Was the government negligent in oil spill disaster?

The question as to whether our government bears any of the blame for the current oil spill disaster is a heavily debated topic. This post explores the idea that our government carries no blame and has acted appropriately during this ecological disaster. A good way to answer the question would be to explore the timeline.

On April 29 our government rejected criticism that it had acted slowly to the disaster and on May 6 the government confirmed that 13 countries plus the UN had offered help - help that our government waived away.

But let's start at the beginning.

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20. Just two days later, April 22, CNN quoted Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler as saying "oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about 8,000 barrels per day." (news.blogs.cnn.com...)

By April 24, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry confirmed oil was leaking into the Gulf and described it as "a very serious spill".
(www.cbc.ca... leaking.html)

By April 25, the spill covers 580 square miles. On April 26, oil from the spill is reported just 36 miles from the SE Louisiana coast. By April 27, the spill has grown to 100 miles across is just 20 miles from the Louisiana coast.

On April 29, the government stated, for the record, that they had acted in a timely manner to this crisis.

The Obama administration pledged an all-out response Thursday to the massive oil spill now expected to reach the Gulf Coast within a day and dispatched top officials to the region to help coordinate defenses against the potential environmental disaster...

The administration rejected suggestions that the federal government was slow to act in dealing with the spill and expressed frustration with BP's inability to seal the ruptured well head. - www.washingtontimes.com...

What does an "all-out" response include? Apparently it doesn't include accepting help from others in the world. On May 6, 16 days after the disaster began, our government admitted that it had received offers of aid from 13 countries plus the United Nations. However, the US State Department "said there was no immediate need for the assistance offered but that the US Coast Guard was trying to evaluate whether there would be in the future." (www.google.com...)

The Dutch government released this information about their offer of help:

The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston. - www.fireandreamitchell.com...

Help from our own country has also been rejected. A company in Maine called Gunderbook manufactures aquatic filter barriers which have a proven history of working against oil spills.

As proof that their booms work, Gunderboom points to dozens of past and current projects, including the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, where its booms were used to help protect fish hatcheries. - www.wmtw.com...

And their efforts to contact some to offer their help?

Meanwhile, the company continues to contact BP, contractors and federal agencies.

On May 6, the same day that the US said "there was no immediate need for the assistance offered", the spill had spread to the Chandeleur Chain, which is also home to the Breton National Wildlife Refuge.



By May 19, oil washed ashore on the Louisiana mainland. By June 2, oil is spotted just nine miles from Pensacola, Florida. On June 7, Senator Bill Nelson tells MSNBC he has seen reports that oil is rising from the sea bed itself instead of just a broken pipe. By June 11 we learned that 20,000 to 40,000 barrels (840,000 to 1,700,000 US gallons; 3,200,000 to 6,400,000 litres) have been leaked into the Ocean.

Has the government's response been adequate? Did they respond appropriately when it mattered and are they responding appropriately now? Or could it be the government truly planned to not let this crisis go to waste, but now it has become a bigger monster than it can deal with?

[wiping the spittle from my computer screen]... NO. No, the federal government has not responded well or even adequately to this ecological disaster.

I watched two different programs on FoxNews on Saturday [no hissing from the peanut gallery please] that demonstrated jaw droppingly effective techniques - technologies with NO deleterious environmental consequences that are not being allowed to be utilized.

At more than one point Saturday I found myself asking if the federal government actually WANTED a massive ecological disaster. Anyone who knew me would be stunned by that revelation of my thought lines. I am far quicker to blame stupidity or ignorance than I am malfeasance. But it is exactly malfeasance that I could not escape thinking.

[edit on 13/6/10 by Geeky_Bubbe]

The Gouverment did not respond and by that created a bigger problem
Aid was offered and refused !! Why ????
S&F OP

Oh this is gonna get interesting !

i don't even know what to believe anymore.

i just wanna make people laugh =(

are we talking about the govts role that could have prevented the spill in the first place? (oversight/laws)

or the govts role once the spill occured and the subsequent attempts to plug the leak and minimize the amount of oil that reached the shores?

reply to post by FuGGer


The opening post references the time line and actions/inactions post event so I assume it's response to the incident and not the government's role prior to.

