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Originally posted by antar
reply to post by space cadet
Yours are the kind of reports I want to hear, thank God your family has not been injured in this catastrophe.
Wendell Phillips
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.
Originally posted by FearNoEvil
Thank you Democracy Now!
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Originally posted by SWCCFAN
So when can we start Hanging the BP Morons?
I have some Hemp Rope.
President Obama's decision, announced Wednesday, to approve new oil and gas drilling off U.S. coasts for the first time in decades reflects a high-stakes calculation by the White House: Splitting the difference on the most contentious energy issues could help secure a bipartisan climate deal this year.
Originally posted by Aristophrenia
Obama did not approve off shore drilling, had absolutely nothing to do with this Rig. The application and approval came under George Bush.
Facts are facts.
Nalco Targets Growth in China With Opening of New Manufacturing Plant and Research Center
In order to better serve and support the expanding Chinese marketplace, Nalco recently opened two new facilities. The expansion includes a recently completed $25-million manufacturing plant in Nanjing and the dedication of a new research and development center at its existing site in Suzhou, near Shanghai.
"China is a very important market for Nalco," said Erik Fyrwald, Nalco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "These new facilities allow us to provide better services and newer technologies to our customers faster and better than any of our competitors."
The new 240,000 sq. foot (22,300 square meter) plant in the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park has an annual production capacity of 37,000 metric tons. The existing facility has space to expand to 75,000 metric tons per year and the 15-acre (60,000 square meter) site is designed to allow double that capacity for a potential total production of 150,000 metric tons per year.
The new research center in Suzhou will provide technical support throughout Northern Asia and allow Nalco to more quickly deploy new technologies in the region. The 16 scientists and engineers currently working in the center are focused on paper process chemicals and industrial water treatment.
"I have been working as shrimper for several years. Because of the BP Oil Spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration closed the areas of the Gulf of Mexico where I usually shrimp. Several members of my crew made Oil Pollution Act wage loss claims against BP. BP denied their claims and most still haven't received a check. Instead of handling my Oil Pollution Act claim on my own, I hired attorney Charles E. Lavis Jr to pursue the claim. Mr. Lavis and his staff assisted me in gathering together documents for proving my claim and presented the claim to BP for payment. My first check arrived less than thirty days from the date I hired Mr. Lavis. I was not required to sign any BP settlement documents. I would recommend Mr. Lavis to anyone who is having trouble with his BP Oil Spill claim."
By Charles E. Lavis on May 30, 2010 8:13 AM | Permalink
Although BP has refused to switch the type of dispersant that is being used to mitigate the amount of oil leaking through the coast, they have agreed to reduce the amount of dispersant being used. The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) reports that they expect a 50 - 80% reduction, mostly the result of limiting the amount of dispersant used on the water's surface. Subsurface use of the dispersant has been found to be more effective, while requiring lower levels of the dispersant.
BP maintains that the dispersant currently being used, Corexit, is the safest, most readily available product, and therefore, they are unable to switch to any of the E.P.A.'s alternatives. The E.P.A. disputes this finding and has stated that they will conduct their own testing in Florida to determine the validity of BP's claims regarding the chemicals toxicity and biodegradation.
Nalco has jus recently disclosed the complete chemical constituents of Corexit to EPA to assist in the government's evaluation and testing of the otherwise proprietary formula.
My eyes are burning as I type this. We've just returned from spending the day down in Barataria, located about an hour's drive south of New Orleans. The community of fishermen is swimming in oil. Within minutes of arriving, our eyes begin to burn and we begin to feel dizzy from airborne chemicals from the oil and dispersant
We went to Barataria to meet with Tracy Kuhns, the executive director of Louisiana Bayoukeeper, a group whose goal is "To engage and empower coastal communities for the purpose of promoting sustainable management of Coastal Louisiana's Bayou Country and its natural resources for the benefit of all citizens." Tracy, who is also a member of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, is talking rapidly before I can get my recorder started.
Tracy is concerned about the dispersant BP has been using on the oil.
The dispersants Tracy references are Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527, both of which BP has used and continues to use (more than 1,400,000 gallons to date and counting) to disperse crude oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and near the wellhead 5,000 feet below the surface where the volcano of oil gushes toxicity into the Gulf. The pathways of exposure are inhalation, ingestion, skin and eye contact. Health impacts include headaches; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; abdominal pains; dizziness; chest pains and tightness; irritation of eyes, nose, throat and lungs; difficulty breathing; respiratory system damage; skin irrigation and sensitization; hypertension; central nervous system depression; neurotoxic effects; genetic damage and mutations; cardiac arrhythmia and cardiovascular damage; among several others.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) latest analysis of dispersant toxicity released in the document "Comparative Toxicity of Eight Oil Dispersant Products on Two Gulf of Mexico Aquatic Test Species," Corexit 9500, at a concentration of 42 parts per million, killed 50 percent of mysid shrimp tested.
Tracy tells us of the 44 reports for exemption BP has been issued to use dispersant. She and her husband Mike, who are both fisherpersons, are tortured by what they are witnessing where they live, fish, work and play.
"Just days ago Barataria Bay was full of oil," Tracy informs us, while sweeping an arm out toward the south, where the large Bay sits, toxified, "Then they hit it with dispersants and the oil goes to the bottom. But then during the day, it heats up and the oil bubbles up to the surface."
Tracy, like many other shrimpers with whom I will soon speak, refers to this effect as that similar to a "Lava lamp."
"The oil, after they hit it with dispersants, moves around beneath the surface and they can't track it," she continues, "they are using dispersants so they can minimize their liability."
St. Petersburg, Fla. - Through a chemical fingerprinting process, University of South Florida researchers have definitively linked clouds of underwater oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico to BP's runaway Deepwater Horizon well — the first direct scientific link between the subsurface oil clouds commonly known as "plumes" and the BP oil spill, USF officials said Friday.
Although dispersed oil degrades more quickly over the long-run, in the short-term, it poses a more toxic threat to marine life, Pierce said.
"So, we've been very concerned, and it is critical USF has verified it," he said.
The full report was not released Friday, but will be available sometime next week, USF spokeswoman Vickie Chachere said.
BP declined to comment on the USF discovery. "We have only seen media reports, and have not yet seen the report and underlying data," BP spokesman Phil Cochrane said in an e-mail.
USF scientists found microscopic droplets of biodegraded oil at varying depths beneath the Gulf's surface, the university said in a statement.
One layer was 100 feet thick; it was found 45 nautical miles north-northeast of the well site, officials said.The researchers found the plumes after models created by a USF expert in ocean currents, Robert Weisberg, predicted subsurface oil from the Deepwater Horizon well would move toward the north-northeast, USF said.