5 Responses

1. This is pretty serious. You are right to be worried and concerned. It doesn’t make sense that more isn’t being done given the seriousness. That was a problem for day 1. I looked at the rig burning while some woman was telling us that it was all under control. I looked at her – she’s crazy – there is no way. That is a big fire with very high temperatures capable of melting metal. There is no way that oil isn’t leaking one way or another. It just didn’t make any sense. There are reports that the clean up is just for show. I see ads from BP talking about how well they are doing when I know it’s a lie.

   If you can move then I would. It is terrible but I think it is a matter of survival and quality of life. You could always move back. It’s definitely a judgment call. Examine the evidence. Examine the pros and cons. Make the best decision you can.

2. I left Florida in 1998 and haven’t looked back once. Hurricanes, homeowner insurance fiasco, blazing heat and humidity, mosquitoes, roaches. I grew up there but I am so glad I moved to NC.

   j

3. BP, the owner of the oil, has pledged $20 billion to stop the oil leak and do a clean up of the area. How much has Transocean, the owner of the oil rig that sunk, pledged? I’ll tell you, NOTHING How much has Haliburton, the supplier of the defective equipment that failed and then exploded, pledged? I’ll tell you, NOTHING. u.s.a is the worlds biggest polluter, which is why there are so many endangered species in that area and in the rest of america. Before you start screaming at BP, think who it is that put so many species on the endangered list. You people make me sick. american oil companies have had more oil spills and leaks than any other country’s, the difference is, that american oil companies do nothing and the lawsuits against them are still dragging through the courts, decades later. What has the big mouth, Borat (kick some @ss) Obama, done about them? I’ll tell you, NOTHING. What has the american company, Union Carbide done to clean up the chemical leak at their plant in Bophal, India, where more than 16,000 people died? I’ll tell you, NOTHING. The Indian courts have an arrest warrant for the CEO of Union Carbide, later taken over by the Dow Chemical Company, but u.s.a refuses to extradite him to India to face charges of multiple homicide. So much for for the holier than thou attitude of u.s.a. You really do make me SICK.

   Edit………You have a twenty month old son. How about the babies born in Bophal after the chemical leak there? If you have the stomach for it, do a search on the Union Carbide chemical leak and see the unlucky babies that survived their birth. Grotesquely bent and twisted bodies, withered limbs, tumours where their eyes should be. The lucky babies were still born, but they did not, in any way resemble human babies, go on, do a search and see if I’m not telling the truth.

   Edit………I’m sorry if you find it appalling, but, I am sick and tired of everyone pointing a finger at BP and screaming what are you doing? You are going nothing, Do everything faster. Start screaming at your own ****ing companies and ask what they are doing and why they are not doing more. Marshal law? Civil war? You are attatching far too much importance to this spill.

   Edit……..Now that you have seen what these companies are doing and have done in the past, please post another question and this time ask what Transocean and Haliburton are doing to help clean up their leak.

4. I think you’re overreacting. You do realize that oil spills happen all the time. Also, there’s already been an oil spill in gulf coast in 1979. If you they clean up the beaches, Im’ pretty sure they can bounce back. It can take years to get back together. I do think the animal and marine life is probably at most risk.

   Also, oil does not magically go up in the air and then come down as rain. Water evaporates, but the oil slick will eventually subside into the sea.

   I do suspect that there will be a slowdown in tourists.

   Anyway, the “toxic rain” that you speak of, is actually because of the toxic dispersants that they put, not the oil itself. It is unfortunately said to spread throughout the entire United States,

   Here’s what the Russians had to say about, not trying to be an alarmist or anything:

   “”A dire report prepared for President Medvedev by Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources is warning today that the British Petroleum (BP) oil and gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico is about to become the worst environmental catastrophe in all of human history threatening the entire eastern half of the North American continent with “total destruction”.”

   Oil in the environment is toxic at 11 PPM (parts per million). Corexit 9500 is toxic at only 2.61 PPM. But Corexit 9500 has another precarious characteristic; it’s reaction to warm water.

   As the water in the Gulf of Mexico heats up, Corexit 9500 goes through a molecular transition. It changes from a liquid to a gas, which is readily absorbed by clouds and released as toxic rain. The chemical-laden rain then falls on crops, reservoirs, animals and of course, people.

   It is futile to believe that we can keep ‘Corexit rain’ from occurring since it has already been released and the molecular transformation has begun. We have set off an unprecedented chain of events in nature that we cannot control.”