I don't expect the government to plug or stop the leak[s], that's not within their technical capacity or wherewithal unless and until they decide that the "nuke option" is the only option available. And, let's hope we do not reach that particular not so happy place in time.

reply to post by black cat


They were not there.

Haliburton, BP and Transocean are the responsible parties in the oil leak.
The government has to get involved, we demand it as much as we demand the gas they were getting us when this gusher blew out.

HA! I'm not even asking the government to clean up the crap. I'm asking for them to get THE F* out of the F*ing way so that IT CAN BE CLEANED UP BY FOLKS WHO ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THE F* THEY ARE DOING.

But, that's apparently too much to ask for in this age of our Omnipotent Nanny Government.

BTW: I'm not real into "the blame game." Sometimes crap happens. And when that crap happens it's time to roll up the sleeves and FIX IT. That's how real life works. At least the parts of real life that ACTUALLY WORK.

[edit on 13/6/10 by Geeky_Bubbe]

reply to post by black cat


Everybody whines that the government is closing in and regulates too much then when something like this happens everyone whines that the government didn't do enough.

No, it's the corporations that own DC and are thus not regulated or supervised properly.

All our major big corporations have been allowed to run amok and now own all major goverments by virtue of their "contributions" (bribes).

Read my location and now extend that out to the entire planet.

This is exactly what happens when Service to Self People are allowed to rule and call the shots.

It's all been about "cutting corners" and "profit" and the common man keeps believing in the trickle down theory and that corporations are people, yes they are people - but only the few elite at the top that own and operate them.

The actual clean up is not being allowed because of a major cover up of how bad the situation is and BP doesn't want the public to get a hold of how dire this situation is.

A major conspiracy from start to finish.

[edit on 13-6-2010 by ofhumandescent]

This post isn't about regulations and actions that led up to the spill, it's about the response after the disaster occurred. The US was offered help time and again from various countries and from companies within the US but the government repeatedly turned down offers for help. The question is why? Did our government seize the opportunity to make this disaster something bigger than it was in the beginning - perhaps a plan to use it to further anti-oil drilling measures? I think they did, not letting a good crisis go to waste. However I think this spill quickly got out of control and now they don't know what to do.

The government has the responsibility to inspect the operations and regulate them. I believe they have the responsibility to ensure that companies operate within best practices. The list of recent catastrophes unleashed because the goverment failed at their oversight/inspection/enforcement responsibilities are ubiquitous.

The popular contention that the government has some magical solution sitting at a navy base somewhere is urban legend. Countries offered help. Companies offered all manner of clean-up technologies. We have no information about these things. How can we determine whether they could help substantially? The oil companies have the expertise, responsibility and technology to deal with this. The government, not to excuse them, was relying on BP's assessment, estimates and assurances. BP was wrong or lied. I'm sure in hindsight there are many things the government would do differently if they could rewind the clock. But IMHO alot of people are making assessments based upon the thinnest amount of real information.

BP purposely ignored best practices when originally capping that well (the cement plugs by Halliburton). The cap failed and the rig exploded. BP then either misled or underestimated the situation. They own this.

Originally posted by Geeky_Bubbe
HA! I'm not even asking the government to clean up the crap. I'm asking for them to get THE F* out of the F*ing way so that IT CAN BE CLEANED UP BY FOLKS WHO ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THE F* THEY ARE DOING.

But, that's apparently too much to ask for in this age of our Omnipotent Nanny Government.

BTW: I'm not real into "the blame game." Sometimes crap happens. And when that crap happens it's time to roll up the sleeves and FIX IT. That's how real life works. At least the parts of real life that ACTUALLY WORK.

[edit on 13/6/10 by Geeky_Bubbe]

Basically what i said in another thread ! Star !!
Second Line

This whole disaster is BP's fault. BP is the responsible party, not our government. It is not our governments reponsilitly to clean this mess up, it is BP's. This is NOT a natural disaster, it is man made and the company responsible should be the one that cleans this mess up. I think it is wonderful that other countries and the UN has offered our government help with this disaster but again, this is BP's fault. So how can our government accept help from other countries when this is one companys fault.

I am so tired of people wanting our government to take control of everthing when something bad happens.

