I just got back from the gulf coast of Florida yesterday. Everyone you speak to down there is in panic mode. They know that the oil is going to hit the beaches.. it's only a matter of time.

What I don't understand is if they have a machine capable of shearing off the top of the well pipe why don't they just use it to crimp the top shut? It might not shut it down completely, but it sure as hell would reduce the flow.:bsflag:

The story we have been hearing is that if they were to somehow totally stop the flow, the pressure on the weakened Blow Out Preventer (BOP) would cause it to rupture or blow off the well altogether.

I'll say this much for BP. When they screw the pooch, they go all in.

Please allow me to dissent, after the first few days it was clear that oil was coming out at a rapid rate and that BP was clearly not in control of the situation, I think that , when that became evident, the president shoul had appointed somebody to be at site informing him of the situation every so often, I also think that the president should have deployed the US navy or the EPA emergency ships to the gulf, to assist containment, regradless of what BP said, because this is a dissaster of great magnitude. If that oil finds its way into the gulf stream, we're talking not only the east coast of florida but the entire east cost of US all the way to cape hatteras, and then into the Atlantic Ocean all the way to England and France. How long are we going to wait.

All of us, florida residents know this.

have a friend in walton county who is working with bp on the clean up crew, they told them they expect the clean-up work to last 5-7 Years

I noticed yesterday that a group of people from SC have filed suit against BP for damages from the oil spill in SC, including loss of tourism, enviromental damage, and economic damage. Last I heard, oil hasn't gotten here. The lawyers can't even wait till something has happened to get a suit going, talking about putting the wagon ahead of the horse. maybe BP should hire these guys, with this type of response time, they would have had the oil boom and skimmers out before the oil oil platform left the dock.

On another note, a friend of mine is involed in some of the contracting for small boat needs in the clean up, from what he told me, pay is pretty good(especially if you are USCG Captain), you supply your own boat. Mostly observation and recording duties, any one of ya'll intersted, I can put you in touch with him. Just PM me.

Well put LESTERUS, I concur totally. This is a national emergency and the President has not stepped up to address it. Bring in the Navy to escort BP tankers to the well site. BP's attorneys will stonewall this cleanup for 20 years, Obama needs to make this happen as he is the only one who can declare this a national emergency.

This gets sicker by the day... Now we come to find out that the Dutch offered us boats and containment booms right after it was found out the pipe was leaking... and the White House turned them down.. said we didn't need help... and there are booms, boats and skimmers in warehouses that are just sitting there.. and no one has even started to think about using them.

Obama is like a deer in a cars headlights...He doesn't have a clue what to do. God, I love this "change you can believe in"... Sooo..

1) I believe that we have the most incompetent leader in the White
House in our entire Country's history.
2) I believe this is the worst ecological disaster ever to hit the US
3) I believe that the pipe is gushing the equivilant of the ENTIRE Exxon
Valdise spill every 6 days.
4) I believe I'll have another Scotch.

Is there a link to that story?

I do recall that the Obama Administration offered to help BP right after the initial incident and BP turned them down. Probably Washington should have insisted on getting involved from day one.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but lets not lose focus of the fact that BP committed the acts. Just because the past three administrations, including this one, turned their heads when it came to regulations, doesn't mean they hold all the blame. They told them they could have the gun, but BP pulled the trigger.

Valiant:
Not sure what you want for a link... it's several stories actually.. heard about the Dutch offer on CNN today at lunchtime and several radio stations said the same thing during the afternoon while I was driving.... Heard about the amount of oil spilling now being equal to the Exxon Valdise spill while driving home this evening on WINS (1010 AM Dial in NY) I would imagine that you can find both stories on their websites somewhere.

I didn't include the story about the 5(?) man expert panel that made the original assessment about the oil spill to the White House that is now denying that they ever suggested a moritorium on drilling that the White House stated was in their recommendations... seems someone in the White House made that part up and inserted those two parragraphs into the report... (Funny that as soon as that story broke today the White House recinded the moritorium and is now allowing deep water drilling again). (Heard that story on Lou Dobbs this afternoon.)

You said: And you are entirelly correct. But that wasn't the reason for my post. My post was to bring attention to the fact that the present administration has been almost criminally neglagent in it's response (or lack of it) to the oil spill. They and they alone hold all the blame for how they have handled this spill so far. They have lied to the American public at large, they have done NOTHING except point fingers. I really don't want to know who's *** the president thinks he needs to kick... I want the damn spill stopped and I want the people that are losing their jobs to be compensated for their loss... then we can talk about who is to blame. I wasn't pointing fingers at who caused it, or how it started... I was talking about what's being done now. If you want my opinion about who caused it see my posts in various other places in this thread. I agree with you that BP pulled the trigger and that they are to blame for the spill, and have already stated as much. But the blame for the horrible, do nothing response to what is shaping up to be the single worst ecological disaster in American history rests solely on the present White House.

VERY good article about how most of us on the Gulf Coast feel.


http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/oil-messed