Shell Oil today received permission from U.S. federal court to go ahead with their plans to drill five exploratory wells off the Alaska coasts. According to The Huffington Post: Shell’s Chukchi exploration plan concluded that a large oil spill, such as a release from a blowout, would be rare. MMS agreed and said the probability … Continue reading BP leak not bad enough to stop Shell in Alaska
… a 210,000-gallon-a-day flesh wound: Today BP finally released video of their spewing 21″ wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico. The brown effluent is oil, still flowing at the rate mentioned above. The white effluent is presumed to be gas, which dissipates as it rises. They claim the flow rate is a mere 210,000 gallons … Continue reading Just a flesh wound …
I just came across these photos, reportedly of the Deepwater Horizon burning and sinking in the Gulf of Mexico (click on photos to enlarge). They were credited to a DOE employee. Even with pictures like these, it’s difficult to imagine how big the platform was, or that it could have been there at all, or … Continue reading Deepwater Horizon gone, photos still emerging
Surprise, surprise. Oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day, but the responsible parties seem more concerned with blaming each other than shutting off the oil. BP, Transocean, Halliburton — knock it off!! The only thing you should be thinking about right now is capping your … Continue reading Pointing fingers don’t cap wells
A least tern tends her eggs on a Mississippi beach, one of many U.S. beaches directly threatened by oil drifting in the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading Almost Mother’s Day
This is NOAA’s latest trajectory forecast for the Gulf oil leak. It’s difficult to imagine a straighter line between BP’s Deepwater Horizon site and the mouth of the Mississippi River. Somehow, with river currents and prevailing winds and currents in the Gulf, this is the last course I expected. A larger map is available at … Continue reading Like a gun aimed straight at the river