Originally posted by BooBoo46
This whole disaster is BP's fault. BP is the responsible party, not our government. It is not our governments reponsilitly to clean this mess up, it is BP's.

Oh, that is so childishly stupid and naive... and I'll tack on immaturishly spiteful.

You know, I screw up at work on occasion, not because of any malfeasance but because I made an honest mistake due to lack of knowledge about some particular this or that. When that happens those higher up in my corporate food chain don't just angrily tell me to fix it myself cos *I* screwed up, they set someone to the task of either fixing it or helping me fix it at my end.

Do you NOT UNDERSTAND that there are any number of ecologically SAFE things out there that work QUICKLY and at either 100% effectiveness or nearly so and the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING THEIR USE?!?

Apparently, you AGREE WITH THEM. This is BP's FAULT SO *THEY* have to clean it up. Meanwhile the gulf as a habitat is under deadly assault and the marshes that act as "The Crib of Life" are GOING TO DIE, at least for a number of years. All so that some sniveling snot heads can PUNISH BP?!?!?!

OMG!!

America deserves what it's going to get!! Too bad other countries are also going to suffer. But, THAT'S OK COS BP IS BEING CRUSHED!

"The gods save me from morons and fools."

reply to post by Geeky_Bubbe


okay, I am immature, childish. but how is my feelings on this being spiteful? I KNOW the ecological damage is soo severe that it will be years and years of recovery. My heart bleeds for the GOM and the people living there. My point is that EVERY time some man made disaster happens due to some idiots negelect, everyone wants our government to step in and take over. Am I wrong in wanting the private sector to step up and take responsibilty for their actions? How is our government keeping these safe and effective methods from being used? I would think that would be BP's doing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Originally posted by BooBoo46
reply to post by Geeky_Bubbe

 

...My point is that EVERY time some man made disaster happens due to some idiots negelect, everyone wants our government to step in and take over. Am I wrong in wanting the private sector to step up and take responsibilty for their actions?

No, you are not wrong in wanting the private sector to take responsibility and extrapolating that line of reasoning... bear the costs.

I am not advocating the Federal government should be the Mr Clean of the Gulf disaster, nor am I advocating that we tax payers should pay for it. The Obama administration has no intentions of paying for anything as their demands that BP pay the unemployment costs of all out of work drilling operations due to the Federal government's own moratorium attests.

The Federal government is issuing BP regular bills for operational costs and will continue to do so. Rightly so, though I do NOT agree with the unemployment costs due to the moratorium.

There are private companies that have technologies that can clean up the oil. The Federal government can - and should - authorize their clean up and submit the bills to BP.

The technologies range from wood pulp fibers, hay, bees wax, human hair made into a carpeting like material, carpet material made into some sort of absorbent sheet.... these are a few of the ones that really stood out on Saturday but by no means are they the only ones. I only had the opportunity to glimpse them on a "catch as catch can" basis on Saturday. But I was not exaggerating when I used the term "Jaw droppingly stunningly effective" in an earlier post in this thread. My jaw LITERALLY dropped upon seeing their effectiveness.

These companies cannot get approval to implement their clean up technologies. As companies, they cannot just go out their and commit men and material out of the goodness of their hearts for free -- even IF the government allowed them to do that much - which it isn't. These companies do this sort of thing as a business that pays the wages of THEIR employees.

How is our government keeping these safe and effective methods from being used? I would think that would be BP's doing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The government is stopping them because they feel that there are not the "proper environmental impact studies" in hand that they can study. I do not know whether this is factual or semi-factual or a complete farce. But, surely, a carpet of human hair or a bail of hay or spun wood pulp product is FAR less environmentally hazardous that a barrel of oil to said environment.

As I said, these products are SAFE. Anyone with two brain cells would know that if they just took the time to allow the owner's of these technologies a few minutes to DEMONSTRATE them.

Does BP have the power to tell other countries offering help either yes or no to oil containment aid? The answer is no. BP could have lobbied the government but the government made that decision early on. The government told other countries "No thanks". The government didn't cause this spill, but they sure have been negligent, in my opinion, of going after the "all-out response" that Obama said he would provide. In this case, the government has failed us all.