Wondering]

Okay...within 24 hours, April 21st the Coast Guard gets a view as to the potential disaster.

And the GOP spin is what? That Obama didn't pay attention? That is not supported by the facts.

Here.....less than 24 hours after the explosion..

He directed the Coast Guard to be immediately involved.
He sent the Deputy Secretery of the Interior to New Orleans.
He activated the National response Teams and Unified Area Command Centers.
He directed his staff to make sure the "entire federal government was offering all assistance needed in the rescue effort as well as in mitigating and responding to the environmental impact"

"The President asked the responding departments to devote every resource needed to respond to this incident and investigate its cause."


And he met with..
Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano,
Admiral Thad Allen, United States Coast Guard Commandant,
Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar,
EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe,
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate as well as a host of senior white house officials including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Chair of Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and Director of the National Economic Council Lawrence Summers.

ALL WITHIN THE FIRST 24-48 HOURS

THE PRESIDENT DID MORE IN THE FIRST 48 HOURS THAN GW DID IN THE FIRST MONTH AFTER KATRINA HIT.

April 22nd, 2010

Statement by the Press Secretary on the President's Oval Office Meeting to Discuss the Situation in the Gulf of Mexico
The President and First Lady's thoughts and prayers are with the family members and loved ones facing the tragic situation in the Gulf of Mexico. The President was briefed in the Oval Office this afternoon by a number of senior officials including Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, Admiral Thad Allen, United States Coast Guard Commandant, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate as well as a host of senior white house officials including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Chair of Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and Director of the National Economic Council Lawrence Summers.

The United States Coast Guard informed the President that search and rescue efforts are ongoing. The President made sure that the entire federal government was offering all assistance needed in the rescue effort as well as in mitigating and responding to the environmental impact and that this response was being treated as the number one priority. The President asked the responding departments to devote every resource needed to respond to this incident and investigate its cause.

The National Response Team has been activated and Unified and Area Commands have been established near New Orleans to coordinate search and rescue operations and oil spill response efforts.

The Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service as well as the Coast Guard are also working with responsible parties to support their important efforts to secure the pollution sources. Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes was dispatched to the region yesterday to assist with coordination and response. The President wishes to thank the bravery of the professionals across the government who have worked non-stop over the last two days to save lives and protect the environment.

The issue is that the US GOV relies on the Oil Companies to provide technical response and clean-up.

If the Multi-Billion dollar Oil Company that built the well doesn't know how to stop the leak, why would the Department of the Interior or the Coast Guard?

The same people who originate these spin pieces were chanting DRILL BABY DRILL at Sarah Palin Rallies a few months ago.

Hypocracy and idiocy at it's finest.

[edit on 8-6-2010 by maybereal11]

I've seen some ignorant claims on ATS before...but this has got to be up in the top 10.

How are you claiming Obama didn't have the government respond WHEN THE COAST GUARD IS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT??

Personally, I never got the criticism of Bush over Katrina. Landreiu and Nagin both went on TV before Katrina hit and ultimately told residents of New Orleans that evacuation wasn't necessary, remain calm, the city will be safe, etc... all while the White House was telling people to get the hell out of Dodge. Then the city was unsafe for a couple of days with flood waters continuing to rise. Was Bush supposed to send workers in to cover Nagin's ignorant ass while conditions were still very unsafe for those workers? I say no. Bush's job wasn't to cover for the goober the city of N.O. had foolishly elected as thier mayor.

The criticisms of Obama at this point start and stop with his handling of the protective sand bar plan and the use of dispersants in the water.

1. Jindal has been trying to get approval for the sand bars for almost a month and Obama's administration humed and hawed over it before finally giving approval this week, long after it would have actually done some good. The administration wanted to "ensure no harm was done by the barrier islands" Um, HELLO? Damage as opposed to thousands of gallons of crude covering every beach, oyster bed, and estuary? That was a clear example of "I do not know how to handle crisis management, my head is lodged in my rear, what do I do?" leadership.

2. The chemical dispersants... conversely, the same EPA that held up the construction of the sand barriers by threat of legal action, sat back and allowed BP to continue using Corexit even after ordering them to cease and desist. FEEL THE POWAH! BP apparently has more power than this administration's EPA which has more power than Louisianna governor Bobby Jindal. Again, who's in charge here and how heavily does that person's complete lack of experience play into this scenario?

Maybe instead of trying to develop witty PR sound clips like "I'm looking for someone's ass to kick", Obama could have been putting the screws to BP to force the discontinuation of Corexit and also lighting a fire under the EPA to get those sand barriers approved and constructed. Multitasking! It's what real leaders do.