   I’m sorry, but as Americans we’ve not been helpful for saying “Drill, baby, drill.” Our government should have been on top of this, I mean we can expect one company (BP) to know how to fix this. We shouldn’t be involved in deep sea oil exploration, if we don’t have the capacity to fix a spill. The worst part is that we don’t even have that much oil in the gulf coast. The small country of Kuwait, probably has more oil than our entire United States coastline. It was never worth drilling overseas for. Especially, when the American don’t even get a share of the profit. Louisiana should be the wealthiest state in the union, with all the oil rigs they have. It just makes no sense. We can’t “drill, baby, drill,” ’cause we don’t have oil.

   Next time maybe people will think twice about ignoring the environment. People don’t want to learn the easy, they’ll learn the hard way.

   More stuff:

   “The health hazzards in oil toxic rain include Corexit 9500 and elements of the evaporated oil such as Benzene, which is a known carcinogen. The US governement lists many toxic materials as carcenogins in animals, but not humans, which raises the question of ‘special rules’ for the businesses that use them.

   Butoxyethanol has an LD50 of 2.5g/kg in rats. Laboratory tests by the United States National Toxicology Program have have shown that sustained inhalation of high concentrations (100 – 500 ppm) of 2-butoxyethanol can cause adrenal tumors in animals. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) reports that 2-butoxyethanol is carcinogenic in animals.

   Butoxyethanol is listed as an ingredient in Corexit 9500, then said to be excluded from Corexit 9500. The asumption is that it is included in Corexit 9527. Both are highly toxic.”

   “Crude Oil: Exposure Routes: Inhalation, ingestion, skin absorption , skin/eye contact
   Target Organs: Eyes, skin, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system. Acute Effect: May cause eye, skin, respiratory and nasal irritation. Ingestion may cause vomiting, resulting in aspiration and
   chemical pneumonia. Central nervous system effects from inhalation may include headache, dizziness, loss of balance and coordination, unconsciousness, coma, respiratory failure, and death.
   Chronic Effect/Carcinogenicity: There have been rare occurrences of precancerous warts on the forearm, back of hands and scrotum from chronic prolonged skin contact. These warts were not necessarily on the exposed parts of the body. Crude Oil is not listed as a carcinogen by the NTP, IARC, or OSHA. However, repeated skin contact by laboratory mice produced skin tumors.

   The tumors reduced in occurrence when the animals’ skin was washed between applications.
   Benzene: This product may contain 0 – 0.1% benzene.
   ACHIH TLV TWA: 0.5 ppm / STEL: 2.5 ppm
   MSHA and OSHA PEL TWA:10 ppm / STEL: 25 ppm / Peak:50 ppm, 10 minutes
   Exposure Routes: Inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion. Target Organs: Hematopoietic (blood forming) system, lymphatic system, nervous system, reproductive system”

   “This article is so fantastic as to defy description. I am in awe of it. Corexit rain? Oh My.

   Anyway there are no carcinogens in Corexit 7500. Look at the MSDS.

   Corexit is not ‘banned in Europe’. GB only, and because it interferes with limpet attachment to rocks. Not because of toxic rain.

   The most volatile component in Corexit is kerosene. Hate to say it but I bet there is a lot more than 1 million gallons of the stuff in use all over the US on a daily basis. Not to mention other related hydrocarbon solvents and environmental stuff like uh oil spills. If kerosene was creating a toxic rain we would be well aware of it by now.

   Oh yeah, it does go away. Biodegrades in a month or so. Again check the MSDS. “

5. Well, you can certainly count on things getting worse before they get better. Between the oil (on and in the water) chemicals and methane (with associated by products) the water in and around the Gulf of Mexico are going to be toxic for years. The methane concentrations alone are high enough to cause severe breakdown in the biological processes that sustain life in these waters. Dead zones are expected to occur and expand as the leak continues. BP’s best hope of containing the leak is a long shot at best. The initial blow out is the result of negligent management in that the well should never have been drilled. The pressures within the reservoir were known to be much higher than can safely be contained with available technology. The second well currently being drilled is likely to fail for the same reason.
   With hurricane season well underway we can expect the toxic soup in the Gulf to be spread further inland causing even more damage and contamination.
   I’m not a doomsayer, but I do try to be a realist. The environmental and economic impacts of this event will be a long term and we don’t yet have a grasp on how wide spread contamination will be. I don’t encourage you to stay where you are, especially if children are involved. Consider your options and plan for your families best interests. I wish you and your family well and hope your decisions serve you well.
   AP