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Arabica Robusta

ZCommunications | The Search for BP's Oil by Naomi Klein | ZNet Article - 1 views

www.zcommunications.org/rch-for-bps-oil-by-naomi-klein

oil industry usa pollution

shared by Arabica Robusta on 22 Jan 11 - No Cached
  • Normally these academics would be fine without our fascination. They weren't looking for glory when they decided to study organisms most people either can't see or wish they hadn't. But when the Deepwater Horizon exploded in April 2010, our collective bias toward cute big creatures started to matter a great deal. That's because the instant the spill-cam was switched off and it became clear that there would be no immediate mass die-offs among dolphins and pelicans, at least not on the scale of theExxon Valdez spill deaths, most of us were pretty much on to the next telegenic disaster. (Chilean miners down a hole—and they've got video diaries? Tell us more!)
  • Mike Utsler, BP's Unified Area Commander, summed up its findings like this: "The beaches are safe, the water is safe, and the seafood is safe." Never mind that just four days earlier, more than 8,000 pounds of tar balls were collected on Florida's beaches—and that was an average day. Or that gulf residents and cleanup workers continue to report serious health problems that many scientists believe are linked to dispersant and crude oil exposure.
  • For the scientists aboard the WeatherBird II, the recasting of the Deepwater Horizon spill as a good-news story about a disaster averted has not been easy to watch. Over the past seven months, they, along with a small group of similarly focused oceanographers from other universities, have logged dozens of weeks at sea in cramped research vessels, carefully measuring and monitoring the spill's impact on the delicate and little-understood ecology of the deep ocean. And these veteran scientists have seen things that they describe as unprecedented. Among their most striking findings are graveyards of recently deceased coral, oiled crab larvae, evidence of bizarre sickness in the phytoplankton and bacterial communities, and a mysterious brown liquid coating large swaths of the ocean floor, snuffing out life underneath.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • All this uncertainty will work in BP's favor if the worst-case scenarios eventually do materialize. Indeed, concerns about a future collapse may go some way toward explaining why BP (with the help of Kenneth Feinberg's Gulf Coast Claims Facility) has been in a mad rush to settle out of court with fishermen, offering much-needed cash now in exchange for giving up the right to sue later. If a significant species of fish like bluefin does crash three or even ten years from now (bluefin live for fifteen to twenty years), the people who took these deals will have no legal recourse.
  • A week after Hollander returned from the cruise, Unified Area Command came out with its good news report on the state of the spill. Of thousands of water samples taken since August, the report stated, less than 1 percent met EPA definitions of toxicity. It also claimed that the deepwater sediment is largely free from BP's oil, except within about two miles of the wellhead. That certainly came as news to Hollander, who at that time was running tests of oiled sediment collected thirty nautical miles from the wellhead, in an area largely overlooked by the government scientists. Also, the government scientists measured only absolute concentrations of oil and dispersants in the water and sediment before declaring them healthy. The kinds of tests John Paul conducted on the toxicity of that water to microorganisms are simply absent.
  • Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, whose name is on the cover of the report, told me of the omission, "That really is a limitation under the Clean Water Act and my authorities as the federal on-scene coordinator." When it comes to oil, "it's my job to remove it"—not to assess its impact on the broader ecosystem. He pointed me to the NOAA-led National Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process, which is gathering much more sensitive scientific data to help it put a dollar amount on the overall impact of the spill and seek damages from BP and other responsible parties.
  • Arabica Robusta on 22 Jan 11
     
    Normally these academics would be fine without our fascination. They weren't looking for glory when they decided to study organisms most people either can't see or wish they hadn't. But when the Deepwater Horizon exploded in April 2010, our collective bias toward cute big creatures started to matter a great deal. That's because the instant the spill-cam was switched off and it became clear that there would be no immediate mass die-offs among dolphins and pelicans, at least not on the scale of theExxon Valdez spill deaths, most of us were pretty much on to the next telegenic disaster. (Chilean miners down a hole-and they've got video diaries? Tell us more!)
Energy Net

Opinion | Nuclear cleanup regulation could put public at risk | Seattle Times Newspaper - 0 views

seattletimes.nwsource.com/...12320866_guest12carpenter.html

nuclear doe usa

shared by Energy Net on 12 Jul 10 - Cached
  • Energy Net on 12 Jul 10
     
    "The weaknesses of federal regulatory agencies have been exposed by recent high-profile accidents. Guest columnist Tom Carpenter fears the Department of Energy will reduce its oversight of cleanup at the nation's nuclear waste sites. By Tom Carpenter Special to The Times PREV of NEXT Related Millions of gallons of oil gush continue to rush unabated from BP's mile-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico, and 11 workers are dead from the massive explosion that caused the biggest oil spill in decades. Weeks before this event, the news was dominated by the preventable explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners. In both cases, the not-so surprising news was that the mine and the oil rig had abysmal records of safety violations before the explosions yet were still allowed to operate by the captive regulatory agencies. Where is the government accountability? It is the government's job to assure that ultra-hazardous industries operate safely and responsibly. Is nuclear next? The Department of Energy sits on the nation's biggest nuclear nightmare. Its inventories of highly radioactive and toxic wastes defy comprehension. Washingtonians are familiar with the DOE's No. 1 accomplishment, the Hanford nuclear site, which holds the lion's share of the nation's radioactive detritus. Suffice it to say that the escape of even a small fraction of such material into the environment would constitute a Chernobyl-sized catastrophe."
Energy Net

DOE Loans to Make Nevada the "Saudi Arabia of Geothermal Energy" | Inhabitat ... - 0 views

inhabitat.com/...di-arabia-of-geothermal-energy

geothermal

shared by Energy Net on 29 Jun 10 - Cached
  • Energy Net on 29 Jun 10
     
    "The Silver State-based company has developed the Faulkner 1, a 49.5 MW geothermal power project at NGP's Blue Mountain site in northwestern Nevada. Currently, the project is planning two new injection wells to enhance the distribution of injected fluids and further augment the plant's power output. As such, the DOE is acting as loan guarantor for up to 80 percent of the $98.5 million loan to NGP for the scheme. As part of the Obama administration's Recovery Act, alternative energy has seen a real increase in investment with projects such as the Cape Wind Farm being finalized. Recent tragedies such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill have only solidified support for alternative energy. Geothermal projects haven't dominated headlines like solar and wind projects have, but US Senator Harry Reid hopes to see that change. Speaking about the DOE's support, Senator Reid said, "I am glad to see economic recovery funding being used to put Nevadans to work on a project that will help us achieve energy independence" He went on to say, "Northern Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy.""
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